The day after Nomination Day, I saw this chart in the papers, and was plunged back into gloom and uncertainty - the WP had performed remarkably consistently over the past 5 elections, polling an average of 40%, but they were never going to win Aljunied nor Hougang with 40%.
Then there were a couple of days that Chen Show Mao kept such a low profile, I even irrationally fretted that he had given up and fled the country!
But as it turned out, my fears were unfounded, and in the end, my predictions were pretty darn accurate! =)
Despite a lot of hope that more wards would fall, it was clear from the numbers that realistically the opposition only had a chance in Aljunied and Hougang.
In terms of overall numbers, the PAP suffered a 6.5% drop to a post-independence low of 60.1%.
I had predicted a 7-10% drop to below 60% - which would most definitely have been spot on if not for LHL's well-received double apology at the Boat Quay rally....damn!
The WP recorded their best ever performance of 46.6%, an impressive show indeed, but they'd better not become complacent or take things for granted - the last time a party had a spike in popularity was the SDP in 1991, and look what happened to them in the subsequent election.
Some of the results of the night were truly astounding:
- Yaw Shin Leong managed to improve on his boss's 2006 figures in Hougang! Impressive indeed. Just goes to show the extent of the WP's popularity there.
- Yee Jenn Jong did his local Joo Chiat community proud by his oh-so-close 49% loss - well done!
- WP polling 45% in East Coast is very very encouraging. If they keep it up, it'll be a very intriguing contest in the next elections.
- PAP winning Marine Parade only by 57% - for a ward helmed by SM Goh and containing the well-liked Tan Chuan Jin, it's a downright embarrassment.
The question that will be asked for all eternity: Was it due to SM Goh's latent unpopularity, Nicole Seah's obvious appeal, or the intense and almost universal distaste for Ms Kate Spade amongst the younger voters?
- Lina Chiam's whisker-thin 49.64% loss in Potong Pasir. That, for a woman who looks like she'd have problems stringing 2 coherent statements together, is testament to how well liked and well respected her husband Chiam See Tong is, and always will be.
Thank you Mr Chiam, sir, for all your years of selfless dedicated service - you are a true Singapore hero.
ST photo - courtesy of Ng Sor Luan
So now that the dust and elation has settled, we can all return to normalcy.
But some things have changed irreversibly:
- We've just witnessed a collective awakening out of our previous political apathy. Singaporeans who previously were clueless about politics were now suddenly talking like seasoned political analysts, and this can only be good for our young country.
- The previously held perception of the PAP being an invincible, holier-than-thou, know-it-all party has been well and truly shattered.
Over the course of this election campaign, the recent faults of the PAP has been publicized repeatedly and incessantly.
They had also run a unfocused, uninspired, ill disciplined and negative campaign, with glaring mistakes galore right from the start.
Contrast that to WP's focused, tightly run and positive campaign - they had a simple, easy to understand message that they kept hammering on (pardon the pun) day after day, rally after rally, and it has paid off handsomely.
- The realization that, contrary to what MM Lee thinks, PAP is not Singapore, and that what's bad for the PAP may not be detrimental to Singapore, and vice versa. Need convincing? Read this seminal interview with the great mandarin Ngiam Tong Dow.
So will PM Lee and his stormtroopers in white keep to their promise to start listening to the people and change for the better? Only time will tell, but my feeling is that they have no choice but to change, because if they don't, they'll simply suffer again at the next polls.
To his ministers who polled in the mid-50s and still have the gall to declare that they've received a strong mandate - stop deluding yourselves guys. When you look at yourselves in the mirror every morning, just remember the phrase: 'dead man walking'.
Some of the things I'd personally like to see happen in the next few years...my own personal wishlist for Singapore if you like....hey, a man is entitled to dream, no?
- Stop focusing on just GDP growth over everything else. This is a country, our country, for goodness' sake, not a company.
- Lean just a little bit left in your policies - a little bit more socialism, a little bit more welfare, please. Remember the words of Chen Show Mao (who in turn was inspired by FDR, I believe):
"The test of our progress as a nation is not whether we add more to those who already have much, but whether we provide enough to those who have less."
- If we truly want to be a first world country, we have to start paying first world wages, as discussed in this fairly balanced Asiaone article.
We're amongst the most expensive cities in the world, but our wages are below those of Johannesburg, Sao Paulo and Moscow - as such, our purchasing power is below that of Kuala Lumpur!
Can you believe that? Our currency is more than twice as strong as the Malaysian Ringgit yet we have less purchasing power then our neighbors up north? That's such a disgrace!
For a start, how about introducing a minimum wage? A gazillion other countries have done so, so it can't be all that bad right?
The government keeps insisting it won't work, lots of other experts say it can - who would you rather believe? See here and here.
And before you start with "Oh, it'll make us less competitive...", see my earlier 2 points above.
- Review your policy on foreigners. I'm not talking xenophobia here - I have no problems with us needing and having foreigners per se, but surely 1 million foreigners within the past 10 years is too much too soon?
They're clogging up our trains and our roads, they're buying up property thus increasing our property prices, they're competing with our kids for our schools, they're making Singaporeans a minority in our own country!
Aren't we always talking about building our Singaporean identity and culture? How on earth are we going to do that when whatever little identity and culture we have is constantly being diluted by foreigners?
Surely our intake of foreigners can be at a slower pace, say, in tandem with growth of our facilities and infrastructure?
And if our economic growth has to suffer a little for the lack of foreigners, so be it! (see earlier points above)
- Play fair. To this end, I have 2 requests.
1. Stop re-drawing electoral boundaries before every election....that's just so....not fair, for want of a better phrase. Again, how can we build any semblance of local identity when Joo Chiat SMC does not include the actual area everyone knows as Joo Chiat, which in turn is in Marine Parade GRC instead?
2. Abolish the GRC system. According to Low Thia Khiang, the original purpose of the GRC is to combine areas of poor PAP support with areas with strong PAP support. So stop BSing us with stupid illogical excuses to justify the continued existence of GRCs.
If nothing else, isn't losing George Yeo and gaining Ms Kate Spade as an MP in this election enough proof that this system is fatally flawed?
For the next elections, just revert back to the good ole fairer SMC system. Period.
To end, I'll just share what I feel is a rare sight in Singapore, a spontaneous mass display of raw unbridled passion, pride and patriotism - and no, I'm not referring to the Great Singapore Sale.
I had the privilege of being present in that crowd that 5 May 2011 night, at the last WP rally at Serangoon stadium....where 30,000 people made known to the night sky just how they felt about being Singaporean.
Thank you Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Pritam Singh, and Muhd Faisal for helping us find our collective voice, for challenging us to banish our fears, and for daring us to dream.
