1/07/2006

who will be the decider to swing votes for the pap?

i was reading the straits times this morning and reporter lydia lim in her article suggested that the older and most affected group during the economic restructuring would be the one to swing the votes for the pap. she was referring to the unemployed and not too well educated populace who would probably be so won over by the coming handouts from the govt. this will be the biggest irony that can happen. the group that suffered the most and bore the brunt of all the high wage and high price and high fee policies of the govt, will now blindly vote for the govt all for a little handouts. maybe lydia is right. this group isn't that knowledgeable, unthinking, easily moved by an immediate gain. but would the lower income group, including these deprived senior citizens really come to terms with their existing condition, when they were hard pressed by all the increases except their income, to be swayed to vote for the pap? would the knowledge that not only their income did not increase, but basic cost has also gone up in every area and eats into their little income remain a sore point in their minds? would the realisation that they could not make ends meet and have to struggle daily to make every cent counts while people are all laughing to the banks make them feel any ire towards the govt? would the most affected group really turn out to be the strongest supporter of the govt. we would not know until after everything is over. at the moment it is all postulation and guessing.

3 comments:

Speedwing said...

Hi Redbean

Someone wrote in the papers about uncontested seats in your Singapore General Election. How is this possible? I guess as a foreigner I am not too familiar with the voting system here.

My questions are these,
How can there be seats when there are no contestants?

How can boundaries be redrawn? Who redraws these boundaries?

I was also told that your ballot papaers are numbered. Is this true? Is a vote cast by an individual really confidential?

I hope you can enlighten me on these few points.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi speed,

many seats are uncontested because standing for election is not a cheap affair. maybe they have learned from the american system. not everyone can afford to do so. then there are the grcs where you need several candidates to run together with a minority member. this results in many problems, from cost to getting the number of candidates and getting them to agree.

many people are also not interested in the kind of publicity, especially when you are on the losing end and with limited resources. the last presidential candidate who was disqualified is an example of how things could turn out. losing an election is one thing. getting embarrassed...

the boundaries are redrawn by the govt. so it is best for them to answer.

numbered ballot papers have pros and cons. there is no proof of anything good or bad.

one of the strategies of the pap is to recruit the professionals. and they are more successful than the opposition. it is safer and wiser to be on the winning team. not many would want to join the losing side. so the opposition at the moment are not getting many good candidates.

maybe another few more years when things are different.

Speedwing said...

Thanks for the enlightenment on election " Singapore Style ". It is becoming clearer now. I can now understand why the score was 82 - 2.