A contribution by TOC reader, Bhavana Gupta
I am a former foreign talent. I was granted citizenship in 2005 after having stayed in Singapore for 11 years. At heart, I remained rooted to my country of birth. Hence, when I was recently told that I am a true Singaporean given my interest in GE 2011, it got me thinking if I have had a change of heart.
JBJ
I often hear comments from Singaporean friends about how opposing views are not appreciated in Singapore. I’ve heard of what was done to the likes of JBJ, Devan Nair and others. But I did not think much. To me, as a foreign talent, Singapore was safe, clean and efficient and that is all that mattered.
Yet the last Singapore general elections stirred some strange feelings. I did not like the way PAP contested and campaigned. Politics may be a dirty game but there should still be boundaries on how low you can go without compromising your integrity. I voted opposition then, driven purely by my gut feel of what is right.
2011 election has made me more aware. I do not deny the past work of the PAP. They have done well. I am not frustrated or angered by the high cost of living, the healthcare costs and the influx of foreign workers – these issues do not directly affect me or my family. I lead a relatively good life. The ministries have responded to me when I needed help and I am grateful for that.
Dr. Janil Puthucheary
I am, however, appalled by the lack of sincerity and passion shown by our PAP ministers.
As the PAP introduced its candidates, several questions were raised by members of the public. Candidates like Tin Pei Ling do not seem prepared for the elections. Yesterday, she said when elected and if she has time, she will reach out to the youths. Why the “if”? I am not hopeful she is an ‘A’ candidate. Next, Dr. Janil Puthucheary. Is the PAP deaf to the discontent over the influx of foreigners and NS policies, that they decided to field Dr. Puthucheary? In response to the question of not having done NS, he said he was saving the lives of children instead. Is he God? How does that compare to our very own Singaporean medical professionals who have saved lives and are also trained to save the nation, should the need arise.
The PAP is complacent – they have not had a need to contest for eons and they have lost touch with the ground. Their new candidates are unimpressive given the rigorous selection process; the former heavyweights are not saying the right things either.
There is nothing to repent and no one is indispensable. And yes, ministers’ high pay matters to a significant minority and should not be ignored.
The only way forward is to be humble, sincere and serve with a passion. This is what attracted me to some of the opposition candidates. They came across as people with heart, humility and candor. I felt it myself merely by hearing them speak. The new opposition candidates give me hope for a better future for Singaporeans.
And no, by better future, I do not mean that they promised HDB upgrading or maintenance of my estate, higher wages or lower medical costs. The better future I see them promising me is a future where we will not live in fear and be driven by threats.
I am worried that my kids and I will not have the freedom to express our views. Our views, if not in favor of the PAP, may be either ignored or slammed down without consideration. Lee Hsien Loong mentioned he hoped there will be no court cases after this election. What is he implying?
I have wanted to pen my thoughts for a while, but feared I will get into trouble. I shared this fear with a friend who is married to a foreign talent. She too had her own sets of fears! She was nervous her vote may pose problems for her husband in getting permanent residency in Singapore. While going to an opposition rally, another friend was uneasy about telling the taxi driver we were heading to a non-PAP rally. After seeing some of my political Facebook postings, a well-meaning Singaporean friend sent me a warning – all the way from overseas – to be ‘careful’. Is this fear healthy? Shouldn’t eradication of fear be given more prominence that any other policy? Well, this is what I am standing up for.
As for the question of being a true Singaporean, I am not totally sure about that but I do know that my vote in GE 2011 will be against ideals and parties that disrespect me and my views. My vote will be against arrogance, bullying and intimidation. My vote is for a better place for humankind.
My vote will be against fear.
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May 4, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Bhavana, please don’t be fearful to ‘speak your mind’ with your precious vote! Your vote is Completely Secret!! There’s absolutely no doubt about this! And pls tell all those you know who are apprehensive or fearful about this too.
We need to cast away these fears and stand up for the correct set of human values which are sadly quickly eroding in our society today. I salute you for sharing your thoughts…
the world is also watching this election and it would be totally of no benefit for the ruling party to do anything to all of us who had shared our thoughts truthfully… They will have to think twice, three times, even ten times before taking any action… Besides there are so many people, how can they possibly catch us all…
May 5, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Hi, i have this copied from http://www.elections.gov.sg :
” What if I do not vote at an election?
At the end of the election, the Returning Officer will put your name, together with all others who did not vote at the election, in the list of non-voters and pass that to the Registration Officer. The Registration Officer will then remove your name from the certified register of electors of the constituency you belong to.
