Will there ba a guarantee in the future that the PAP will remain as incorruptible and well organized as it is today, or least what it claims to be so?

Like what Gerald said, letting one party remain in unchallenged and undisputed power for too long is like putting all our eggs in one basket. No Plan B.

“If not, having one well organized, uncorrupted and good party would definitely be better than having several weak ones.”

I agree. But what will be even better is to have TWO well organized, uncorrupted parties that provide competition for each other. This way the people will be the ones who benefit.

The western democracy did not pop up out of the blue. They have experienced the consequence of unccheck tyrants and dictators and have adopted democracy to prevent such thing from happening again. No one will argue that PAP has served Singapore well thus far. Like Gerald quoted, past performance is no gurantee for future sucess. Unless Mr Lee can gurantee us that future PAP leaders will not be corrupt. An alternative qualified voice in still necessary in parlement.

Look at the US and the inept and antiquated Republican party, and the democratic party sometimes having to approve bad legislation just to wrestle support away from the republicans. If an effective and unwise opposition party comes into power, PAP might be forced to make decisions that are bad for the country but good for the PAP. (Lower income tax increase corporate tax, give more money to the people now by drawing on reserves etc)

I agree with Gerald that more parties might lead to a more stable government and country, but that is contingent on the assumption that the alternative party is as wise and well organized, if not more, than the PAP. If not, having one well organized, uncorrupted and good party would definitely be better than having several weak ones. (I think Taiwan, India and Japan are good examples of that.)

Singapore most probably , for the short term future, should have just 1 stronger or strong Alternative party to represent the silent population.

There should probably at least 100 other MP qualified potential candidates lying around somewhere in singapore. I think we can look at resumes from Monster.com or headhunting firms to confirm or get a clearer picture. But I strongly believe there must be many who qualify. These could be working as Accountants, Lawyers, CEOs, senior management. Based on this logic , Of course, there are more than 100. So, out of these, if at least 20 step forward, you have a potentially strong team.

The question now is whether to replace the incumbent Alternative party or to support it and beef it up.

Or have a new alternative party to ‘disrupt’ the incumbent alternatives. That means, win over their voters to support a new alternative party.

It seems clear that the wise thing for the ‘Alternative’ is to combine power. But then, only at last minute before the election will it be clear how the game will be played out.

But seriously at the moment, whatever the comments by TOC readers, generally with some kind of resentment, there is nothing we can seriously do about whatever is happening. Even if petition, there is no effect seen.

CHANGE happened all around us in 2008 alone. But we need to remind ourselves that Singapore is the most Unique place on earth.

regards
Selamat wong

A political party cannot spring up from nowhere and take over when PAP turns bad, etc…

It has to be around now to win elections, to learn the ropes, to act, to plan…

http://leelilian.blogspot.com/2008/11/pm-lee-says.html