Constructive, fruitful debate among parties welcome

I refer to the letter “Besides being anti-PAP, why are opposition parties running?” (July 29).

Managing town councils is only part of governing a constituency as a whole, but what is most important is that anyone who looks after public monies must be free from corruption.

As a dominant-party system, we could learn lessons from the history of the Kuomintang in Taiwan and the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. Supporters of the dominant party tend to argue that their party is doing a great job, while brushing off opposition parties as having unrealistic proposals.

In Singapore, however, we have witnessed that our Government has learnt from the last General Election.

Ministers and Members of Parliament have been walking the ground more and listening out for feedback themselves, rather than simply gathering information from their respective Residents’ Committee leaders and volunteers.

Singapore is fortunate that elections are not contested on race or religion, for that would surely cause societal unrest. Our Group Representation Constituency system continues to ensure a racial mix of candidates.

That said, some opposition parties have the interests of Singaporeans at heart; it is not necessary to cast all of them as merely all-out anti-People’s Action Party.

A party that surfaces opinions gleaned from citizens can offer the Government another perspective on policies.

Singaporeans would welcome good, constructive and fruitful debates among our representatives and potential ones, especially during the election period.