Originally posted by ray245:Please, we can never know what singapore will be like if the PAP never gain any power...singapore can be in a worse state for all we know.
And even if people considered the PAP to be too authoritarian, even liberal westerners are not denying the fact that several of the PAP policies is a intelligent one...a 'dictatorship' that understand what needs to be done for the country.
Also, even the liberal minded french have a authoritarian leader who shaped the modern day france.
Charles de Gaulle, known as the 'just king' by many members of the french public, and is very well loved.
Being authoritarian itself isn't a bad thing, it is being authoritarian when you don't NEED to be authorian that is considered a bad thing.
After all, the direct opposite of authoritarian in Anarchism.
And by the way, the state of singapore's democractic culture is a very bad one. Almost all of the voters don't even fully understand why are they voting for a party other than I don't like the other one.
You got opposition supporters who support the opposition just because they think that anything bad = PAP, and don't even understand about the policy of the party they are voting for. Also, none of the supporters bother to think about how will a government under the opposition party be like...
Then you got the PAP supporters who thinks that everything good= PAP, who don't bother to understand if the PAP can do a much better job.
Singapore's democractic culture is sucks on both sides of the camp.
You are comparing an era in the 20th century, when WW2 ended a decade earlier and Communism was still rife. You might as well compare Authoritarianism with Dynastic Ching Empire.
Authorianism is what your I think is good for you as opposed Democracy where everybody thinks what is good for everybody and form a concensus. Can the intelligence of one surpass the intelligence of many? Can Einstein be as smart as Marie Curie, Ivan Pavlov, Myron Scholes, Robert Merton, et al?
Even if you are extremely intelligent, you can only be intelligent in your sphere of interest, like Physics for Einstein. You can never be at the epitome of excellence in Genetics, Architecture, Accountancy, Law, Computer Science, etc. So by succumbing ourselves to the rule of a single authoritarian is self deluding.
The State of Democracy here. Why do you think that we have lack lustre opposition candidates? It's the constant suppression of potential good opposition candidates by the ruling elites that brought us this plight. Threats of ISA, Defamation suits and now Sedition Acts. Only an unjust leader leads by fear, a moral leader like Ghandi lead by majority concensus.
What would a government under opposition be like? Please enlighten us. A more democratic process in parliaments? Where laws are passed with the concern of Singapore citizens in mind? Where there is fair and equal representation for the citizens? Where taxes of duties are not enacted just for the purpose of plundering from the citizens and enlarging state coffers (for the purpose of making bad investment decisions).
Originally posted by ray245:
There is a down side to having a major opposition as well...we must be careful NOT to follow certain countries like the US and taiwan, where the debate becomes a me vs you debate.
Times when a ruling or oppostion oppose each other just because you do not belong to my faction, instead of doing what is best for the country.
Why do you think that the US have such a hard time implementing policy dealing with global warming? Because the conservative parts of the country refuse to listen to global warming being a reality simply because the liberals told everyone that there is a thing called global warming.
Maybe the government should do the right thing and remove partisan politics, let the individual stand for candidacy based on their merits.
Originally posted by ray245:
Should we or should we not wait for a time when singapore can produce an opposition party capable of out-manauvering the PAP by their sheer ability and talent to do so, or should we throw the opposition into power without thinking if they can run the country better than the PAP?
After all, throwing in a party that may not run the country well may ensure that any future hope for a opposition will be extinguished. It could be possible for the people to be so pissed with a new party terrible running of the country, that it destroy any trust the people have in the opposition.
Should we think in the long term, or the short term?
A strong opposition will never happen with the constant suppression by the P4P. MM Lee said they don't help build strong opposition, but they seek to destroy all viable opposition for total dominance. Where will a strong opposition come from?
We should plan for the long term and vote in more opposition to enact changes to the constitution to favour democracy. It's for the long term interest of Singaporeans, no man can be as intelligent as a group of men.