My Thoughts on GE 2011

It was not the political tsunami that many had hoped for. Hell, its not even a political wave, in the end it was more like a political ripple- all full of sound and fury signifying nothing. In the end the PAP managed to return to power in overwhelming majority despite winning only 60% of the votes. Freak election results indeed when one can occupy 93% of parliamentary seats with only 60% of the votes.

No greater evidence can you find than this in showing just how screwed up our electoral system really is. We have had a PAP candidate dropped out at the 11th hour only to have another one- Chia Si Lu parachuted in. Someone who went from total unknown to a MP in less than 24 hours. Someone who incidentally happens to represent my GRC. Someone who I’ve never met, never spoke to, never even seen around my estate. Someone for whom I have totally no impression, someone whose politics and ideas I haven’t got a clue about. Yet he will be my representative in parliament.

You know the PAP has made a mockery of democracy when someone as unpopular as Tin Pei Ling can still ride into parliament on the coattails of Goh Chok Tong.

"The PAP will analyse the results of the election, learn from what has emerged from this General Election, put right what is wrong, improve what can be made better, and also improve ourselves to serve Singaporeans better," PM Lee Hsien Loong

When you read something like this, there is 2 ways you can interpret it-

• The PAP has seen the error of their ways and when the PM says they are going to put right what is wrong and improve what can be made better- it means from now on, they are going to put more thought and consideration into their policy making process and learn how to be a more consultative government. It also means they are going to start looking into how to undo the deleterious effects of their policies from the last 5 years and start looking into ways and means to improve the lives of singaporeans instead of just blindly pursuing GDP growth. It means narrowing the income gap for the first time in more than 10 years.

Or…

• The PAP has learn how social media has impacted the election and how much the WP has grown as a political force. It means what the PAP as the the government will do is- start to look for ways and means to minimize and mitigate the damage social media can do to it. It means putting up more barriers and obstacles. It means more ridiculous things like cooling off day which incidentally members of their own party has not adhered to. It means nipping a potentially troublesome bud like the WP before it has a chance to grow into something more formidable. It means more gerrymandering, more shifting of goalposts and more draconian measures to curb free speech and opposition parties.

The PAP already knows what we want.

We didn’t get any of it in the last 5 years.

Yet despite everything, they still managed to win enough votes to return to power. So now, the question is- will the PAP learn their lesson and repent or did we not learn ours and regret.

The ball is in the PAP’s court.

The Fear Factor Part 2.

We live in a safe, clean and materially well off environment, yet singaporeans are chronically stressed out and unhappy. And in the last 10 years, things has not gotten better but has gotten worse. Is it any surprise to see so many incidents of violence happening in singapore the past few years- from commuters fighting on buses and MRT to youth gangs going after each other with parangs over minor staring incidents.

All these are just larger symptoms of our anxiety filled lives. With fear consciously or subconsciously lingering just beneath the surface. One cannot live indefinitely with a siege mentality without something giving eventually.

We are constantly filled with the fear of losing everything we’ve worked so hard for.

And for this, we have the one and only Lee Kuan Yew to thank for. Even now, he is hard at work spreading fear and anxiety during this election period.

Once upon a time, when we first gained our independence and shortly thereafter left the Malaysian Federation, the fear was real. As a young nation surrounded by less than friendly neighbours, the fear was very real indeed. But because of this also, it made singaporeans band together under the leadership of the PAP.

And in the years since, Lee Kuan Yew has never fully abandoned his rule by fear policy for it has become too easy too convenient.

“Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right.”- Lee Kuan Yew

And this has been his strategy ever since and every election we will see if in full flower- how singapore will go back to being a muddy swampland if people starts to vote against the PAP. Or how your neighbourhood will become slums or how property prices will plunge if people don’t vote for the PAP.

When people are afraid, that is when they are most pliable. When fear is at its greatest, that is also when people tend to vote most conservatively. And that is why you see so much fear mongering among the PAP.

The past 10 years has been a disaster. With nothing to hang their hat on, the PAP can only resort to fear mongering tactics. If our lives did indeed get better, then without a doubt we would’ve been inundated with graphs, statistics and white papers on how the PAP has improved the lives of singaporeans. Instead what the PAP can only do is to continue to spread fear and anxiety, led by Lee Kuan Yew.

Just listen to the message of the PAP. Its doesn’t tell us why we should vote for the PAP. It doesn’t tell us what PAP will do for us if we elect them. Instead message after message has been one of fear. Message after message has been one of apocalyptic warnings should we stray from the PAP.

Isn’t it time for singaporeans to cast away this atmosphere of fear and start to live a dignified life again? If we continue to vote for the PAP, then all it does is to proof them right- that the policy of fear indeed does work and trust me, it will be use again and again on us.

