Saturday, May 06, 2006
Why PAP always wins
I'm proud to say that I've been most active during the election campaign period this year. And as Priscilla puts it so simply yet nicely: "What an experience."Yes, what an experience. And today Singapore will decide whether or not PAP retains its strong mandate. Like duh, they will. I have learnt so much during the rallies that my friends and I have devotedly kept up with.
Firstly, politics in Singapore is highly simplistic and down to earth. All that hype about some in-depth philosophical, abstract, thought-provoking speech was a fluke. The rallies were highly pragmatic and simplistic. Every single candidate spoke in an active voice (salute to those who had such consiousness) or broken English. And by that I'm referring to the opposition candidates. I did not attend a single PAP rally. The issues were highly repetitive; unemployment, upgrading, increasing costs of living, lifts etc. I was kind of shock when I heard these issues. To me, there's no substance in such issues. They're so damned superficial and simplistic, but yet, bulk of the Singaporeans who attended these rallies were so drawn into such speeches.
The tension of the groups varied greatly. Surprisingly, albeit the massive gargantuan crowd in the rallies of Worker's Party, the crowd was especially civilised (at least for Ang Mo Kio) and not the hardliners I saw at Potong Pasir. It isn't hard to decipher why Chiam has retained his seat for 22 years consecutively; the people in Potong Pasir are extremely upset and grieved. They are brave, courageous, and speak out without any single sign of hesitation. The grievances were heard loud and clear, and I was extremely moved by the problems they were facing. One imemediately finds the connecting click that bonds the simplistic speeches of unemployment and whatnot to these people. Reason is simple; these are the things that majority of them want to hear. Unfortunately, I am but the minority. Nevermind that.
Second thing that caught my attention was once again the content of the speeches. Some outstanding candidates were especially apt at bringing out the fire in the crowds. They raised provoking questions, and questioned the promises made by PAP. Yes, criticisms were heard. But at the end of the day, the opposition has failed to do the very thing that PAP is best at doing - That is coming up with alternative solutions that are BETTER than that of those that they are crisiticising. This is once again, the bloody fucking poison in Singaporeans, EVEN in opposition.
You know, all we know how to do is to complain and complain all day. And at the end of it all, we either don't do anything about it, or for the case of opposition, do something about it but the level of action just stops there; at DOING SOMETHING. Well, what is 'something' to you? Apparently, from what I see, 'doing something' to them is merely criticising. Yes, you've come up with SOME alternatives. But to me, the alternatives range from giving money to the people, or providing them with abalone porridge, more progressive packages, or even minimum wage. Such policies, or should I say cheap-tricks, are absurd. Such stupid tactics only play up the feelings of Singaporeans, but at the end of the day, while you're in the toilet shitting out all your abalone and shark's fin, you realise these policies never work. Remember, you're all manure, geddit.
Before you call me a fervent supporter of PAP or the government, I'd say shut up and think about it. Firstly, if you have not been to any rallies, you don't deserve to speak at all. Secondly, if you have been to the rallies, but am just opposing for the sake of opposing (like many opposition candidates are doing), then you still don't deserve to speak at all. I acknowledge that the PAP has it's shortcomings, but think about it. Can any opposition party challenge up to the PAP at status quo? Even if we give them control of the parliament or government, I don't think anyone of them can run it well, maybe, with the exception of Worker's Party.
I'm particularly disgusted by candidates who cannot converse well in English. This directly links to the opposition candidates pathetic qualifications. Most are in the business world, as opposed to lawyers, doctors from the PAP. This is one area the Worker's Party trascends in. Looking at James Gomez's track record, it's a no wonder why he's such a threat. When I was at the Macpherson rally by SDA sometime earlier this week. Honestly, Sin Kek Tong was pathetic. Nevermind the lame jokes about 'MADpherson', his whole package just appears to me as somebody who's very gung-ho and practically zero charisma. I almost fell asleep standing. To me, he has no substance. But than opponents of this viewpoint would say that, even if you have somebody who can speak very well, he/she may not be very competent. I'm like hello? If you can't even speak well, you won't garner the support of people and thus win a single seat, much less even get a CHANCE to show the people that you are capable. The PAP has thrashed the opposition in this aspect. The candidaes are MULTI-LINGUEL my god... Malay, Mandarin, English, Hokkien by the same person, and FLUENTLY mind you. The message is clear - You MUST speak well to be a successful politician. Else, get the fuck off and run your businesses.
Third observation - It appears to me that most, or maybe all the candidates are married and have children. Haha, I'd leave you to decide what that means.
All in all, despite my very stinging comments about the opposition. I applaud the opposition for the courage they not only possess, but able to bring out in probing grey areas of Singapore politics. I don't think there's anything more than the burning desire to server the people that these people have in mind. You know, such are the people we need in CJC Student Council. We don't need super hot or popular idiots who go into the council and make a fool of themselves during Teacher's Day celebrations or whatnot. We need people who really want to serve the students, geddit? However, the opposition has to have more conCrete alternatives. Maybe then we'll see a shift. But from the way things are progressing, doubt it'll happen.
posted@12:52 PM