The problem is with Singapore putting all its political eggs in
one basket.
Ultimately like it or not, the PAP has to admit that in the long
run it is in the best interest of Singapore and the PAP to have a
opposition, and a credible one at that. Unfortunately Singapore is
so far off from having a true democracy that one wonders wht the
future holds.
Ultimately, one-party-states lead to intellectual inbreeding and
groupthink. This is because the entire system lacks any real
internal checks and balances, not to mention as opposed to
recruiting from people of diverse political opinion, one party
tends to recruit those that would agree with them, leading to
selection pressure over the long run, to create a party that with
far less vitality then the original generation of leaders,
favouring adherence to party guidelines as opposed to actually
finding solutions.
What this means is that it is a VERY big question, that lacking
a credible opposition, or not allowing Singaporeans sufficent
political space to breathe, one wonders how exactly the nation will
turn out after this current generation of leaders pass on and the
next take over. Our MM will not be around forever, and one wonders
how things will play out. Will there be a power struggle? Nobody
knows.
One can cite the example of China as an example of "sucessful",
one party rule. But before one gets to far one needs to realize
that China, due to singular party rule and adherence to a "cult" of
infailablity of the party (Mao in particular), eventually created
the cultural revolution that caused plenty of deaths, suffering,
and turmoil in the nation. The party itself was forced to
reconsider a lot of it's internal policies.
The thing is, can Singapore afford such a mistake? Are we on the
brink of making one? Will our policies, driven relentlessly with no
real opposition to act as a check and balance lead to a state where
we quite literally plunge our soceity over the edge like China's
during the cultural revolution? Nobody knows.