GE 2006

Yesterday, between 11pm and 1am, as I witnessed the TV coverage of General Elections 2006 results, I experienced such as range of emotions - anxiety, excitement, jubilation, disappointment, disgust. Now the day after, I don't know what to think or to feel, still numb from the thought that the number of opposition representation in Parliament is as miserable as it was for the past 5 years.

But the following are for me the most memorable moments of GE 2006:

Lee Hsien Loong's slip of the mind/tongue -
"What is the opposition's job? It's not to help the PAP do a better job ... because if they help the PAP do a better job, you're going to vote for me again and they're going to be out of a job for a long time. So their job is to make life miserable for me.
Right now we have Low Thia Khiang, Chiam See Tong, Steve Chia. We can deal with them. Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in Parliament. Instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore, I'm going to spend all my time thinking what's the right way to FIX them, to BUY my supporters votes, how can I solve this week's problem and forget about next year's challenges?"

"FIX" the opposition? "BUY" supporters votes?
When I heard him say that, my first thoughts were, my oh my, he is going to get a thrashing from his daddy for being so unpolished. Having enjoyed walkovers the last three elections perhaps made him a little rusty and maybe he made that slip under the pressure and stress of campaigning. He later apologised or I should say clarified what he meant by "fix" the opposition. But he neglected to explain what he meant by "buy my supporters votes". I would be very interested to know what the deal is, although my vote is not for sale but I want to know what it is worth anyway - how many millions worth of upgrading works, or abalone porridge perhaps?

At one of the WP rallies I attended, Sylvia Lim, referring to a "I love Sylvia" poster held up by supporters, said, "If 2 or 3 of you love me, it's OK. But if 10 of you love me, I can't concentrate" - a joke in reference to Lee Hsien Loong's comment that he would be distracted if there were more opposition MPs in Parliament. That's another thing I will remember of this GE - the Worker's Party was really back in form this time, with candidates who not only appeared credible but also displayed a sense of public spirit, humility and graciousness I felt was lacking in most of the ruling party candidates. Led by Mr Low Thia Khiang whom I hold in great reverence, they did not resort to name-calling or mudslinging while the same cannot be said of the ruling party who looked like they were out to smear the opposition candidates when really they should have concentrated their energies on more important issues. While the ruling party and the media continued with the circus act, the WP touched on issues of concern to the everyman. And in contrast to the PAP's colourful brochure filled with smiling faces and vague statements, the WP had a 52-page Manifesto (available from their website) with concrete proposals on a variety of issues.

And what about the people of Potong Pasir and Hougang? I am so proud of them and also grateful - I'm sure they know that many people across the island depend on them to keep the hopes of opposition politics alive. They proved to be people of integrity, refusing to be bought over by the multi million-dollar upgrading works promised by the ruling pary and even gave the incumbent opposition MPs Mr Chiam See Tong and Mr Low Thia Khiang a better margin than at the last GE. And we're talking about serious piles of money here - $80 million upgrading for Potong Pasir, a ward that consists of only 8,000 households which works out to $10,000 per household! Chiam See Tong's daughter said, "We really worked hard and we managed to beat abalone porridge and that $80-million carrot," referring to the abalone porridge the PAP candidate organised for residents. Similarly, the residents of Hougang did not fall for the tempting $100-million carrot that the PAP dangled before them. In any case, Goh Chok Tong had already said that $100 million was earmarked for upgrading works in ageing Hougang. So let's see if they keep their promise.

But the one thing I will remember the most of GE 2006 is the recitation of the National Pledge at the WP rally at Serangoon Stadium on the night before polling day. I am not naive and I know that this was a nice touch by the WP to move the crowds but it was pure genius anyway. Saying the pledge that night reminded me of my duty as a citizen to work towards a "democratic society based on justice and equality"; it was exactly what the WP was preaching. And yet ironically the pledge was written by one of PAP's founding fathers, the late S Rajaratnam, which served to remind the crowd that night of how far the PAP had veered away from what they had set out to achieve for Singapore so many years ago. I can see Mr Low Thia Khiang's political savvy and this is going to help him do well against all the odds that are stacked against any opposition member in Singapore.

This is my second consecutive post about politics and it will be my last at least for a while, because if I go on like this, the powers that be may decide that I "persistently promote political views" and I may be asked to register with the Media Development Agency and who knows, maybe they will ask me to change my blogname to better reflect the content, but I like "Road to PSLE", I don't want to change it to "Road to Political Freedom" leh.

If you are interested to read more about GE 2006, I would recommend these websites:
Singabloodypore
Yawning Bread

So it's back to the regular broadcast. But before that, I leave you with a glimpse of my own "renewal process" of raising the next generation of pro-democracy Singaporeans. Majulah Singapura!