The first step is to promote a responsible and courteous political culture, but there are potential yet greater goals.  ,
The democratic system of Singapore has a lot of familiar problems. Every member only has one vote to show their preference for local government, city council management, satisfaction with the ruling party’s performance, or anything else.  ,  ,  ,
Additionally, the first-past-the-post method results in a zero-sum competition where one group’s gain is another’s loss.
In such situations, there is every opportunity for the ruling celebration to distance itself from opposing party ideas, even if they are sound people, so as not to allow the opposition take credit for them.
Imagine a different scenario where the legislation space is constrained, the contest of ideas grows, and great initiatives are welcomed by all colors with credit reciprocated. For a society do use all of the people’s thoughts and energy for the common good.
This situation is not conceivable in the slightest way. Singapore’s distinctive tripartite agreement, which is referred to as the” secret soup” of harmonious industrial relations, demonstrates how traditional competing objectives may be transcended to achieve win-win outcomes.
Similar to this, it is plausible, though certainly not simple, for Singapore to develop an amazing style of politics that would give it a distinct competitive advantage in a tumultuous world.
Terence Ho is Associate Professor ( Practice ) at the Singapore University of Social Sciences ‘ Institute for Adult Learning. In addition to his book, Future-Ready Governance: Perspectives on Singapore and the World ( 2024 ), he is the author.