GE 2011 - Post Mortem

Feeling election fever withdrawal symptoms like after the World Cup? There is lesser talk shop debating and arguing with friends on politics. Sigh. Singaporeans should be more passionate about politics just like they are for soccer. Not once every 5 years! I have even forgotten about Mother's Day being too caught up with the elections. I love you mum! This was my tribute to all mothers! Thank God for mothers, I think what a country need sometimes is a mother - http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2010/05/mother.html

I was a young man in my early 20s when I attended a political rally. It was an eye opener and also my political awakening when I saw my all time hero Mr. Lee Kuan Yew on stage delivering his speech. I saw him talking about Mr. Chiam See Tong, a guy too timid and too kind to be in politics for having only 5 O level passes while his selected candidate has a string of distinctions. For the record Mr. Mah never made it past Mr. Chiam as an elected MP and Mr. Chiam was returned again and again a record number of times into Parliament!

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2011/04/ge-2011.html

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-day.html

Before I get to more serious stuffs: pursuant to Section 49 subsection 7E paragraph A of the Parliamentary Elections Act, I declare ... - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzzYzqKNJRw

I have never missed a single election year without attending rallies. As a veteran who has seen them all, I can feel the ground and talk to countless people from all walks of life. It is like watching soccer at the stadium rather than on TV. For a start this election was indeed a watershed election as I have never seen so many people crying. In the past what I saw of the electorate was that mostly they were apathetic. (Here is our Finance Minister Mr. Tharman who is also the IMF Chairman). Mr. Tharman was one of two who said a strong opposition is good for Singapore (the other was Mr. George Yeo). Leaders ought to be distinctive and speak like that.

Minister George Yeo was lost but he was just a sacrificial lamb out of a no-win situation. He is a great thinker and the most original thinker in the cabinet. Please read Professor Tommy Koh's and Mr. Simon Tay's tributes (Today 9 May Commentary Page 6). He bore the brunt due to circumstances. This is the beginning of birth pain which is inevitable.

Among the PAP leaders, George Yeo is a reformist when he joined at 33. BG Tan Chuan Jin at about the same age and coming in as a rookie said something that impressed me when he spoke about changes, connecting the people. If he really understood and believe that strongly enough to translate it into action, he could be a great future leader but a minority voice is often not enough.

Quote:"Some feel you are being talked down to...and that we can be more compassionate and less calculating. Some dislike the way we attack the Opposition, some question the fairness of the GRC system, others feel aggrieved by the salary structures. If we are unable to address these perceptions and sentiments, our moral authority to lead will erode. I know we need to listen..." It was reported that he does not believe the PAP can monopolize wisdom: "If it's pro-Singapore it matters little where those views come from. I believe we should embrace them...because we need to walk this journey together. We also need to tend to our spirit and our soul." Well said. An original mind. Lets' see.

I have told you before and during the election the same recurring themes - connecting people, engaging people and embracing people. I have been telling so many people so many things why is nobody listening? You see one must never feel that you are important. Once you think that, you cannot have humility for if a person who has no humility, he cannot have compassion.

The good thing about 2011 election was mostly it was fought fairly and cleanly, befitting a society like Singapore. I am first and foremost a Singaporean not inclined to support any political party but I will always support the good causes and believe in democracy, justice and equality. I grew up like everyone supporting the PAP where Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Dr. Goh Keng Swee and Mr. S. Rajaratnam were my legendary heroes. Not just me but all my peers. This is the polling centre. It crossed my mind why we have to put a cross instead of a tick since a tick is instinctively a tick of approval? Was it because a cross requires two strokes which is to "double-confirm"?

What has change? The PAP has become a victim of its own success. Expectations has been raised. Young people today understood where we came from but never having experienced it can never fully feel the impact. This is the same when our leaders are being inducted through the GRC system. They were denied a great learning opportunity. A young Singaporean wrote that they were aware, thankful and grateful but they "do not owe PAP a living but the PAP must constantly prove itself worthy of the task. The PAP is not on auto-pilot and cannot keep doing more of the same and expect our support....the PAP failed to make itself relevant to our generation. Its communication is high-handed and old-fashioned......the party's rhetoric is staid and uncomfortable and does not speak to the hearts of my peers."

So heated I have to have an ice-cream to cool down and this atap-chee (palm seed) ice-cream reminiscence of the old days. Guess one cooling day wasn't enough. You should read up on the commentary by NTU Associate Professor Cherian George too about the election not the atap-chee ice cream.

