Singaporeans voted today, and more Singaporeans voted for the PAP than voted for the alternative parties. Much as I am delighted that WP won Hougang and Aljunied, I have to admit that I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed about the results. I had hoped for more opposition seats, more checks on the government, more alternative voices to make sure that the PAP listen to the people, and to keep the PAP on their toes. But I guess you can’t always get what you want.
So this is it. We have no Vincent Wijeysingha, no CHIAM SEE TONG, no George Yeo even.
Instead, we have Vivian Balakrishnan, Wong Kan Seng and most outrageous of all, TIN PEI LING.
I find it hard to believe that there are people who haven’t yet realised how we’ve been seriously f**ked by the GRC system. But that’s not the point of this post.
Some of you might have voted for the PAP because of their track record. Some of you might have voted for PAP because you don’t really care about politics, and don’t see a need for the status quo to change. Some of you might have voted for the PAP because you were moved by Lee Hsien Loong’s apology and the humility they have shown in the last few days. Some of you might have voted for the PAP because you want to give them another chance to do better.
For all our sakes, I hope you are right.
I hope that the PAP was sincere with their apologies and promises to do better. I hope that they will not go right back to their old ways once they return to Parliament and government. I hope that they will use their 2/3 majority responsibly, and not just bulldoze through any policy they see fit without caring about the views and opinions of the people they are supposed to represent. I hope that they will remember that they are our servants, not our masters.
I hope the PAP will not forget the homeless, people who have fallen on hard times or who face problems they cannot surmount without support from the government. I hope you will not forget them too.
I hope the PAP will not forget the elderly toiling away till the day they die, because they cannot afford to retire, or cannot withdraw their CPF. I hope you will not forget them too.
I hope the PAP will not forget the voices who have been silenced, just because they tell a different story from the PAP story. I hope you will not forget them too.
I hope the PAP will not forget that they represent all Singaporeans, not just the ones who voted for them. I hope you will not forget that too.
I hope the PAP will not forget that we are humans, not economic digits. I hope you will not forget that too.
I hope that Singapore will be better, like the PAP said it would as they turned from arrogance to humility. I hope they don’t turn back.
I hope you will not regret your decision, or “repent”. I hope you will never feel the need to sit in a kopitiam and complain about the government and how things are going downhill.
Because if you do, the sad truth is that you will only have yourself to blame.
ed
May 8, 2011
I went with pap because of the racial bias, arrogance, and xenophobia of the opposition. To let the opposition in before they even attempt a modicum of bothering to do something about the aforementioned would be to simply validate their stance. It was clear that the opposition, in their populist attempt to include all dissenters, were careful not to marginalise the racist, racially biased, and xenophobic vote. That isn’t much of an alternative is it now.
If we fail to check on our saviours, then better the devil so that saviours might validate their claim with more effort to be an alternative to the latter than its product. If you people haven’t turned xenophobia, racism and self-absorption into ‘culture’, you would realise these things mate. But then again, I get my political and multiculturally egalitarian insights from the UK, so what do i know. You people wouldn’t know what an ‘alternative’ and egalitarian party/perspective is even if it bit you on the prostate. For goodness sakes.
harishpillay
May 8, 2011
I would agree that some of the parties did exhibit “racial bias, arrogance, and xenophobia”. But to me, it was not so much the devil I know as opposted to the one I don’t. It has to do with giving an alternate voice a chance. A chance at maturing. Otherwise we will still see the “racial bias, arrogance, and xenophobia” that you allude to.
jo
May 8, 2011
Seems like you are insinuating those who voted for the PAP are uncaring and stupid as described in your post. Is that fair? My opinion is that the opposition simply failed to win them over as they failed for me. (I’m from amk grc)
If you want opposition to be the checks on the government, then you still are in support of the PAP to form the government. I have a different perspective on the purposes of my vote – I vote FOR the government…vote for who I want to be in the government, not just the opposition / alternate voices for the sake of it. I also look at the ideologies the put forth, and other than WP, I disagree with the ideologies the rest of the opposition parties have. WP didn’t contest in my area so my vote went to the PAP.