This means that you cannot vote at any subsequent presidential or parliamentary election, and you are disqualified from being a candidate at any subsequent presidential or parliamentary election. ”
My question is if the officer know who not vote, how could they not know who voted ?
May 6, 2011 at 2:35 am
This is a really noob question. If you went for the voting, they will match your name and nirc against their list then you proceed with your “X”.
They won’t know who you voted for, of course they have to know if you have voted or not la….no worries and cast your vote.
May 6, 2011 at 1:22 pm
they will know who has went to vote but they won’t know what or who u voted for.like exam paper they just put a mark there to indicate u have collected ur exam paper,but if there is no mark means u din came hence did not vote..
May 6, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Don’t be an idiot la. They have a name list to stike off the name when you go to vote. If not, then you can appear at the polling station 300 times to vote for PAP, rite? WEI KONG TIAN XIA BU LUAN
May 6, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Grow a pair please.
May 6, 2011 at 11:15 am
I don’t really know how is the process for voting in S’pore. But in M’sia the vote are printed like a cheque book and when one’s name is called, the person who distributes the form will quickly write down the voter’s number at the remaining part of the vote(exactly like we issuing cheque). So, means that after the polling, they could match back who you voted to. Therefore the vote is not secret, if not how would the analysis be carried out?
May 6, 2011 at 1:28 pm
The ‘analysis’ is done via polling stations. i.e. the location where you submit your vote. The totals for each polling station (aka the area) will be known, but not the individuals.
meaning, they would know with these 20 blocks of flats, 80% voted for Party X and 20% voted for party Y. however, they will not know which is the 20% or 80%. Unfortunately, this still is sufficient data for PAP to play their divide and conquer game.
May 7, 2011 at 9:00 am
For gods’ sake, I am sure the vote is secret in Singapore. The process of serial numbers is needed to prevent fraudulent and repeat votes. The vote boxes are sealed after counting and both parties sign their names across the seal. Prior to incineration and provided there are no recount of votes, both parties check all the ballot boxes to make sure no tampering has been done. At no time do the ballot boxes leave the eyes of the parties. We do things a little different here. Stop fear mongering
May 8, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Your vote is always secret and if you have any doubts you can ALWAYS raise an objection if you see the poll centre officer make any remarks on your voting slip.
As a Malaysian, I’m appalled at how misinformed and cowardly you react to the voting process.
May 6, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Very well said @Hung. If there’s a like button….u have my vote!
May 31, 2011 at 4:28 pm
You fail to see the opposition has not a single good idea to make this a better place! They are just complaining, spining lies, cyanical comments and threats that if you don’t vote for oppsition, your life will be more miseral.
PAP build this country and its sad that immigrant from other country fail to see how clean, efficient, uncorrupt and progressive it is. What is there fear except your conscient when you are biased!
May 4, 2011 at 9:09 pm
Kudos to you. That was exactly how I felt. My husband is a new citizen and he wanted to vote for WP. My mother was afraid.
If you’ve ever written any e-mails to any government bodies, you’ll know what I mean. The replies are always standard and predictable as they are never directed at answering our queries and the contents are almost always plucked from their websites. This akins to treating us as idiots. I’ve had enough of this type of unrespectful treatment from the PAP government.
May 6, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Your vote is secret as I voted twice for opposition and I am fine;)) All those fears people are having is exactly what the govt wants to do, so that we will vote for them. Don’t fall for the trap, use your vote wisely. Vote for this country you now called home as it will be your children and grandchildren’s home.
May 6, 2011 at 5:45 pm
The PAP has always said that the vote is secret. So why blame them for those who fear for nothing?
Those who reply you are civil servants. Not PAP members. Again, why blame the PAP when a civil servant doesn’t do justice to your note.
I’m not pro PAP or anti Opposition. I’m happy to see so many well qualified candidates in the Opposition. But even the parties cannot agree amongst themselves on how Singapore should move forward.
My greatest wish is for the Oppositions to gather and put forward an alternative government to show the PAP that they do not have a monopoly on how to govern.
May 5, 2011 at 1:02 am
Your post is sooooo encouraging and inspiring!
May 5, 2011 at 2:01 am
Hi, you and your friends need not fear voting Opposition – Tan Jee say himself voted Opposition while in the civil service and suffered no repercussions. The fact that opposition parties are content with vote secrecy says a lot to me.
May 5, 2011 at 10:08 am
I have asked this qn many times. For those people who utters “PAP can trace your vote”, aren’t they smearing the names of Election Department and PAP and to some extent, Supreme Court who holds the voting slip? This smearing is worse than when Chee Soon Juan said that PAP makan money. He was sued until pants drop for that. This smearing is worse than people who said courts are kangaroo. These people went to jail. Now, for this group of people who are saying “PAP knows who you vote for”, why isn’t PAP suing the hell out of them? or is PAP too happy to let it slide?
