📍🌏 Can Singapore Still Function Without the PAP?

📍🌏 Can Singapore Still Function Without the People’s Action Party (PAP)?

📍🌏 新加坡没有人民行动党还能运作吗？

A Matter of Longevity and Institutional Sustainability

这是关于国家长远发展与制度可持续性的问题

As Singapore heads into its next General Election, a familiar fear resurfaces:

❓ “What if the ruling party no longer wins a majority? Will Singapore collapse?”

随着新加坡即将举行下一届大选，一个熟悉的疑问再次浮现：

❓ “如果执政党失去了多数议席，新加坡会不会垮台？”

Let’s take a step back and consider this through the lens of longevity and institutional sustainability—core principles in both national governance and business resilience.

让我们换个角度，从国家长远稳定发展和制度可持续性来看这个问题——这不仅是国家治理的核心原则，也是一种企业韧性的体现。

🧭 Just as companies run business continuity exercises to simulate crises and validate that critical operations can withstand shocks, a healthy democracy must also stress-test its institutions.

🧭 就像企业会进行业务连续性演练以应对潜在风险并确保关键系统能够应对冲击，一个健康的民主制度也必须检验其制度体系的韧性。

📜 We must trust that the systems we’ve built—our civil service, judiciary, armed forces, and sovereign wealth managers—are resilient enough to operate regardless of political leadership.

📜 我们必须相信我们所建立的制度——包括公务员体系、司法机构、武装部队和主权财富管理者——具备不依赖政党领导的独立运作能力。

Government ≠ Party

政府 ≠ 政党

The government is not the ruling party. It is an enduring institution with frameworks designed for continuity and accountability, regardless of which party holds power.

政府不是执政党。 它是一个长期存在的制度性机构，无论哪个政党执政，都必须依据制度来确保延续性与问责机制的运作。

The President safeguards key reserves and appointments.

总统负责监管国家储备与关键任命。

GIC is a sovereign wealth fund managed independently from political parties.

GIC（政府投资公司）是一个与政党分离、独立运作的主权财富基金。

In contrast, Temasek Holdings, though professionally run, has long been perceived as closely aligned with the Lee family, especially during the tenure of Ho Ching.

相较之下，淡马锡控股虽然运作专业，但在何晶担任CEO期间，始终被认为与李氏家族有着密切联系。

Stability Comes From Systems, Not Slogans

真正的稳定来自制度，而非口号

If our institutions cannot be trusted to function under a different political configuration, then we should be concerned—not about opposition parties—but about our over-dependence on a single party.

如果我们的制度无法在不同政党执政下继续运作，那我们真正应担心的不是反对党，而是我们对单一政党的过度依赖。

💡 True sustainability lies not in resisting change but in preparing for it. No one runs a fire drill hoping for a fire—but we run it to stay ready.

💡 真正的可持续不是抗拒改变，而是主动迎接挑战并做好准备。没有人举办消防演习是为了真的火势，而是为了随时应对突发情况。

📚 Further Reading & References

📚 延伸阅读与参考资料

Politics of Singapore – Wikipedia

Government of Singapore – Wikipedia

President’s Discretionary Powers – ELD

GIC’s Santiago Principles – PDF

How GIC Invests

Temasek – Wikipedia

Temasek History – NLB

Who Manages Our Reserves – MOF

🔁 If we believe in the strength of our system, then we should never fear putting it to the test. That’s not rebellion—it’s resilience.

🔁 如果我们真正相信国家制度的坚韧，就不应惧怕对它的考验。这不是反叛，而是制度自信的体现。

Have faith in the systems that we built over the decades, so that new leadership can have a positive transition in a multi-polar world. The time to vote courageously is never as vital as now.

既然我们对几十年共同建立的制度有信心，新的国家领导层便能在多极化世界中顺利过渡。大家手中的一票从未这么神圣；勇敢投下关键一票的时机也从未如此重要。

This article is also published on LinkedIn. More interesting stories and articles can be found on marvinfoo.com’s blog section.

这则文章也发布在领英社交媒体。 想阅读有洞察力与新兴视野的文章，请点击此处链接marvinfoo.com 的博客页面。