If you want to climb out from under the shadow of fear, then its time to say NO to the PAP. Its time to show Lee Kuan Yew that we singaporeans will no longer be cowed by their politics of fear.

If we don’t show otherwise, then we will forever be ruled by fear.

Be brave. Be Singaporeans.

Vote For Change

In a little over 2 weeks, we are all going to the polls to decide the fate of singapore for the next 5 years. And in these 2 weeks, I implore every one of my fellow singaporeans to search with their hearts and mind.

If we continue to let fear, cowardice, greed and selfishness rule our decision, it may be a decision we may regret for the rest of our lives. Look around you and see how far singapore has fallen under the adminstration of Lee Hsien Loong and the PAP. Look around you and see how much the lower classes has suffered in these 8 years. If we continue to let this fiasco unfold before us for another 5 years, we may reach the point of no return, a point in which all the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers would have gone to waste.

Today, we live in one of the most expensive cities in the world. The prices of our public housing and private transport are second to none. We work the longest hours among all developed countries, yet we have one of the lowest spending power among them, closer to a third world country than a first world one. Despite the glowing GDP growth, the growth in our real income can barely cover the rise in inflation. For the lower classes, its actually a negative growth. Meanwhile Lee Hsien Loong will be rewarding himself and his PAP lackeys with another whopping 30% increase in pay plus bonuses.

The government continues to shroud the cost of building a HDB flat in secrecy and employment figures for singaporeans are hidden under the umbrella of PRs and Singaporeans. Losses from GIC and Temasek Holdings remains a secret. Lee Hsien Loong continues his father’s legacy of withholding information from the public, information which potentially changes how people look at the PAP.

Ask yourself, if the PAP have nothing to hide, then why are they so reluctant to be open and transparent.

Of course sometimes even the best kept secret can be inadvertently revealed as Mah Bow Tan has done when he inadvertently revealed how the government saddles singaporeans with 30 year debt burden just so we can help fatten the state reserves. Reserves which continues to be mismanaged by the wife of our PM, reserves which only the father, son and daughter-in-law have true knowledge about.

And despite the enrichment of state coffers, the government actually reduced the amount of health subsidies when they quickly implemented means testing shortly after they were elected last time round.

We have one of the highest saving rates among developed countries, yet compared to these countries, we are also the most ill-prepared for retirement. Meanwhile our CPF continues to have their goal post shifted as the PAP continues to monkey around with it so that some of us may never actually live to see it when we retire. Not only is CPF a complete failure in providing us with a substainable source of income for retirement, but the returns are so low that it can’t even cover inflation.

So ask yourself, do you still think this government under the incompetent Lee Hsien Loong deserves your vote? In his time, the our lives he has improved is himself and his ministers as they see fat bonuses and pay hikes year after year.

They blithely increase GST claiming its to help the poor when figures reveal people on public assistance barely number more than 3000 with half of the applicants rejected. While the poor which the increase in GST is supposed to help are the most severely affected by that increase.

Just look at all the new candidates the PAP has rolled out. How many actually have the courage to confront these problems? Problems incidentally created by the PAP themselves. Instead they continue to speak in mindless generalities while living in denial. The PAP manifesto is not worth the paper its printed on. Covered from page to page with useless drivel promising us a bright future while remaining silent about the daily problems and sufferings of singaporeans.

The path we have travelled for the last 2 elections has led us to this state- an expensive, overcrowded city with declining standards of living for the average singaporean. Meanwhile instead of spending money to help improve our lives, the government would rather spend millions and millions on events for the rich like F1 and the YOG and developments like Sentosa Cove.

Is this what you want for yourself and the generation after you? A life of work, servitude and misery just so our PAP overlords can live it up like kings and princes looking down on us with an occasional insult or condescending rebuke.

Right now, the PAP continues to threaten us this estate upgrading bullshit. If you fall sick with a serious illness, estate upgrading will not help you. If you forfeit your flat because you are unable to repay your 30 year loan, upgrading will not help you. If you can’t find a decent job, upgrading will not help you. Our problems cannot be solved by upgrading. It needs a government willing to admit its mistakes and to take steps to rectify those mistakes. It needs a government that is able to come to terms with their own shortcomings. Upgrading will do shit for our deteriorating standard of living.

Lee Hsien Loong can shove his motherfucking upgrading up his motherfucking ass. Upgrading comes from our taxes and it should be for every singaporean regardless of how we vote.

STOP THREATENING US WITH IT. You want our votes? learn to stop all the underhanded tactics and fear mongering and learn how to earn those votes.

Until you do, we have to take our destiny in our own hands. Lee Kuan Yew’s and the PAP time is over. Vote for change.