I clearly remember the first time I voted back in the 2006 General Election. That day has been deeply etched in my mind not becos it was the first time I was voting but becos of the fooker I was with. Honestly, I didn't give two hoots about politics or my citizenship or the future of Singapore back then. All that mattered to me was that fooker. That polling day was the same day that marked the fourth year of the relationship and also the same day I found out that he was bedding his landlady.
Ok, off point. Enough of digression. Back to the topic of this year's General Election. I belong to the group of 'between 20 something to 30 something' that the ruling party was trying hard to reach out to. The same group that PM was rallying to at Raffles Place. This group of us make up a large percentage of voters for this year's GE. And this same group is one with opinion, voice and independent thots; one that would not be led blindly and would not go down without a fight. And one that lives, breathes, talk and criticize in this social media era - the current power tool that can make or break a person or an organization alike. So yes, my vote is sacred.
I woke up very early on polling day to vote and to avoid the late morning crowd. Even as I was walking towards the polling centre, I was still pretty much undecided on the party I was to vote for. Sure the ruling party had done some damages that were detrimental for many of us and we hated their unilateral way of handling matters concerning the country on the whole. But they too deserve some credit for building Singapore to what it is today. The question then becomes do I want to rock the solid foundation that had been laid in exchange for some rhetoric theories of opposition parties? Should I be on the white side or should I lend my vote so as to increase the chances of opposition having more seats in the Parliament?
Then I recalled the days leading up to this moment. Everywhere I went, people were discussing about GE. Many of whom were openly discussing who they were going to vote for. People in the hawker centres, coffeeshops, any place where people could gather. Even in the washroom I heard of this topic and how they were determined to vote for opposition and how the ruling party needs to 'learn their lesson'. Same thing was happening on the online platform, many are outrightly boo-ing the ruling party and posted about how they are of full support of the opposition parties.
I was still hesitant up to the moment when I was supposed to draw my 'X'. I would like to think that I did right by my constituency but beyond that I wasn't sure. There is a tinge of regret that made me wonder if I should have done otherwise.
Everyone were excited about this year's GE as this is one where all except one ward are contested. Those who didn't have a chance to vote previously have been given that chance to do so, e.g. Marine Parade residents. I was eager to know the results too. A few of us gathered as usual at UCS to watch and anticipate together. A lil sidebet was ongoing to keep the interest of those who weren't so keen.
I was rather surprised at the end results. Some GRCs which I thot would have been conquered by the opposition remain in the hands of the ruling party. As I mentioned earlier, all the conversations I heard from people on the streets convinced me that the ruling party would have lost more seats than it did becos none I heard ever said they would vote for them. Well, it eventually returned to Parliament with 81 out of 87 seats and the other 6 were taken by the opposition and only one party - the Workers' Party. And not forgetting a well-liked minister was lost as part of the collateral damage.
The results made me feel that Singaporeans are 'kiasu' after all. What happened to all the talks about voting for opposition? How did the ruling party ended up back in Parliament with most of the seats? After all the hype, this is the best support the opposition could get? Didn't the people say that they are going to beat the hoax/invisible threat of losing benefits that came as a result of voting for opposition? Then what happened?
Of cos the ruling party has their own die-hard supporters as well as the votes of the new citizens but I guess there are those who still believe in the invisible threat. By looking at it this way, I guess I could probably explain away the unexpected scores.
Anyhow, even though the ruling party garnered most seats but they returned with an overall much lower percentage at the end of the day. By this alone shows that there is much to learn from this watershed election especially for the ruling party. Some may say 6 seats are not enough while others may say it is a good lesson taught to the ruling party. I am more inclined to agree with the latter. Seems to me this is one jolting experience that had woke them up from the state of complacency. Time to hear us speak, Gar-men!!
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