GE 2011 Thoughts

I have been following the news about the rallies and the political parties rather closely.

Thoughts and observations have been random.

A few things I thought about over the past few days:

LKY and Nicole Seah's Facebook 'Likes'
I couldn't believe how childish PAP is. Nicole Seah's fans have some people that are really young, and they wanted to pump up her likes so that they exceed LKY's. And just when hers was about to exceed his at more than 60k, LKY's 'likes' shot up to 70k within one or two days, from a mere 50k!

Whether it's a robot that's doing it, or some IT expert whom PAP would not have problem engaging, I don't know. But it's certainly meaningless by jamming up the likes on Facebook.

Low Thia Khiang's Hougang flats were criticised as being a slum
According to dictionary.com, a 'slum' is defined as 'a thickly populated, run-down, squalid part of a city, inhabited by poor people.'

The ruling party claims that the flats under Low Thia Khiang's charge were sold at lower prices than flats under the PAP.

I am no property guru, but most people would associate Marsiling as the 'slum' of Singapore as the flats there are known to be the cheapest and many poor people live there. The second cheapest flat area I have heard from my sister who is a property agent is Yishun.

Incidentally, both areas are under the charge of you-know-who.

Lee Hsien Loong's apology
I have to admit that I was softened at his 'If we did not get it quite right, I am sorry' speech for a moment.

I thought I really would consider giving them another chance at making things right if I could vote.

That is until I read the comments on Nicole Seah's Facebook about his apology.

The commenters felt the same way about his apology: fake, and I think they do have a point, that if the votes swing to their side and they defeat the opposition parties, they would forget about having apologised ever and continue with their wilful ways.

George Yeo's Defence Minister
Being an incumbent in the hotseat Aljunied GRC, many fear for George Yeo that he may not win, judging from the support Workers' Party garner wherever they go.

Mr Goh Chok Tong has made the statement "Singapore can't afford to lose George Yeo" to help pull votes for him.

I can't help but feel sorry for them.

Does George Yeo need a big brother to stick up for him?
Is George Yeo not capable of fighting by his own strength?

And if Singapore can't afford to lose George Yeo, what does that mean?
That George Yeo is indispensable? That Singapore would collapse without George Yeo?

Then I can only say that Singapore is built on very fragile foundation, with only one person acting as the core of the country. And if what he says stands true, then PAP has not done a good job at nation-building, because the going-down of one person is tantamount to the sinking of Singapore.

Very worrying indeed.

Wong Kan Seng's Self-Defence
He said that he had been serving Singapore for 27 years and Mas Selamat is his only mistake. Just one mistake.

I was flabbergasted: that mistake is fatal.

I have heard of teachers resigning from service because they were severely marked down over negligence - a student fell down in the area where the teacher was supervising, a student cutting himself with a penknife accidentally etc.

Mas Selamat is a wanted man, a dangerous man, a terrorist.

What would have happened to a teacher if she were the one who committed the mistake?

Get fired, naturally.

So why is he given deferential treatment?

A ministerial resignation ought to be a natural follow-up action in this case, without a doubt. Why should that even be challenged or questioned? Isn't that what's accountability all about?

In defence of PAP, a Facebook user wrote a note about the opposition parties' unreasonable demand for an accountability for mistakes made. He suggests that ministerial resignations over every mistake made would make Singapore and other countries have little confidence in the political system of Singapore.

But ministerial resignation is not uncommon:

1) German, Jan 2001
TWO German cabinet ministers in charge of policy on mad cow disease resigned last night, dealing a severe blow to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government.

Karl-Heinz Funke, the agriculture minister, and Andrea Fischer, health minister, stepped down after intense criticism of their performances.

2) Japan, Jul 2007
Fumio Kyuma, Japan's embattled defense minister has resigned after making comments suggesting the 1945 atomic bombings Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified.

3) Japan, Nov 2010
Japan's justice minister has been forced to resign after making an embarrassing gaffe in which he said his job was too easy because he only had to remember two phrases.

Minoru Yanagida stepped down yesterday, just two months into the job, following the candid admission to party supporters in his Hiroshima constituency eight days ago.

4) Scotland, Dec 2010
The Transport Minister of Scotland Mr Stewart Stevenson has tendered his resignation over the recent snow storm which hit Scotland last week causing massive traffic hold-ups and the closure of several major highways. (Source: Temasek Review)

5) German, Mar 2011
German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a rising star in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc and the country’s most popular politician, has resigned over allegations he plagiarized his doctoral thesis.

Does the world view Japan or German in a bad light? Do we feel that the political system of Japan or German is unstable because they have had 2 and 3 ministers resign from the Cabinet respectively within a span of just 10 years?

Japan, in fact, is one of the most visitor-desired countries in the world.

These are just a few quick examples that I obtain from Google by keying in two simple words 'ministers resign'.

So yes, a ministerial resignation is expected when a grave mistake is committed. And yes, that is called 'accountability'.

Voting is secret
I have always believed that voting is not secret, due to the propaganda amongst the civil servants.

We have heard of how 'a colleague's husband's friend' who does not get a promotion for years after voting for the opposition parties.

We have heard of how 'a friend's colleague's sister' who was dismissed from her job after she voted for the opposition parties.

There is alot of fear amongst the civil servants.

Although the opposition parties have reiterated 'Voting IS Secret' messages over and over again, but civil servants will not be convinced unless the ruling party steps out to clarify that they are not obligated to vote for them and that voting is indeed secret.

But the ruling party will never do that since the propaganda works well for them.

All the colleagues I surveyed with the question "Is voting secret?" said 'No!' with firm conviction.

A colleague said it's unfair to have to vote for the ruling party just because she is a civil servant.

My wise father has a witty solution for people like her: vote for both parties.

Singapore Got Talent
I used to think that only China and Taiwan are capable of producing linguistic writers who pen witty poems or rhymes to make light of governments or policies.

But on Nicole Seah's Facebook sprouts a lot of Chinese rhymes, apparently penned by Singaporeans. Impressive!

Some of the rhymes:

狮城真是了不起.根成不说对不起.
三天两头水电起.房屋贵得买不起.
大学学费快要起.医费便宜借口起.
叫人价格不要起.自己薪水拼命起.
人民薪水慢慢起.真是看你拿不起.
五月七日全站起.投票当天要心齐.
不然价格通通起.
大家要同心同力.
这样铁锤才有力

投闪电, 犯人弄不见, 根成不道歉
投闪电, 乌节路淹水, 说难得一见
投闪电, 利益外劳见, 国人看不见
投闪电, 佩玲来放电, 显龙建核电
投闪电, 政府组屋慢慢建, 地铁拥挤人人见
投闪电, 病重不如说再见, 老了新山来相见
投闪电, 不如投大便

人生本来是happy,
自从有了PAP
整天伸手要money
Come out GST, COE,
再加maid levy.要你吃roti ,挤MRT. 自己乘搭豪华Mercedes.
若vote WP ,组屋没得翻新电梯。若vote sdp ,回家就得走楼梯。
若vote PAP ,赢了一脚把你踢。把你当成他的苦力，赚钱给他买贵椅。部长薪水排第一，市民薪水又超低。
投给PAP ,提高GST ,再来水与electricity.
手中一票要珍惜，以免后悔来不及。

Who says Singapore got no talent?