February 6, 2010 - Temasek Review
Written by Our Correspondent
A Singaporean by the name of Albert Tay has written a letter to
the Straits Times Forum today expressing his support for a
“politically vibrant” Singapore with effective and genuine
competition in its political landscape instead of the current
archaic model dominated by one single party.
Mr Tay is writing in response to an earlier letter by a PAP
supporter Ling Tuck Mun imploring Singaporeans to imagine a
Singapore without the PAP.
Singapore’s political system has been the subject of intense
discussion and debate among Singaporeans in recent months.
Law Minister K Shanmugam has defended it on the grounds that it
enables the government to make quick decisions and react to changes
efficiently without being bogged down by the opposition.
Its detractors criticize it as concentrating too much power in
the hands of a few who have ruled the nation with impunity often
with little accountability and transparency.
Mr Tay compared Singapore’s political scene with Singapore’s
telecommunication markets when it still monopolized by SingTel:
“SingTel appeared to be ‘as good as it gets’. When other
players entered the fray, we realised that ‘the best was yet to
be’. Effective competition facilitates advancement in all human
endeavours.”
He dismissed the fears of those who claimed Singapore cannot
survive without the PAP as being unfounded by quoting the evolution
of British politics:
“As the saying goes, a government is only as good as the
opposition. Waxing lyrical about the PAP now is like a 17th century
Tory saying it was impossible to imagine Britain without the
Conservative Party. Well, the Conservatives are in the opposition
now.”
The Conservative Party had ruled Britain in the 17th century
before the emergence of the Labor Party which has been in
government since 1997. It is expected to lose the elections to be
held this year.
An increasing number of Singaporeans, especially the young,
share Mr Tay’s views that Singapore will be far better off with a
few credible political parties jostling for power rather than one
single party.
Since coming to power in 1959, the PAP has engineered the
political system to ensure and perpetuate its political
hegemony.
There is no opposition in Parliament to hold it accountable to
its actions and mistakes resulting in many flawed policies which
have caused an inordinate amount of suffering to ordinary
Singaporeans.
