The People's Action Party (PAP) will form our Government with 66.6% of the vote.
The opposition won 33.3% of the vote. i.e. they have the support of 1 in 3 Singaporeans.
However, our first past the post voting system ensures that 1/3 of the vote only garners them 2 out of 84 seats in Parliament, or 2.38%.
This is a huge disjoint between popular support and parliamentary representation.
I have much respect for the residents of Hougang and Potong Pasir, the two wards with incumbent opposition candidates. In the run-up to the election, the PAP promised them S$100 million and S$80 million respectively - in the form of estate upgrading plans - if they voted them in. Despite the dangling carrot, the residents once again chose the charming Mr. Low Thia Kiang and the indefatigable Mr. Chiam See Tong to represent them.
The next time somebody says that Singaporeans are all materialistic and lacking in ideals, tell them to go visit Hougang and Potong Pasir. (It is a claim that this blogger often makes..:( I am surely guilty of generalizing)
So, the ruling party is back in power. It's actually all well and good, nobody else can possibly run this country now. But kudos to the opposition, most of all, for awakening thousands of Singaporeans out of political apathy.
The people are engaged.
2 comments:
Hey there! Jus a note, yeah the opp. got 33.3% of the votes but since 37 seats out of 84 were walkovers, when you deduct those n calculate out of the contested wards the percentage representation in parliment is actually 4.25%. Not much more but just thought I'd point it out =)
I havent commented before but nice blog Im a fan!
Hey there, nice post! I thought elections time was phenomenal, i mean, frustrations aside, it's a start reminder of what it means to be a citizen.
Here's a link to the great Bak Chor mee podcast!
http://media.libsyn.com/media/mb/tmbs-060501-the_persistently_non-political_podcast_no6.mp3
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