IN a phrase that went straight into the political lexicon, former British prime minister Harold Macmillan once told his electorate: 'You've never had it so good.' Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, could issue a similar reminder to his constituents today when he delivers the traditional National Day rally speech - this year marking 31 years of independence and widely seen as the precursor to the announcement of the next general election. The Government's mandate runs until April next year, but commentators and coffee-shop orators are forecasting that the poll will be called much earlier - perhaps as soon as next month. Whenever it is held, the outcome is assured, and the People's Action Party will be returned with a thumping majority, and an iron grip on Parliament, in which it now has 77 of the 81 seats. Keeping it that way will be a test of Mr Goh's leadership, which is why today's speech is expected to focus on concerns simmering in Singapore. Having risen from abandoned colony to one of Southeast Asia's top cities, Singapore now appears to be suffering from middle-class angst, which some say could mean a further slide in the ruling party's share of the vote, which in 1991 fell from 63 to 61 per cent. The issues said by political watchers to be uppermost in the minds of the voters - and so likely to be on today's agenda - are rising costs in general, and of property in particular. Mr Goh is likely to reinforce the argument that the reason Singaporeans are spending more is that they have more to spend - thanks to government policies. What many people will also want to hear is that the Government recognises their desire to get on to the private property ladder. Most Singaporeans live in government flats, which they are buying, but soaring prices have put private property out of the reach of all but the highest-paid. If Mr Goh ventures into economics then it will probably be to reassure his audience that it is the long term at which they should be looking. He faces none of the tough issues now rearing up in front of neighbours, such as Indonesia's President Suharto and Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa, yet his performance today could be one by which he will be measured - perhaps when the votes are counted.