I go around helping people and helping people to improve. Politics is no different. What were the real issues? Too many foreigners, high price of our housing, lift and estate upgrading? I read a lot and talk to many and I find that many views are warped at best. I heard about Xiaxue a popular blogger and read some of her comments like "What the Fxxx, Singapore" relating how great MM is and some forum writers praising Singapore and what a good job our government has done. They compare Singapore to other countries and felt fortunate. All true. When foreigners asked me what is most famous in Singapore, I always say Lee Kuan Yew. When I returned from overseas I feel like kissing the ground at Changi. I suppose nobody doubted that.

There was a forum writer who wrote that "joining the opposition is glamorous". To think and write that is comical and for it to be chosen to be published is worse. Others said to use your head and look at the overall performance and not gripe about too many foreigners, high housing prices, inflation, overcrowded trains and they said that it is naive to vote against the government.

Nothing wrong with these statements but I have to ask such writers whether they have taken a bus or train during peak hours for the last few years and find that you are likely to miss a few trips and when you finally got on board, they are so sardine-packed that if you are a woman or your mother, wife, sister or daughter commutes daily they feel like their modesty is being outraged and later to read reports that SMRT made some $400-500 million? Ditto for bus fare increases which affect the poorer families and then a report that said they made millions. If you are cruising in your beautiful car in air con comfort with music in the background then it is not fair comment. The least you can do is talk to people to find out or go through it yourself before you can have a balance view.

People not affected by issues can never feel the pain of others. You must at least see it otherwise you are just a statistic. Haven't you read in papers of parents whose children were afflicted with a disease and they went on start a care group or foundation for such other folks. Some dedicate their whole lives to it. Why? It is about a cause that you can see and feel. Devoid of it, you have no feelings where one cannot even fathom it. A heart without feelings is like a bun without fillings which is a mantou and left as it is too long becomes stone-hard and cold.


Failure of Grassroots, RC?

I am not too sure what they do in their entirety but surely one key component is in connecting with people. It is very important for people at grassroots to tell their bosses everything and not let them listen to and see only the good stuff. A VIP minister or MP expecting to visit a precinct on a certain date will see preceding actions by these folks cleaning up places and selecting candidates with "certain preferred questions" to ask.

When an Emperor arrives all he could see was everything was tip top and the people were very happy. Come on you do this at the work place too or when guests are visiting your house. All touristy stuffs, not real. The MPs themselves must not be too quick to brush anyone off. When you do that you won't get people coming up to you again even your own grassroots supporters. If I were a CEO or MP, I will occasionally take a day off, dress as a commoner and go visiting unannounced like a mystery shopper. You will see real problems.

None of these things happens when opposition candidates visit. Their volunteers have nothing to gain. They will see the worst places and the poorest and saddest people. When you often see the down trodden people in society in the eyes something will stir in your hearts. That is why opposition candidates could so easily and so often speak from their hearts with soul, passion and conviction. Singaporeans should also not ask and expect too much things as it is impossible to please everyone but focus on core issues. It is not a "if-you-give-me-this-I-vote-for-you."

GRC

It was supposed to ensure minority candidates are represented. Over time, it became a convenient induction process to bring in people through a back door anchored by some heavy weight ministers. The justification is that we are short of quality people and have to quicken the process. It is a double edged sword that can cut both ways but at the time losing ministers were unthinkable. When a leader is not selected by a people he cannot command the respect of those he leads. He definitely is being denied what is good for him or her in the learning and growing up process.

The struggle is what makes a person strong even if he has to loose at first. It will also make them sharper politically. A leader has to carry the people and when you do so they will have undying loyalty. We all went through hell and back too in our commoners' lives. That is why Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Khiang are so well respected. If our leaders can't fight for themselves and win against decent domestic challengers that are mild what makes us think they can go into the global and international arena and win against big fish in the ocean? Types of fishes you never saw in the neighbourhood ponds. I regard Mr. Chiam See Tong, Mr. Low Thia Khiang and Dr. Tan Cheng Bock as very good MPs.

If you help a pupa break out from its cocoon, the butterfly will have weak wings and find it hard to cope. http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2010/10/butterfly-effect.html

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2010/03/emperors-new-clothes.html

Mr. Michael Palmer may have been a test case where he won in a SMC as a minority candidate. You will be open to public scrutiny in a fair contest. If Minister George Yeo stood in a SMC, perhaps nobody would want to contest him and even those who do have little chance of success. SMC will ensure that we have strong and capable leaders and the right leaders. Incompetent ones will get the boot by the people. You don't even have to explain to them or expel them. No one can hide. Let the people decide. The system has serious flaws when a good Minister and a good MP went out (Mr. Chiam) while lesser mortals or less or non-deserving candidates got in.

