i'm in town to cast my vote, boys!

[taxico]

flew in this afternoon via HKG! i badly wanted to cast my ballot...

now i'm holed up at a hotel and i'm not sure if this trip has been worth it because nobody knows what's going to happen (the election officials coming to the door OR... just if they're appearing just in spirit).

and i'm now too tired from jetlag and lack of sleep (overnight transit) and i just want to shower and go to bed.

insight 1: the protection worn at various airports (and in the air) all around the world, especially in asia, is extreme at this point in time when few people are traveling and all are (seemingly) healthy.

no raincoat and visor is going to protect anyone when everyone from the front to the back of the plane is being squeezed like sardines onto the airport shuttle bus

and nobody social distances when forming up to be processed...!

the situation at HKG (yesterday and today) was pretty darn alarming. it was only slightly better at Changi airport because the plane had a jetbridge on arrival.

insight 2: the welcome letter tells me to measure my temperature twice a day for official record purposes but i have not the foresight to bring a thermometer and none has been provided thus far.

insight 3: i hope i won't die when i head back to america later this year for another round at the ballot box.

that is all. please carry on. good day and good night.

[tiktok]

Who will you vote for? And will it make any difference?

[taxico]

i (and a good number of other eligible voters that are in 2 particular SHN hotels) have been denied a chance to vote.

the publicly released info was that the crack ELD squad was supposed to go room to room from 8am to 8pm.

this didn't happen. allegedly the polling officers decided 7pm was the new cut-off (???) timing and this wasn't conveyed to the remaining eligible voter-guests in the hotel.

(those serving SHN at home could go vote "on location" from 7pm to 8pm and i see no reason why i should be denied)

the hotel front desk staff have been getting a major licking from the SHN guests whom are eligible voters.

i have no reason to believe 2 senior hotel staff would lie (to me and the other guests) about such an outcome over the phone.

if i knew they weren't going to come to my room i would have requested for permission to head out to vote at the actual location instead.

this very tiring us-hk-sg trip is deeply deeply dissatisfying for me during a pandemic.

now i'm going to get my brains tickled by a giant Q-tip for no reason.

: (

i believe MY vote matters, or i wouldn't have made this damn trip.

[bgd]

they extended the voting to 10pm due to the queues, surely they could do that for those in quarantine as well.

[PNGMK]

Welcome back TikTok. Personally I would not have risked travel in these times. Sorry about your dilemma

[sundaymorningstaple]

PNGMK, I think you mean taxico don't you? Welcome back taxico. It's been quite a while. Sorry about what is becoming a regular occurrence around here.

[x9200]

this very tiring us-hk-sg trip is deeply deeply dissatisfying for me during a pandemic.

[..]i believe MY vote matters, or i wouldn't have made this damn trip.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... -hong-kong

Beijing is one of 10 foreign missions designated as overseas polling stations. The rest are Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington.

?

[PNGMK]

scratches head... is this really you taxico?

[taxico]

yesh. it is me!

not everybody gets to vote just because they turn up at a mission with an id. i wasn't eligible to do that... for a practical reason i won't get into but that is not difficult to guess.

https://www.eld.gov.sg/voters_register.html

Singapore citizens who are working or residing abroad may apply to be registered as an overseas elector to vote at one of the 10 overseas polling stations if they satisfy the qualifying criteria.

Application for registration as an overseas elector is open all-year round. However, in accordance with the law, applications will not be processed during the period from the 3rd day after the Writ for an election is issued until the Polling Day for the election.

Overseas Singaporeans who are successful in their applications to be registered as overseas electors will receive an official notification from the Elections Department informing them of the location of their allotted overseas polling station.