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Tag: opposition

  • Walid. J Abdullah: On Freak Election Results And Voting For The Sake Of It

    Walid. J Abdullah: On Freak Election Results And Voting For The Sake Of It

    On freak election results and voting opposition for the sake of it:

    It is that time of the year when you hear people warning about a ‘freak election result’ and voters who ‘do not know what they are angry about’ and ‘want to vote opposition for the sake of it’. To be fair to the PAP candidates, i have not heard them use this card too much during hustings, so that is commendable. Unfortunately, some of their overzealous supporters choose to propagate this rhetoric. To which, I say:

    1) There is no such thing as a freak election result. If people have voted, they have voted. If on september 12, for instance, there are 89 PAP MPs, it is not a freak election result: people have made their choice. Likewise, there is no reason to state that it is a freakish result if PAP does not do well.

    2) The PAP WILL remain as the government: you can be sure about that. In fact, in all likelihood, they will retain their two-thirds majority. Quite comfortably, i believe. I shall justify this claim by detailing the different electoral contests in a later post.

    3) Do people realize how condescending they sound when they say this? It is as though any vote for the opposition is irrational, and the only non-freakish or right outcome is a PAP victory.

    4) Let us just look the logic of the claim. Let’s say John tells people that ‘we must be careful not to have a freak result.’ When you ask him why, he will say ‘because the people still wants PAP as the government.’ So when you ask him what is the evidence, he will say: ‘they have been voting for the PAP all this while’.

    So…

    Assertion: People want PAP as government.
    Evidence: Their voting patterns.

    Then you say, hang on a minute: let us say the PAP does not become the government. Why is that a freak result? If the evidence for people wanting PAP as their government is the voting pattern, then when the pattern changes, why don’t you trust the pattern and accept that the people do not want PAP as the government anymore?

    John would then go ‘errr, almost all the people i know want PAP as government and those who support the opposition, have no idea why they are doing so’.

    Then you would tell him: ‘the people you know, are not representative of the population. The voting results, are.’

    He would then go: ‘err, this is just what i feel.’

    Then you would say: ‘Well John, i feel like slapping you right now too, but that doesn’t mean my feeling is rational or justified.’

    5) If you believe that voters cannot be trusted to make the right choice, have voters been wrong all this while then?

    Singaporeans have voted for the PAP as our government 11 times since independence. For each of those 11 times, was their judgment sound or suspect?
    You can’t have your cake and eat it.

    6) Ultimately, claims like these only serve to obfuscate matters and distract us from what really matters: discussions on policies.

    Let us get back to those constructive discussions.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah

  • Many Opposition Supporters Used To Be PAP Fanboys

    Many Opposition Supporters Used To Be PAP Fanboys

    Many Opposition supporters were former PAP supporters during the 80s, the 90s and the early 2000s.

    We once believed in the PAP. We once believed our cost of living will remain as affordable as always. We once believed our country is safe from con men and bullying foreigners. We once believed there is no homeless people in Singapore and elderly carting cardboards are a rare sight. We once believed our transport system is the most efficient without any breakdowns. And we once believed we locals will be given the first priority.

    Then we woke up.

    We looked outside the mainstream media and newspapers. We experienced and witnessed what’s going on around us. We opened our ears to the taxi drivers, the coffee shop owners and the lower to middle income families. We listened to them as they tell us how they struggled to meet the rising expenses and costs of living while their wages aren’t enough to afford them. We researched and found our ministers are earning million dollar salaries and many of us couldn’t receive our CPF even at the age of 55. We saw how overcrowded our train stations are due to the 6.9 million population policy. We traced foreigners working in the government sector with fake degrees. We saw how foreign talents are able to breeze through universities and be employed in the top sectors while we the locals have to struggle with unemployment and proper education

    And that’s when we switched sides.

    In the past, the Opposition were weak and do not have any power or support from the people. Now times have changed and we’ve grown so strong we won a single GRC. We had a lot support from the locals and we know what we want.

    Because we ourselves are true. blue. Singaporeans. And we’re taking our power back.

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • 7 Opposition Parties Launch Campaign Badge

    7 Opposition Parties Launch Campaign Badge

    Taking a leaf out of United States President Barack Obama’s playbook, several opposition parties unveiled a campaign badge carrying the words “Vote for Change” to signal their common goal in the Sept 11 General Election.

    The seven parties – excluding the Workers’ Party (WP) and Singapore People’s Party (SPP) – also renewed their commitment to unity yesterday during the event, held at the Singaporeans First party headquarters in Tras Street.

    The red badge was launched by representatives from the SingFirst party, Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), Democratic Progressive Party, Reform Party and People’s Power Party (PPP).

    “Vote for Change” was Mr Obama’s campaign slogan during the 2008 US presidential elections.

    The National Solidarity Party and Singapore Democratic Party were also part of the effort but they did not attend the launch yesterday due to prior engagements, said PPP chief Goh Meng Seng.

