Dear readers,
I am going to share my opinions on Singapore's General Elections (GE) 2011. Before I start, I would like to state that this are just purely my own opinions and I do not represent anyone or any organisation except for myself.
In this GE, we saw Workers Party (WP) getting 6 out of the 87 seats in Parliament, and became the first ever opposition party to win a Group Representation Constituency (GRC), which is Aljunied GRC. This is a breakthrough in Singapore's politics. In my opinion, the A-team from WP deserved the 5 seats of Aljunied GRC, but I feel that the team from PAP also deserved it as well. This is the flaw of the GRC system. Minister George Yeo is a popular, well-liked minister, and yet he lost the elections because he was contesting in a hot seat GRC. I feel that this is a pity as his talents would have gone to waste like that.
For me, I do not really approve of the GRC system. The GRC system was introduced in 1988, to ensure the people from minority races can be elected into Parliament. However, I feel that now, we would not need this system as the problem of racism is not very serious now in Singapore. As we can see from Punggol East SMC, Michael Palmer, a MP of a miority race, won by 54.53%, although it was a three-way battle. Therefore, we can see that the argument does not stand.
Also, this GE also showed that people are dissatisfied with the PAP government. The low and decreasing percentages PAP win by is an obvious sign. Previously, having percentages over 60% was no feat for them, but this time, many GRCs and SMCs have faced strong challenges and many only won by a bit.
Two good examples are Potong Pasir SMC and Joo Chiat SMC. Potong Pasir SMC saw Sitoh Yih Pin triumphing over SPP's Lina Chiam, wife of Chiam See Tong, by just a small margin. However, this is a great success for Sitoh Yih Pin already since he has not been able to win that seat when Mr Chiam was contesting it. Joo Chiat SMC saw a win of votes by only a little over 400.
This really shows how the people are turning dissatisfied with the ruling party. If PAP does nothing about it, they would see even lower percentages and lose even more seats the next General Elections. We can all see how they promised to hear our voices in order to create a better Singapore. I really hope they would do so.
I am genuinely excited to see the People's Action Party (PAP) and WP working together hand in hand to create a better Singapore for the benefit of all Singaporeans.
I would like to elaborate on one of my above points about Aljunied GRC. I feel that all 10 people contesting for the seat deserved to be in the Parliament, and George Yeo did not deserve to lose. Singapore really needs his talent as a Foreign Minister. Now we are facing a crisis. Who will be our new Foreign Minister if George Yeo does not come back for this 5 years?
This is not just a matter of five years. In this five years many things can happen. ASEAN leaders and ministers have already expressed their disappointment in the fact that George Yeo is not one of our 87 MPs. This is detrimental to Singapore's diplomatic ties with other countries.
Minister Mentor Lee was really too rash in making that statement. Saying that Aljunied residents have to repent if they voted for WP was a bad move. This, I feel, angered the residents and made them vote for WP. Now, both PAP and Singaporeans have to repent. Honestly, we would really need Mr George Yeo back as our Foreign Minister, or else the future, in my opinion, will be bleak.
Although it may be a ceremonious event when WP wins Aljunied GRC, we must think deeper and look at the consequences. I am not anti-opposition, but I really do not wish to see Mr George Yeo to lose this.
This GE should be a wake up call for PAP. I really am excited for the next General Elections and observe the changes in all the seven parties.
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Hi Kee Xuan,
ReplyDeleteI think that this blog post of yours is really insightful and gave me new perspectives to look at this year's GE.
I like your point where you stated that the PAP and WP should work together to benefit the citizens. I like this point because it is really the key for Singapore to success and the two parties should put aside their differences for the benefit of the whole country. However, I have to admit that this is very tough to accomplish because it is very hard to put aside one's pride and listen to others' opinions. I also felt that you could have elaborated more on this point to make your post more interesting.
However, I beg to differ from your point that Lee Kuan Yew made a wrong move. I felt that that statement was really true and helped to persuade some of the WP supporters to vote for the PAP instead. If not, the PAP would have lost by a greater margin. Another point that I disagree with is that the GRC system should be abolished. I feel that this system is good because it helps to split the work up between the MPs to ensure that no one group of people is left out. The only problem that needs to be resolved is the allocation of the citizens to the correct constituency.
That's all I have to say.
Nathanael