Opposition politicians for national conversation if some changes made

Several opposition politicians have indicated their willingness to participate in the national conversation, but said they wanted to see some changes in how it is being conducted.

For a start, they said, the "climate of fear" should be removed, along with "groupthink". They also wanted more access to information, and called for laws facilitating the freedom of information.

The national conversation was one of the main topics that came up at a forum held by the National University of Singapore Students' Political Association on Wednesday night. Dubbed a "Top Guns" session, it was meant to give undergraduates a chance to interact with politicians from the main political parties in Singapore.

These included: MPs Indranee Rajah and Edwin Tong from the People's Action Party; Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong from the Workers' Party; Ms Hazel Poa from the National Solidarity Party (NSP); Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam from the Reform Party (RP); and Dr James Gomez from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) .