As the Curtain Falls

As the dust settles and election fever dies down, it's back to regular programming for me. I think my kids were glad to see me today without my face stuck in my iPhone, feverishly scrolling for updates as I had been for the past 2 weeks.

This has been a very different General Election, not the least because I could finally go to bed after the results feeling some real satisfaction. Throughout the campaigning period, I was amused by the doomsday reckonings of my PAP supporting friends. I was surprised how many bought into the fear factor declarations of the stock market crashing or government collapse after the results of the elections. Please. While the dissent on the ground was more palpable this time, the electorate still has some way to go before the large middle ground are prepared to cast their votes against the PAP returning to power. DD and I were fully prepared for a 86-1 result, while hoping against hope that it would not be 87-0.



While I was expecting it, it was still heartbreaking to see Mr Chiam's legacy at Potong Pasir come to an end. The man is a legend and plenty of heart, and Singapore will be poorer as a result of his exit. Sadly, his inability to groom a proper successor ultimately led Potong Pasir to fall. Dear Lina Chiam, sweet as she seemed, was never really his successor in her own right. She was more of a proxy for Mr Chiam and in the end, I guess it just wasn't enough for some voters. Some residents obviously still cannot accept the fact that change has come, fruitlessly petitioning for a by-election. There is no basis for this -- Sitoh won the election. That is that for Potong Pasir. Come the next elections, I'm 99% certain that Potong Pasir absorbed into a GRC and wiped off the electoral map. I can't help but shed a tear for the passing of an era.



In the end, I savoured the Aljunied win by the WP, I did. This would go down in the history books. But whether this small foothold makes a difference to governance, well, only time would tell. While I personally would have liked to see more alternative voices in Parliament, if the current ruling party starts listening to the people and changing their tune, that would not be a bad consolation prize. The report card would be out in 5 years.



Please let me be able to vote then!

(All the photos in this post were taken by Edwin Koo who took and posted some amazing shots of the General Elections. You can find see all his shots here: Album 1 & Album 2)