Singapore will go to the polls on May 7 with a battered opposition hoping it can make some kind of dent in the overwhelming dominance of the People's Action Party, which has led the country since 1959. The Straits Times, Singapore's flagship newspaper, which assiduously toes the government line, has called the race a "defining election," implying that for the first time since full independence in 1965 the fragmented and largely oppressed opposition might actually pick up a significant minority in the parliament. It is difficult to figure out what the true picture is, since the government has outlawed polling.