Singapore General Elections - my take and feelings

May 7 was a watershed elections for Singapore. It was a hard fought one.

All constituencies, save for one, was contested. Even the uncontested one was because the nominees were supposedly late in their submissions. The opposition was out in full force. Many young candidates came up for election.

In the end, the PAP won all but 2 constituencies. They lost 5 seats in a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and 1 seat in a Single Member Constituency. Aljunied and Hougang. The biggest number of opposition ever since PAP came into power in Singapore.

It was purely a game of politics - mind games and scare tactics. Who won in the end? I am still unsure. Some people said that Singaporeans lost because we lost our Foreign Minister George Yeo and 2 other ministers in the Aljunied GRC. The opposition told Singaporeans not to worry about George Yeo losing his seat in Parliament. He could always run for Presidency or the government could give him another position. Well, the PAP was smarter than that. After George Yeo lost, he announced that he will not run in Elections any more. He will also not run for Presidency. He will, however, continue to help PAP reform. It was expected. If the PAP gave George Yeo another position, or if he ran for President, they would have proven the opposition right and opened the Pandora's box for future elections.

The opposition stressed a lot on the secrecy of our votes in a bid to give the citizens courage to vote for the opposition. Although the overall percentage of votes garnered by the PAP fell from the last elections, there were still some constituencies which showed a strong performance despite some alleged strong opposition. I think Singaporeans were mostly smarter than that. A lot of citizens, however, vote with their emotions riding on anger and disappointment. Anger at what was deemed as the government's pompous and somewhat arrogant attitude. Disappointment at the lacklustre showing of some of the key ministers over the last 5years in office and lack of disciplinary action or corrective action for what was seen as major mistakes.

After the elections, I heard many people said that they were not saying the PAP did a bad job. They just felt that the government didn't listen to the people as much as the people wanted them to. I feel it was a lot to do with perception, communication and education. I asked my hubby why he thought that his one vote to the opposition will not throw the balance towards to the opposition. If everyone thought like him, then the PAP would be in jeopardy. It was a risk I didn't want to take.

Yes, I admit that I voted for the PAP. Why? Because the opposition was not strong in my constituency. I heard one of the opposition candidates say that he would reduce spending in ministries that overspent, such as defence, and put it in health care. I was worried when I heard that. Not because I didn't think health care was unimportant. More because defence is of utmost importance to us. Think back to the days before Independence. Even after, while we were part of Malaysia. We are so tiny, but we are economically strong. We have a good location, a good harbour. It is definitely something that people will eye, if we don't have a strong defence. I don't want to put the security of my home at risk.

A few days ago, MM Lee Kuan Yew and SM Goh Chok Tong announced their intentions to retire from Cabinet. Many people said it was because they made some comments which didn't go down well with the younger generation. Talk of repentance over wrong vote and snide remarks about the opposition party were much talked about. Today, PM Lee announced that 3 ministers who held the ministries which drew the most flak from the nation also retired from the Cabinet. It is very clear that PM Lee Hsien Loong is trying to send a message to our people. Many people are appreciative of that. He is like the son who has clearly stepped out of his father's shadow even though he can clearly stand on his own. I salute him.

Another hot topic of discussion during the elections, and even today, was Tin Pei Ling. The 27 year old who is now a Member of Parliament through what many dubbed as no credit of her own, riding on the coattails of Goh Chok Tong. There were rumours about her being a test of how the people will react to a young candidate. There were some personal attacks on her. People were complaining that she could suddenly draw a high salary at such a young age by doing nothing much except stomping her feet, rolling her eyes and making discriminating posts on her Facebook page. This was truly an epitome of how politicians must face the paparazzi, except in this case, the paparazzi was the public. Out of the blue, many embarrassing videos and photos of her surfaced on youtube in an attempt to discredit her. Many people made rude comments and remarks about her on almost every article related to the elections. Such was the power of the Internet. Although I don't trust a 27 year old to be a solid Member of Parliament, I wish her all the best.

