2/12/2015

GE 2015/16 – A new political gambit


In the western version of politics called democracy, the winner is the party that won the most votes. Historically, the opposing parties would be out there canvassing for votes, for the hearts and minds of the voters. The more voters they can convince to their sides, the better the chance of winning an election.
 

Political parties thus often go all out with all kinds of strategies to win votes. Pork barrel politics is a famous and seldom failed tactic. Throw money to the voters to buy their votes. The other is fear. Frighten the voters so that they have no choice but to vote in your favour. How to frighten the voters and strike fear in them? A third method is to discredit or fix the enemies. Run down the enemies, find faults with them, show off their mistakes and blunders to the voters, but do not in the process expose your own mistakes or the dirty tricks one is using. It can backfire. The voters today are not daft. They are watching with a cynical smile.
 

Today, we are seeing a new strategy evolving, initially unintended, but starting to gain a foothold among the political parties. In this strategy, it is about making the least mistakes to the point of doing nothing. Not losing votes is wining if the other parties are well known for shooting their own feet. The more they shoot themselves, the more votes they will lose. And not only that, these votes could go to the opposing parties.
 

The game is on. Do less to preserve and protect one’s position and votes. Let the enemy happily make mistakes after mistakes to do themselves in. Such a strategy is easier to apply for the opposition parties and has a negative bias for the ruling political party. The opposition parties not in govt can disappear or be invisible when issues crop up. The ruling party must deal with the problems and if handed badly, would lose votes for sure, especially when the election is around the corner. The opposition parties may at worst be disregarded for non involvement and they could fall back on not being able to do anything as they are not the govt. They could also remain reticent completely and let the ruling party foul it up completely.
 

It looks like this strategy is working and very cost effective for the opposition parties when the ruling party has a penchant to trip on everything they stepped on. And the opposition parties are happily counting the number of trippings and the number of votes flying their way.
 

Looks like in this GE the ruling party is working very hard trying to win votes and working very hard unintentionally to lose votes. Think Brampton bikes, Aim, hawker centre roofs, AHPEC TC accounts, rats, Hong Lim heckling, PME jobs, population, CPF, Medishield Life, and the latest, Thaipusam. This is another very hot potato to handle with extreme care.
 

Who will be losing votes and who will be picking up votes? It is tough time for the ruling party. They have to work carefully hard this time, to win votes and not to lose votes. The opposition parties only need to play it safe, consolidate their positions and hold the ground, and picking up the loose votes sent flying their way.
 

The game is on.

PS: Kopi almost dried up.

23 comments:

Virgo49 said...

Finish, the owl had hooted!!'

To win votes, give give Singaporeans lump sum first 10 k for CNY.

Then every month 2k subsidies. Just like Macau. Only Singaporeans no foreign trashes .

You get 80per cent for sure

Virgo49 said...

This is LhL request for constructive feedback

Anonymous said...

I pay you million dollar salary.
And still you want constructive feedback (i.e. spoon-feed me solutions that is consistent with LKY's Hard Truths)??
Instead of asking for constructive feedback ... why not just ask for the truth?

Truth is also constructive feedback.
It's better than all the self serving advice you have been given by your cronies.
If your cronies are really that good, you would not be asking for constructive feedback ... right?

You hear that?
It's called dead silence.
It's the sound of Singaporeans giving you enough rope to hang yourself.

Anonymous said...


How Not To Increase Votes?

With so many many new generous
govt schemes introduced recently.

How Not To Increase Votes?

With so many well participated
SG50 "feel-good" activities
organised last year and the
many many big SG50 events planned
this year.

How Not To Increase Votes?

My guess is:

PAP 68% vs 32% OPPS

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

"They have to work carefully hard this time, to win votes and not to lose votes."
RB

No lah, PAP now for sure is better than the PAP of 2011, tio bo?

So work hard or not, carefully or not, the next GE outcome for PAP can only be better, or at worst the same as in 2011.

Assuming of course strongest opposition party, the WP, just like in 2011, is still not ready to be govt.

And by the way, take note that there are more new SInkies now than in 2011, for the 6.9 million target. Or even 10 million target, if PAP take the advice of ex HDB pigeon hole CEO Liu Thai Ker.

Anonymous said...

I think it is hard for PAP to lose.

How hard?

As hard as getting the Sinkie opposition ready to be govt. This is hard, isn't?

Anonymous said...

How Not To Increase Votes? ....
With so many many new generous
govt schemes introduced recently.
Anon 9:10 am

Tiok. That's why the Anon 9:11 am is saying PAP now for sure is better than the PAP of 2011.

Anonymous said...


anonymous 9.14am pls note.......

you are correct......

it is hard for pap to lose.....

the pap brand is "too big to fail" lah.....

can other brands come up with something radical.....

we shall see.....

cheers.....

Anonymous said...

"The opposition parties only need to play it safe, consolidate their positions and hold the ground...."
RB

Hahahahahahaha.

But with so many Sinkie opposition parties, WP, SFP, NSP, RP, SDP, SDA, SPP, SF, SJP, DPP, PKMS, u think the 60% believe they can consolidate meh?

And has WP Teochew Ah Hia even agree to meet up with SFP Hainan Ah Kor yet, despite Ah Ko's olive branch? Not yet, tio bo? So like that how to consolidate, u tell me lah?

This one of course PM Lee also knows.

Anonymous said...


@ anonymous 9.25am

To consolidate the parties
together under one platform
and under one voice, we need
a respectable and politically
neutral person.

Dr Tan CB may be a good candidate for this "dirty" job.

Will he do it?

patriot said...

Sinkies love 'Rojak'.

IT IS TIME TO HAVE 'ROJAK' IN PARLIAMENT FOR ALL TO ENJOY.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Maybe RB can use his popular blog to consolidate all the opposition parties? Or at least hold them online lah, if hold them on the ground cannot.

