The PAP has kept Opp politics out of parliament since 1963 when the Barisan Sosialis walked out and took the struggle to the streets. Since then it has enjoyed nearly 50 years of peace and tranquility and pushed many unpopular Bills without any dissent like a juggernaut thru Parliament. Finally, much against its will, the electorate returned 6 full Opp MPs into parliament, and in its first sitting, everyone of these MPs gave a sterling performance in their maiden speeches. The quality of their speeches made the PAP MPs pale in comparison, and they tried in vain to redeem themselves with rather lame statements.
So now the govt wants to 'fix' the Opp by challenging them to cooperate and discuss serious issues, and not criticise. This is another attemot to silence them because the PAP knows that since they are not in power, the Opp MPs can hardly get any policies implemented. And by making them 'solve' problems which the PAP has caused, it aims to tie them down and keep them busy with sums and riddles instead of harassing them like bees in a bonnet.