PAP should give up some seats to ensure a strong majority

I AM surprised that some commentators expressed surprise at the big win by the People's Action Party (PAP) in this election. Two of my articles in FT Chinese and Caijing, published soon after the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew on March 23, had predicted that Singapore would have an early election, and that the PAP would win big.

My reasoning was simple. The overwhelming reaction of so many people to Mr Lee's death and the celebration of the golden anniversary of independence must have been very favourable to the governing party; moreover, despite some grievances, the government has done very well to fix some hot-button issues.

However, while we should not be surprised by the big win, no one could be 100 per cent certain that the PAP would be returned to government. Why?