ELECTION FEVER: SMOULDERING HOT!

honestly, nagulat ako kasi i've met 30 or 40-something peeps here na never or once pa lamang nakakaboto.

and now that election fever is heating up, people are seeing more are attending the supposed opposition parties' rallies. nakakatuwa. pag tinanong mo dito kung ano ang mga partido for the elections, ang sagot ay PAP (the governing party) and opposition (which is around 3 or 4 other parties, all vaguely and simply dubbed as such). naalala ko tuloy sa pinas. opposition pero andaming partido (kaya kapag election, parang costume party ni rainbow brite & friends sa sobrang dami ng party colors LOL)

last night, close to 15,000 attended an opposition party in the aljunied grc. sa PAP, 1000 lang daw umattend. nakakagulat di ba? mukhang clean sweep for the opposition. hep hep hep. i did some eavesdropping and interviewing about that particular rally. magugulat ka sa mga sagot.

1. sabi ng isang kasamahan ko (who had her last day today btw), karamihan sa nagpunta for the rally ay sangkaterbang 'usi' lamang. in short, sumasagap lamang ng chismis. ang mga kuya at ate ay curious sa sasabihin ng opposition. susme, weeks before the election buzz, yung mga ministers pati yung PM, nasa talk shows - guesting. parang sa pinas, pag miting de abanse, andaming tao. kasi may artista, libreng pakain o libreng tambay.

2. according to witnesses, wala daw sense ang sinasabi ng ilang candidates. as in, they were just riding on the platform of the main players in their team. kumbaga, smile & wave to the crowd ang drama. o di ba, parang pinas lang!? some had no solid platforms too. all steam and no fire.

3. people are scared shit. yung kapatid ni boss, a teacher (therefore civil servant), believes that it is time for singapore to experience change through the opposition, PERO she will most likely vote for the ruling party. bakit? sige nga, isusugal mo ba ang nakagawian mong sistema? yung mga perks? yung laki ng benefits kahit maliit lang sweldo? nakakadalawang-isip di ba? eto pa. natatakot ang marami na kapag ang binoto nila ay opposition, malalaman ng government at pwede silang ikulong (which is not far-fetched kasi ang IC mo is connected to everything else. pag hindi ka nagbayad ng bills, simbilis ng kidlat, ma-trace ka nila); kaya gustuhin man nila bumoto, malamang hindi sila boboto.

4. people aren't comfortable to vote. some have never voted in their entire lives. sige nga, paano ka pipili kung since birth (referring to the current 18 year old kids), PAP lang ang partidong kilala mo. one can become doubting thomases of the opposition's capacity to lead. you have to understand that being part of the opposition, wala silang experience to run the government. the ruling party does.

5. people have become too lax when it comes to their suffrage. sabi nung kasama ko, buti na lang hindi contested ung grc namin; ayokong bumoto... ayokong mamili (malamang walang kalaban sa kanila. eh si lee kuan yew ang tumatakbong minister sa tanjong pagar. sige nga, kakalabanin mo ba ang taong bumuo ng kung ano ang singapore ngayon? sige nga!?). it's sad to note that younger s'poreans have lost the will to exercise their right to suffrage.

either way, it's going to be an interesting GE for singapore. still here. hey.