thanks for the referances.   :)

why is HDB being used as a political tool? besides, not all people who live in opposition wards vote for opposition/s. what other govt agencies are tools of PAP? ISD? SPF? SIA? lolz….

if PAP does not improve on their past successes, they can continue on a “witchhunt” (opposition parties, their supporters, foreign elements…) at their own peril…

 
Firstly, the government of the day, be it the PAP or any of the other political parties on offer, must work toward the welfare of its own citizens. By so doing, the citizens will become the biggest and major contributor to navigating the country forward.

 
The writer, when pondering the question, did not understand this and attempted to reason how an opposition party is going to run the country when it has no prior experience in doing so. He forgets the will of the people, very much the same will that saw the country through in its separation history. Why is there doubt over the ability of the people? This can be attributed to the PAP’s success in making people believe that they cannot do with them. The equating of PAP to Singapore, that PAP is Sinagpore and Singapore is PAP. The writer has been taken in.

 
Secondly, the answer to the question can also be given in a ‘framed’ manner, time-frame, that is. We do not expect the opposition to take overnight control of governing Singapore.
If that happens, the will of the people will be the most telling component to see us through, as mentioned above. What we can and should expect is the participation of more opposition members in parliament. This will allow them the opportunity to learn first-hand how to run the country – to hone their skills, so to speak.

 
When we allow the opposition to do this over two or three elections, we can be sure that we are ready for the next chapter of Singapore’s political history. This is a more realistic expectation and it must begin with the will of the people, to will a change to how the political game is currently played in our beloved homeland.

Since the Thumbs-ups/Thumbs-down feature has been removed, I can only say thumbs-up to BOTH. You guys/gals(?) have painted the gist of why many are unhappy with the ruling party over recent years.

Only thing I feel (strictly my own opinion) is that we should stop talking of the past. LKY for better or worse did bring advancement to Singapore in the first couple of decades of our history – no denying that. However, with the passing of the baton to GCT and LHL, things seems to be on a downward spiral. A similar business case study may be that of Motorola – it also went thru an “outsider” before the helm was passed to the next-kin-in-line.

Anyway, the time of LKY would pass soon — this is not to wish ill on him, just honest facts.  We should focus on what LHL and his bunch of lackeys is doing to Singapore/us, which isn’t much so far. The unfortunate situation for Singaporeans is that we don’t have an alternative strongman just when we need one most. This may be the design of our past & current leaders – both ruling and opposition; it is definitely their responsibility and accountability to Singapore. But like all strongmen (aka Saddam Hussein, Marcos, etc.), there will be a vacuum after their passing. And in that vacuum, a newbie driver is better than no driver. So question is am I comfortable with the opposition? Frankly not so. But are we comfortable with the incumbent/cronies? Frankly, they sucks. So which of the 2 devils to choose? 

“They are interested in what the MP will do for them, rather than what their votes can do for the country. ”

Do you have the facts to substantiate your comments, or just your speculation? Btw are you from PMO as it seems you have the vibes of Singapore electorates as I am definitely not the old mold ”what MP do for me, rather than votes for the country” category.

Any national policies will affect the livelihood directly or indirectly of the voters, looked at high cost of living, hdb cost & foreign policies. In fact, a single vote in a collective manner will determine rise or fall of a government far from what you claimed.

Current showing in the parliment by the majority of PAP MPs are really disappointing, I hope you didn’t miss the snapshot of Minister/MP Teo Chee Hean caught sleeping in parliment.

yeah, i must have forgotten… 

i also listen, but 1 ear in, 1 ear out!   :D

It means that voters will only vote in an opposition member if the candidate makes a difference in where they live and is better than the incumbent PAP MP.

that is your opinion, not a fact. of course, unless you assume all voters think like you.

… there are just as many who shudder at the thought of losing the value of their  HDB flats if the opposition member wins the next election.

how will opposition winning  the next election cause a drop in home prices? where did you get your figures that many have the fear you mention?

Agreed, my vote will add to the growing many whom are yearning for the civil change of Singapore politics as I do not buy the story Singapore will be doomed. I am yearning for any opposition in my ward as PAP’s performance has been deterioating and no amount of last minute PAP working the ground will swing my vote to them. 

“And for these voters to change their minds, the opposition member will have to convince how he or she will change the voters’ lives  in the ward they stay in.”

Agreed, we need more people to vote more oppositions into parliment to effect the necessary change, not just their ward but the policies that affect Singapore and its citizens.

I must commend your inspirational comments.

… because the degree of “screw-up” as many comments in this posting have mentioned is not extreme enough to convince voters to make the switch to the opposition member.

when its extreme enough (the screw-ups), its too late…

Perhaps I painted you too harshly and I withdraw my judgement and agree to a civil discourse.

No, I do not hate the PAP in general; there are those in it I do admire. My disgust is what Lee has turned out to be. What has been a good measure of a man before has been thoroughly corrupted by power.

I admire your faith that the opposition would be given a fair go but you have to admit to being wrong off course. The electoral system as has been devised by LKY is ensure no opposition government can be formed; eliminating the event of a ‘freak election’, words used by LKY to describe the populace voting for an opposition government. Until the PAP and in particular, LKY has the ‘balls’ to remove the ‘Opposition crippling’ GRC scheme to face the electorate on a single seat system would we know what the people really think. My belief is that the PAP lack the guts to try it but you have more faith.

As to the question of moral bankruptcy, my argument is that the scheme to reward PAP Ministers additional to their already obscene salaries is nothing but common thievery. No where in the civilised world would you find such a scheme of reward; only in the fertile and corrupt minds of tyrants. I am hoping you do not subscribe to LKY’s logic of rewarding his lackeys. It takes the thinking of a MAFIA don to conceive this. Meanwhile many worthwhile Singaporeans are living worse than hand to mouth. This is surely not ethical!

