In many established societies there are occasions when its citizens were asked to make important decisions of how it wanted to see its political development. I think Singapore is as this juncture of its history. Come 11 September 2015 its citizens will get to choose its 89 Members of Parliament.
Now we are at the half-way stage of political hustings. I shall group the politicking so far under the following headings - the good, the bad, the ugly and "kiasu and kiasi". I shall start with:
The bad: The ruling party started badly by putting posters of the PM's photo across all constituencies of the island. It clearly testifies to its arrogance. Some questioned whether any electoral law has been breached as the PM is only contesting in the Ang Mo Kio GRC. In the hustings, PAP candidates were found to to be denigrating others and calling Opposition Parties all sorts of names like "nomads", "mouse", etc. It also practices "pork barrel" politics promising million dollars master plans and upgrading of townships, building of polyclinics, markets, etc even a swimming pool.
The Ugly: Poison letter regarding an Opposition Party candidate by an anonymous writer was circulated to mainstream media. The candidate had to make a police report to put a stop to such underhand tactics. "Character assassination" insinuations of Opposition Parties' candidates also come quick and fast.
The Kiasu And Kiasi: You know how the PM held closely to his chest the date of the Polling date - 11th September 2015 when every one knows it should rightly be one day later i.e. 12th September. By his choice he is telling every one "I don't want to lose to you". Then there is a so-called PAP "party stalwart" coming out to stage "a wayang show" keeping every one in suspense as to whether " he is" or "he is not" contesting in the Aljunied GRC on Nomination Day. In the end he disappeared from the scene altogether.
The Good: These are the candidates who are passionate about their beliefs and causes they are fighting for. They stand on their convictions and articulate their competitive views and ideas to bring Singapore forward.
GE 2015 will be a "landmark" election. Many of the Opposition candidates this time round are equally if not more qualified than their counterparts in the ruling party. Credible Opposition parties in sequence of voters' popularity rankings are the Workers' Party(WP), Singapore People's Party(SPP), Singapore Democratic Party(SDP), the Singaporeans First Party(SingFirst), National Solidarity Party(NSP), etc. Will you give them a chance to break this dominance and juggernaut (Ms Sylvia Lim of the Workers' Party has termed it as a "Machinery that can eat you up" )of the ruling party. This is a historic occasion to make a historic decision. May God bless our beloved Nation!
