Singapore has the shortest election campaign of 9 days, including a day for "cooling off", compared with around 40 days for the UK, 180 days for the Philippines, and more than a year for the US (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-08/quirks-of-singapore-s-elections). No, I don't think this is proportional to the size of the country,but the strength of the opposition. 8 days were more than enough for the various parties to harp over the same issues (mismanagement of constituency funds, CPF, election protocols) and towards the end, launch into unfounded personal attacks. In Singapore, there is yet an opposition party which can match the incumbent Peoples' Action Party (PAP) in size, strength, and resources...but we are getting there.
From the various campaigns and my observations of what has happened, the following are my takeaways for the incoming government:
1) Be forward looking -
Do not plan without ensuring that there is support to put the plans in place. Do not tell your people you will squeeze 6.9m of them into the country without ensuring there is adequate infrastructure (especially transport and healthcare) to support their needs. This will only lead to widespread discontentment and resentment, especially in the age of Social Media where every incident spreads like wildfire. Do not forge ahead only to walk into a sinkhole.
Succession planning is critical too. Let us know who is taking us forward and why. Hopefully, someone with a different surname.
2) Ask for consensus -
Let your people know you value their opinions, that you are not this iron-fisted autocrat; because times have changed: a highly educated populace will not put up with this.
3) Transparency -
The controversy surrounding the 2 state funds, GIC and Temasek arose because people didn't know what was happening with them. Where the money went, where it came from, and how much is made or lost. We get vague and inconsistent results such as 10 year, 20 year returns or whichever paints a better picture. Give us an annual breakdown of fund inflows, outflows and performance, in good times AND bad.
This is my cow sense on what I hope the incoming government can take note of. A penny for your thoughts?
