Monday, August 29, 2011

We Wuz Robbed

Despite an initial lead by Tan Cheng Bock, phony Tan stole the presidential sweepstakes with a pathetic 0.34 percent of the votes, shaved from an earlier 0.35 margin. That's gotta be déjà vu. In May this year, Lee Kuan Yew's ragtag posse snatched Tanjong Pagar with a walkover due to a paper shuffle delay of 35 seconds. Only the thick skinned can declare a victory under such contentious circumstances. Somebody ought to take a serious look at the "spoilt" votes. Somebody truly independent.

The number of spoilt votes was 1.76% of 2,153,014 cast. That's 37,826 people who could have made mince meat of the 7,269 deciding margin. If a ballot paper, with a cross on TCB and a moustache over TT's mug shot, was considered a spoilt vote, a recount would surely yield quite a different result. But not by the same civil servants manning the counting centres, those who know which side of their bread is buttered. At some centres, they went home instead of conducting the recount. It's our shameful version of the hanging, dimpled, and pregnant chads at the Florida election recount of 2000, which made George "WMD" Bush president.

It did not escape any casual observer that 65 percent of voters did not cast their ballots for the PAP candidate. Now that's quite a swing from the 60 percent "mandate" the party secured from the electorate with their usual assortment of campaign tricks, courtesy of sycophants in the PA and grassroots network. Although the presidency was trumpeted as a non-political role, the poll had turned into a direct referendum on the PAP - The Washington Post called it a barometer of voter discontent - thanks to Tan's close links with the party and blood ties with the Lee family. Tony Tan is a distant cousin of the late Kwa Geok Choo, which makes him an uncle of Lee Hsien Loong.

Under the PAP, Singapore's GDP grew to nearly $50,000 per capita in 2010, one of the highest in the world, with the fat going to the top few percent. As of March 2011, World Bank ranks Singapore's Gini Coefficient at 0.44, grotesquely high for a developed economy. Unfortunately real wealth is not trickling down the income ladder anytime soon. A Japanese expatriate aptly described Singapore as "North Korea that works."

PM Lee declared the election has produced an unambiguous winner. Since the nail biting result came in at 4.30 am, he must have been fast asleep at the wheel, and the exuberant celebration probably written a week earlier. The incoming 7th head of state wasn't too encouraging when he said, "I don't think it's fair to describe, for example President Nathan's tenure as being in an ivory tower," signalling that his reign won't be too dissimilar. If he wants to be more convincing about a change of agenda, given the oceanic swell of soaring housing prices, a surge in foreign workers and rising income inequality, he would have to dye his hair black.

23 comments:

  1. To put it in perspective 65% of the voters were disappointed and sad that TT got elected. If TCB or TJS or even TKL was elected, only 35% of the voters will be upset.

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  2. A "decisive" result declared President-elect Dr Tony Tan yesterday. Yes, a win is a win, but my 2 cents worth would have called it a "divisive" result.

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  3. This is why many have asked for two tier election. In this case, the two top candidates will go through another round of voting after the first round. A winner will surface wth a "CLEAR" mandate from the nation i.e. >50%. Our once off voting now create a less than ideal situation where our President know jolly weel that only 1/3 supported him. How to say "I am your President"?

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  4. To be fair to the civil servants, they stayed at their counting stations throughout. Those who left were the (non-civil servant) counting agents of the candidates who were there to witness the counting. One can assume many of those who left were agents of TJS and TKL who would have less interest in recount.

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  5. I am disappointed that tt won. But not despair as we are still able to read good blogs with sound analysis like yours. Please continue to write for fellow singaporeans. As the road to make our pledge a reality will be long and difficult but I believe we will be there somedays. Thank you for writing.

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  6. Sad Singaporean8/29/2011 10:45 AM

    We just have to wait a few years more for the young people to be eligible to vote and people over 70 to emigrate to heaven. We will see real change then. GE2016 should see more opposition elected into parliament.

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  7. Sometimes I don't what to say about Singaporeans, really.
    There' so much issues, angst and frustration this time round, and the best they could do is put in only 6 Opposition Seats against a large 81 for PAP. And with the Presidency, is very clear they're again voting in one of the LEe's family member - so now the entire throne from Senior advisor, DPM , PM, the Wife of TH, and now the President are all back to one happy family...are they daft or really blind??? This goes beyond kiasi. Just a bunch of spineless gutless comforting zombies who don't even rock a paddle enough let alone rock the boat..the same group of people who think they are doing stability/singapore a favor is actually doing its future a BIG disfavor..We have no credible or contingency plan B, outside of the establishment small group of elites..The power base is all back into the same few hands..

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  8. I have 2 issues. One in that PM Lee only called TT and CBok to congratulate the winner and console the runner up. The other 2 candidates were invisible to him.

    Unambiguous, what in the world does he want to express? Unanmimous it isnt, a clear win it isnt. That unambiguous word is ambiguous

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  9. You know that "independent" analyst Eugene Tan goes on TV, with a smitten look by the barbie newscaster Andrea, he said along the line " I disagree that the new EP has 65% of voters against him. He has actually 70% (including TCB) of voters who are pro-PAP choice of candidate, one of them happens to be TT'

    Wow...so they say tow sides of coin. You either see 70% are for PAP or 65% are against PAP..guess it depends on which side of mouthpiece you're speaking from - the electorate or the Party that so desperately wanted to be loved again.

