The events that occurred yesterday, Nomination Day, have been lingering on my mind for the last 24 hours. 3 substantial events occurred. These events COULD HAVE (I stress on COULD HAVE. I am not saying it WOULD HAVE) altered the election scenario.
1) Holland-Bukit Timah GRC - As I had stated in an earlier post, an objection was raised regarding Sim Ann's occupation listed as "unemployed". I also understand that both, the extremely impartial Civil Service Department and herself have stated she had resigned on Mar 18. As an individual, I would have accepted those answers. But, as a Singapore Citizen, I am not too sure if I would accept those answers as the plain truth. I have 2 reasons.
- Double standards. If we were to flip flop the 2 players involved and it was the PAP who had accused their opponents of the same thing. Does any of us for one second think that the results would have been the same? I have a strong feeling, the person's resignation records and whatever else related to his/her resignation (not least, the compensation records for not fulfilling the resignation term) would have been requested, dug up, churned around a million times for verification. So, why should Sim Ann not be accorded the same graces? After all, these elections are pretty much a job interview to SERVE us, the citizens.
As a citizen, I demand the right to know. Otherwise, why should I be paying you?
- "The Elections Department said it was not “apparent” from the nomination paper that Ms Sim Ann was still in the civil service. Hence, the objection was disallowed."
This definitely has to rank up there with WKS's I-have-to-say-something-but-I-don't-have-anything-intelligent-to-say "Mas Selamat is either in Singapore or outside Singapore." statement.
Absolutely ridiculous!
If, Sim Ann records are not truly in place and she had not resigned as of Mar 18 (On Mar 23, Straits Times reported she has still not tendered her resignation), then, the PAP would have been disqualified and for the first time ever, a GRC would have been won by the SDP. There would be several "firsts" here. First time PAP team disqualified. First time GRC won by opposition party. First time SDP wins GRC. First openly gay candidate in parliament, possibly in cabinet.
2) Tanjong Pagar GRC - Likewise, in an earlier post, it was reported that the opposing candidates to the PAP for this ward were NOT LATE. The nomination center's inadequacies and lack of coordination cannot and should not be used to deprive the candidates the chance to contest for an election and more importantly, the citizens the right to vote.
This ward would most likely not have gone to the opposition but at least residents of the many-times-gerrymandered Tanjong Pagar GRC would have had the chance to vote. And possibly show LKY that he is not as well liked as he thinks he is.
I am posting this video again... the truth has to be told and LKY's arrogance that it was a "feeble attempt" to contest against him has to be dispelled.
3) Steve Tan - It doesn't matter why Steve Tan decided not to contest these elections. Steve Tan himself stated that it was a personal decision made the night before Nomination Day but Lim Boon Heng states that it is all part of party strategy and tactics. Great. You decide.
What matters is that Dr Chia Shi Lu got a free ride to a $15,000 per month salary.
Even worse than Tin Pei Ling. At least she has to undergo public scrutiny.
Why could there not be a one-for-one swap with Dr Chia standing in Tampines? Oh yes, MBT is on shaky ground in Tampines. So, let's add a more seasoned candidate to shore up MBT's chances of going back to screwing the citizens of their affordable housing.
Tampines GRC is, in my opinion, a toss up right now. But, adding Dr Chia would have kind of made the team slightly more disadvantaged. Possibly swinging the votes a few more percentage points downward. And possibly another GRC to the opposition.
What concerned me the most in the last 24 hours were not just these events but rather, HOW MANY OF SUCH EVENTS MAY HAVE PREVIOUSLY OCCURRED IN PAST ELECTIONS BUT WERE NEVER, EVER REPORTED.
With new media/social media playing a role in these elections, we were not pigeon-holed into listening/reading/watching the objective reporting (check today's, April 28, 2011 ST and you will see that number (1) issue got about half a page but mainly stressing on the fact that Sim Ann was indeed "unemployed". Number (2) issue got barely one eighth of a page near the bottom and number (3) issue also about one sixth but reporting irrelevant stuff about the "boyish looking bachelor") of the state-run media.
We are not only voting for CHANGE.
We are voting for more ACCOUNTABILITY.
We are voting for more TRANSPARENCY.
We are voting for people to SERVE the CITIZENS.
The way the current government has this country set up, everything is so intertwined, it is hard for most people to differentiate. Government, Civil Service, Ministries, MAS, Town Councils. It is a business' way of "entrenching" a customer. It's time to undo that knot.
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