No fish, prawn also good mah. Better than nothing.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Hey cheebyes, click the motherfucking ads lah. And go buy something---a dildo for your mum or whatnot. Redbean needs the caffeine to jump start his apek brain. :-)

Redbean begins:

>> In the western version of politics called democracy ...

Yessir! He implicitly agrees with me that POLITICS is a result of CULTURE. You cannot separate them lah.

In Singapore culture, AUTHORITY is required to bring and keep some sort of "order". This belief is at the core. "Democracy" is NOT at the core. Singaporeans always look to some "authority" for answers---especially in "wedge" or "pressing" issues. They want an "official" decision. They rarely make up their own minds, and then act accordingly.

Can you do such-and-such? Check with authority first. Can you bring in this show or movie or book?Check with MDA first. Can you...whatever? Always check with authority first.

In other cuntrees, whatever is no prohibited is automatically given a pass. Legislation and regulation may follow, but in the mean time, enjoy your "new new thing".

However, the case in Singapore in not so. If iit isn't on the law books, you always must check with the authority before you can use or sell or own the new new thing.

So any authority which doesn't act, is not likely to be successful. Singaporeans want their authorities to ACT, and act in definite ways such that whatever the matter is, is FINALISED and the precedent set for the future: unilaterally, unambiguously and swiftly.

Culture of Singaporean: always defer to AUTHORITY.

Confucius must be smiling :-)

Anonymous said...

Get screwed or screw back.
Too late to have another choice.

Anonymous said...

9 minute interview of Greece Finance Minister by German journalist.
Worth watching.
This is what real political leaders look like.
Blunt, straight from the heart answers to tough questions.

do you think our PAP Ministers can measure up?

http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video-60403.html

Amortal said...

Uncle Red Bean,

The following is my humble opinion:

Since the PAP came into power in 1959, it has been on the destructive path upon political opponents, opposition political parties, dissidents and mavericks, all for the last 50 to 60 years, with the following destructive actions/activities:

1. Using the ISA to keep opponents and dissidents lock up for years or forced them to flee the country into self-exile.

2. Character assassination on opponents and dissidents,and even on ordinary citizens.

3.Law suits to deny political opponents from participating in the Elections, and lately even taken upon poor ordinary citizens.

4. Denying important information to the public by total control of the mass media, and even in Parliament.

Now, this PM, who to me is the most ruthless of all the 3 PMs we have, has got the cheek to ask for constructive feedback?

My questions are:

1. Is he really sincere?

2. What has happened to all the Constructive Feedback to REACH and other Government Agencies over the past 30 years?

3. What has happened to all the Constructive Feedback sent to the Straits Times and other news agencies?

4. What has happened to all the Constructive Feedback provided by both PAP and Opposition MPs in Parliament? Have they been taken seriously and followed up with appropriate actions.

Last but not least, what happened to all the Constructive Feedback from the Grass-root Organizations such as RC, CC, CCC and Town Councils?

He is really exposing his own iniquity and insincerity.

Never believe for a moment that a ruthless dictator can take criticisms, whether negatively or positively put forth.

What is constructive may be destructive to the PAP (given by "Yes" men and women trying to please the "Boss" and keep his/her rice bowl intact rather than offending his ego and get the sack).

And what is seen as destructive may have positive outcome if taken positively in its strike and follow-up actions taken sincerely to improve the lot of the people's life.

After 10 years as a PM, he is still so NAIVE? Or he thinks we are fools?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi Amortal,

I can't disagree with you on the way they dealt with their political opponents.

As for the other comments, my post on the Sun rises from the West probably said it all.

Anonymous said...

That is the problem with the so-called Singapore scholarship "scholars", as opposed to genuinely learned and accredited scholars with long years of establishing their standing and status).

They are always stuck in their books, even with so many years of experience. There must be a serious problem with the grooming process and the speed at which they have made to climb the ladder to the top.

A really good example is Teo Chee Hean. He really shocked me when he presented his paper in Parliament indicating that nurses are low-grade menial workers. Can you imagine that a top "scholar" in politics for so many years, holding the position of Minister of Education, Defence, DPM, etc, yet still is not able to know the difference between nurses, as a special profession that needs a calling and passion to do their jobs well, and the low-grade workers such as construction site workers. Despite years of experience and sitting on so many high level jobs, he is still like a 22 year old young man freshly graduated from the university! My God! Really shameful not only for him but for the whole of Singapore and the System of making top SAF Scholars becoming top elites and leaders in the government.

And then we have the one who can't even comb his own hair, looking like a real jester, spouting "cheaper, faster and better", acting like a clown to justify his double big fat salaries, being Chief of NTUC and Minister Without Portfolio.

Now, there are a few more such calibers around, newly introduced into the political arena, spouting nonsense like singing songs and trying to teach grandpas and grandmas how to suck eggs.

You know who they are, I am sure.

Anonymous said...

The winner in a democratic is NOT the party with the most votes; it's the party with the most seats in parliament. Barisan got less than 50% of the popular vote a few years back in Malaysia, but they still took control because they have more parliamentary seats.

Anonymous said...

@ February 12, 2015 3:14 pm

Teo Chee Hean may be as useless as you say he is.
But he is a PAP Minister and you are not. Why ah?
Is there something wrong with PAP's meritocracy or is there something wrong with you?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Tiok. Teo Chee Hean is a super talent.

Anonymous said...

Your kopi dry is it my problem?

If you swim in the right river although a more difficult one, you will have endless coffee, more than you can drink. But you stubborn want to take the short cut and swim in the polluted water.

b said...

Yes the dirty game is on. The people must learn to PRETEND so not to get those people in alternative parties into trouble.