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  10. Economist said it best - an elected Tony Tan is tantamount to a humiliation.

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/08/singapore-elects-new-president

    He has also quickly represented us on the global scene as seen on taiwan tv
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmQ9irUm4EI

    So much for stature lor

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  11. I am also inclined to believe we wuz robbed and i cannot help thinking there is some mischief in the 37,000++ spoilt votes.

    Tattler, looks like Ah Lee Baba and his thieves will continue to rob the entire country, and more so now with a Phony President in place.

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  12. It cannot be denied that a few good things has come out of this PE.

    At least one person kept his mouth shut throughout the election for the good of everyone and no more threats for anyone to repent.

    No need to disinvite your preferred guests to attend any future function. No need to be so rude to begin with.

    Be very afraid, PAP. Hope you better change your pariah attitude before the situation gets worse. Who says there is no point in voting for the opposition ?

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  13. In the run up to the PE I happened to have had some discussions with some of the younger generation "educated" citizens who simply seem to have a general apathy towards our country's state of affairs and are oblivious to the issues at hand. They come across as being clueless when it comes to the issues of the day and would just vote for any Tony, Dick or Harry that the government puts up. Taken together with the fact that a great majority of the elderly voters are still around and till date feel beholden to the current PAP government and would vote for the party with the "lightning rod" because some RC member instructed them to...I was saddened by the realisation that it would take more than a few decades to change the status quo.. Thus it was with great joy and a renewed sense of hope that I read Your well written blog. For in it I see a ray of hope for the future. It is through blogs such as yours and through active political discussions in coffee shops and in internet forums that we can help spread the word and signal a political awakening of our people, keeping alive the dream that one day sooner than later we will have the kind of all inclusive government that our country needs.

    Great article , and keep on writing and doing what you are doing...

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  14. this thinking that the young vote for alternatives to the PAP, and the old vote for the ruling party is BS. i know a large number of older people, who all actually KNOW and LIVED THRU Much better times who vote for someone else other than the PAP, and a number of young people who vote PAP. i encounter young people who are anti-PAP becos it's fashionable to be upset with it.

    the bottom line to me is the more politically informed, the thinking, the very concerned, the more daring, the aware, the disaffected are among those who vote agst the PAP. there are still not enough such people.

    this is not to say that those who do vote PAP do not think. they just errr.. think rather differently - eg they see TJS as being confrontational rather than robust in the F2F2 debate - and appear to swallow what they are told by the authorities. stuff like the ministers would earn much more outside than they get as ministers, hence the obscene pay given them.

    i dun see george yeo and lim hwee hua being hunted down for high-flying positions that pay more than what they got. do you? we're not talking here of govt jobs/jobs in GLCs and such.

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  15. Alan Wong, I couldn't agree with you more!

    By the way, anyone here agree Medisave is really a tax? Compare what you pay and what you get from Medisave to a regular medical insurance policy, with Medisave, you pay more yet get less!!!

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  16. If they say is unambiguous and decisive win, then so be it lor..
    let's see what they will be doing next 4-6yrs
    one thing for sure - the minister that told singaporeans not to begrudge their ministers/civil servants their salaries will not be the moral conscience when it comes to approving the Salary Review Committee. Everything will be rubber-stamped just like Mindef/NS deferment. He will just play dumb and deaf that's all, and try to sell Colonel Junk Food to the people. We shall see

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  17. Out of TT's 35% , I believe True Blue Singaporean - Those with roots from birth took up 20% . The rest came from New Citizen, still honey mooning with the PAP as a gesture of appreciation .

    I fear now that the PAP newly found magic formula will see more flooding in to displace us , in time for 2016.

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  18. To Alan 2:24pm

    Someone is very quiet... freak rumor going around..
    hmm maybe uncle Tan comes in just in time to unify the fraction that's going to happen soon...?? 0.35% or 0.35sec seems to be a favorite number huh..can anyone confirm where the major winning votes for TT came from e.g. the last stop since TCB was leading all the way I heard.

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  19. The last decisive stop was Sembawang....so well, we can guess or try figuring out what was happening then. How is the new citizens' percentage of the population in that area? Also, what are they composed of mainly? In addition, what are the demographics of the people voting in that area?

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  20. To be fair, we should give TT some time to see
    how his Presidency is going to be. Who knows he could turn out to be another OTC?
    But I am pinning my hopes on him.
    What sort independence is it going to be when he will check on himself on how he run GIC previously? After all hasn't he just praised Nathan, when the whole world could see what kind of President he's been.

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  21. Firstly, please do not pin too much hope on EP. He is and will always be a figurehead. Secondly, even if he is knowledgeable on some issues, he is but only one person. What make you so sure he is better than the collective decision of a team of scholars and ministers? Let us get real. Let him cut ribbons and dine with foreign dignities.

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