<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>May 27, 2009
POLITICAL CHANGE
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>All for it, but one constant to aim for
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LET me add another principle - political robustness - to the three outlined in Monday's report, 'SM Goh on 3 principles guiding changes to political system'.
Our political system should accommodate changes if and when Singapore shifts from a dominant one-party system.
Mao Zedong left communist China with a 'perpetual dictatorship', which leaves its people at the mercy of his successors, be they good or bad.
Millions had suffered and thousands died during the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976), and yet, the Chinese people had to live with the regime.
Likewise, voices for change to the political system 20 years ago at Tiananmen Square ended with the decision by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to send in the army to restore order at the cost of lives.
One of modern China's most prominent writers, Lu Xun, said: 'In China many lives had to be lost in order to shift a few tables and chairs.' Such was the immense immaturity and lack of robustness of the Chinese political system.
The Australian general election two years ago not only saw the defeat of the long-ruling Liberal-National Coalition, but the parliamentary ouster of its long-serving incumbent Prime Minister John Howard who lost his seat. But life and economic progress went on unscathed in Australia. The Australian scenario is probably unimaginable in the context of Singapore. The People's Action Party (PAP) has dominated Parliament in Singapore since independence in 1965 and is unassailable now with 80 Members of Parliament in an 82-seat House.
While Singapore's political system is unlike China's one-party communist rule, we have an essentially dominant democratic one-party system, in which the Government dominates many facets of society.
So, the point is that it should not matter which party forms the government. What is important is that people should be able to carry on with their lives securely and progressively regardless of political changes.
Poh Lee Heng
POLITICAL CHANGE
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>All for it, but one constant to aim for
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LET me add another principle - political robustness - to the three outlined in Monday's report, 'SM Goh on 3 principles guiding changes to political system'.
Our political system should accommodate changes if and when Singapore shifts from a dominant one-party system.
Mao Zedong left communist China with a 'perpetual dictatorship', which leaves its people at the mercy of his successors, be they good or bad.
Millions had suffered and thousands died during the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976), and yet, the Chinese people had to live with the regime.
Likewise, voices for change to the political system 20 years ago at Tiananmen Square ended with the decision by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to send in the army to restore order at the cost of lives.
One of modern China's most prominent writers, Lu Xun, said: 'In China many lives had to be lost in order to shift a few tables and chairs.' Such was the immense immaturity and lack of robustness of the Chinese political system.
The Australian general election two years ago not only saw the defeat of the long-ruling Liberal-National Coalition, but the parliamentary ouster of its long-serving incumbent Prime Minister John Howard who lost his seat. But life and economic progress went on unscathed in Australia. The Australian scenario is probably unimaginable in the context of Singapore. The People's Action Party (PAP) has dominated Parliament in Singapore since independence in 1965 and is unassailable now with 80 Members of Parliament in an 82-seat House.
While Singapore's political system is unlike China's one-party communist rule, we have an essentially dominant democratic one-party system, in which the Government dominates many facets of society.
So, the point is that it should not matter which party forms the government. What is important is that people should be able to carry on with their lives securely and progressively regardless of political changes.
Poh Lee Heng