One thing I observed - a good grassroots leader may not make a good Member of Parliament or a Minister. A good grassroots leader sometimes may be a better social worker. A strong Member of Parliament or Minister must have good grassroots support. I hope Singaporeans know the difference when the next elections come. By that time, the now 24 year old Nicole Seah would be 29. She has demonstrated that she has a kind heart with good intentions to work for the people. However, our government must be able to see the big picture without losing sight of the commoner. A 5 years, 10 years and even 20 years plan which not only takes care of our people, but also bring our country to greater heights. It's easy to voice such aspirations but the execution is a thousand times harder. You cannot please everyone. You have to take care of the majority. And you have to admit that you cannot help everyone, you cannot reach out to everyone. It's almost impossible. To do so would require a lot of resources and planning. We also have to ensure equity which is something that not everyone can see clearly. We have to draw the line somewhere. For example if the current limit for a family to be able to obtain grants is a household income of $2500, someone earning $2800 would want it to be $3000. Someone earning $3100 would say it is unfair, a $100 difference doesn't go to much to help them. Then where do we stop or draw the line? The government has to engage their super smart analysts to calculate the cost benefit in order to determine where to draw the line. The line will not please everyone but it still has to be drawn somewhere. It cannot be a never ending story, otherwise you might as well say that there is no line and end up with a bankrupt government. If you say $10,000 is a lot, someone earning $5,000 will say $8,000 is a lot. Someone earning $2,000 will say $5,000 is a lot. See how it can work both ways?

I read somewhere that a 2 party system where both parties are almost equally strong may also not be good. You wouldn't know whether the government will stay in office for the next 2 tenures or not. Even the government themselves do not know. With that comes a risk that no one will be brave enough to make a hard decision. With that comes a risk that decisions are made with only short term personal gains in mind. A lot more time will be spent politicking to secure support instead of doing something concrete which will bring in faster results.

I am personally happy with our socialist system. I don't long for a pure democracy. Of course I am not rooting for communism. I believe in a meritocratic system. I believe that people who are willing to work hard, work smart, and contribute to society should not be embarrassed to enjoy the fruits of their own labour. They have to pay taxes of course. I believe that the government must provide opportunities to each and every citizen. Whether or not that person takes that opportunity and make the fullest use of it should not be the responsibility of the government. Assistance is a must but opportunities does not equate hand outs. Also, a drive towards a nation with stronger social responsibility and values will help - we can and must help each other. The government must be the facilitator to ensure that resources given up for assistance are given to the appropriate parties, that there is no misuse or abuse of such resources.

I think that's enough. Again, it's just my own thoughts. I do not know any better. After all, I'm just a Gen-X Singaporean with 3 kids, who is unwilling to put her home and family's security at risk.

Drama with the domestic help

I'm not exaggerating when I say I have had domestic helper woes.

Last week, I received a call from hubby to say that the helper was not doing work in the morning, when she is meant to be, and was on the phone. Worse was she received a call from a man and started chit chatting with him. When hubby asked her if it was her boyfriend, she got angry. She said that if hubby doesn't like her or is unhappy, there is no need to get angry, he can just transfer her to another employer.

I went home and got her to start packing. Before I instructed her to pack, I asked her to give me both her mobile phones to be held in custody until we reach the employment agent. She refused. I threatened to call the police and inform them about her abuse of my child and she tried to test my resolve by agreeing very aggressively.

I gave up trying to struggle with her and asked her to pack her belongings. I went through the items she packed in her luggage. I found out that she had actually locked her luggage and when she opened it, I found some polo t-shirts which belonged to me in it. I asked her why she had them in her luggage and she said that I said I was going to throw them out so she took them. I obviously have not thrown them out yet. I shall cut to the chase...at the end I found that she had started to use some pouches which were left lying around the house without informing us.

Before we left the house, she locked both her mobile phones in her luggage. When we reached the car park of the building where the agent was located, she opened her luggage and took out her mobile phone despite my protests. She said she was going to call her family. I immediately asked the agent to come down to the car park. The agent took some time during which the helper took out the SIM card from her phone and broke it.

At the agent location, they did another search of her belongings and I found another T-shirt and pouch which I didn't notice earlier. There were also 2 one dollar coins in her pocket, for which she wouldn't have use when she was working at home. More suspicion. After the agent gave her a telling off, I signed some paperwork and left.

The replacement would only be available to work for me, if all paperwork was approved, in June. I almost cried. Good riddance but domestic woes for us....more for the hubby really.