My first vote!

Singapore just held it's General Election (GE2011) last Saturday, 7th May and like many Singaporeans, it's the first time I had a chance to vote in the Election. The last General Election was held in 2006 and I was kinda exempted because I was overseas on the polling day.

FYI, Voting is compulsory in Singapore as they deem it's part of the responsibilities of being an adult Singapore citizen. You must be a citizen of Singapore and at least 21 years old.

I have never been much into political stuff and it wasn't until we had a friend gathering a week before the polling day and the hot topic was obviously the upcoming GE2011. Well, just like there's our current government, People's Action Party (PAP) vs the opposition parties, between us friends, we have the pro-government and pro-opposition camps. Everyone was debating and I was like thinking "hey, am i missing something here?". That night, I searched and went through all the rallies videos on youtube and something in me just got ignited! Everyday, I would look through all those newly posted rallies videos. Some are refreshing, some are full of punch and some are depressing.

Suddenly, my one vote can make a difference. My friends knowing that I'm kinda neutral were trying to convince me to be on their camp. But a person needs to have their own personal point of view right. I need to make a choice and most importantly, a good reason why.

There's a couple of issues that Singaporeans are concerned about this GE2011. Mainly,

1. Cost of living - Inflation top 5 % in March, rising food and oil prices, rising of housing, health-care. As someone blatantly put it, the only thing that's not rising are our salaries.

2. Influx of foreigners- Singapore is a small country with an area of just 274.2 sq miles. Based on information from Wikipedia, the 2010 census shows a population of 5,076,70o. The list of countries and dependencies ranked by human population density put Singapore at 3rd position with 18,513/mi². Having said that, one in three (36%) people are foreigners. This led to higher property prices, more crowded public transport and competition for jobs.

3. Our current government, the People's Action Party (PAP) has becomes a party of Proud Arrogant People (PAP)? With ministers earning millions a year, living elite lives, do they empathize with the common people? Bulldozing policies through Parliament without any consultation and debate?

Check out the videos. I am both amazed and surprise to find out that my fellow Singaporeans are such creative and passionate lot!!! :))








The polling results:
After the nationwide voting, the PAP scored 60.1%, a vote swing of 6.5% against them as compared to the previous GE2006 where they scored 66.6%. Having said that, they still managed to secure 81seats out of the 87seats total in Parliament due to the way the system works. However it is the first time in Singapore history that the opposition parties managed to secure 6 seats in the Parliament (They had won 2 seats in GE2006).

The tide has finally shifted....

I know it's not my usual kind of post but thanks for reading :)))

Psst: This lady who gave me my polling card commented that she loved my T-shirt!! HAHAHA But I did get a couple of glances when I wore that to vote