Education

Education is not just about how many "A"s you have. IQ without EQ is not necessary a good thing at all. Education should be well rounded with good moral and civic mindedness thrown in. It is necessary for it to gear us to economic needs of the country but not everyone is academically inclined and labelled as failures from young just because the schools are in competition to hang banners proclaiming their greatness. We should help the poor teachers too. Are they made to be doing the right things that is teaching. Why not more teachers to shrink the teacher-student ratio? It also creates employment for a noble profession. When tuition centres are sprouting out everywhere something is seriously wrong with the system.

Madam Julien Chua wrote to the ST Forum of 8 May: "It has been 2 years since my family returned from Canada and we regret coming back. My Primary 3 son tells me he hates school and now my Primary 1 daughter is echoing his view. In Canada, my son was a normal, happy child but here, he is labelled as having learning challenges. In Singapore, Teach Less, Learn More concept sounds good on paper but its execution is far from ideal, unless there is reduction in the syllabus content and expectations."

"Teachers are already stressed out with having to complete the syllabus and curriculum set by the MOE and also with maintaining class discipline. Shouldn't the school syllabus be reduced? Is it not worrying that an increasing number of stressed-out children are seeking help at the Institute of Mental Health? What sort of life are we looking at in Singapore? Parents spend their weekends trying to recover from work stress and taking their kids to endless tuition classes. Also, can the MOE explain why there is a jump in education standard from P2 t0 P3 and from P4 to P5?

And why are primary school pupils taught content that I did previously in secondary school? What is the purpose of the increase in syllabus content? Students are good at writing papers, but the the trade-offs is that teachers and pupils suffer from an overload of expectations. Times are changing, I agree, but making youngsters learn so much is killing the joy of learning."

Familiar? It has been umpteen years of complaints and feedback but it is still the same.

Beware Cloning In Picking New Leaders

Visiting succession management expert Professor William Rothwell of Pennsylvania State University said: "If successors in any organisation are selected through friendship, kinship or from relationships formed within the same club, university, fraternity brothers it sounds like cloning (see ST page A11 of 11 May). One important thing to guard against is the "like us bias" when picking new blood. Leaders are people with the ability to bring together unlike ideas in new combinations and prompt innovation.

How do we know that the people chosen would have the skills and competence that we would need to deal with the challenges that far into the future? He does not think that someone can be all things to all people and we need to have the right pool of talent if we are thinking far ahead, to be able to recalibrate quickly rather than locked into a certain individual or a group of individuals. Dominant organisations risk having leaders who are complacent. That is a big danger to successful organisations. It is tough to keep alert when everything goes well. Please read up the full report yourself.

New Media

With the advent of the Internet we are living in a new age. Minister George Yeo was correct to say there is no more top down management. Everything is available online. If I told you that Abraham Lincoln said that the problem with Internet quotes is that people instantly believe it is true means something. You get it? Hello, Lincoln's time has no Internet! What I am saying is do not believe everything you find there not should you totally treat them as irrelevant. What you have is an intelligent and independent mind and whatever you see, hear or read, ask more questions and search for more answers. Often things are not what it seems.

I do really worry about Singapore's future if all we think about is lift upgrading. This is why Minister George Yeo did so much for the arts for a country without a soul would be bankrupt. I fear much when the authority at Changi started hanging up notice to explain that when tissue packets are found on tables it meant that the seats were taken. We begin to justify to ourselves that it is alright. Success will bring new problems. People will become arrogant. The more the success, the more arrogance. That is why we humans need others to tell us, to criticise us like family members or close friends for we will always think we are right but the truth is how many would tell their bosses that they have been arrogant or going off course?

Throw away materialism (lift and estate upgrading), fear (they will get me), or skewed minds. There are folks who would vote for the opposition even if the candidate is a permanent resident at IMH (Institute of Mental Health). Then there are the pro-PAP. Some who does not discuss or say much or have any views and call themselves neutral are pro-PAP. They say they are neutral so as not to be flamed. The rest are truly neutral. They have questions and need answers. This is what active citizenry and civil society is all about.

The TV people explained themselves for what I had already thought about that they will only show and report when the election results became official. I could be wrong but I found it meaningless that ST Twitter started filtering in culminating to Aljunied GRC having been lost at around 11pm or so and it didn't get reported till some 3 hours later. Even the news in other countries have already reported that earlier. 3 hours? Finally, whatever you write in cyberspace please do not incite hatred. Do not be a keyboard warrior without a face and mind your language. Be objective.

Foreigners

To all the people who are not Singaporeans, do not worry or be unhappy as Singaporeans welcome all foreigners to our shores. We mostly have many foreign friends. It is domestic family arguments and debates. We were once all immigrants ourselves so I dedicate this song to everyone who were or are now immigrants - ah, ah, ah, aahhh......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCvMKcNJCAY (Led Zeppelin with Immigrant Song)

I knew this song but just could not remember the song name or band and found it timely. Our debate has been how many is an appropriate number to let in.

