Of GE2015
I have once again failed to post on a regular basis as I have wished to. Part of the reason is because I have been busy with preparation on several studies. I just did a teaching in classroom setting on James 3:1-4:12 and am currently working on a book study on Ephesians that I will be teaching in another classroom setting in another country. All these works, trying to figure out the word of God, have already taken up a lot of my mental energy, though I would love to share some of these findings in near future. Alas, I have so much outstanding posts which I want to write.
But I've thought that I want to throw in a few thoughts on GE2015. As most of us know, it has been an unexpected result for the incumbent party to win at such a high margin. Someone in my office was saying that "confirmed they will lose another 2 more GRCs". I don't know where that confidence came from but that support partly stemmed from his personal friendship with Paul Tambyah and the outward appearance of a certain CSJ who shall not be named. Several thoughts come into mind.
Firstly, we may be seeing a reverse in opposition position. I'm not saying that people no longer want opposition in the parliament, but more on opposition may be the ones who have lost touch with the ground. After the result was announced, we hear the opposition saying that the results did not match up to the voices they hear on the ground. One would want to ask if they were only hearing what they were wanting to hear. The end result suggested otherwise. This is thus a serious question that voters need to ask: are you necessarily voting in voices which truly speak for you?
Secondly, we see the unreliability of social media. All over the place we seem to be seeing from the social media that the opposition voice is flooding the world. That being said, most of my friends remain pro-PAP, so that was not so much of my reality from what I see on my newsfeed. But articles from such as States Times Review and The Online Citizen seem to hype up too much fluff that even opposition parties themselves got dubbed.
Thirdly, I saw sore losers denying the reality of which they face. Right from the start, we have a man who claim that his best team will cause nightmare to the Prime Minister. The fact that the PM did not even give a damn on his opponents in his ward during his lunch rally is a testimony of the delusion. This is not to mention that we have people claiming that Singaporeans have given a mandate for authoritarianism and brain washing and that this is the kind of result only seen in North Korea and China. For information, the vote garnered for Kim in North Korea is usually around the region of 100%. I believe our incumbent still has a long way to go. Some, for example, also claim that they lost in very undemocratic environment. Such denial only shows the laziness on the part of the opposition in trying to understand what they need to do on the ground. It is my view that an election is won and lost on the ground. You want to wrestle votes for yourselves, you get involved in grassroot immediately after the election, and not during the campaigning period. You get yourselves seen on the ground doing something on a regular daily basis, not just appearing once in a while selling magazines.
Fourth, I think the results show that PAP has really done well compared to a few years back. And I am glad that they learned the lessons from 2011 and did well. I simply cannot imagine another few oppositions winning seats and hence forcing the PAP to become populist. Already, back in the old days after 2011, I was almost seeing the government heading towards that direction but the trajectory was slowed down because we have civil servants who faithfully worked their analysis.
These are not my only thoughts but overall, it is a milestone for the PAPA and the opposition alike. For the latter, perhaps the question of relevance comes into play. Are oppositions remaining relevant to a more politically savvy crowd? Even the Worker's Party is not spared, what more the more insane ones?
But I've thought that I want to throw in a few thoughts on GE2015. As most of us know, it has been an unexpected result for the incumbent party to win at such a high margin. Someone in my office was saying that "confirmed they will lose another 2 more GRCs". I don't know where that confidence came from but that support partly stemmed from his personal friendship with Paul Tambyah and the outward appearance of a certain CSJ who shall not be named. Several thoughts come into mind.
Firstly, we may be seeing a reverse in opposition position. I'm not saying that people no longer want opposition in the parliament, but more on opposition may be the ones who have lost touch with the ground. After the result was announced, we hear the opposition saying that the results did not match up to the voices they hear on the ground. One would want to ask if they were only hearing what they were wanting to hear. The end result suggested otherwise. This is thus a serious question that voters need to ask: are you necessarily voting in voices which truly speak for you?
Secondly, we see the unreliability of social media. All over the place we seem to be seeing from the social media that the opposition voice is flooding the world. That being said, most of my friends remain pro-PAP, so that was not so much of my reality from what I see on my newsfeed. But articles from such as States Times Review and The Online Citizen seem to hype up too much fluff that even opposition parties themselves got dubbed.
Thirdly, I saw sore losers denying the reality of which they face. Right from the start, we have a man who claim that his best team will cause nightmare to the Prime Minister. The fact that the PM did not even give a damn on his opponents in his ward during his lunch rally is a testimony of the delusion. This is not to mention that we have people claiming that Singaporeans have given a mandate for authoritarianism and brain washing and that this is the kind of result only seen in North Korea and China. For information, the vote garnered for Kim in North Korea is usually around the region of 100%. I believe our incumbent still has a long way to go. Some, for example, also claim that they lost in very undemocratic environment. Such denial only shows the laziness on the part of the opposition in trying to understand what they need to do on the ground. It is my view that an election is won and lost on the ground. You want to wrestle votes for yourselves, you get involved in grassroot immediately after the election, and not during the campaigning period. You get yourselves seen on the ground doing something on a regular daily basis, not just appearing once in a while selling magazines.
Fourth, I think the results show that PAP has really done well compared to a few years back. And I am glad that they learned the lessons from 2011 and did well. I simply cannot imagine another few oppositions winning seats and hence forcing the PAP to become populist. Already, back in the old days after 2011, I was almost seeing the government heading towards that direction but the trajectory was slowed down because we have civil servants who faithfully worked their analysis.
These are not my only thoughts but overall, it is a milestone for the PAPA and the opposition alike. For the latter, perhaps the question of relevance comes into play. Are oppositions remaining relevant to a more politically savvy crowd? Even the Worker's Party is not spared, what more the more insane ones?
Hi Matthias,
ReplyDeleteFinally i get to read a very balanced article. Well done. It is an article like this that i truly enjoy reading. Cannot say much about the one sided articles by others which actually indicate to me that they haven't got a clue or are somehow blinded.
Would the Opposition parties acknowledge where they failed? It appears that they did not even know what hit them but they have 4 years to figure it out.
Thanks for your compliment. I think if the opposition really sits down and reflect, like what the PAP did in 2011, they will be able to figure where they failed. The end product will be beneficial for Singapore as we see politicians truly working the ground for the people.
ReplyDelete