There has never been a problem for politicians anywhere to appeal to the electorate when it comes to the vote. The problem with the LKY regime that they are afraid to allow for fair play and devise all measures and methods to allow the opposition no voice. The serious ones they destroyed ala JBJ and Chee Soon Juan! The question I put to you is how do the people really get to hear the opposition and their alternative proposals with media and speaking opportunities totally controlled by LKY. It is a figment of the imagination to say that the people would get to hear completely the serious alternatives possible. Your belief would be better understood if the Singapore political scene were not so undemocratic. The Chinese in China would appear to have more freedom of expression; it’s an irony! 

That Singapore is small is a fact but it is no longer unresourced. Its accumulated wealth if properly managed would allow its economics to steadily improve. However it is poorly managed and LKY has not only allowed family members at the till but ensure that the management and accounting to be unquestioned. It is the mark of a tyrannical regime. Thus there is no way that LKY would allow the situation to change through a transfer of governmental power. There is no, therefore, as you described,  possible scenario of a two-party parliamentary system so long as the PAP subscribed to a one-party or one man regime. Unfortunately, the continuance of this state of affairs would only change through a violent revolution or a sudden love of nation by LHL; as Chiang Ching Kuo did when he dismantled the tyranny that was Chiang Kai Shek’s and allowed real democracy in Taiwan. I don’t see it though; those who knows him believes his father is a better man when it comes to personal aggrandisement. My forecast is thus not too far fetch!

I like to believe that somewhere in your faith in a better political situation in Singapore could come about; but if you subscribe to the truth of my argument you would doubt it yourself. For those who believe it I caution a waking up.  The powder keg that the PAP has been cooking for so many long years would not be long in exploding. To be aware is to be forewarned!

You seem to think like LKY that all men are economic animals or mere economic units, like LKY liken Singaporeans to. You cannot grasp that ‘men do not live by bread alone”; animals does but not human beings like Singaporeans. You seem to believe that the PAP by throwing some crumbs to Singaporeans and some sweeteners come election time, Singaporeans would once more stupidly succumb again; Singaporeans would be too frightened to leave the certainty of a tyrannical regime to an untested new government. In this, you are, to some extent, right. However, the situation now has changed drastically. Whereas, it was alright to accept the political bullshit of LKY and lackeys so long their economic futures are secured, Singaporeans no longer believe this to be so. Facts on the ground include their livelihoods and their futures threatened by the cynical policy of the PM to import almost unlimited cheap labour to replace Singaporeans if they should leave. But most are unable to leave and remain to see their living standards eroded and their livelihoods threatened whilst PAP mninisters and members continue to receive increasingly obscene remuneartion at their expense. There is such a thing as moral outrage and a sense of moral injustice. Perhaps, you do not have this notion; you are like the old man, a moral bankrupt!

Your so-called ‘Alleviation’ is simply a figment of imagination of your thoroughly corrupt mind and is an insult to thinking Singaporeans. Your shameless ignorance of the appalling statistics as regards the meagre, one could say almost worthless help of the few for political purposes and even political theatre  is symptomatic of the ethical bankruptcy of people like you.  It makes one grimace to think also of the humiliation these ‘lucky ones’ have to go through to put a hand out for what is obviously less than adequate assistance. Perhaps, you do not believe in Karma; but LKY is beginning to see the first of it in his family.

Many Singaporeans and  I mean millions have believed in LKY and have toiled and sweated with him to make Singapore what it is. In the process, many have fallen through the cracks for reasons not of their own making. But what is heartbreaking is to see the wicked man betrayed them all by ignoring their plights and instead rewarded himself, his family and his cronies by corruption redefined by legal means. This is not the Singapore that the many others have made sacrifices for; like taking lower wages and accepting less than ideal conditions, in earlier days for the sake of nation building. LKY  and friends may seem the only ones to make it, albeit through oppression. It’s also a fact that he and friends cannot take it with them. However, their descendants if there should be a revolutionary change would bear the blunt of retribution. Many are already preparing to abscond.

Creating such a slave-master situation for a nation is not exactly an accomplishment given the great boast of LKY that he has brought Singapore to a first world order. Compared to the real democratic states of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philipines, South Korea, Japan and Cambodia even, Singapore is simply a lesser world however much you may boast of its GNP.  It is officially the country which has the highest GINI co-efficient in the world which really means that the people at the top have stole it all. In terms of oppression of its people, it compares the worst among the countries just mentioned and what a shame! You may flaunt your money but they know it’s a sham to cover up the inadequacy of a lesser people. The lowest peasant in Indonesia has today a freer and better life than a bird-caged Singaporean, his HDB flat, a mere economic prison.

Whilst guys like you believe in conning the uniniated, many young Singaporeans today are tertiary educated, have travelled and unlike their parents are capable of walking with their feet. With the core of the educated middle class leaving what you are left with are mostly the less productive and the mass of generally unskilled foreign labourers; poor English speakers who would be unable to grasp the future of new technology essential for productivity growth. You may continue to pump up the GNP or GDP with these foreign trash so that the Ministers and others can benefit from their obscene bonuses tied to these figures but your productivity decline is ensured without any scope for recovery. Off course the Ministers and  such like would be long gone with their ill-gotten gains when Singapore collapse together with irks like you leaving others to take the shit. The latter would begin with the old man’s death or the failure of the IRs, a last desperate effort by LKY’s inept son to prop up what is unsupportable. Both events would take visibility soon! Lee Hsien Loong has done notthing for Singapore except reaped the reward of being his father’s son. His wife who controls the nation’s accumulated wealth is unqualified and is in fact an economic profligate! And you call this ‘a first world nation’! Better wake up from your la-la land; the dream is about to end!