Polling Day

It's been quiet on this blog recently.

Partly because life is busy with 2 young ones in the house and it's difficult for me to spend sufficient time on my laptop to blog. But honestly, it's because I've been sucked into the sound and the fury that is the hustings of GE2011. And if you know me, you'd know that once I'm interested in a subject, it consumes me. So I've been reading, listening and thinking about the elections to the expense of everything else.

Polling Day is 7 May and DD and I happen to be part of that very *fortunate* group of 140,000 voters who will not need to cast a ballot that day. How I can possibly be in Tanjong Pagar GRC when I do not live anywhere near Tanjong Pagar is part of the uniquely Singapore mystery of our nation's electoral boundaries. I'm sure by now the word "gerrymandering" has made it into everyone's vocabulary.

Be that as it may, the fact that I will not be able to cast a vote this time round has not stopped me from following the election news closely. And this time I was assisted by the unprecedented amount of information that could be found online. This election was touted the social media election and they were right -- in the lead up to Nomination Day, my Facebook feed has been absolutely flooded with updates and comments from friends expressing views, posting pictures and sharing good reads. This is the first year since 1997 that I did not attend a single rally, but I was able to catch up on the speeches on the internet. There's nothing like being physically there of course -- the excitement and the true sense of camaraderie starts from the moment you step off the train and walk with thousands to the rally sites -- but it had to do this year.

If you think the ST is giving biased coverage in favour of the PAP, you should have seen how it was a couple of elections ago when virtually no opposition news made it to print. I believe the main reason people used to turn up in droves at the rallies of opposition parties was so that they actually got to hear what they had to say. Conversely the PAP's rallies were poorly attended since everything would be carried by the mainstream media the next day anyway!

Facebook, and the loosening up of restrictions on political discussion online, has really changed the game. It has revealed that when Singaporeans are given a voice, they aren't that apathetic after all. I'm glad. Only with open discussion and the exchange of ideas can we develop a mature, thinking electorate that would stand up, speak out and defend what they believe in. This can ultimately only be for the good of Singapore.

DD asked me what the most important factor that would influence my (hypothetical) vote. Wow, where do I start? I wondered. Off the top of my head, I plumped for alternative voices in Parliament. Getting to the root of it, what I want is a Singapore where policies are made after taking in a diversity of views, and are robustly challenged and thought through. The problem with our virtually one-party Parliament is that it appears that our policies are decided by an elite group of wise men, then trotted out to Parliament for questions (which the Minister, I'm sure, is fully prepared for) just for the sake of appearances, and then passed unchanged. This doesn't give me the confidence that it has been fully considered on all fronts.

There are many things which I feel the ruling party has to address -- the unfairness inherent in the GRC system, the ridiculously high levels of remuneration received by our ministers, the rocketing cost of living, the moral degradation of the land with the introduction of 2 casinos, unaffordable public housing, how not enough is being done for the needy, the elderly and the sick, how we are increasingly being made to feel like strangers in our own land.

Ultimately, my problem with the current state of affairs is that we have plenty of hardware in place in this country, but not enough heartware. We are a nation obsessed with economic growth and the accumulation of material wealth. Our overwhelming belief in meritocracy has led us to discount and discard those who try as they might, are just at the wrong end of the bell curve. An article I read described Singapore as having no soul. It would be truly sad if that was the case. This is not a Singapore I want for myself or my children.

I don't want to belabour the point. I think there have been plenty of good articles written out there by Singaporeans who really care about this country and I have enjoyed reading them over the past week.

Today is polling day. For those of you who have the privilege to vote, use it wisely. Don't spoil your vote -- after waiting so long to cast a ballot, I think it would be a pretty self-defeating thing to do! Make a considered decision and choose the Singapore that you want for yourself and your children.

I leave you with a quote which really resonated with me, spoken by Dr Lim Hock Siew, Singapore's 2nd longest political detainee, who was locked away under the ISA for 19 years.

Now, some of you might have heard that when you are young you are idealistic, when you are old you are realistic. Now this is the kind of rubbish that is used by those who have lost their ideals, or sold their ideals for self-interest. Age should not wither one’s ideals or convictions. If anything, it should only consolidate and make it more resolute. If age has anything to do with it, it is only by way of expression and application of these ideals and convictions having the benefit of youthful experience. A life without convictions, without idealism is a mere meaningless existence and I’m sure most of you will agree that as human beings, we are worthy of a life much more meaningful than that.
~ Dr Lim Hock Siew

I will be rooting for change because I believe in a better Singapore. You who can play a part in this process, make it count.