May 6, 2011 at 2:19 pm
they do not sue because it furthers their political purpose if people think the vote is not secret.
It does not matter if the vote is secret as long as people think it is not, coz that is what people will react to i.e. vote for the incumbent out of fear, even if the fear is irrational.
May 5, 2011 at 10:19 am
Yes, well said and obviously comes from the heart. You are a precious FT.
May 5, 2011 at 10:57 am
We dont blamw FTs we blame the reckless system.
In any case i hope all voters vote w e heads n conscience.
May 5, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Courage is resistance of fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. Mark Twain
I vote against fear and arrogance as well.
May 5, 2011 at 1:50 pm
My dear fellow citizens,
If you want to cast a vote for President, then you have to vote opposition on Sat, May07.
If not, the coming election for President will be walk over again or assigned by the OMO. (one man operation)
So tell me do you or I got a say then. Just think for the last president election, what had happened ? Can you recall ?
May 5, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I got this email from abroad. Interesting reading. May be from footloose generation.
Subject: Well written by someone who is overseas and can’t vote!
>
> Succinctly candid… for someone overseas who can see clearly.
>
> To the Men-in-White
> by Neo Yu Wei on Sunday, 24 April 2011 at 22:14
>
> You guys were once my heroes. When I was young, I was so proud that I
> had a government that was indeed one of the world’s best, if not, THE
> BEST. Although LKY was (and still is) portrayed as a fearsome, if
> ruthless leader, he was much respected. When he appeared as our PM on the world stage, my heart never failed to swell with pride because it
> was obvious that he was also someone other world leaders respected.
> But not now. The problem is, you are victims of your own success. And
> the world has changed, yet you remain stuck in the 1960s. This is why
> your once-fantastic branding is being eroded, why I find it hard to
> support you like before.
>
> 1) You were too successful
> First, there was LKY and he was a great leader. He was like a god and
> still being treated like one. He “miraculously” transformed a small,
> poor, resource-less little island into a country that now has one of
> the highest GDPs in the world, where other countries are now trying to
> learn from. No one can take that achievement away from the first PAP
> team and indeed, I would guess that this is also the main reason why
> many in the older generation are still your loyal fans. I may not
> agree to all the strategies you’ve used then (and some were downright
> questionable) but I can’t deny that you had some very good reasons to
> do so. But unfortunately, when you’ve set the standard of governance
> so high, every other subsequent PAP team that comes along can only
> look worse and worse. And it doesn’t help that you constantly try too
> hard to be perfect. The higher the bar is set, the more difficult it
> is for the PAP teams that come after to match it. In a way, I think
> LKY only does his own team a great disservice by publishing so many
> personal memoirs, recounting again and again how good he was. Because
> the more god-like he is, the more voters like me will wonder, how can
> we ever have another “god” like him to lead us? And the answers you
> propose will always be a disappointment. Because, against a god,
> everyone will look like a mere mortal. Didn’t anyone tell you that you
> can’t replicate a god using your same old cookie-cutter?!! Great
> leaders are first of all rebels, don’t you know (and LKY was one
> too!)?
>
> 2) You were too smart for your own good
> No one can or has been able to rival you in terms of your (mostly)
> rational and well-thought through, sound policies. Especially in terms
> of our economic policies. You’re so darn good with your cost-benefit
> analyses, your economic forecasts, your financial planning. Every
> policy you rolled out is justified using very rational arguments that
> the opposition and the public find hard to counter argue. You are
> top-notch, because you have a very brainy team, all with impeccable
> qualifications from world renowned universities. Unfortunately, this
> made you assume that only you have the brains and everyone else is
> just an idiot who needs only to listen and obey. The game of politics
> cannot be played by cold logic alone. And it certainly can’t be won by
> treating your voters as morons.
> An example of this would be the issue of bringing in the IRs. Yes,
> your cold, rational argument makes very good economic reasons for
> having casinos in Singapore. No one can argue against that. But not
> everything can or should be measured by dollars and cents or by the
> amount of GDP it will generate for Sg. We’re no longer the generation
> in the 1960s that constantly had to worry about money or material
> matters. We’ve moved up the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In fact, most
> Singaporeans work ridiculously long hours, are constantly too stressed
> to even go on dates or have sex (hence the low marriage and fertility
> rate) that we’re all very very disillusioned with the constant drive
> for wealth. Increasingly, we want to slow down, have time to smell the
> flowers and be with our families. And having casinos that will bring
> in more crime (organised ones too), encourage more addictive behaviour
> and increase broken families will not sit well with a population who
> now values quality of life rather than personal wealth. Yet, you
> bull-dosed these concerns and won yet again with your cold, rational,
> economic arguments because there wasn’t enough opposition in the
> parliament to stop you.
