Election Fever

With polling day just round the corner, one cannot help but notice the surge in activity online. This increase in “elections-related” activity online, especially over Facebook (which is the only social networking site I am on aside from the dying twitter account which I hardly pay attention too…) has been rather interesting and has been a welcome relief to many, including me, during the exam period. I have left a comment or two on friends’ walls about how I thoughts on certain individuals and policies. Amongst the many videos and commentaries that have been posted online, there are a few notable pictures, articles and interviews that have stood out from the others. TPL’s reflections on Razor TV, MG Chan’s 5 or 100 year speech and Nicole’s Introductory address, just to name a few. Despite the heavy coverage by the mainstream medias, it seems that the bulk of the discussion and “exchange of information” is taking place over the Internet. It also seems that the PAP (its candidates and policies) are drawing the heaviest fire online. Despite a number of notable and constructive criticisms made, it seems to be that a great many of the arguments for and against the incumbents seems to be rather superficial.

Like many out there, I feel strongly about a whole slew of issues which have been raised this elections. The rising cost of living in Singapore, the latest property cooling measures that were in put in place last year, immigration issues, the potential rise in GST, ministerial pay… the list is long and non-exhaustive. I believe that there has been a lot of debate online and amongst the candidates themselves and I believe that that hails as a promising start to this upcoming elections.

This week marks the start of my examinations and as much I’d love to go on about how I feel about the candidates and all, I must keep this entry short and get back to my books.

The emergence of social media has altered the way the elections will play out tremendously. Inexpensive, easily accessible, fast and most importantly anonymous, new media has replaced traditional media as mainstream this elections. The PAP has been serving as the ruling party for the past few decades and has been credited with having great foresight when dealing with issues related to Singapore. However, it seems that the incumbents might have underestimated the utility of social media in their election campaign.

When the campaigning first started, I won’t deny that I was only too happy to start throwing comment after comment, shooting off criticism after criticism on the YouTube videos and articles on the PAP. There is no doubt that they were crass, arrogant and utterly tactless in dealing with the questions that were posed to them and the issues that were raised. The way Mr. Lui handled a meet & greet session with a resident, TPL’s frivolous replies to questions posed to her on that infamous video and Mr. Chan’s brutish ways when speaking on stage… honestly what’s there to love? Conversely, the opposition parties were eloquent and extremely responsive in dealing with the general public both during public forums and online, across the various social networking tools, which they have fully exploited to their benefit. I was immensely irritated by the incumbents’ arrogance and was adamant about voting for the opposition come May 7th. This changed however when my good friend, G, wrote in a reply to one of my comments that “he didn’t care about well a politician speaks but how well they governed.” It was only then did I realize that I might have been assessing the candidates rather superficially too.

In this upcoming election, especially in Singapore granted that we’re operating under the parliamentary system, it's the party's policies and goals that matter more than the individual’s promises. As G mentioned, MPs have very little room to demonstrate or voice their own views until they become more established (And by established one means becoming a minister in the cabinet). Unlike in the US, where a politician is given much more leeway in pushing his beliefs and stands, the MPs in Singapore (from one party that is) will tend to “blend in together like sheep”. At this point in time, TPL, Mr Chan, Nicole and all the other new faces are simply starting out on their political journey and it really is too early to tell how far they’ll go in their political careers (or maybe not…lol…).

Having said all that, the only sure thing is that there are many new faces this coming election, a significant portion of whom have had no or little previous experience in politics. All we have to go on is the manner in which they conduct themselves during rallies and walkabouts, their credentials and their electoral promises. As a result of the elections rules, the rallies and pre-elections speeches will be the only avenues for these candidates to discuss issues that they intend on tackling if they get voted in. The only ones with any experience in governing a country are the incumbents. The PAP has been the government since independence and in all honesty truth we don't exactly have a benchmark/gauge to measure them up against. (Unless we count the Japanese Occupation and the British Colonial Rule) I believe that the PAP has done a decent job thus far. There is definitely room for improvement and I do believe that they are capable of bringing about positive change in time to come. However, the new faces dressed in white on white, who like most members of the opposition team, are greenhorns seem entirely indifferent to the changing political climate of this country. I believe it is this ignorance, arrogance and this aura of entitlement, which these fresh PAP candidates have, which is irksome. This election will be a watershed for all Singaporeans in so many ways and it is imperative that we all sit up and make the right choice when polling day comes.

Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images AsiaPac

Photo by David Ng