I stayed home yesterday, on a Saturday, a weekend, when most adolescents in NS would find themselves reveling in riotous parties at pubs or just simply frittering away their time outside for that matter, partially because nobody ever ask me out and for the most part due to the closely watched poll. Strangely, I sensed a wave of anticipation and thrill this time round as I tuned in to Channel News Asia at 9pm, waiting agog for the results of the poll which were supposed to start rolling in only at 10:30pm. I guess due to the coming of age, controversial issues raised at the GE appeared to lend more relevance to my life and future and being a potential voter 5 years down the road, I ought to ratchet up my awareness of the part and parcel in local politics; in retrospect, a happy-go-lucky student in CHS then, I was presumably too caught up in my own world to pay any attention to the previous GE, in fact the only scenario I can whisk out from my memory cauldron seems to be that of watching the results of the last GE in the middle of the night.
As the initial few announcements were made, the shaven percentages of the votes mustered by the ruling party in some of the SMCs, seemed to portend a general decrease in popularity of the PAP, and they bode ill of the subsequent GRCs showing. True enough, talk of Ang Mo Kio's possibility of garnering 80% of the votes were dashed and WP managed a beautiful victory in Aljunied! That really jolted me! A bit disappointing in CCK though, part of me was hoping Chia could turn the tables around and actually secure another ward for the opposition.
I have been suppressing some opinions I bore of the arguments that had been raging throughout the hustings. The most prominent issue was granted, the Gomez saga. I thought for a while that maybe this would sway votes in favour of PAP, since I figured that anyone intellectually sound and without any highly analytical mind could reach a conclusive verdict after examining the bits and bytes of the evidence. But I guess I was mistaken. Perhaps the tenacious grip by the PAP on the centreman proved too revolting for the voters, I for one felt that maybe the hold on him was a tad too adamant and this was done at the expense of the limited 9 days campaigning, but definitely not substantive enough to sway my vote, that is of course a hypothetical situation.
Another eyesore of the GE was the upgrading carrot dangled in front of the electorate. Yes, I am categorically convinced that carrot provides one with betacarotene which is essential for good eyesight (what irony!), but no, I do not want to restrict myself to the succulent carrot when I have my main dish, my steak, fillet, chicken chop or whatsoever that proved to be as crucial, if not more, in delivering the nutrients that makes my body tick! Simply put, I want to have broader issues mooted for discussion, things like foreign investments, Singapore's foreign policy etc, instead of turning the papers every day for the past 9 days to look at upgrading issues hogging the headlines repeatedly. But in reality, that's not really possible, because the concerns of a large echelon of the society conceivably rest on the improvement of the facilities in the neighbourhood.
The last disturbing misgiving about the speeches was the apology made by PM for the terms he used in a lunchtime rally, ie 'fix' the opposition. I'm not really offended by that word and I feared he might have overlooked the more major flaw in his political discourse in his rally. A fleeting glimpse at the political landscape in other countries like Taiwan, France and Italy, indeed beef up the notion that the ruling party may slip into quicksand because of the desire to uproot the opposition and thus implementing policies that lead to doom. The question of paramount importance is whether he meant that he might degenerate into similar circumstances if more opposition candidates were voted into parliament? Politically unwise to say that, I suppose.
Anyway, enough of the GE. I had to wake up late this morning and my breakfast and lunch were consumed within a span of 2 hours, because I wanted to catch "When A Stranger Calls" at 12:45pm. (No habit of brunch in my family) Completely wrecked my schedule. At least the horror suspense theme appealed to me and I found the plot fresh and different from conventional horror films. And I don't know whether there was a problem in the sound system in Shaw Jurong Theatre or what, the rustling bass beats sounded detached from the movie and it sorta gives me the creeps. Haha.
scribbled at 6:12 PM
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