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Predictions
I guess almost no one expected the 10% swing in favour for PAP. I actually had predicted that the PAP would continue to lose its vote share but hey, what do you know.
So PAP wins all their obvious wins. The section of hot seats where anything goes all went to PAP which I was correct there as well though I expected them to be close fights. Fengshan SMC which I favoured WP did not go to the WP, and Punggol East SMC was snatched back from WP's hands.
Well.
Punggol East SMC - As it is in Hougang, once a ward falls to WP, it's going to be hard to take it back.Yea well it was hard. Given the margin, it was an extremely close fight.
Not to forget...
Aljunied GRC - The star team of WP is here man. WP is far more likely to lose everywhere else than they are to lose their home ground.The star team barely made it through. They made it alright, but that was not a comfortable victory. The opposition stronghold doesn't seem to be that strong after all.
I won't do the analysis on this, there is plenty of it out there anyway. Regardless, I think it is not as simple as a matter of the people giving the mandate honestly. There are deeper factors that contributed to this significant victory scored by the PAP.
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Thoughts
I wish we had a way to tell exactly what was the impact of the AHPETC saga. At some point in time, with the PAP droning on and on about this saga, it started to felt like a broken record and I felt desensitized to the saga. Like I don't really care anymore and was finding the PAP annoying for repeatedly talking about it. I had assumed that others would think that way as well, but perhaps not.
Chee Soon Juan. I didn't expect him to win to begin with but that was quite a defeat. I rolled my eyes when SingFirst or Reform Party talked about how they thought they would do better, but I genuinely thought that SDP would do better. Again, I wonder. I disagree with SDP's policies, but I wonder how many people who voted against him actually voted against him because of his bad reputation. He seemed to have restored his reputation this time round of course, but perhaps only on digital media. On the ground, there are plenty of residents who don't touch digital media and I wonder.
So Chee Soon Juan doesn't get a great ending to his story of GE2015. One person did though. Tin Pei Ling. I don't have much to say about this except, congratulations. It was a hard fought, well deserved victory. A couple of years can certainly change someone.
There was one thing I really didn't like about GE2015, and all parties did it. Sling mud. There are things like the infamous 'boo to PAP' and the 'chu pattern' which I honestly didn't mind that much because it is so absurd it becomes comic relief. Surely such statements only hurt yourself. There are a couple of more well thought through character assassinations though. I would honestly prefer a debate on policy, and sometimes I think that I wouldn't want to vote for someone who does that. These people are not stupid though. I'm starting to think that perhaps these people recognise that these 'dirty' plays will certainly alienate a couple of us, but perhaps they are actually far more effective in convincing the masses.
I thought the news media was fairer this time round because it gave opportunities for the opposition to be heard. But perhaps even then there is a narrative being told.
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Further Readings
If you are interested in reading up more, here are a couple of interesting articles:
1) http://www.six-six.com/article/the-value-of-moderate-opposition
Six-six is a rather new neutral news website. The article sheds light on the differences between WP and SDP, and what it means for the Singapore electorate.
2) http://www.airconditionednation.com/2015/09/12/beyond-ge-2015/
I have immense respect for Cherian George. I first discovered him taking my political science module last semester, and have been following his writings since then. There are plenty of simplistic analysis out there, Cherian George however is always the one who is able to think one step deeper.
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On A Lighter Note
One thing I enjoy about Singapore is the humour. Whenever something happens, you can be sure people are going to do something hilarious, whether it be satirical articles, photoshop, video editing, or even music videos and remixes. This whole election is full of funny moments, it has been a comedic goldmine.
Despite all of that, perhaps the funniest moment of this GE to me (this is for those who appreciate delicious irony) came straight live on channelnewsasia from the leader of a political party.
Oooooo the salt. Please disband thanks.
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