1.
Took a really long time warming up to the whole elections heat. In fact i cruised past the rallies, cooling off, and actual voting in a surreal blur: did not participate in any political discussions online / irl, embarrassingly meh about my own voting preference.
2.
What exactly does ‘voting wisely’ constitute? Is it different from voting rationally? Does voting wisely really lead to the best political outcome? It seems to me that voting is based on personal ideals, preferences, woes, situations. There isn’t a universally ‘wise’ choice.
The only sure conviction i have about ‘voting wisely’ is to not vote for idiots, i.e. the 2.6k Han Hui Hui fans.
3.
Gaffes are hilarious. They are about my favorite parts of GE2015. NSP’s Choong Hon Heng got me in stitches. There’s a truly disproportionate number of CMI folks in politics. I guess it takes a certain amount of courage to stand against such a strong incumbent. That, or idiocy – which really explains the extremes in capability/total inability when it comes to opps.
4.
Also, my take on the drastic vote swings:
The majority of Singapore associates PAP with government, and is fundamentally unable to fathom a government shared by parties or that is non-PAP. Votes are but a reflection of current sentiments towards the government, which many ultimately think of as the PAP.
My strong suspicions about the mindset of the silent majority / vote swingers – Not happy? Don’t vote for government this time. Happy, feeling very SG50? Support government this year. In both context, there is still a party consistently conceived as government.
Other parties’ job for the next 4 years is to not frame themselves primarily as opposition, but as viable leaders. As long as Singapore knows them as opposition, they will remain but a token to throw against government when convenient, where ‘government’ remains inextricably linked to PAP.
5.
I’m proud of TPL and her media trainer.
6.
First time voter, expected the underwhelming procedure, but thumbs up for the usual Singaporean efficiency. Got mine done within 10 min!
Q 