Predictions in 1991 book include George Yeo as PM & female conscription by 2006, gets a laugh from netizens

PM George Yeo & 20 non-PAP MPs by 2006 among poorly-aged predictions in 1991 book

On Thursday (24 July), a Reddit user posted a series of predictions on Singapore’s future from a 1991 book, which unfortunately have mostly aged like milk.

The 31-year-old risk analyst, who wished to be referred to as DW, was reading through ‘Hello Chok Tong, Goodbye Kuan Yew‘ by George Nonis when he came across the page.

“Changes likely in the next 15 years,” the book stated, with the cut-off being at 2006.

Even the very first prediction is likely to draw chuckles from Singaporeans — “Prime Minister: BG George Yeo”.

Netizens confused by George Yeo PM pick over Lee Hsien Loong

The former brigadier-general helmed several ministries but never took over as Prime Minister (PM).

He left Parliament and the Cabinet after losing Aljunied GRC to the Workers’ Party in the 2011 General Election (GE2011).

Mr Yeo has since moved to the private sector.

A commenter called the prediction of Mr Yeo over Mr Lee Hsien Loong “insane”, as Mr Lee was already Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) by that point.

The book also predicted that dual citizenship would be allowed by 2006, which is not the case today.

Netizens suggested that allowing dual citizenship could present a loophole through which individuals can evade National Service (NS).

A third user wondered about a Singaporean dual citizenship with either Israel or South Korea, for double the military service.

OP finds ‘women liable for NS’ to be funniest prediction

Sticking to the subject of NS, the prediction DW found funniest was the one about female conscription being enforced by 2006.

He told MS News that even though the book was for comedic value, some of the predictions still seemed “outlandish” today.

However, DW admitted that he didn’t live through the “handover era” when Mr Goh Chok Tong became PM.

Thus, he couldn’t speak about how likely the predictions seemed then.

DW described George Nonis’ book as a satirical comedy piece on Singapore’s society and the government’s influence.

“It was a refreshing take, especially given the dearth of available literature at the time on content seen as even remotely poking fun at the government,” he explained.

A netizen in the comments also praised the book as “pretty entertaining”.

Netizens note difficulty of long-term predictions

Another user acknowledged the difficulty in predicting decades ahead.

They said people tended to extrapolate based on existing trends without accounting for “major shocks”.

Another of Mr Nonis’ missed predictions was that there would be 20 non-PAP Members of Parliament (MPs) by 2006.

The opposition has yet to achieve that, with only 10 MP seats currently occupied by the Workers’ Party.

However, Mr Nonis did get his second prediction partially correct. PM Goh Chok Tong became Secretary-General of the PAP in 1992.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on the other hand, remained part of the Cabinet until 2011.

A netizen summed it all up by saying the predictions were an “epic fail”, but made for a good laugh, which may have been the ultimate goal.

Mr Nonis also wrote a sequel in 2001, ‘From Kuan Yew to Chok Tong and Beyond‘.

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Featured image adapted from Winner_takesitall on Reddit and Alok Bansal on Facebook.