Good governance without opposing tension?

Update: I brought this up as the continuing discussion in the comments section has been rather interesting.

Reader Richard Kelly, a former British army Captain who had been posted to what was then Malaya, asked me an interesting question via email. He had said,

You have mentioned that it is imperative to the cause of governance that there exists a strong opposition to ensure that a government remain "on it's toes". How is it that Singapore, a country which has virtually no strong opposition party, can be a good example of excellent government?

I found that to be an interesting question. In a 2001 interview with Fergus Bordewich for Readers Digest, Lee Kuan Yew had once said that the only way for Singapore to be a two party country is if PAP broke into two.

What do you think of Captain Kelly's question? (From Brand New Malaysia)

S'pore strong gov't lies in its foundation, namely LKY, who is an upstanding individual to begin with...he established a gov't that is accountable and responsible, he gather like-minded individuals that share that same vision...having a small country w/o much resources, the gov't must be strict in its adminstration...look at Taiwan and HK...hence, any decisions and actions will have be carefully planned out.

S'pore then and now cannot effort to have an opposition, things must be done quickly and decisively, LKY knows that he is doing the right thing and the ppl there knows that he is making the right decision. Having an opposition will hamper and waste precious time over debates and decisions is slowed down with checks and balances. Thus far, his actions proved right and he has successfully guided a nation to a first world status, had there be opposition, the country will not be like what it is today.

However, having said that, I can't comment intelligently about s'pore good governance, but the int' preception indicates that the country does have strong governance. S'pore is still run by its founding leader LKY and now LSL, it remains to be seen if this system can withstand the test of time....what happens after LSL? S'pore is an autocratic gov't not democratic...BUT it works for now.

Political and gov't systems is a dynamic creature and cannot be applied straight out of the books..it must suit the conditions at that time, the people, the culture, geography, social conditions...there is no such thing as pure democracy or pure communism, look at China, what works in S'pore might not work in Thailand or in the UK.