Politics in Singapore

People who know me well would know that I am very interested in politics since secondary school. So why I have been so quiet over this period of time, when Singapore are selecting their next generation of leaders? Well, I have been observing quite a lot as this is my first election that I have experienced in Singapore since 1997 (I was not eligible to vote back then) and I have came up with several thoughts

1. The ruling party has done it again!
Remember Tang Liang Hong in 1997? I definitely did as I was staying in Cheng San in 1997 and the heat of the competition was really hot then. PAP attacked Mr Tang repeatedly and where is he now? Will Mr Gomez end up like him? With PAP repeatedly attacking him, it just show how worried PAP is in losing a GRC.

2. National or local issues
So what's this election all about? Whether who can negotiate FTAs or whether someone can upgrade your lifts for you? One day PAP is talking about upgrading and the next day they are changing to talk about "international issues". Pls make up your mind. Frankly, an election is always about local issues. An FTA will never affect the man in the street directly but a lift on his floor will.

3. Elitism
As PAP rolls out their slate of new candidates, how many of the potential MPs can really connect to the people? In fact, on the current batch of MPs how many are your people's MPs? I can frankly say only a few such as Ong Ah Heng, Tan Cheng Bock, Wong Kai Yuen. I have never seen my MP before and in fact when my parents went to seek help from him, he did not even meet my parents. That really make me pissed as he is now campaigning hard in my constituency. I have never seen him in 5 years! Why don't PAP choose people from the ground? I can understand that you need people with calibre to be Ministers but for the rest who will never hold a political office, why can't they be the grassroot leaders serving the community? Why get the CEOs, GMs, etc??

4. Unions
Singapore is one of the only place in the world when the "union leader" is appointed by the Cabinet and is a member of the cabinet. If a union leader gets elected to represent the workers in the Parliament, I have no qualms about it but when the leader is parachuted down from the government, it is really not right. How can the government (employer) and the union be the same person when it's a tripartite relationship?

5. Opinion Polls
For our press, it is really quite sad. Other than the odd commentaries, the press are really just reporting. There are no analysis involved and opinions being made on the campaigning trail so far. In fact, shouldn't the papers be going out in the streets to gather exit polls to get a feel on the ground? Thus most people are shocked if the opposition are ever voted in.

To conclude, this election is similar to previous years. PAP is digging up mud on opposition and the opposition are not really offering an alternate voice. BUT the one big difference is the power of the internet. Even though the press may give limited coverage to the whole campaigning, citizen reporters are there to blog on the situation on the ground. People's sentiments are being felt as they are more willing to listen and not pretend to be dumb. As an evidence of citizen's reporting, Refer to the all famous photo courtesy of yawning bread.

Everyone stay tuned on Saturday. I won't be surprised if a GRC falls.