> While people may buy into the cold logic of your policies now, your
> lack of empathy and human touch are slowly alienating voters. The
> breaking point may not be now, but you can be sure that the
> disconnection is getting wider by the day. It’s a time-bomb that will
> go off at some point.
>
> 3) You forgot evolutionary laws, history and your own past
> While you’re very brainy, you’re mostly all technocrats and
> specialists. You’ve scorned the social sciences and the humanities,
> you think these are only for sissy people whose A Levels don’t qualify
> them for specialist degrees. Yet, if you had been more well-informed
> in these areas, you might have learnt some valuable lessons about
> power. History, for example, is the best teacher that could have
> taught you that power never ever ever ever lasts forever. Indeed, the
> more you try to hang on to it, the more it will invite adversity.
> History would also have taught you that every regime was once in
> opposition. As Marx could have told you, the history of mankind is all
> about class (or power) struggles. You may be in power now, but one day
> you’ll be overthrown. However, you have hope of leaving your great
> legacy behind if you take a leaf from the pages of human evolution,
> which would have taught you that it’s human diversity that has helped
> the human race to overcome the odds, to survive this long. But instead
> of embracing diversity, you tried your hardest to kill off any form of
> alternative views, whether these come from within your party or
> externally. You only wanted to hear your own voice or voices that are
> exactly the same as yours. This inbreeding will eventually be your
> demise. Most of all, you forgot your own roots, where you were once an
> opposition party too. You focused so much on hanging on to your power,
> you forgot your original vision, you forgot your voters and you forgot
> why you are governing Singapore.
>
> 4) Power breeds fear and paranoia.
> In the beginning, you used power in order to stabilise the political
> situation so that you can give the masses homes, food, clean water and
> their livelihoods. That seemed a justifiable use of power even though
> it involved some ruthless and ugly tactics. But over the years, you
> started to crave power for itself. Again, you forgot the story of
> Macbeth (see, I told you the humanities are important!!) – where an
> originally good leader was so obsessed with his new power that he saw
> everything as a threat towards it. He became so paranoid that he even
> killed his best friend whom he thought was after his throne. He only
> heard what he wanted to hear from dubious soothsayers (which turned
> out to be half-truths). Needless to say, Macbeth eventually had a
> tragic end. Like Macbeth, you’ve become so obsessed with winning
> overwhelmingly in every GE that you use every weapon you have, every
> trick up your sleeves to clobber the opposition to smithereens. Smear
> campaigns, legal suits, changing electoral boundaries, raising the
> cost of candidature, forming GRCs, threatening the electorate with
> upgrading…it’s like watching the Brazilian football team beat the
> Singapore team by 82-2, except in football the rules are fairer and
> the referee neutral. Why do you need to resort to such gangster-like
> ways? You could have won overwhelmingly anyway with all the talent you
> have! I’m not sure how long this bullying strategy can go on but
> sooner or later you’ll become the Thug that the Electorate can’t wait
> to get rid of.
>
> 5) Power corrupts absolutely.
> Power is not power without money. And in this aspect you’ve outdone
> yourselves by pegging your salaries to the private sector. You’re the
> highest paid politicians in the world and your income is >40 times
> that of the median income of the general population (only less than
> Kenya). Of course, you justify it with yet another one of your cold,
> rational arguments of attracting and retaining the best talents in the
> government. But seriously, how can you compare public sector salaries
> to the private sector? In fact, many of your candidates have never
> worked in the private sector before and one wonders if they’ll survive
> even for a day in a private company. Yet, they are paid private sector
> salaries, paid not from profits but from “taxpayers’ money”. And though
> I fully agree that politicians must be paid their worth, don’t you
> think getting 40x the median income is crossing into the lines of
> corruption? Ok, even if all our Ministers and PM are worth every cent
> of their $4m annual salary, it also means that they have to perform
> much much much better than any other government in the world. Again,
> you have set the standards and expectations so high, you only have
> yourselves to blame when you cannot meet those expectations from the
> ground. And the more you fail to meet their expectations, the more the
> electorate will think you’re not worth your astronomical salaries.
> It’s a vicious cycle that you’ve started and it’s going to be very
> hard to stop now.