Besides, the PAP did an excellent job in my constituency, so I am well satisfied of their ability to serve me. Compared to the RP who never showed up, how could I vote for such lousy caliber?
I know of a PPasir resident who said she would move out of there if PAP loses as her house price has remained stagnant all these years. And Chiam See Tong had failed to put in a proper plan for continuity that gave voters the confidence.
No doubt I dislike TPL but she was meant to be a back-bencher anyway and will not last the 5 years given her mistakes. It is those potential minister candidates like Chan Chun Sing who I did not like – but he was not contested. In fact little attention was put on his poor personality because TPL was an excellent distraction.
Different people view their votes and use their votes for different purposes. Some vote for the party, some vote for the candidates, some vote for the ideology, some vote for the opposition just for the sake of it, some vote for municipal issues. Each person’s experience with the party is also unique.I hope that everyone’s choice can be respected.
After all, our objective in the voting is the same – for a better life and a better Singapore.
kirsten
May 8, 2011
It was, and is, not my intention to say that those who voted for PAP are uncaring or stupid. If that was the sense you got from this post, I apologise. I wrote this post after having gone with very little sleep in the past 9 days, working hard in support of alternative voices, and suddenly being called in as an emergency counting agent, so perhaps my tone was more acerbic than I really intended. So if you felt that you were being labelled stupid, I again would assure you that this was not the point of the exercise, and apologise mistakenly giving that impression.
I do not dispute that the contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC was pretty limp. I’m from West Coast myself, the other RP constituency, and I also agree with you that they did not put forth the strongest contest to the PAP’s hold on power here. I cannot dispute that, nor say that I was surprised RP lost, even though I voted for them anyway because I felt that even though they lacked EQ they were sincere in their desire to serve and would do so to the best of their ability even if they somehow made it to Parliament.
I saw the about-turn the PAP made in the final few days of the campaign, and doubted the sincerity of it. Yet I met and knew people who decided to vote for PAP because of this about-turn and promises to do better. And so I wrote this post reminding them (and the voters) of the homeless, the elderly and the silenced, as these are the people I have met in my personal experience as a volunteer who I feel have been neglected, and will continue to be neglected, by the PAP. I can only hope that the about-turn was sincere after all, and that these people will not be forgotten again.
I have also met many people who spend time complaining about the PAP, and yet on Polling Day voted for the PAP. This makes no sense to me, and that’s why I said that I hope they will not regret their decision, because they only have themselves to blame.
I agree that everyone voted according to what they felt was best for Singapore. I hope now that we can continue to move forward towards a better government and a better country for ALL Singaporeans.
whitedusk
May 8, 2011
Unsurprisingly i hear people complaining about rising prices all the time. Can the govt do better? On hindsight its always a yes. Can the govt control the global oil and food prices? I dont think so.
Credit where credit is due. I hope singaporeans can be more mature in identifying areas where the ruling party is lacking and not pin-point every single problem they face. By complaining about everything it is hurting the credibility of their arguments.
Comments from a neutral point of view.
KM
May 8, 2011
In reply to whitedusk’s comment tat the govt can’t control global oil & food prices, u simply overlooked wat the govt CAN do. Think of all the rental costs tat are controlled by the govt, the medical costs, the transportation costs (for f**k sake, why does public transport companies need to make rising profits?), etc.
kirsten
May 8, 2011
Before you go about flaming “you people” here and “you people” there, I think you should realise that not every person who supported the alternative parties is a raging xenophobe, as you seem to want to believe.
There has been unhappiness with the xenophobic rhetoric of some opposition parties and candidates, and I can personally assure you that I know that such complaints and feedback have been sent to the parties and candidates. I sent some myself. In the second half of the campaigning I also saw some signs made by some candidates to move away from the xenophobic rhetoric – it might not have been quite enough, but it was good to see that feedback was taken onboard and that they were trying. It is an ongoing process and dialogue with the parties that we are hoping to all sort out together and learn from.
