SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan was a panellist with Minister Chan Chun Sing at the Institute of Policy Studies' annual Singapore Perspectives conference, which examines the public policy challenges facing the country. During the discussion, Associate Prof Tan asked Mr Chan for his views on the political system, which the former saw as one in which all eggs are put in one basket. He noted that key sectors like the trade unions are "very intimately tied to the ruling party", on top of raising the question of how would a “systematic collapse” in Singapore be prevented should the ruling party become incompetent or corrupt.