Opposition pre-election vid re: foreigners

[Wind In My Hair]

Addadude seems to best understand the election situation. Almost nobody wants to overthow the government, not even the opposition. But we do want more opposition in parliament. 87-0 or 85-2 is not satisfactory for many people, especially when more and more PAP candidates are looking like duds and the opposition is presenting many impressive candidates. So you can all sleep in peace tonight. Or maybe tomorrow night when the results are out

[ev-disinfection]

This year is special, as there are 82 / 87 seats up for offer, so it is possible that the opposition parties together can become the next gahmen.
Share this with your local friends, so that they would think wisely before voting.

http://itcouldneverhappen.wordpress.com

It took me until last night to realise the significance of this '82/87' issue.

I did not realise it means that in SG at elections some PAP seats are simply not contested at all. That is truly shocking!

Viva the one party state!

Hey JR8, FYI, most elections the PAP would be returned as the next government on nomination day, I have some friends who are in their 40's who have never voted before. That is why, this year is different.

[ecureilx]

Hey JR8, FYI, most elections the PAP would be returned as the next government on nomination day, I have some friends who are in their 40's who have never voted before. That is why, this year is different.

And I was listening to an Indian, who became a Singaporean, and was excited to vote ..

When I prodded him, he said, back home, by the time he reached the polling center, somebody else already had cast his vote, and until this election, since he became a Singaporean, his ward in Singapore was a walkover .. and he goes on to say "for the first time in my life, I am going to vote.. "

And he is in his late 50's

[x9200]

BillyB, if you read or listen to what the opposition parties are saying, they are not talking about radical changes. They don't necessarily want to fix what ain't broken.

If they are not into radical changes they will never satisfy people voting for them (at least the majority).
I am not trying to stir the pot, just genuinely curious what the opposition has to offer if practically all what comes from their side sounds like an anti-foreigner campaign (this is also my perception).

[JR8]

Singapore elections are the front page story in today's International Herald Tribune.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world ... ore&st=cse

I was amused to read that they closed Speaker's Corner during the election campaign.

Like the ousted parties in the Middle East, they just don't seem to see that the game has changed until it is too late.

[ecureilx]

Like the ousted parties in the Middle East, they just don't seem to see that the game has changed until it is too late.

My 2 cents? There is a big difference ...

A lot of the older folks, while purpotedly supporting the opposition, knows how much LKY did, and the occasional trip across the border or the ferry ride sure makes them remember it .. And the confrontation days are not forgotten by the loyal ..

And I would never ever compare to what is happening in ME to Singapore ..

And in my experience, and living here, despite all the 'yah lah, we fully back opposition' more than enough know that the oppositions' anti foreigner policy, for a start, will mean, a lot of SMEs, Coffee Shops, and what not will have to wind up .. and go bankrupt .. not forgetting that those who own HDB house will not get a 'discount' when they have to pay back the loan, if their property price crashes .. unless the new govt, if it comes in, writes off all the HDB loans as well ..

That's my 2 cents .. and out ..

[JR8]

And that is the scary part x9200! If the opposition some how manages to gain control of the government (fluke but it can certainly happen) and they abolish the powers of the president and get their hands unfettered on the reserves, Singapore might die at the next major recession (and they are coming for sure). It's only because of extremely prudent management of the reserves that Singapore has virtually waltzed through the last 4 recessions unscathed. I dread to think what would happen here should that happen. I'd rather deal with the devil I know then the evil I don't.

What have you been smoking man you're scaring me! America is all about Liberty, and yet here you are advocating the continuation of the 56 year old one-party state.

Are you a a commie or summink?

p.s. or do the fears for the value of your flat come above the expression of the will of the people

[x9200]

Addadude seems to best understand the election situation. Almost nobody wants to overthow the government, not even the opposition. But we do want more opposition in parliament. 87-0 or 85-2 is not satisfactory for many people, especially when more and more PAP candidates are looking like duds and the opposition is presenting many impressive candidates. So you can all sleep in peace tonight. Or maybe tomorrow night when the results are out

I am more concerned about some populistic promises that probably would never be fulfilled so what kind of quality is this? Will they have any moral stand against the ruling party even if they get inside (regardless the intention of overthrowing or not)?

[JR8]

BillyB, if you read or listen to what the opposition parties are saying, they are not talking about radical changes. They don't necessarily want to fix what ain't broken.

I am surprised at the near hysteria of some of the FT here. You know, 'if the opposition win it is going to be Armageddon and SG is finished', that kind of thing.

What do they call this, Stockholm Syndrome or something?

How about - the opposition manage to win one GRC (woopy-do!) and the PAP reluctantly get the message that the popular climate is changing and open up just a little more to democracy?

[sundaymorningstaple]

The problem is that the unrest, agitation and anxiety are primarily in a "class" of people and not an "area" of the country. This means, with 82 of 87 wards being contested, how does one control the "Y" generation if they, like the same generation in the US, all vote with their emotions and not their brains. If a third of the contested wards fall, they can hamstring the government, if they should managed to get a majority, then they will be forming the next government.