> You talk about the so-called “crutch-mentality” of the poor, yet this
> same mentality can be applied on yourselves. When you’ve used money as
> the main means to attract people into your party, you’ve basically
> “recruited people who value money above serving the country” in the
> people’s interest. These politicians who are in it for the money will
> not have the incentive to think independently or to represent the
> people’s interests because they’ve got millions to lose if they don’t
> oe party lines. Because they’re paid millions, what incentives do
> they have to empathize with someone struggling with 2 jobs to make
> ends meet? Very soon, the voters will feel that you’re just a bunch of
> corrupt officials, no different from those in many 3rd-world
> countries.
> The way I see it, you only have yourselves to blame for this situation
> you’re in. The only way you can somehow reverse these trends is to
> learn from Madonna (see, you never thought popular culture could teach
> you anything right?). She keeps herself relevant not by sticking to
> the same old formula again and again. That would have killed her
> career long ago as it did to countless of other pop stars. Rather, she
> keeps re-inventing herself and her image to keep them relevant to the
> current times. And she pushes the boundaries. She’s always ahead of
> her time and like a true leader, she sets the trends not follow them.
> She’s a rebel. Yet, all you have done is to remain exactly the same as
> you were in 1960s. The electorate is increasingly tired of your “same
> old scare tactics” using HDB upgrading as a stick, tired of you saying
> that Singapore will go to ruins if the opposition wins, tired of you
> always using smear campaigns against opposition candidates, tired of
> your arrogance and lack of empathy, tired of you giving out
> inconsequential hongbaos before elections only to increase your own
> salaries by millions after.
> You keep encouraging us to think out-of-the-box, yet you’re
> perpetually stuck in the same adversarial mindset towards the
> opposition. If you can only start to think of your relationship with
> the opposition as a mutual symbiosis – you share a portion of power
> with them in return for your longevity and credibility. Power is
> always temporary, but your legacy needn’t be. Just look at the current
> Conservative Party of UK which traces its roots back to the Tory Party
> in 1678. Do you think they could have survived this long without any
> meaningful opposition, no defeats, no radical internal reforms? Are
> you so politically shortsighted that you can only see your future in
> the next 10, 20 or 50 years? C’mon, think further!! And didn’t anyone
> tell you that in other to be the best, you need to have competition?
> Otherwise, how can the electorate be sure that you’re indeed the best,
> if they can’t compare you to any other party?
> I’m no military strategist, but I do think that sometimes, you need to
> lose some battles first in order to win bigger battles later. It will
> not be a bad thing for you to lose a few GRCs in this GE. In fact, if
> I were you, I will be celebrating. Because nothing gets people going
> like failure. Rather lose some small battles now than to wait for the
> big bomb to explode later. By then, not only will you disappear into
> the dust heap of history, so too will Singapore. That will be your
> “ultimate betrayal” to this country that you so painstakingly and
> successfully created out of a little red dot on the map.
May 5, 2011 at 2:52 pm
This is by far the best comment I have seen.
May 6, 2011 at 11:49 pm
I second goh69. Respect!
May 5, 2011 at 5:37 pm
come back and stand for the next GE (I mean as an opp candidate, of course)
May 6, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Awwww, this is damn good. The best I’ve read so for. Objective, well thought out and to the point without all the crab I’ve been reading from both sides of the divide.
May 7, 2011 at 10:47 pm
great reminder for a man who thought he is wise and tried to show the world the wisdom that he dont have and never will.
May 9, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Superb. Could not have said it better.
May 5, 2011 at 4:57 pm
If my memory serves me right, the ruling party previously had a vision of a kinder and gentler Singapore.
May 5, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Residents of Aljunied GRC, you have to read this. If it is true, your future is at stake.
http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2011/05/paps-cynthia-phua-and-her-most-famous.html
Think carefully before you vote for ruling party.
May 9, 2011 at 7:32 pm
I was told by a friend that when ruling party lose their Houkang GRC, they withdraw all PAP kindegardens leaving private sectors to run the care!!! Is it for the interests of the people??
May 5, 2011 at 6:00 pm
In response to “my vote is against fear”
I am impressed by what you had expressed openly as one who became a citizen not too long ago. But as one who should carry no political baggage of the kind of fear that prevailed in the past, I am surprised by the fear you and friends felt even for attending an opp party rally. Unless you and friends are real well-known to the big-wigs and are a potential threat to them, do you think there will be some sort of secret police trailing you? And what do you think they would do to you if indeed you are somehow “arrested”, let’s say, for supporting the opposition?
