The vulnerability of GRC

The GRC was conceived and designed to act like impregnable fortresses or motherships that could not be taken down. It used to be defended by one minister in the prototype design but has since been reinforced by having two ministers in each ship. Couple with the fee of about $100k per ship, the barrier to entry is very high. The other difficulties are the availability of a number of quality candidates and minority candidates. Thus, putting up a GRC team to contest an election is a tall order. In this election the vulnerability of a GRC has been exposed. It is possible to bring them down. The high barrier to entry is not that insurmountable anymore. And with willing candidates stepping forward, the availability of quality candidates are also achievable. The Aljunied GRC is a pathfinder and more will fall in the same way. All it needed is a 10% of swing votes. In the last election, the WP polled 44%. This time round it polled 54.7%, an 11% swing of votes. And down the mothership came, like a big rock falling from the sky. Results of this election show that several GRCs are as vulnerable as Aljunied. Several polled more than 40% of popular votes for the opposition. East Coast has 45%, Tampines 42.8%, Bishan Toa Payoh 43%, Marine Parade 43.3% and Nee Soon 41.6%. All it takes is a 10% swing of votes and each of these will come tumbling down. The opposition parties have seen how it could be done and the next battle will be a different story. But the GRCs of tomorrow may not be the same or may not be around anymore. A lot of tweaking is likely to be introduced to strengthen the mothership. Maybe the $100k could be raised to $200k, maybe the number of candidates be raised to 10 or more, to raise the barrier to entry to a more painful level. Or maybe the whole scheme will be scrapped, as they are no longer that formidable and could no longer serve the purpose it was designed for.

A crooning song bird

A song bird with beautiful head gear crooning on stage. More pics on Art of RAR Gallery on top right of page.

The daft Singaporeans voted

The daft Singaporeans voted for the PAP to rule them again for the next 5 years with a majority of 81-6 MPs in Parliament. Despite the strong presence of able and credible opposition candidates, the opposition parties could not do much except for a little breakthrough in winning a 5 member GRC in Aljunied. The pattern and consistency in the way the daft Singaporeans voted are pretty predictable by now. They have seen what PAP could do and are enjoying the success and would only vote for good candidates if they are available. They are responsible and voted with their heads. There was a little disappointment in that a few GRC candidates from the opposition were equally good or nearly as good as those from the PAPs but only managed a closed fight. The best team other than the WP’s winners in Aljunied is perhaps the SDP team in Holland Bukit Timah, with every candidate matching those from the PAP. The next two good teams were the Bishan team led by Chiam See Tong/Benjamin and the NSP team helmed by Tony and Hazel in Chua Chu Kang. Both teams were handicapped by a weaker supporting cast while Chiam’s physical condition could have given voters a second thought. With hindsight, the popularity of Nicole, if included in the Tony Hazel team could boost them to victory in Chua Chu Kang. But no one could predict how well received she was for a 24 year rookie. She did very well to carry her team in Marine Parade to give Chok Tong something to worry about. Her losing came with a tinge of sadness for her supporters. A little sadness too could be felt with the defeat of George Yeo and his team in Aljunied. It was a big blow to the PAP that boasted of two ministers with George a core member of the PAP leadership. And there was Zainal Abidin, slated to be the next Speaker of Parliament, and young and promising unionist Ong Ye Kong. Now the morning after minus the storm and tsunami of a big political change that failed to take place, is there anything that has changed? For once, the PAP was humbled by the shift in sentiments against them. They sensed it during the election hustings. The knew that the people were angry. And they started to tone down their cocky and high and mighty approach even before Polling Day. Hsien Loong made a public apology for all the mistakes they had made. Very unnatural to have come from an elitist Party that claimed to have all the best talents in the island. They would now have to be more guarded about their claims and their demands for outrageous pay for themselves. George Yeo openly protested against the use of threats even when it came from LKY himself. The post election thank you speech too came out pretty well rehearsed. The cocky position of only looking after their supporters and treating those that did not vote for them with lower priority has changed, or has it? They claimed that they have heard and understood the people’s unhappiness and would want to win them back again. They promised to listen, to work harder, and Boon Wan said that all are Singaporeans and must come together as one people after the election. There is a concerted effort to want to heal the rift and change their aloof image. Those words were said last night. Now that victory is in their hands, would they have short memories and revert to their old self again comes Monday? What is important is that the people have shown that they were most willing to change if there are good alternatives. If the opposition can attract more good candidates, the next GE is going to see a better contest. The people of Hougang stood solidly behind the WP. And the people of Aljunied had taken the first leap of faith to reject the PAP. The sun rises from the East. It will get brighter over time. Nicole could have been the winner in Marine Parade if her team mates were stronger. And it is quite clear that this is the last term for the PAP in Marine Parade. It was a tough choice and a yearning for change, if only a better team was available. Nicole could not breach the wooden wall alone. Now the daft Singaporeans would have to live with their decisions for the next 5 years. Would they regret, would they repent, or would they rejoice? One thing for sure, don’t take them for granted, don’t bully them again.