I've never seen a coalition government anywhere, least of all in Asia, that was successful. They spend more time fighting amongst themselves and the world waltzes by them. So, it's possible that they will win a very large number of seats or possibly no seats at all. But that, to me, is a very large and serious gamble and the worst case scenario would almost certainly have a number of MNC's not bothering to stick around to find out how long before it all come crashing down. They cannot operate with foreign labour as there aren't enough locals nor enough locals who will do a lot of those jobs. Until they get damned hungery, but by then the large manufacturers, etc. will have bailed. Doomsday scenario? Probably, but is it worth the gamble?

How do we "ensure" that the opposition only wins "a couple" of wards/grc?

Personally, I don't like the PAP either. But I'm old enough to be able to see that while their methods are draconian and too patriarchal for my taste, the have, for all intents and purposes had the welfare of this island first and foremost in their minds. They have made mistakes, sure. Show me a country or party running it who hasn't. It would be sad to see a bunch of kids who have never walked a mile in their own shoes, let alone someone elses shoes create a fluke that could well damage the country so that it may never recover. (Far fetched?). Assuming that all of the Y generation votes the same way by percentage (why not?) the fluke could certainly happen. While Singapore lays in the doldrums for 4.5 years under the opposition's disruptive deliberate hamstringing of the government, do you think it's neighbours are going to just squat down on their haunches and wait for this country to pick herself up, dust herself off and try again? Nah, they are going to go for broke stripping the carcass, picking the bones clean and offering huge incentives for the MNC's to relocate.

I wish everybody good luck on the morrow!

[JR8]

I'm surprised that people conceive that it is possible that within 5 years, the opposition go from 2 MP's out of 87, to forming government.

Have the PAP been putting something in the water over there?


I'm a bit lost for words but what do people who believe this think has brought about such an extremely swift and radical change? I.e. Why does one go from 2/87 to 44+/87 in 5 years? I mean as recently as a year ago in SG I detected no hint of this supposed tsunami of mood-change.

[ecureilx]

I'm a bit lost for words but what do people who believe this think has brought about such an extremely swift and radical change? I.e. Why does one go from 2/87 to 44+/87 in 5 years? I mean as recently as a year ago in SG I detected no hint of this supposed tsunami of mood-change.

Come election, the pussy cats turn into tigers, and then at the vote center, they think which way is the right way, and then tuck their tails in.

I can quote a Singaporean PR, who gave up his PR, to avoid NS, and guess what he is doing in US ? He is the US Army, to ensure he gets his citizenship, as he found out that there is no other easier way, to get US citizenship + avoid the cost of his college .. which his parents couldn't afford .. and he is heading to Iraq .. now, if only he stayed back, he would have been forced to combat the ants and mozzies .. in the camps .. at the worst ..

And a lot of the Generation Y who moan about the NS and all know that .. atleast those I know ..

PS: were you here during the last election ? And the one before ??

[ecureilx]

For some unrelated news, on how a coalition is caught up with divided loyalties ..

Read the 2G Scam .. (alleged scam .. )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._K._Kani ... ontroversy

See how the Congress is struggling trying to do the balancing act ..

[JR8]

I'm a bit lost for words but what do people who believe this think has brought about such an extremely swift and radical change? I.e. Why does one go from 2/87 to 44+/87 in 5 years? I mean as recently as a year ago in SG I detected no hint of this supposed tsunami of mood-change.

Come election, the pussy cats turn into tigers, and then at the vote center, they think which way is the right way, and then tuck their tails in.

I can quote a Singaporean PR, who gave up his PR, to avoid NS, and guess what he is doing in US ? He is the US Army, to ensure he gets his citizenship, as he found out that there is no other easier way, to get US citizenship + avoid the cost of his college .. which his parents couldn't afford .. and he is heading to Iraq .. now, if only he stayed back, he would have been forced to combat the ants and mozzies .. in the camps .. at the worst ..

And a lot of the Generation Y who moan about the NS and all know that .. atleast those I know ..

PS: were you here during the last election ? And the one before ??

Yeah I have a friend like that too in the UK Army. He is a Major and surgeon not bad for someone aged about 32. He also did his stint in Iraq, but that is the deal you make isn't it? I happen to think the scheme the US military has to pay college fees for talent is a very good one and offers chances that some poorer folk would never have.

My friend by 35 odd, will have been a Major in the British Army, a battlefield hardened senior surgeon, the world will be his oyster. Where will his SG peers be, still having their maids carry their packs?

[x9200]

Frankly, I do not think Singaporeans really want to have the full democracy and neither they are ready for it. The true intellectual elites - yes, but not the majority. A very nice paradox. It is also a common mistake made by the Westerners who believe the democracy is universally good anywhere and any given time.