But I am not blaming or mocking you for feeling fearful. Singaporeans born and bred here, so-called educated or otherwise, have expressed fear of some sort for one reason or another. If indeed there is a sizeable proportion of people reacting in fear and going to vote out of fear, real or imagined, founded or unfounded, it is truly a sad reflection of the kind of society we have become. And we are on the way to becoming a first-world country? What a joke! We would be no better than the few remaining communist countries in the world, and in a more miserable state than some third-world countries. In such a situation, what is the use of achieving high GDP when we end up being a people with plenty of gold, but who have lost their soul? Fear is the greatest evil that can diminish and ultimately destroy the soul.
May 5, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Bhavana, you go go gal. Now do you understand how hurt and insulted Singaporeans feel in their own land. We feel derided, marginalised and mocked for being daft and need to have spurs stuck in our hides. Yes, we are animals, mere cattle to be sold off at the lowest bid for manure and fashion accessories? The PAP never treated us like humans. I have decided.
May 6, 2011 at 12:42 am
Dear Ms Gupta — It says alot about you as a person when you have plenty of Singaporean friends. Even those living overseas “warned” you to be careful.
Thank you, my fellow Singaporean and a much-belated welcome to my home.
May 6, 2011 at 11:26 am
From the audit point and given the paper trail, it is not impossible to do the tracing and hence determine who voted for whom. What would be the purpose of tracing? And who would be doing this task? If procedures and controls are in place and these are judiciously observed and executed, the vote remains a secret. It is also interesting to note that if tracing has been done for the purpose of determining who voted for whom, it may be quite impossible to keep this heinous act a secret unless the person doing the tracing is buried alive or bribed to keep his mouth shout!
Fear is the twin brother of ignorance. Some vote out of fear and this is real.
May 6, 2011 at 11:30 am
Thanks for speaking out about your fear. I believe it is this “invisible force” as as result of decades of social conditioning that has stopped people from speaking out. Now that you’ve spoken out, there is indeed nothing to fear.
May 6, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Dear Bhavana Gupta,
See side comments of TOC website “If you don’t let go of fear, fear won’t let go of you” -
May 6, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Great article. Thanks..
May 6, 2011 at 1:09 pm
A single piece of evidence that the secrecy of votes has been compromised is enough to bring down governments…no one is that stupid nowdays.
A single piece of evidence that a party allegiance has been used to discriminate against someone is enough to bring down governments…no one is that studpid nowdays.
Its impossible to do any such dirty work without the information leaking out. So don’t worry…just go with your heart…without fear.
May 6, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I applaud this foreigner for reaching out and making local friends, and more important, having the heart to vote wisely. Unfortunately, there are many more foreign ‘talents’ who do not integrate at all with Singaporeans, and even look down on them.
Locals are not against foreigners; I think they love them in fact. But what we hate are those people who come only to leech on us, and then turn around to mock us along with the PAP.
May 6, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Its really good to hear from an ex-foreign talent who shows concern for our fellow Singaporeans. Many PRs and M’sians that I met said that Singaporeans do not need to think ‘cos the government did everything for them… it is not true, they (PAP) just suppresses our voices, to them we are just noises that disturb their slumber. Lets all wake them up. Let them hear the voice of the people. Lets remove the fear that they put in the people and show them that we are not their slaves.
May 6, 2011 at 1:53 pm
The opposition may not have the perfect plan or solution and the “smartest people”.
But THE OPPOSITION ignite our SOULS, they are our VOICES. We want to be heard everywhere in Singapore, outside Singapore. We want to the world to know Singaporeans have SOULS and THE SPIRIT as a Nation.
they represent OUR VOTE AGAINST FEAR
they represent OUR VOTE AGAINST IGNORANCE
they represent OUR VOTE AGAINST ARROGRANCE
May 7, 2011 at 2:01 am
Qualifications:
Only some opposition parties… not ALL of them… won’t simply vote for any ah kow ah niao for opposition sake. Give me an A team and I will vote wisely.
May 7, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Yep agree
May 6, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Thank you, Bhavana Gupta.
That’s what we want to see in the citizens of S’pore; the ability to vote with our heads and hearts without fear!
I hope that u would continue to contribute towards the building of our nation and if one day u decided to return to your land of birth, we would not blame u.
Best wishes
May 6, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Well said. you felt the true feelings of all Singaporeans…and your decision to vote the opposition is so selfless..I am a mother in her late 40s..We have live in fear and repercussion for years..until now my husband , a professional, still has this imaginary fear in him . He has always voted for the opposition but yet dare not openly admit it….
May 6, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Fear not. YOUR VOTE IS SECRET. The casted ballots are stored under lock and key in the Supreme Court. All ballot boxes are sealed with tamper-resistant features. When they are to be destroyed, both opposition and ruling parties must be present to ensure the seals are not broken and that they are properly incinerated. http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2662924
May 6, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Not true. Given all the emotional hype of the opposition party support. I think PAP supporter are the ones who r fearing to be a PAP supporter. Look at how proud and heroic those oppositions made themselves to be.