Protecting our shared assets

This little rock is all we have. Theoretically all the infrastructure and assets belong to the citizens. I say theoretically as some will say no. The future generations shall inherit what is being left to them. My question is whether there will be much left for them if we keep on selling our assets/landed properties to foreigners, or keep inviting foreigners to become citizens to share these shared assets. By doubling the foreigners, who then turn citizens, what is left for the original citizens will be halved. If this process keeps going, the pie and the share of our children will keep on decreasing. Yes, we need to protect our shared assets by not selling them in the first place. And secondly, by not bringing in more foreigners to share with us. If these two processes are not stopped, there will be nothing much left to protect in the future. When we were someone's colony, we have no say as to who shall come and go. We too were visitors. Now that we are owners of this piece of rock, we must decide who we want to welcome and how many we would want to welcome. We are not a land mass, a continent. We are just a piece of rock. Many even sneer at how small we are. Only we are crazy enough to think that we have such a big piece of land and we can bring in the people of the world. Singaporeans have never been xenophobic. We have welcomed foreigners and made them feel very welcome and comfortable here. But when the number gets too big, we already have more than 1m foreigners here, and some are thinking of bringing in another 900k. Is this a good thing, a wise thing to do? It is like living in a 4 rm flat. It is quite tolerable and can be fun to share a room with a foreign guest. Do we want to give up two rooms to the foreign guests and squeeze ourselves into one little room, and share our common room, our toilets and kitchens with so many strangers? There is a limit that we can do. People living in big bungalows would not understand what it is like to share your little flats with strangers. And if they are going to make this kind of decision for you, they will, against your interest and comfort, while they stay happily in their spacious mansions. We have nothing against foreigners. But we must guard our assets for our families and children. We do not want to be squeezed into a little room and make our foreigners happy in our little flat. We have to decide our future for ourselves, the little people living in little flats.

A show case GE rally

We have the most stylist GE rallies over the last 9 days. Every party was well supported by their teams of planners and organisers to make the rallies run smoothly and effectively like clockwork. The voters turned up in droves to attend the rallies, rain or shine. Some called it rock concert election rallies where personalities like Nicole Seah, Chen Show Mao, Vincent Wijeysingha, Ang Yong Guan and Tan Jee Say were clearly the hot favourites and crowd pullers. The people just wanted to know them and to hear what they had to say. Of course Nicole was the crowd darling wherever she went. While Singaporeans and the politicians were presenting their best front, unlike the days of rogues and gangsters, we are being watched by the millions of foreigners living among us. I think we have created a very good impression of what a civil and mature society is like and how a GE shall be conducted, clean, dignified and serious. We must thank Hsien Loong and his gang, oops, his party, for allowing this GE to be different, to be contested in the way it should be. We must also thank him for restraining his people from indulging in gutter politics, while antiques in their midst did try, to go back to the dark days where they would win by all means, foul or otherwise. We must also thank Hsien Loong for allowing the alternative media the freedom to say and post freely. Some still crossed the line of decency, but many used their freedom of expression responsibly with a little self regulation. Now who says alternative media cannot be responsible if left on their own? The role of alternative media was well recognised and fully exploited in the election campaign by all parties, the political parties and the political watchers. In a way they have contributed to keep the election hustings on a level keel, threatening too, to rubbish anyone attempting to play dirty. They too gave the opposition an avenue to be heard as clear as they wished. The people who wanted to hear and know both sides of the story can always turn to the alternative media for a more balance presentation. We must also thank the opposition parties for coming forward on a united front, minimise inter party rivalry and bickering, and preventing three corner fights to make the contest more competitive. And we are also grateful that they are able to attract good candidates to give the people a real alternative and not a Hobson’s choice. The brave new faces must be patted on their backs for taking up the challenge, to want to represent the people against all odds, and the possibility of losing everything. Let’ pray for them that none will be sued to bankruptcy and none will have to run road after the GE is over. And the surprising apathetic young were all geared up to the occasion. They wanted to play a role they some thought they were not interested. How could they remain disinterested when their future is at stake, when buying a flat can empty all their savings for the most part of their lives? They wanted to have a say, and they will vote for what is good for themselves as they see it. A final word for all the internet brigades and warriors out there banging away at their keyboards, and combing all the reports in all the media for errant comments and foul play, well done. Their watchdog role has kept the combatants at bay and wary of the counterstrike force lurking in cyberspace to do justice to the victims of dirty politics. Singaporeans should be proud of this GE and how it went. Now is to sit back and let the voices and votes of the people unfold to complete the story of a civil GE by decent people. In less than 24 hours, we will be eating the cake that we have baked together as a people.