election questions
So I finally got around to watching the "Why my vote matters" dialogue between MM LKY and the under-30 journalists, mainly because of O2 (why O2?). First I must state, for the record, that I am completely blown away by MM. At the age of 83 he has more charisma and confidence in his little toenail than all the journalists combined, who just looked weirdly weedy and generally gormless. That said, MM also has the art of patronisation down pat - "I started life as a cross-examiner"; "Oh, come off it"; "Please. I haven't lost my memory". MM got style. I must learn from that.
Several people have already talked about the video itself, so I shall, as usual, digress and wax lyrical about something else.
(Except I do pity poor Ken Kwek, who got totally clobbered when he implied that people were afraid of voting against the ruling party because the votes were not secret.
MM:
You started off with a statement, a hundred, over a hundred told you they were afraid.
KK:
No, I didn't say that -
MM:
You said that! It's all in the... (laughs) please. I do not ha - I haven't lost my memory. We can go back on the tape. As I told you, I allow my grandchildren to speak back to me. But from time to time, when they're out of bounds, I put them down. And when you make that statement, without any evidence, I have to put it to you, get to the bottom of it, and you interviewed not 100, but 40, and a few of them said 'Oh I'd rather not say' and therefore you assumed they were afraid. How are they afraid? Because we terrify them. Isn't it your job to say there's nothing to be afraid? Are you afraid?
KK:
I -
MM:
Surely you're not.
What KK actually said was: "You don't need to know [which way people vote] to strike fear though... we talk to hundreds of voters in the course of our work, and it's either 'no comment', or 'if I vote against the [ruling party] I may...'" - and then he got cut off by MM.
And also I want to point out that some questions asked were really dumb, like "How much does the [ruling party] want to win back Potong Pasir and Hougang?" I mean, what answer did she expect? "Oh, we kind of want to a little bit, but it's not like we'll, you know, skip dinner for it or anything.")
But anyway. So.
While watching the video, it occurred to me that "Why does my vote matter, if at all?" may not be the most pertinent question for first-time voters like myself (I don't think I'll be voting though, I'm in Marine Parade GRC). So if you, like me, have never had the dubious privilege of voting, I think you should find out if you know the answers to these questions first:
1. What GRC are you registered to vote for?
2. What is a 'GRC' anyway? How is it different from an 'SMC'? What are electoral boundaries? Why does this all matter?
3. When people say 'When are elections?', what do they mean? Is it, like, a single day? What is the voting process like?
4. How many opposition parties are there and what are they?
5. How many opposition MPs are there in the government right now and who are they? (If you don't know the answer to this one feel free to shoot yourself. I would.)
6. Why do people say elections in Singapore are neither fair nor democratic? What obstacles exist here to prevent fair elections? Why does it seem like our opposition generally sucks in comparison to the ruling party?
7. Is my vote really not secret?
8. How do you ensure people come back to read this blog?
I can only offer the last answer: by posting the answers to the first seven questions another day. Hahahaha.
posted by zyn ::
9:46 PM ::
13 Comments ::
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