Getting political

Hmm.. today they feature some 'youths' (i.e. in their thirties) being party of the youth arm of the opposition, Workers Party.

Sound very gung ho and enthusiastic. But it also sounds like there's a lot of talk and not quite enough maturity. It doesn't mean that if one can speak well, call for open debate, be outspoken, dares to challenge the system, one is an effective opposition.

That may be how politics in the States work. But in Singapore, no can do. It just sounds a little tired - like we're going through the cycle again, and people who speak out that way seems a little wet behind the ears. Because it's simply not how things are run here.

Just yesterday, someone was commenting in the papers(I'm paraphrasing) that Singapore may be souless (don't agree with that! but nevermind) but it's competent. What we want is a government which can get things done, not a 'spin machine', spending millions of campaign dollars simply to get votes. Sometimes, the results speak for itself. Lower crime rate, education, job rate, etc

It doesn't mean Singapore doesn't have an opposition. It just doesn't have an opposition in the common sense of the word. But I believe there are checks and balances in the system, various focus group to keep the political and executive machinery running efficiently.

I'm of the view that if one is not 'in the system', one would not know the problems and the day to day running of said system - and criticising it is not doing your part to help. Singapore is such an interesting political model because changes truely come from within.

And opposition is not external. Since Singapore was independent, talented opposition leaders (Tony Tan comes to mind) has been assimilated into 'the system'. And why not? Instead of making noise, be part of the system to effect change. That's how it works in Singapore. Play by the rules and you can get things done. Play outside the rules and you're out of the game.

If I had to give a name to the system here, it would be 'authoritarian democracy'. Quite an oxymoron in terms!

Actually, have you wondered why a democracy came about?

Well, we know the advantage of a democracy - to represent the majority interest.

But on the flip side, a democracy came about because of a negative - to prevent the abuse of power by an authoritarian figure. Interesting read if you traced the origins of democracy in Athens. (Empires rise and fall by the actions of a ruler).

For every Hitler, there was a Winston Churchill. Even the antithesis of democracy, communism failed, because it become a warped version of it's ideal. During the Stalinist regime, it became a personality cult. It has its own representation, in the form of an executive committee and before that, a party by the peoples. It failed, not so much in it's political structure but because it's politics and beliefs gave birth to a non-viable economic model. Equal distribution rather than capitalism.. selah.