ge: politics has to regain its former dignity

this is a statement by chua lee hoong, the review editor of the straits times. she added that it is not so much about winning an election but about how votes were garnered. both comments were in her article today which started with the changing of political boundaries as the butt of singaporean jokes. why the cynicism? why must politics return to its former dignity? has it be degraded to such an extent that it has lost all sense of being dignified? the scepticism and cynicism, if traced backwards, did tell a story about something not exactly right. but the changing of political boundaries were all done above board, by indepedent civil servants. why should that be subject to ridicule? it is all in the perception. it is all in how people think that it is done for reasons that put some in an advantageous position while some in a disadvantageous position. it is seen as a changing of the known factors, changing things that ought not to be changed. but we have all the valid reasons to change political boundaries for our uniquely singaporean reasons. everything is done with a sound reason. only whether people believe in them, or who believe in them.