GE2025 came and gone. It was not expected to be dramatic, and it turned out that way with PAP and the opposition retaining the same number of seats in Parliament. The smaller opposition parties were routed, and they need to rethink their strategies and relevance in future GEs. They have failed to appreciate the shifting demography and higher expectations of a sophisticated and better educated electorate. Sending any team to contest will not do. This is best reflected in the 4 corner fight in Tampines GRC. PAP was expected to coast in comfortably but managed only 52%. Surprisingly the voters threw in all they have for WP with 47% of the votes and totally ignored the two opposition parties with both getting less than 1% of the vote. Wipe out to oblivion.
I thought Cheng Bock and Mun Wai would give Desmond Lee a good fight in West Coast Jurong GRC. Desmond's team won 60% against the strongest team from the PSP. This 60% is big as the PSP is putting their best bet in the race, as good as the 70% plus win in other GRCs. This win would secure Desmond's position and team in West Coast Jurong for good. Cheng Bock is unlikely to contest in the next GE.
SDP's big gun Paul Tambyah also did not make must impact in Bukit Panjang with only 38%, much lower than expected against an average PAP candidate. What to my surprise is Chee Soon Juan's 47% in Sembawang West. Whew, he came close to become a NMP. That would be the biggest surprise in this GE and a nightmare for the PAP in Parliament.
PAP's big win could likely be contributed by the handouts and vouchers to the people over the years, especially to the seniors that were spared from selling tissue papers in hawker centres and MRT stations. More work needs to be done to support the seniors and the average Singaporeans in the face of rising cost of living and ever increasing taxes and fees. Lawrence Wong would have to come out with a clear plan to provide assistance in a more systematic and sustainable way than ad hoc issuing of vouchers going forward. The assistance, grants and vouchers must be sufficient and meaningful to offset the rising cost of living affecting the people.
Basic bread and butter issues would loom large in the coming years. And pressing issues like employment and the big presence of foreigners taking over good jobs from Singaporeans would continue to bug the people and a big job cut out for the PAP.
And there is this big tariff war going on with the rogue American regime throwing its weight around, bullying small states like Singapore, threatening wars of all kinds, turning the world upside down. It would be tough for Singapore to navigate to safer waters, to steer clear of being a crony state of the Americans without offending other ASEAN members. The rogue American regime is dividing the world into the US and the rest and forcing small states like Singapore to choose sides. Actually worse than that. It is America first and to hell with the rest of the world.
Sticking to the old formula of being on the American side is now not looking good. Staying neutral is not easy, especially with the pro American Anglophiles still a majority in the govt. This would be a big test for Lawrence Wong, to take Singapore ahead to the best interests of Singapore and not bowed to the pressure of pro American Anglophiles.
A new chapter is starting with a new PM with a new mandate to chart a new course for Singapore in a turbulent world threatened by the rogues in Washington.
6 comments:
This GE showed the ppl don't want any kucing kurap politicians here in this red dot. The nation need high calibre politicians to challenge the ruling party. Just too bad for PSP TCB, LMW & HP as they r expanded into a larger unknown territory many might be new citizens or ppl with different expectations.
No place for barbers, chee cheong fan sellers, slipper wearers, bird whisperers etc unless the country is so run down and needs a revolution.
My two cents worth thinking about the result of GE2025, which some may disagree.
To call it a landslide win for the PAP is a tad too loud without looking at the quality of the smaller parties taking on the PAP. Their share of votes was just dismal, with two coming out with 1% and 0%. Unheard of and even worse than the two independent candidates. It is a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. They brought down the share of votes for the opposition, while making the PAP seem soundly supported in every way. It was a cluster of weaker opposition parties that provided the PAP with an improved margin over 2020, nothing more.
To think that the WP made no progress is also quite mistaken. Aljunied GRC came out level as in 2020, while Sengkang improved by about 3% and Hougang gained 1%. And all this came about despite all the demonization of the WP's image over the last couple of years. Elsewhere, the WP has done creditably in Punggol GRC, Tampines GRC and East Coast GRC and almost won Jalan Kayu SMC. WP's share of votes was all well within the 45 to 47% range. This is despite the WP's team running against top ministers and middle level ministers within the PAP ranks. No shame. Give the WP another few years working the ground and the result could be different.
One other point I want to mention is the mantra that crowds at WP rallies do not translate into votes. Are Aljunied GRC and Sengkang GRC not the answers to those questions? How do they fall to the WP? The same is going to happen with elections further down the road, in areas won marginally by the PAP in 2025, especially on the Eastern flanks. Just keep denying the obvious and let the ground move their support.
The other pertinent observation is the two independent candidates doing so well, with one even better than a candidate from a smaller opposition party. That was telling. What this indicates to me is that voters in those two constituencies are looking for a more credible opposition party to contest in the two constituencies, not a less credible opposition candidate doing the rounds.
Singaporeans must remember that chicken wings are temporary solutions, not permanent solutions. High cost of living are permanent issues and will never come down, not with high commercial property prices, leading to high rentals for coffee shop vendors due to bidding by owners which will also trickle down to affect prices in hawker centers, even though rental prices may be lower.
What customers pay at coffee shops for the same food at hawker centers are not lost on hawkers in hawker centers. They also know how to skin their victims, you and me. Sure, the rental may not be causing food prices to escalate at hawker centers, but the opportunity to make a bigger profit is not lost on those hawkers.
I just wonder whether what is happening in property prices and cost of living is sustainable for Singaporean's future. I just worry for the future generations.
Not an unexpected result for me, I always know sillyporean have kosong brain. Also don't ever expect WP to give up it NMP position, as it is worth $29k/yr. (even though WP did mention before that it don't agree to have such position). Some of the oppositions are there just to spoil vote (would be good if someone can enlighten where their fund $$ come from?) I would like to see PSP/SDP work together to create a website/social media account, to highlight all the problem/issues that PAP created for the next 5 years. This will at least fill up the sillyporean brain till the next election & hopefully it stuck in their brain to make the right choice then.
It is estimated that the opposition candidates lost about S$364,500 in deposits in total during this election. This must be a historical record. Where did their funding come from knowing they stand every chance of losing their deposits. These are parties that have never won a single seat in any election and yet they have people foolhardy enough willing to take the risk.
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