Tag: elections

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Two is enough?

It was as exciting as Singapore politics could get.

My eyes were glued on Channel News Asia for live coverage of the elections.

Results were announced from a central location – the Elections Department – while party supporters assembled in pre-allocated areas.

I thought this took out the fun of getting the results right in the constituency where seats were being contested. In the past, as the results were being read out, you could hear the crowds behind the camera cheering as they knew from the numbers who had won. Continue reading “Two is enough?”

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In the heat of the night

I could not decide, it was the last day of campaigning, the last of the rallies. It was a hard choice between Workers’ Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance where they were speaking in Serangoon Stadium (Aljunied GRC) and Potong Pasir (Potong Pasir SMC) respectively.

Why I wanted to attend the WP rally? Get better pictures. Hear what they had to say because I’d left early in the other one. Why I wanted to attend the SDA rally? I wanted to see what kind of support Chiam See Tong still has at Potong Pasir. Continue reading “In the heat of the night”

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Soggy shoes and smelly socks

Since the Workers’ Party rallies have been the hottest around, I thought I’d soak up some action tonight.

Unfortunately, being so hot, arriving any time after 8pm is pointless. The crowd was so thick, it was hard trying to get to the front.
Furthermore, the field out in Yishun next to the Polyclinic was so poorly lit, I could not get many decent pictures.

To make matters worse, the ground was soggy and wet, I dropped my camera cap when I was changing lenses. It was absolutely madness.

Being short doesn’t help. Putting my camera above my head was also useless because I was just too far away.

I left after half an hour, as the sound was bad too.

Nevertheless, here are some pictures of the crowd that spilled out beyond the field.

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Ivory Towels

How stupid can I be? I want to document the election fever with pictures. But what good is that intention when one forgets to put batteries in one’s camera? Luckily I got my MP3 player with me and recorded the moods and sounds of the SDP rally.

For at least one third of the rally, it was drizzling away. Yet most people there did without umbrella.

My overall impression is that this Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) rally at the Woodlands Stadium was better attended than the SDA one at Yio Chu Kang Stadium the previous night.

However, I felt the audience was more vocal, less polite and also more distracted. There were many more people having personal discussions, or talking on their mobile phones while speakers were on stage trying to make their points. I say less polite because there were several instances of “PAP bullshit!” being yelled out. Continue reading “Ivory Towels”

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Enough on Gomez already

Okay, yes, I know. It sounds like Gomez is a mess when it comes to paperwork. He’s already apologised for the mistake. Can the PAP stop going on and on and trying to milk everything out of this?

PM Goh says that the PAP has got a track record. Fine. Then let the track record speak for itself.

Surely the PAP doesn’t have to bend so low and ridicule every single one of the opposition. Are they so unsure of their footing in this GE?

Then again, when you buy a unit trust, they always put in fine print that historical performance does not guarantee future performance. Buyers of unit trusts should consider other factors and not base their decision on historical performance..

Is voting for the PAP like buying unit trusts?

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God Bless You Mr Chiam!

On Sunday, the last day of April 2006, I decided to visit the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) rally to find out what Yip Yew Weng (Yio Chu Kang, single seat) had to say.

I have only been to one rally before, in the previous general election. That day, many years ago, it also rained. So I learnt my lesson. I would wear slippers.

Muddy soggy grass, but people still turned up. Luckily, there was no rain, not even a drizzle.

The SDA did not raise many new issues – most were pertaining to bread and butter issues – the cost of living, medical expenses and upgrading.

Theoretically, all this made sense. However, it was only amongst the people that I go a sense of what this really meant. It wasn’t so much what people said, but it was just a sense from their cheers or jeers. Continue reading “God Bless You Mr Chiam!”

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Tick for affordable health care

Just saw the “How to Vote” video on TV.

In my previous post I said that I’ll be putting a tick for whom I’m voting.

Turns out that’s a sure fire way to spoil my vote.

Why you put a cross confounds me. As far as I know a cross is a mistake. Now if a cross is a good thing, I should’ve gotten A’s in school.

Before the “How to Vote” video, there were the official party broadcasts. Each party puts up a representative who gets a chance to have their say on TV.

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) got something like 2 minutes, Workers’ Party (WP) and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) got 10 minutes or so, People’s Action Party (PAP) got 20 minutes. The time allotted is based on the number of candidates fielded in this elections.

Now, these party broadcasts always make candidates look terrible. There’s never been a party broadcast that I thought, “my this man/woman is handsome/pretty, he/she has my vote”. Continue reading “Tick for affordable health care”

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Looking in all the wrong places…

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. Continue reading “Looking in all the wrong places…”