Conclusion

There are too many things to talked about but I am just a simpleton citizen giving his two cents worth. If Singaporeans' stomachs and pockets are empty then it is a different world. It's the economy stupid! When the Americans' pockets were swelling, Clinton's sex life wasn't much issue. But we are at a cross road where going forward things have changed much. Are we getting too materialistic? We sub-out business operations to someone else like third party logistics. Are we trying to control too many things that we are losing control?

People all over the world are the same. They do not like to be talked down to or told about things that have already been decided regardless of it being a country or a company. To make a life-threatening decision quick is good but for long term issues making fast decisions can lead us to the wrong destination faster. What is urgent may not be important and what is important may not be urgent. Singaporeans wanted elected MPs to be treated with respect and dignity regardless of their affiliation. The whole world is watching us on how we treat our own people. If we can't treat our own people well how do you expect to treat others?

Mr. Brown parody - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RW1CTxFKbc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVdg75GkiTY&NR=1

If you only have Tiger Beer, there will be some who wants alternative beers. The beer market will flourish. There will be other beers that will challenge Tiger Beer. Everywhere there is competition. Today's opposition are different. If you look at Sylvia Lim, Gerald Giam, Pritam Singh, Nicole Seah, Benjamin Pwee just to name a few, they are all decent qualified people who wanted to contribute. They could connect very well with the people. Do you think Nicole Seah would be as popular if she were to be with the PAP? There is no answer because the PAP will in all likelihood not pick her while she is unlikely to join them.

If you ask why opposition members quit over NCMP then please also ask why PAP ministers and MPs quit when they lost in the election. This is to ensure that your mind is completely neutral when you look at issues and not skewed, indoctrinated or biased. PAP has done a great job in the past but that does not mean we have to be complacent to think that it will remained so without adjusting to changes to be better. Our young students have to compete from a tender age, we have to compete at work not just within Singapore too so we need competition to improve at the national level. What we see at elections is nothing different from what we see at work except that at work you don't vote for your leaders. Whatever you see as injustice and inequality is the same. Would you be unhappy if someone spoke for you?

Nicole Seah v Tin PeiLin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMW0ZIroCOY&feature=related

We should salute the people of Hougang and Aljunied because right now nobody could see things 20-30 years from now. They didn't vote out of self interest. While we have succeeded economically, we need to return to the heart. As a young NS man, I once saluted our late President Dr. Benjamin Sheares as he cruised past in his Rolls Royce to receive a visiting President. The stately man was a pioneering gynaecologist with even a procedure named after him. He was highly regarded for his humility. He once said that one should do no harm if one could not do any good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2uXeq0UrWw (David Lanz)

Politics is about life and staying alive. Let John Travolta show you.


Staying Alive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkEiplH59uk

Changes are inevitable. We have to adjust but do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let's go back to the basics, can we? What about more love? We are changing too fast where even our Chinatown does not look like Chinatown anymore.

Sugarflies - What About: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GVhAHGJXNU

We could sing together in perfect harmony if we get the right model.

I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jr9hPbYmBo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-Qiyklq-Q

Oh yes, I met Nicole Seah by chance. She is good not because of the party but because she spoke with such clarity of thoughts and from her young heart with passion and conviction. More people can be good MPs so let the people choose. Go lady! Nicole means she brings joy to the people. Please take good care of Nicole, she is a true daughter of Singapore!

Nobody really appreciated Mr. Chiam See Tong and Mr. Low Thia Khiang in full extent at first but more are being made aware. They responded for democracy and a generation's call. Mr Chiam said he is an ordinary Singaporean who is not brave and he did all this because of democracy. He does what he believe and believe what he does. They are both good MPs. Nothing to do with parties or affiliation. Mr. Low is politically streets ahead of everyone. I hope this election serves as a complete eye opener for all people. The ruling part, the opposition and the electorate.

I wish that Singapore will have a discerning first world electorate with an active interest in politics. This will help us to survive. Start preparing now and you will always know when and how to do the right things regardless of parties. You can go support any party you are more in tune with but do not go in blind so that if a party or the people there change and have lost their ways, you will know it. This is how Singapore can survive. Loyalty to Singapore is not blindness. Finally, whether you are a company or a country, you will have to connect, engage and embrace the people. A people who feels a part of it will be most willing to step up and come forward. Or would you rather bark orders and the people moves while dragging their feet feeling terribly sore?

You can say we are a first world country going to be a first world parliament but I say let Singaporeans be a first world electorate. We must remember always from whence we came but also to know how when going forward. Bring the joy and love to the people. May God continue to bless Singapore with greatness!