It used to be that I was pretty keen on observing the elections. I remember staying up just to see the results. The night that black-faced Lee Hsien Loong blubbered that Singaporeans can’t have their bread buttered on both sides. Next to him, Goh Chok Tong sat, grave but collected. It was also the year that there was much vote re-counting as the PAP couldn’t believe the results. They had won. But not with the majority that they thought they’d get.
I think after that, more and more ministers (read: PAP) started doing more walkabouts and happily carrying resident’s babies.
I used to watch Parliamentary debates, as opposition leaders, struggling with their English, stood up to make points that came out so garbled, the other members of Parliament (read: PAP) would laugh and mock them.
The more the PAP mocked them, the more upset I got. Parliamentary debates were conducted but if it was mooted by the PAP, it was almost guaranteed to be passed.
So over the years, that interest petered out. I just couldn’t be bothered. When GRCs were created, I didn’t care. Ask me if I know who so-and-so is, and my answer will be “who?”
This year it’s different. I have to vote. I’m not even sure which ward I’m in, because the electoral boundaries have been redrawn. But all around me, the wards are being contested, so for sure, I’ll have to put a tick in a box.
I decided to take a look around and see if anything interesting is happening.
Armed with my camera and MP3 recorder, I thought I would capture the spirit of the election within heartland areas. I was ready to do my own walkabout.
I walked from Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 to 6 to 8 to 3 and other unknown streets and… there was nothing.
Okay, to be fair, I saw a truck decorated with PAP banners blasting PAP messages race across Avenue 3. In two seconds the truck was gone. And what did I hear of PAP’s message? Nothing. I didn’t even make out “Vote PAP”. I didn’t even get to lift my camera to my eye to snap a quick shot.
People were eating, shopping. Doing their own thing. If you walked through Ang Mo Kio Central without hitting the main roads, you would not realise there was an election going on.
The only white I saw were the white HSBC balloons given out to advertise that HSBC had come to Ang Mo Kio.
Unfortunately, the Worker’s Party was nowhere to be seen. Neither the PAP. (Fortunately for the WP) I wondered if the Worker’s Party (who have said they know they’re going to lose) decided that they weren’t going to try at all. Or if the PAP were so sure of winning here that they wouldn’t even be around.
At Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, there’s a PAP Education Centre. In here, I saw at least 10 PAP people in two rooms. One seemed to be filled with only ladies. They were huddled around a table. Planning something, one hoped. In the other room, some other men and an old guy who was working on a computer. But outside, no one at all.
Granted, the parties could have been in other parts of the GRC, but what a waste to put all your efforts in one section and have no significant presence in another.
I spoke to a shop owner in Ang Mo Kio, commenting on how nothing was going on. Her reply? “Lee Hsien Loong sure win what.”
I wish I had the guts to say, it’s not the winner. It’s the signal you’re sending out with your vote.
Sure the PAP is going to win. But are they going to win 90% of the vote? Or are they going to win 55% of the vote? Are we going to butter the PAP’s bread on both sides – a win and a strong majority – or are we going to let them win, but show them that we, the citizens of Singapore, are keeping an eye on PAP?
This is what the Worker’s Party challenge in Lee Hsien Loong’s Ang Mo Kio GRC is all about.
And the Worker’s Party should have been where I was. Where the HSBC balloons were being distributed. Where people seemingly can’t be bothered.
They don’t need to be in big groups. They don’t even need brochures. They don’t even need to wave flags around.
Just talk to people. To convince them why they should bother.