May 6, 2011 at 4:50 pm
I like your sharing. Singapore is my as much as your home land. Lets make this blessed country even better with courage and contribution. For the common good of all who call this land their home. Singaporeans in general, have big hearts. We were silenced before, hope we find a bigger voice after 7 may.
May 6, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Dear Bhavana, great article. Love it. Well written and very succint.
May 6, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Well said.
I got over that fear a long time ago.
I only voted once for the PAP when I was able to vote, after that always
voted for any opposition in my area of CCK.
Fear fear itself but know that fear CANNOT do anything to you.
As for the PAP, tell them off ! by writing or ignoring them, but don’t have to be violent.
The writing is on the wall and the sorry was abit too late.
Vote with your “informed conscience” and for the country to move forward and for our children.
Thank you opposition for your hard work and dedication, God bless you
all tomorrow!!!
Majullah Singapore people! We will be better off.
May 6, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Voting is always secret. The only problem is the Citizens themselves, they have been doctrinated on fear tactics by the ruling party PAP.
If you remember Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong, JB Jeyarathnam, Chee Soon Juan and many more.
The ruling party has had on many different GE took all this Citizen by their neck during election. This are all fear tactic by the ruling party.
Now we are feeling the Wind of Change, and if we do not act on the the Wind of Change than this will be your first and last time you’re going to cast your constitutional vote believe me.
I am going for a Change, a Change for a better Parlaiment debate on important policies that will have a effect on my life, future and our children’s future.
May 6, 2011 at 10:50 pm
The media has announced that Voting is Secret. So…what can PAP do to you if you don’t vote them? PAP wants us to think and vote. We obey, anything wrong? If the civil servants got so much time to check, they are wasting tax payers monies. The more you fear, the more you should vote for a party to speak for you. Let’s be brave!
May 7, 2011 at 1:58 am
I am brave enough to vote for a good opposition. But I am not brave enough to just simply vote for any ah kow ah niao just for opposition sake.
May 6, 2011 at 11:24 pm
Please be logical and do not be overcome by fear. My greatest fear is the voters, though crying and hoping for change, vote for the same party who has ruled us for far too long just because of fear….. My whole office has decided to vote for oppositions (different constituencies of course) with one single objective that we want to send in enough oppositions to have our voices heard, and to hold PAP accountable for their actions/inactions. The 2 MPs we have in the parliament now are just too small in numbers for PAP to be serious about them. I hope the online nitezens can rallied among ourselves and convince people that voting is indeed secret.
May 7, 2011 at 12:16 am
Younger generation should understand that the modern Singapore is as a result of PAP and hardwork of its founders. This information age, it is quite common to see that people get carried away by miscommunications and misinformation, especially youngsters who often in social networking and so on, I have seen many uprising against governments during my life time, but by the time people mature and understand the reality, irrecoverable damage could have had happened. then it may be too late. People make decisions in hasty regret in leisure!
May 7, 2011 at 1:31 am
Dear Bhavana, I assure you that contrary to common belief, the PAP government is just and righteous. You will not be penalised for voting for the opposition. For those cases you have heard of, the opposition party was sued because they have said things that tentamount to defamation. The same legal action can be taken against a PAP member if the words were said by them. Why no PAP member has been sued so far? Take just shows you which is the smarter party.
While you need not vote in fear and can exercise your right to vote any party, I hope you can vote wisely. Vote for the progress of our country, which is now yours, and not only in the name of change. Change is not necessary good if the people you expect to bring about the changes do not have the slightest idea how to do it.
If you have attended the opposition rally, you would have experienced the emotional and sentiment-stirring speeches. But that is about it. Speeches can be written and memorised. When it comes to doing it, our opposition always fall short. That is why I have never supported the opposition my entire life.
May 7, 2011 at 1:55 am
Actually PAP MP have been sued before…
“Mr. Chiam See Tong, an opposition member since 1984, had successfully obtained damages for defamation from PAP members in three instances. In all three, the PAP members made public apologies before trial to Mr. Chiam See Tong, who then agreed to out-of-court settlements”
Guess it was better to settle and pay up then to risk losing a trial.
May 7, 2011 at 9:05 am
Thank you Bhavana, you have lent a refreshing and interesting alternate opinion!
You performed the first step by posting this letter and it shows where your heart and your mind lies. Thank you for your inspiration and your clear views on the current state of our Nation. I have never felt more proud to call someone a Singaporean!
