Today is the polling day of Singapore, over 2.3 million Singaporeans are eligible to vote at the General Election. There are 87 seats in 27 constituencies to be contested this time round. My aim of this entry is totally neutral and not to influence the choices of voters. Voting is secret, everyone has a reason to vote. This General Election is a rather watershed election, never before we have high profile Opposition candidates who are taking the path less troden to speak up for Singaporeans to right wat seems to go wrong with our policies. From my very personal point of view, unbiased by any rally talks, i find tat Singapore ruling party (PAP) has pursued economity growth throughout the years (maybe at the expense of certain things), we can't deny this credit which goes to them. And no doubt MM Lee Kuan Yew (founder of PAP) has contributed alot for Singapore, looking back from the earlier stage of Singapore to its current stage, I personally respect him alot. The PAP is nice in its way, this time round again a generous S$3.2 billion Growth and Share package have been given to Singaporeans before the polling day, equivalent to few hundred dollars per person. I'm not too sure abt the exact amount, have not checked mine yet. =)
Nevertheless, some of the opposition parties are rather popular, e.g. the worker party lead by Mr Low Thia Khiang, and the National Solidarity Party (NSP) with this new 24-year old candidate Nicole Seah (arguably the most popular politician in this election). Here are a few tongue-in-cheek movie posters featuring them, really hilarious.
Nicole Seah cried at her last rally for this election while detailing her encounter with a poor family. She was saddened when a mother told her she cldn't get help to fund her son's S$80 tuition fees. She lambasted the PAP's policies and questioned abt its performance in the last five years. She also criticized the PAP's housing policies which have led to sky-rocketing prices as well as the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore. A really funny speech by her... she said "
Our population shot up by 26 percent over the past 10 years. Last time when I was in primary school, I take the train, I see Singaporeans everywhere I go. Now, everytime I take the train, I feel I am in a different country. It’s like taking a holiday, I don’t even need to bring my passport". Yeah she's popular, she's a star to many people.
Ok abt the turnout for the rallies, the worker party has one of the highest turnouts for its rallies, with over 40,000 people for one of its rallies.
In contrast, the turnout for PAP rallies was not so optimistic. However, the size of the turnout at election rallies is not an accurate predictor of the level of support of the parties. In the 2006 elections, the PAP rallies had poor turnout too compared to the opposition's, but it won over 60% of the votes on the polling day. There are large numbers of Singaporeans who never bother to attend PAP rallies but still will cast a vote for it on the polling day. It could be bcos the PAP's speeches can be more easily found/heard from the media.
Some of the people are showing their anger towards the PAP. Hmmm... maybe the wrong ways.
To end this entry, i would like to urge everyone to vote for whichever party you wanna vote for, from the bottom of your heart. I heard from many of them tat they are afraid to vote for the party they support, due to several silly reasons. Your vote is important and confidential, I'm hoping to see a fair game.
