I am very, very pleased to see such an explosion of thought, care, concern, commentary and general love for Singapore pouring out in the social media. The last time I voted was in 1997. It has been 14 years. Has Lim Hng Khiang ever visited me when I was living in Gillman Heights – no, never. He did show up when invited for some function. But that was it. It did not matter to him that he never visited anyone except during the hustings, if at all. I still come under the West Coast GRC this year and I get to vote. I am not voting for the PAP. It will be for the Reform Party. The RP’s candidates (Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Andy Zhu, Frankie Low, Ho Soak Harn, and Kumar Appavoo ) are much less shadier than the PAP’s (Lim Hng Khiang, S Iswaran, Foo Mee Har, Arthur Fong and Lawrence Wong).
Contrary to what the PAP would have us believe, Singaporeans are responsible, caring, creative and very fair people. Just look at the “vote without fear” video by Maruah.org. It is authentic and from the heart. It is very, very well done.
I’ve advocated the wearing of a rubber band on your right wrist (left if you are a southpaw) as you go vote. Why? It is a gentle reminder. A reminder that your vote is secret and that you are voting for your future as well as your family’s, your friend’s and of Singapore.
I love my country too much to let it continue to be badgered by a party that has lost it’s bearings. The 1st generation of leaders thrown up by the PAP did so to better a population and build a nation. The party lost its way in the 1980s when they started paying themselves enormous amounts. Being in politics and leading a nation is much bigger than “am I being compensated on some benchmark against the top earners”!
Here are the PAP ministers I will be happy to see re-elected: Tharman, George and Shanmugam. Tharman because I think he means well (modulo PAP constraints), George – mainly for his demeanor and Shan (he’s an old classmate and I think his heart is in the right place). But George will lose Aljunied. Lose because of the ridiculous GRC system that his party put into place. I can’t say how Tharman and Shan will fare. Of the three, I reckon Tharman will gain the most votes – and he could be Prime Minister one day.
The rest of the PAP cabinet ministers all deserve a drumming in votes (if they win) and ideally loss of seats. Yes, if that happens, Singapore will be in a state of shock (heck, LKY might “bring in the army”) on May 8th. But we will recover and re-build. We have to build for the future. If the WP/SDP/SDA/SPP/NSP win, we Singaporeans will be looking at them to deliver and we must help them to do the job as well. After all, we voted them in. It cannot be a vote and forget.
Majulah Singapura.
My vote is not secret. Why should it be?
I respect the PAP. I respect them a lot And i defend their policies.
Nevertheless, I am going to vote for the opposition.
By all means, vote in someone you think is capable. But don’t vote opp for the sake of opp. Not all opp parties are equal and neither are all opp candidates of the same calibre.
After listening to some “great” ideas proposed during the rallies, it actually raised alarm in me that some of these people should NEVER be allowed to carried out those policies. It will ruin the country. Period.
Minimum wage is one of them.
Thank you for your comments. I still am convinced that minimum wage is a critical economic consideration.
Yes, I agree with you that not all of the candidates have a clue. But the silly GRC system forces everyone to make choices that they can only regret. So, the question then comes to which of these choices will be of least regret. For me it is the RP in the West Coast GRC.