May 7, 2011 at 9:27 am
Thank you Bhavana for your comments. I feel that PM Lee despite his apology still do not get it and resort to using fear tactics by saying “Your vote will decide your children’s future”. Our childrens’ future depend on the values the parents impart to them. I do not want the government to decide everything for my children, making them whiners and averse to risk taking.
May 7, 2011 at 5:36 pm
God, please help all the lost Singaporeans realise how blessed and fortunate they are to be born in Singapore.
God, please give these people wisdom to walk the right path.
God, please prevent my beloved country from falling into the wrong hands.
May 7, 2011 at 7:50 pm
hello, you want our singapore to be like mynamar or north korea isn’t it ? and call our top leader up there our DEAREST LEADER ? and make all singaporeans like zombies ? there must be check and balance ! with competition, there is great progress and good people to serve the people.
May 9, 2011 at 11:14 pm
God Bless. my bro/sis in Christ, Robin Hood. so you had called us who voted for oppositions “Lost Singaporeans” ,”No wisdom” and “Had walked the wrong path”. Share with you, I think it is high time for us to wake up ….. Cheers and thanks for all that had voted for the opposition parties. I believe those who had voted for opposition parities are proud of themselve now, We were not afraid of the “Fear tactics” by rulling party, we had walked out from the so call “COMFORT ZONE”,(I believe that you are “Christian” too, as per teaching- walk out of our “Comfort Zone”, do something right for all Singaporeans and our children, flight for our future and our nation. be a good deciple who our God Jesus had shown us the best example more 2000 years ago……(BTW, Im Christian too….I do prayed a lot before I vote, can you be sure that this is not the result that God wants, God knews everything and he knew that suffered Singaporeans” voices need to be heard in the Parliment…. )
May 7, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Actually I am not concern whether my vote is known to the government or not. I vote for what I stand for and it does not matter if PAP know I vote for opposition. I will tell them the reason if they want to know, which is democracy and I am not happy with the way they run this country.
May 12, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Do we realise what a debt we owe to the Internet and the World Wide Web? Before the web, we have only the forum page of the Straits Times to air our grievances. As a result most grievances which goes against the grain of Government philosophy are never aired. Then too we are not supposed to assemble more than 5 to talk to each other about our problems with the Government. So strong is the fear of persecution and economic devastation that a whole generation of Singaporeans have become political eunuchs. I am not exaggerating. After each election a number of people are sure to be arrested and a number bankrupted.While the Ruling Party disdained Western style democracy, they love the British defamation Laws very much. With these laws, they get to destroy anyone who says some things about them, even true things. If these Laws are not swift enough, the ISD will spearhead the charge. So we become too fearful to speak for we are by nature fearful of pain.
But then the World Wide Web allowed forums such as this one to go online. And many like me are enabled to talk quite freely about our predicaments.We are enabled to speak for the first time before a major election.
Thanks to the British, who gave us the defamation laws and the Internal Security Department as well to screw us and yet as luck would have it, gave us also Tim Berners-Lee who created the World Wide Web.
I am looking ahead as to the form of the spectre of the aftermath of the Election. How shall the witch-hunt take shape with so many people sinning against the Ruling Party on the WWW.
Well people in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya give up their lives in order to shake off tyranny and live. The drama is still going on in our TV screens everyday. Should we throw the blanket over our heads and just forget it?Forget that they swarm us with foreign talents, take our jobs away, pay themselves stupendous salaries, hunt us down by secret police (ISD), make us pay homage to their elites, gag us…
We are talking animals. Once the power of speech is taken from us, we become herds of cows to be milked. If we are not enough in numbers to satisfy the milking program, foreign talents can replace us and is now in the process of doing so. Unless we do something like opposing the bull run by opposition in Parliament.
I hope that the newly elected WP can cut through the trash and get back some sanity into the compact between the Government and governed. First, the holy salaries of Parliamentarians have to be brought down to earth and the perpetrators of the public heist brought to justice with the return of their loot. Second, the program to replace the original population by foreign invasion has to be stopped before the process becomes another unstoppable holy grail. Third, elites and elite firms like law firms with connections to the Ruling Party be prevented from commandeering State Institutions especially the faceless police , ISD, to soften their clients and run errands for them. Singapore is becoming a rogue Police State with its Institutions doing the bidding of their political masters and cronies. The ISD should be dismantled or should realign its duties against Enemies of the State not enemies of their friends. Fourth, a reinstatement of the possibility of normal conversations between people without fear of suits of defamation- the law of defamation to be examined and rewritten in the context of its deleterious use by the Ruling Party. And so on. We have been living too long under the phantasmagoria of the exceptional nobility of the Ruling Party and with the advent of the WP into Parliament we want such tangible things to be started pronto.