No confidence for the future

Congratulations to the 35.2% who voted for five more years of mediocrity. The lot of you have demonstrated that "fools seldom differ" by choosing a President to extend the incapacity that is the elected Presidency.
Dr. Tony Tan certainly has big shoes to fill.
Can he actually shape a Presidency even more redundant than the last twelve years? His predecessor has set the standard for what it means to be a pure ceremonial head.

Still, unless you are like Dr. Ibrahim living in self-denial, the fact is 64.8% voted against Dr. Tan and the PAP.
Many opposition voters went with Dr. Tan Cheng Bok whom they saw as someone from the old guard, those who helped build Singapore with true servitude, unlike the elitist career politicians that Tony Tan exemplifies.
In addition, more than half a million Singaporeans cast their votes for Tan Jee Say, a newcomer to politics with no political base.
The PE clearly shows that more and more Singaporeans are losing patience with the PAP.
The Men in White may have won the battle, but it remains to be seen if they can win the war with democracy in 2016.

Further, Tony Tan barely scraped past the finish line despite having glowing public endorsements from unions, clans and pandering business federations. When many Singaporeans fret over job security in an environment where foreigners can be hired at a whim, it is not surprising that these workers wouldn't dare go against the union line. Together, they would have ensured Dr. Tan 200,000 or so votes.
Yet these pitifully naive Singaporeans didn't stop for a moment to ask what their unions have done for them.
Have the unions protected them from excessive foreign competition? Have the unions fought for restoration of employers' CPF to what it was at 20%?

The Tony Tan-PAP ticket also campaigned on the climate of fear in the global economy. While the global economy is a concern for Singapore, it remains to be see how Tony Tan has "sound understanding of the global economy and challenges facing business" as he claims.
Remember this is the man who oversaw GIC's staggering S$60 billion loss in the 2008 global crisis and  sanctioned billions (from our reserves?) to shore up greedy western banks instead of investing in Singaporeans.

But what is done is done. 1.5 million Singaporeans will just have to put up with five more years of hegemony and group think. We came so close to voting in some semblance of moral authority but far too many daft Singaporeans remain daft.

Our only hope is six brave souls from the Workers' Party. How they perform against 81 overbearing PAP MPs is anybody's guess.

For now, we're left to lament what might have been...