One question that is frequently raised in blogs and coffeeshop discussions is: will PAP break up one day? But even if there is no break up, any large political grouping is bound to have factions; these need not be well organized and funded like the Japanese parliamentary groups, but merely represent different opinions on certain major issues. For PAP, one major issue must be: who will succeed LHL as prime minister? In the current scheme of things, Teo Chee Hian seems the obvious choice - he is already Deputy Prime Minister and Assistant Secretary General of PAP, and given his silver spoon family and scholastic background, his career trajectory naturally projects him upwards as long as he makes no mistakes, and he has carefully made none, always saying things that are party and government conventions that would make no waves and cause no trouble. (In contrast, George Yeo, also with an armed forces background, is much more inclined towards independent thinking and speaking, to the extent of ruling himself out as a presidential candidate because of his love for freedom)

Given his conventionality, Teo Chee Hian is particularly suited to fulfil a role similar to that of Goh Chok Tong from 1990 to 2004. From this perspective, the defeat of George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua in 2011 Aljunied election is quite convenient - it allows more of the newcomers to come into cabinet to fill the additional vacancies, thus allowing the future leadership to make fresh choices of personnel more in tune with future needs.