Singapore GE 2011

My take on GE! Come, come, come. If you don't know which party to vote, let me guide you! (Haha I'm kidding!)..

I went to SPP rally (was really touched By Mr Chiam and his passion in serving the people. "I love Singapore! I love Singaporeans!", he exclaimed... How many Minister say that from the heart?), has also been actively reading updates, manifesto on the election campaign and also watching rally videos from Internet and TV... thus, round up this conclusion.

Strategy for all Singaporeans: Hougang and Potong pasir residents - to continue vote for WP & SPP! I firmly believed Mr Chiam has bared his heart and soul to manage his estate, working against the odds of limited funds (and rigid petty PAP with their "rules" example, don't even give him a decent Meet-The-People office yet reject his proposal for funds for upgrading all the time), read

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/that-makeshift-cubicle-at-the-void-deck/

yet ensuring every single residents of his get heard and help and upgrading all the other necessaries. I really don't see any reasons why you guys must vote against him (in this case her, his wife Lina Chiam). So please, for all his efforts and the sake of holding your pride and 2 singles seats in the parliament, vote for Chiam! Vote against that Sitoh carrot! Hougang, for Worker's party, I believe they have ample funds and strength to maintain your estate. Look at their successful rallies, their drive and passion towards politics. No joke, if they are bad, you guys wouldn't have voted them in and maintain ur stand. So please continue to do so!

For GRCs.... I would say: Aljunied and Bishan-ToaPayoh residents, please please vote for WP and SPP and let's get more voices into the Parliament! Reason why I only mention these two GRCs is because I believe we have to vote in CREDIBLE opposition parties, so as I do not have that confidence in NSP, SDP, RP etc... yet.. they need more time to prove themselves. Mr Chiam and Mr Low has proven themselves for so many years... So no doubt on their credibility. So Aljunied and Bishan-TPY being their focus GRC, I wish they would succeed.

Why opposition? Simple and same old grandmother story, for the sake of government accountability, transparency and democracy. We need that check and balance. 85 out of 87 seats is from PAP.. Enough? Look at so many unhappy/stressed fellow Singaporeans suffering day to day by prices and standard of living in Singapore. The fast growth of Singapore might really leave some lagging behind, or if not, going to leave anyone of us behind sooner or later. How realistic/feasible is our policy? We need alternative advocacy voices. Yes, and I agree in what some of the opposition has raised, like:

- too many foreign talents, when to stop? those cheaper foreign talents are fighting with fellow Singaporeans for jobs, and the fact is, because they are cheaper, they got the jobs and not locals. Yet, they are mostly rowdy and unskilled/not trained properly. (not forgetting to mention they talked loudly in buses/ MRTs rudely and commit crimes in Singapore). Argh!
How about the other "higher-educated/ professional foreign talents"? They bully us at work, arrogant and competitive. how can govt fail to see that side of impact and never indicated how they going to minimise that or when to stop the increasing numbers?

-overspent on YOG... it's okie I'm not going to harp and harp and harp on it (but 2million is alot). Everyone makes mistake so we do need that check and balance to remind them of their mistakes? we understand, but we hope to remind them of their oversight with a separate opinion/voice from the other parties time-to-time before something goes really wrong! We need alternatives, not only when problems arises, but even before that.

- Mas Selamat escape.. its okie its okie, same as above.. we understand but... blar blar blar... need to check and balance..... blar blar blar..

- soaring HDB Housing prices increase and increase yet say young people can afford, not enough new flats for the increasing population and the $8k ceiling... me! one of the victims of unable to get a flat, own a flat or whatever due to the above problems. $8k and above can only buy what DBSS or private but not HDB unless reasale?? Argh...

-Hospital and medical fees, also high... Poor people can hardly afford and our Health Minister, before this GE, 1-3 yrs back.. just refuse to listen to the people. Even if he promises something now, I don't know can trust or not.

there are still lots of issues here and there but the main point is, we need alternative voices to reflect our views and opinions. Sometimes the Ministers are so rich and educated that they don't really see our real problems. For me, I think that middle-level income pple like me are always sandwiched and neglected! I'm tired of it. Help for the lower income, they are always so readily and promise to help, how about us? we just get poorer and poorer and rich gets richer...
Always no incentives, no discounts, no grants for middle income pple.. just have to pay and pay... pay still nvm...

That reminds me of ONE IMPORTANT point nothing to do with elections but overall (I'm glad some people did brought up this point in their campaign)..
I emphasize: BEFORE this election, I already have been very disturbed at one point: WHY AM I PAYING SO MUCH INCOME TAXES YET THERE ARE STILL SO MANY HOMELESS PPLE SLEEPING ON THE STREETS? Picking/snatching cupboards and cans and pushing their weird weird "luggage: around (usually a baby trolley or some old used ones they don't know pick up from where or form themselves). Depressing leh... I pay all these income taxes, GST, ERP all can, I plead that you just solve one problem for me can? Help those poor homeless/ food-less pple!!!!! You don't tell me you no money hor... I paid, pple paid and everyone paid... some even paid extras (penalties)...so u do u part and U help solve my 1 problem/wish can???? okie you might ask me where? Bedok Bedok, Bedok South... come come come!

back to GE,

The Government (mostly Ministers from PAP) did well on areas which we should really give them some credit =) . Like the safety cum security of our country.. crime rates in Singapore are kept low, we actually feel more secure and not worried that there would be kidnaps/ murder/ robberies compared to maybe when we are overseas like in Malaysia/ Thailand?
The standard of our Education. I'm actually quite proud to be a local student because our Education standards are maintain high compare to some other Asian countries. The Casinos - I actually think is a great move to boost tourism and bring in more revenue and economic benefits and also a good sign we have become more flexible and not everything says rigid! F1 also another good move. I do feel MM Lee have great foresight and perhaps PM Lee too, that's why we prosper, advance & improve.

Soooooooo... let's not be like overly-anti-PAP, we are not! The rest of the residents in other areas should still support and vote for them. While those I mention earlier on, Hougang, PP, Aljunied, Bishan-TPY give chance and vote for opposition to bring in change and alternative voices to the Parliament, isn't it win-win?

p/s: Big news yesterday is,

PM Lee: I'm sorry for our mistakes

We made a mistake when we let Mas Selamat run away. We made a mistake when Orchard Road go flooded," he said.


"No government is perfect… we will make mistakes. But when it happens we should acknowledge it, we should apologise, take responsibility, put things right. If we are to discipline somebody, we will do that, and we must learn from the lessons and never make the same mistake again," said PM Lee.

my views is, yes, he is pressured to admit these mistakes because of the strong opposition rallies and campaign talk (mostly by WP, NSP-Nicole Seah and various Heads). But if there was no GE or let's say not so much support from the public on the opposition on these issues, would he be pressured to reflect, apologise, review and improve??? that's what I mean when I say we really need that alternate advocate threat in the Parliament.