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Comment by pirsquare | Hacker News Reader

Singaporean here - I don't think they are faked. It's just that we don't have strong opposition party. Many opposition parties here spent majority of their time complaining every single decision the government makes instead of making actual contribution to the society.

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Sometimes SNG expat here. Why exactly do you think that is?

Surely there is enough highly talented, smart people to have a crack at a political office that's been held for decades and of course an enthusiastic young generation who have lived under this system perhaps interested in a change? It's a country with one of the highest average IQ's on Earth and I'm always intrigued by the statement "no viable opposition". There's definitely a viable everything else in the nation, wondering why politics is so different. It's an amazing place to live from my Australian perspective.

I'd argue that everyone couldn't care less given the history and are fine with the system as exists. Which seems to backed up by a lot of elections.

My theory is people who want to join politics, do it for power, for money, for status. Put yourself in their shoes, which party would you affiliate with to set yourself up? PAP also have an extensive network of grassroot organizations to recruit any young talents who want to join. It's very hard to change the status quo unless PAP leadership makes a series of catastrophic mistakes.

> My theory is people who want to join politics, do it for power, for money, for status. Put yourself in their shoes, which party would you affiliate with to set yourself up?

Not all political candidates seek power, money, or status.

Some might just want parliament to be more diverse than one party making up more than two-thirds of it, and having the power to push through constitutional changes any time they want.

Aspiring politicians who join the PAP hoping to steer it from within probably haven't thought about how they're subject to the party whip [1], and how nobody has disobeyed the whip since Tan Cheng Bock.

[1] https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/explainer-what-does-wh...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Cheng_Bock#Nominated_Membe...

It's sort of a Catch-22 but worse. No one good joins the opposition parties because they don't stand a chance of winning, and the opposition parties don't stand a chance of winning because no one good joins them. Even if the opposition parties were suddenly magically packed full of talent one year, the PAP still has the senior vote, track record, civil servant connections, and actual governing experience for Singapore that none of the opposition could possibly have. Singaporeans don't elect on ideals and promises for change, they elect on feelings of stability and security. The only way I can see an opposition party putting up real competition and having a chance at attaining a majority in parliament is if a quarter to half of the PAP schisms and joins the WP, which isn't likely.

> Many opposition parties here spent majority of their time complaining every single decision the government makes instead of making actual contribution to the society.

What would you consider "actual contribution to the society"? Any chance you could give examples of some things you would like to see opposition candidates do?

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