I am nuts

Polling day tomorrow

Tommorrow is the day of where we cast our vote to determine the political party that will take us throught he next 4 years. It is a forgone conclusion as to who will win, but after years of apathy, at least this time, I have a say.

Being a first time voter at the age of 27, I admit that I know close to nothing about the political situation in my very own backyard prior to the last couple of years. Like many other young voters like me, what we know of politics is only through the mainstream media, and some coffeeshop talk here and there. But I always remain indignant about the fact that estate upgrading was used as the carrot(or stick depending on how u see it) for voting the ruling party. I should know. I was in the infamous Cheng San ward that 'dared' to nearly vote out the PAP. Tension was high in my area that time, and although I was largely unaware of the facts, I remembered being pretty pissed at being threaten, by our very own govt no less. Alot of others probably felt the way I did, and it was reflected in the poll results. Cheng San ward duely ceased to existed in the next election, carved up and absorbed into larger GRCs respectively. I remembered being pretty shocked as I was due the vote in that election and I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing as a electoral boundrary redraw prior to every election. The 'independent' committee decisions, to this day, never convienced me of it independancy. How is it that they can lie to your face and say that their 'independent' decisions that always seem to coincide with the ruling party interests, when it is clear to everyone with one eye and half a brain that it obviously is not? Talk about transparency.


I really believe that the power of the internet comes into play alot this election. If not for the internet and great sites such as sgrally and the unbeliveably insightful yawining bread, would you have seen these pics in the mainstream media?

Attended rallies for the 1st time in my life. Its really quite an unbelievable experience. Totally electrifying. Granted, I only attended oppositions rallies, but my rationale was that the ruling party get to dominate 99% of all media and I get to see their speeches, arguments etc being splashed all over the papers and repeated in every news channel anyway while the oppositions hardly get much, if any air time. The opposition made some good points, one that especially caught my attention was the idea of WP chief Mr Low's idea to peg the ministers pay to the lowest 20% earners in singapore, with a multipication factor of 100. So if the low income earns $800 per mth, the minister gets $80,000 per mth. If the lowest income increases to $1000, the minister will get 100,000 per mth, similarly, if the lowest income drops, the ministers pay drop as well. This is to ensure that the minister will try their best to help the lower income families as it directly affects them as well. Similarly, his idea of asking the govt to make transport services a 'cost-recovery' service instead of a profit driven one also hits close to home, althought I have doubts on its similar calls for other areas such as power supply etc.

On the PAP side, I have not heard any issues or ideas coming from them other than their attempts to scandalise the James Gomez issue, the usual threats of non-estate upgrading with the added lift upgrades this time, and the usual 'look at our track record' vein.

On a whole, prior to polling day, I'm still not too sure it which is the party that best serves my needs. However, I will be asking the following question that I believe will aid my decision. Which party is truly more into serving me and my needs, rather than me serving them and their needs??

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posted by Nutcracker @ 8:43 pm