Flight back to Singapore was uneventful apart from the 45mins delay flying in circles up in the air awaiting for Changi Airport to give clearance. I was kinda impatient because my brother was waiting for me to try to catch the last nite of rally and we had wanted to avoid the jam as much as possible. Obviously as things are, I would not make it by 7pm since my flight didnt land till 6.30pm.
This was my first rally attendance, and it went to opposition. I have heard enough of PAP propaganda my whole life and so I figured I wanted to witness and hear for myself what the other side had to offer, and if they are as mighty as the social media had been painting them.
From the point of arriving at the train station to the walk towards the stadium, the swarming huge crowd was astounding. The walking lanes were bursting with people rushing to try to get a spot. Reaching ground zero, the atmosphere was electrifying. People were spilling out of the entrances. However, we manage to squeeze ourselves to the inner sanctum, where the jogging tracks were. I wouldnt believe it if I didnt see it with my own eyes and hear with my own ears. There were plenty of college students from Raffles, Tampines, Victoria. Were there so many young adults in all the previous elections? I cannot comment since I had never attended any previous rallies but I think I can safely say the tide is changing.
Several of my frens were there too but it was impossible to meet up with the increasing attendees, and the lack of mobile reception signal. The speeches were of course a summary of whatever we had heard previously. Some I was impressed, some not so much. Still it was a common theme.
As we left the scene after standing close to 3 hours, I told my brother that it would be quite impossible to imagine WP losing. Seriously. People isnt just bitching and complaining in the manner of after dinner chit chat, the anger and angst are very, very real. The sea of accumulating resentment was very very real. In fact I was a little taken back. I have my issues and takes on the inadequacies of the present party in power, but I didnt expect people to have so much built up dissatisfaction to the point that they didnt care who heard them.
I am for change, but i couldnt say it enough, some people need to understand some changes may seem good in the near future but could be detrimental in the long run. I know why I am voting the way I did, I only hope these people who voted the opposition will not have their hopes dashed because what they want is either illogical or impractical, so much so that even opposition party should not implement such wishes should they gain power...thus the importance of very good opposition team, and not vote for the sake of voting for change.
Came voting day, I know of many of my peers who took the same path as me, and also some older generation that opt to spoil their votes. Reason being that nothing will change regardless which party is in power. Partially they still feel indebted to LKY, but partially they also hated some policies. So they choose to be Switzerland.
I stayed up till 4am to watch the elections. I had truly expected all the results, with exception of Hougang. I wasnt sure how the vote will swing for that SMC but true to their spirit, they stuck their grounds and voted opposition in. I was joking with my frens we ought to create a new T-Shirt that says "The untouchables." for the Hougang people. However the bigger issue at hand, I personally was kinda shock at the overwhelming support for the alternate parties! The percentages are huge!!!
The results were expected but it's definitely a page turner for the scene of politics. It's almost like a Nicole cult following that my brother said he overheard a teenager telling her mum that she aspires to be like Nicole Seah. Seriously?! Seriously... I hope these people still have their head firmly screwed on their head. This is seriously serious matter.
My only gripe is that SM and MM positions should be scraped. Seriously. If the reasoning that SM is to ensure smooth transition between the govt, then honestly, I think 5 years is already more than enough without "raiding the national reserves" with their gastronomical pay. Plus, the oldies are muttering more rubbish than I care to know. They have been more a liability with what they been saying in public than helping to douse the flames...I can tell you that the "REPENT" speech has seriously swung many votes to the other camp. Like what an old man who was interviewed said and sum up best as to why he voted for opposition -" I didnt change. They (PAP) changed.
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