Learning from a wise man, I was introduced to the concept of efficacy. Efficacy is the ability to produce a desired amount of an effect and is very different to the more commonly known concepts of effectiveness & efficiency. Efficacy calls for the doing of the ‘right thing’, at the ‘right time’, in the ‘right way’, with the ‘right motive’ and hence achieving the ‘right results’. Oppositional activism in Singapore is often questioned for its effectiveness and efficiency. There is much truth in such line of questioning. However it is more important to the cultivation of more efficacious activists, whom with the ‘right ideology’ and ‘right training’, will certainly do the ‘right thing’, at the ‘right time’, in the ‘right way’, with the ‘right motive and achieving the ‘right results’ for Singapore.With efficacy in place, effectiveness and efficiency falls in place automatically. Do you believe in the efficacy of opposition politics in Singapore? Email me at yawsl@wp.sg