[jpatokal]

Oh, I actually agree with most (but not all) of what you say. The Workers Party is the only viable opposition at the moment, but this is largely because they are very careful to "play by the rules" and not antagonize the Government too much.

What worries me, though, is that they are allowed to exist at the Government's forbearance. If they start to pose a real threat to the PAP's dominance, everything I've seen leads me to believe that the PAP will play dirty and strike them down as hard as is necessary. As said, I hope I'm wrong, but...

I'm also not sure I share your belief in Singapore voters being "no longer afraid". I've had Singaporeans tell me, entirely seriously, that they can't vote for the opposition because their votes are recorded and then they won't get government jobs.

[judyzhou]

You must have met ignorant ones amongst the population who have no inkling of how the system works here . I'm an opposition party campaigner in my 50s .. votes are secret... nobody will know. We have observers party from both sides throughout the whole process of balloting and counting till the results are announced and we can protest if there's peeking at particulars or foul play

[skinnylatte]

I think you'll see that this is not true anymore. 60% of Singapore did not vote for the opposition in 2011 because the majority of Singaporeans are afraid.

The PAP that you describe is no longer alive. It is one in which some of its top members are messaging me (a known volunteer for the opposition) and giggling with me over Amercians' perspectives of Singapore as seen on Hacker News.

[skinnylatte]

The other opposition parties are not viable because they are (1) terribly organized (2) run by personality cults --> both of these are traits which do not lend well to 'creating a better alternative'.

They can't even get a newsletter going without fighting about it -> level of disorganization and in-fighting.