I find it strange that you seem to be saying that you are supporting egalitarianism when you’ve just voted for a party that is arrogant (much more so than the opposition), elitist and classist, and has also hugely contributed to the high level of income disparity in Singapore.
And sure, it’s very nice for you to have been to the UK before, but it doesn’t give you the right to talk about “you people” as if you are somehow better.
Qzact
May 8, 2011
I am pleased to say my area, which is Aljunied GRC, has done our part and voted in some alternative voices, however 6 – 81 is really poor odds. Sigh…
kirsten
May 8, 2011
Thank you Aljunied for giving Singapore an alternative voice!
harishpillay
May 8, 2011
hear, hear! Thanks you Singaporeans living in Aljunied. Your actions will help open up this country of ours to greater accountability.
Shawn Lim
May 8, 2011
I think we all know that change can’t happen overnight. It took 5 years for a GRC to fall. So I think patience is the key here.
I think we should look at it from another perspective. The overall votes for the PAP have fallen greatly and we now have 6 opposition members in Parliament, more to come if the best losers take up the NCMP offer.
Granted that they still don’t have the numbers to block or approve any policies. But this election, or for the past few elections, has always been about having an alternative voice in Parliament.
Now, we have 6 alternative voices in Parliament, not a lot, but it is a breakthrough. We should be thankful for this.
I feel that those who voted for the PAP are those from the older generation. The fear factor is still there. But the fear is slowly but steadily being eroded away, with many of the younger generation being eligible to vote.
I believe that there will be another breakthrough in 5 years time, when my generation gets to finally vote. Our forefathers feared the PAP, we don’t.
So again, patience is the key
R
May 8, 2011
“….But then again, I get my political and multiculturally egalitarian insights from the UK, so what do i know.”
so, you trying to say that your ‘multicultually egalitarian insights from UK’ are better than my singaporean views?
gtfo elitist brat.
michelle
May 8, 2011
I live in the UK and its ironic to get political and multiculturally egalitarian insights from the UK considering that BNP votes has increased in 2010, we just voted No for alternative votes and Cameron claiming that multi-culturalism has failed. If anything we are being democratic about being undemocratic.
Roger
May 8, 2011
PAP supporters do know that in almost every constituency, there are at least 40-49% opposition voters. And overall aggregate is 40% oppositions voters, so why in parliament of 87 seats, we are only represented by only 6 oppositions? Background noise? Wake up.
jazpy
May 9, 2011
Yes i agree!!!:)
jazpy
May 9, 2011
ahhaha… eh i think u have failed to consider that … we have no resources in Singapore…. transportation costs.. medical costs are all affected by global oil n food prices.. u in hospitals no need to eat? where we get our equipments from??? Y m i seeing so many singaporeans choosing to go pte hospitals when we have govt hospitals which received better subsidies from govt? go to the respective site of the hospitals to check out the prices… if u want better quality … u dun expect it to be very cheap rite? if our policies are really so lousy… Britain wont be moving towards ours… n be worried abt losing votes from their supporters….. govt know that healthcare costs is high.. thats y there is medisave in our CPF but.. citizens are still complaining abt the cpf.. imagine if we dun have cpf?
i went on a minor surgery for my toe sme time back.. n i did not even take out a singapore cent (cash) everything is deducted from medisave….for the lower income grp… every hospitals has their own medifund committee where they can apply for financial help….
Let's Move On
May 9, 2011
Singapore, it is time to move on. Votes have been cast, whether you like it or not, it is time to move on, work together for a better future. Now TPL has to prove her worth, if she cannot meet expectations, then all we can hope for is that the govt do something about it, don’t just say Sorry only. We can’t have govt keeps saying sorry and then do nothing about it and still get 8months of bonuses….time to review the salary scheme, if you screwed it up, you get no bonus for 5 years…..I understand from some civil servants, if you get a D for performance, YOU ARE SCREWED….no bonus, no promotion…..but MIW is different……pls review