The Political Conversation & Its Outcome

It's getting noisy online due to the Election 2011. Can't remember the last time this space got so excited.... Trying to decide between the Edison Chen Sex Scandal, the Aware Saga, and Ris Low's BOOMZ.

Regardless, it's intriguing to observe the comments flying all over the space.

(A) The Anti-PAP Voice
Whatever the men-in-white and their chicks say or do during this period is putrid glass grating in the intestines for this group. And this group is loud and gaining in numbers... Unprecedented numbers.

The most glaring attribute of this group is that, while there are many anonymous participants, a lot of Singaporeans are using their real names and identities to voice anti-PAP sentiments in mainstream media and on the internet. Even public servants.

And tonight, some people going around in Facebook, canvassing for donations so that Ng Teck Siong (SDA) and others can have enough funds to contest in Tanjong Pagar GRC.

At some point, one has got to wonder if those men-in-white are really the same party which has been in power since the first raising of the Singapore flag.

(B) The Pro-PAP Voice
This voice, though soft, is more prominent on mainstream media than it is on the internet. That's because the voices we get to read and hear about on mainstream media have been filtered and selected to piece together a 'balanced reality'.

A very interesting attribute of this pro-PAP voice is that when it is online, it is usually anonymous. Fake Facebook accounts have been used to comment positively on PAP sites.

(C) The 'Objective' Voice
I love this voice. Love its hypocrisy.
Because, to these folks, being 'objective' has been interpreted as 'not taking sides'.

That's not being objective! That's being non-committal.
Or if you like, 'neutral'.

This group is the most delusional of all.

(D) The Silent Voice
With more speaking up, this group has somewhat reduced a little. But by no means should you underestimate the sheer size of this group. I would say this group is 80% of Singaporeans.

This group is not homogeneous though.
While there are many in this group who cannot be bothered to think about politics, policies and polling for more than 1 minute, there are some in this group who are quietly supporting and/or exploring their respective causes.

This very cute reader wrote to me in distress. She said she works for People's Association and happened to have her picture taken with a couple members of opposition parties recently. After she told her friends and family about it, everyone started to panic on her behalf, causing her to eventually panic and write to me in desperation, to check if everything is gonna be OK.

So which type are you?
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OUTCOME OF SG ELECTIONS 2011

Regardless, of how noisy the voices are, the outcome of this election will be that:

(i) More opposition MPs will get into Parliament, but they will remain as minority. 

I would say about 10% - 15% of all seats. This is as 'freaky watershed' as it's gonna get. A 500% increase in opposition representation.

(ii) PM Lee will still be our PM, and PAP MPs will fill political positions in government ministries. 

This is how it works. The party with the most seats get to choose one of themselves as the PM. The PM, in turn, will choose from all MPs to fill up office positions, i.e. Ministers, Ministers of State, Parl Sec etc. Of course, this means technically, it is possible for the PM to choose an opposition MP to take up an office position. But this is unlikely to happen.

On a related note, I saw a new FB page today, "Chen Show Mao for PM". It's quite clear some people are getting very excited about the elections.

This is not gonna happen. Not in this election. And by the time the opposition wins enough seats, Mr Chen would have retired.

Btw, do people wonder how Mr Low Thia Kiang feels about this "Chen Show Mao for PM" FB page?

(iii) Parliament debates will get noisier, but most enthuz supporters, i.e. Types (A) and (B), will fail to follow coz Parliament is boring and tedious to understand. 


Elections, on the other hand, only takes place once 5 years, lasts intensively for a few of weeks, and has rallies to attend. That's more exciting to be part of.

It's always easier to exclaim,"XXX, I support you! You have my vote!", than "Hmmm... This new bill on internal security... I have read up on it and given it a lot of thought... My views are..."

(iv) Proposed policies will still get passed in the way they have been proposed. 

What were you expecting?!
Refer to (i). The ruling party is still the majority.

Hence, whatever has been promised now, i.e. election goodies, will be it.

Not gonna back down on issues, such as influx of foreign wokers/talents, cost of living, HDB flats, healthcare etc, much more. If they had wanted to 'give', they would have done so before and during the election period, not after.

(v) And we have not answered the all-important question of 'What makes a good MP?'


So it's not gonna be like... freaky BOOMZ situation, ok?
It's just... blah.