    It appears that another objective of the badge is to help raise funds. Mr Goh said some of the parties, including his, would be selling the badges for $5 each during their election rallies.

    He added that the badge would be “a sign of unity among the opposition parties”, and that their supporters would wear it during the upcoming campaign period.

    Mr Goh told reporters he hoped the badge would end the in-fighting and disagreements that have dogged the opposition parties.

    “We will move on to the real battlefield, one that is based on our policy views,” he said.

    Mr Goh added that invitations to this unity effort were extended to all nine opposition parties but the WP and SPP did not respond.

     

    Source: http://www.straitstimes.com

  • Zulfikar Shariff: Muslims Must Let Islam, Not Political Affiliations, Be Foundation Of Decisions

    Zulfikar Shariff: Muslims Must Let Islam, Not Political Affiliations, Be Foundation Of Decisions

    Yesterday I asked how a Muslim PAP supporter will choose if weakening the PAP is beneficial to Islam. Will they support weakening their party for Islam’s sake?

    The only response from someone who rejected the question based his discussion on the minority position of Muslims in Singapore. The response was based on standing as a candidate in an SMC.

    Political action should not be restricted to standing as candidates or being in a political party. Anyone who participates in society is a political actor. Your relationship with society, with the state, your public (and at times private) interactions are political. We are political beings, whether we believe in a political system, support a party or actively participate in an election.

    To simply restrict political action to being a candidate is to ignore a large portion of our socio-political interactions.

    We need to free ourselves from the confines that LKY and GCT tried to impose on us.

    Let us look at another argument that needs to be refined.

    Muslims have over the years, argued that we are the swing votes. While we do not have the numerical ability to stand on a platform based on our religious values, the belief is that we can be kingmakers.

    But let us not deceive ourselves on our own importance. We are about 15% of the population. There are guesstimates as to how many Muslims support the PAP. Some claim the majority of Muslims will always vote for the PAP while others argue its a minority.

    For ease of discussions, let us assume it to be 50%.

    The PAP won a 60% majority in the last elections. The 30%+ who rejected them included half of the Muslim community.

    Even if we vote en bloc, the PAP nationally, will not be affected. If every Muslim in Singapore vote for opposition, the PAP would still get 50%+ of the votes. And if all of us vote for the PAP, they would still get 60%+.

    We are not kingmakers.

    But this does not fully discuss the possibilities. While we may not be kingmakers, we can have an effect in several constituencies.

    The PAP won 51% at the Joo Chiat SMC. It has now been absorbed into Marine Parade GRC (57% in 2011).

    A swing of Muslim votes in this GRC can result in a shift.

    There are several other constituencies that were won with very slim majorities (less than 5%).Similarly, the WP won Aljunied with less than 5% majority.

    If we truly want to expand our political options, look beyond party lines.

    The PAP obviously will not want Muslims to be politically effective. They would prefer our participation to be based on the system they defined. This has now been normalised such that opposition parties may similarly demand the rejection of religious values in a population’s political decisions.

    As though their religious or non-religious beliefs do not inform and dictate their own values and decisions.

    If we truly care about Islam, let us think beyond party lines. We have been indoctrinated into thinking our interests should not matter. As though Islam should have no part in our decisions on politics.

    Islam defines us. Every decision, every action, should be based on Islam.

    Let us return Islam to the forefront of all our decisions.

     

    Source: Zulfikar Shariff

  • NSP Don’t Sabotage Your Own Electoral Chances By Fielding Kevryn Lim

    NSP Don’t Sabotage Your Own Electoral Chances By Fielding Kevryn Lim

    To NSP,

    You must be nuts to get a part-time model to be elected as MP.

    For heaven’s sake, just look at the way she wears!

    Did she think she was going to Zouk to party or attending a serious opposition conference to decide on the outcome of Singapore?

    What is the purpose of wearing such a short skirt to the opposition meeting?

    See the way she talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H-BeVtH4jw

    It reminds me of one of those beauty pageant contests where the contestants are interviewed on stage. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had ended her interview with another one of those “world peace” quotes.

    NSP, please don’t sabotage opposition chances to get into Parliament.

    The opposition die-hards will vote for her even if she walks around Orchard Road naked. But if you are really serious about winning, you have to convince the conservative middle ground voters. Honestly, they are not going to take her seriously.

    You know what my mother said when I showed her the miniskirt photo of Kevryn Lim standing on the road, now circulating on social media? My mother asked if it was about a fight outside a KTV (there was a guy standing next to her using the phone)?

    NSP, your party reputation is already going down with the exodus of the many reputed members from your party.

    Now, you further harm your party and opposition reputation by getting a bimbo worse than Tin Pei Ling to stand for election.

    Please lah, NSP!

     

    James

    * Contributed by TRE reader

     

    Source: www.tremeritus.com