More thoughts on GE 2011

A full day has passed since the GE and the reality of what transpired is totally sinking in.
Somehow, the well-oiled PAP machinery has steamrolled all but 2 constituencies.

It appears that whilst momentous in the making,  the Workers' Party's superb victory in Aljunied GRC was a pyrrhic one. Although some opposition supporters may not admit it, it feels like we've taken one step forward and about two steps back.

Firstly, it is a mystery of unimaginable proportions how Tin Pei Ling is officially an MP and will actually be debating on serious country issues in Parliment. It is just as well the Singapore Parliment is not used to debates but serves as a legal ground for other pressing issues like the creation of a food museum.
Such is the undeniable consequence of the GRC system, a system supposedly designed to ensure minority representation in government.
Well the GRC certainly did just that by voting in a minority indeed. How often do you see someone of TPL's ability or lack of contesting in a General Election?

Secondly, how did candidates of real calibre like Dr. Vincent Wijeysingha, Tan Jee Say, Tony Tan and others not be serving in our country's highest office? Are Singaporeans going to continue to show blind faith in untalented and undeserving ministers? Is there something really wrong with the opposition's strategy? I will deal with this in future articles.

Thirdly, by giving a 81-6 mandate to PAP, are Singaporeans actually saying it's OK to have:
1) Public housing that is increasingly unaffordable to the masses
2) Rising healthcare costs with the PAP continually chopping its share of the burden
3) Unchecked immigration that have made our daily toil ever more suffocating and unbearable
4) Foreigners taking away jobs that Singaporeans want and can do
5) Ministers paying themselves millions of dollars while 30% of our population continue to earn about $1500 a month
6) Ministers talking down to us, calling us names and suggesting we ship our elderly to JB for cheaper nursing homes
7) Our CPF retirement age and minimum sums raised time after time while thousands are in dire need of their hard-earned monies
The bewildering actions of 60% of our electorate may have prolonged the hardships of the 40% by another 5 years.

Fourthly, how much of a role did our state-controlled media play in this elections? We all know that our media is ranked a shocking 141st in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index so biased coverage is but expected.
While this elections may be known as the social media election, I'm afraid that state media came up triumphant in the end, much to the PAP's delight.
My belief is that alot of the good messages from the opposition didn't reach the masses. It appears there are thousands of people, probably in the late 40s and up that don't access Facebook, Youtube or Temasek Review. Singapore may not be as highly wired as we think.
So long as state media is under total PAP control, the task of unseating them is always daunting.

Fifth, 40% of Singaporeans voted for the opposition but that yielded less than 10% of the Parlimentary seats. That is both an aberration and anomaly and there is little doubt that the GRC system is the chief cultprit. While my prayers are on the 6 brave souls that are going to be the voice of a million Singaporeans, we know that they would be powerless to stop the PAP should they still decide to pass laws on their whim.
I'm hoping or dreaming of a legislation that will ban electoral boundary changes for 3 or 4 elections.

Finally, how astute was the timing of PM Lee's "apology" on the penultimate day of campaigning? I actually think this was one of the turning points in this GE. Thousands of undecided voters would have felt the nostalgic tug on the heartstrings and failed to realise that they could be royally screwed for another 60 months. Further, we have already seen how monetary "gifts" during election time can seal lots of votes for the PAP. I think the "Grow and Share" package entrenched many Singaporeans grateful for the extra $800 to defray mounting expenses onto the side of the men in white.
Pity they didn't know the handouts are from the GST they paid or that the ministers would have received $1,000,000 each for their part of the package.