You meant it is against the spirit of democracy to vote against you?

"THE Workers' Party (WP) is making use of Aljunied GRC voters by placing on them the burden of pushing the opposition cause. It's an emotional dilemma for many people,' said George Yeo. 'I get many people (writing) on my Facebook wall who feel very uncomfortable about this. They said, because of this, even if they vote for WP, please do not feel that we have anything against you.'

He added: 'I find that it's against the spirit of democracy.'


Just when the whole of Singapore (well, almost) has finally gotten a taste of democracy, the freedom to choose, the chance to vote, Mr Yeo feels that it is against the spirit of democracy to vote for the opposition.

Does Higher bus, LRT frequencies come with Higher fares?

"Higher bus, LRT frequencies if you vote for me" -- Lam Pin Min


People's Action Party (PAP) candidate in Senkang West Single-Member Constituency (SMC) Lam Pin Min has promised his residents he would fight for higher frequency in bus and LRT services if he were re-elected.



Wondered how can Mr Lam make such promise...

Did he recently treated the SMRT CEO for lunch? Or did he recently played golf with the SBS Transit CEO and won the bet so the SBS Transit CEO has to pay with more buses?

And if he did managed to get these money-making public transport CEOs to promise higher buses and LRT frequencies, was there a fine print stating higher fares are required for that promise?

Vivian Balakrishnan - punching below the wrong belt

The PAP statement, undersigned by Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and candidates Liang Eng Hwa, Christopher de Souza and Sim Ann, reads as follows:

"A video has been posted on the internet showing Vincent Wijeysingha participating at a forum which discussed the promotion of the gay cause in Singapore.

"The discussion at the forum also touched on sex with boys and whether the age of consent for boys should be 14 years of age.

"In the video, Wijeysingha was introduced as being from the SDP.

"In addition to other comments, Wijeysingha stated: 'I think the gay community has to rally ourselves. Perhaps one outcome of today's forum would be, for those of us who are interested, to come together to further consider how we can address the 377 issue as well as further rights issues in relation to gays and lesbians.'

"We believe that candidates should be upfront about their political agenda and motives, so that voters are able to make an informed choice.

"The issue is not Wijeysingha's sexual orientation. That is a matter for him.

"The video raises the question on whether Wijeysingha will now pursue this cause in the political arena and what is the SDP's position on the matter."

And the video actually says...




So for most of us without hearing problem, ask yourself this: Did Vincent Wijeysingha himself ever so briefly mentioned anything about sex with boys or lowering the age of consent for boys? Because I didn't. So if like me, the rest of you did not hear anything, either Vivian Balakrishnan was hearing things or he had accidentally shouted his deepest desire out loud.

Of course, with such accusation, the national newspapers is quick to top its headline with "Is Singapore Ready for Gay MP?". If this did not boost sales for the day, I don't know what else will.

As a result, majority, if not all, of the netizens in Singapore were disgusted by Vivian Balakrishnan. But so what? Vivian Balakrishnan still had the upper hand because majority of the conservative Singaporeans will now vote for him instead of the opposition because they are not "ready for a Gay MP".

Lui Tuck Yew - walking around without listening

Lui Tuck Yew Shocks a Citizen During His Walkabout

Resident: Could you please tell me why I should vote for you?

Lui Tuck Yew: You should NOT vote for the Opposition because they ...

Resident: The Opposition? No, I want to know about you. Please tell me why I should vote for you.

Lui Tuck Yew: You should vote for the PAP because we ....

Resident: The PAP? No, no. I'm not interested in the PAP or the Opposition. I'm interested to know about you. Why should I vote for you?

Lui Tuck Yew: We could spend all night talking about me! (pointing to the newsletter) It's all in the newsletter!

Either Lui Tuck Yew is not listening, or perhaps to him, we are just noises that can be ignored.

Chan Chun Sing - When you selected an ah beng to be your candidate

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/specials/General_Election/62556.html

Former Army Chief Chan Chun Sing. Would really like to write a transcript of his speech here, but have problem understanding his ah beng accent.

Read more about BG Chan Chun Sing in "Wake up Chan Chun Sing!"

Yaacob Ibrahim - Always ready to shove aside his own mother tongue as a foreign language

"Teaching Malay as a foreign language rather than a mother tongue could be one way to halt the decline in fluency among the community"

Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Yaacob Ibrahim. The same man who ignored the old canal that was too small and called the Bukit Timah flood a "freak" event.

Read more about Yaacob Ibrahim in "Yaacob Ibrahim - Is this guy worth his million dollar salary?"

Indranee Rajah - Who believes in fast policies, not sound policies

WP's fictional First World Parliament
Source: Straits Times

MS SYLVIA Lim's attempt to explain what the Workers' Party is saying exposes the inconsistencies in the WP's position ('What First World Parliament means: Sylvia'; April 15).

Ms Lim, astonishingly, says that WP's vision of a First World Parliament has no reference to any particular developed country! It is obvious why she refuses to name any specific country - there is no successful model that she can point to.

On the other hand, there are numerous examples of multi-party legislatures stuck in gridlock and engaged in political theatre, while governance, the economy and the people suffer.

The WP paints a picture of a Parliament in which it would simply act as a check on the Government, in order to help it govern better. The WP would, so it says, act only in the national interests, leaving aside party interests.

No such opposition party exists anywhere in the world, because any party with such an agenda is effectively resigning itself to never being in power or forming a government.

Indeed this is contrary to what the WP says it eventually wants to do, and to the stances its MPs have taken in Parliament up to now.

If the WP really only wants to speak up in Parliament and question government policies, and act as a check on the Government, then the Non-Constituency MP scheme provides for exactly that. But in truth, the WP wants more MPs in Parliament to form a base for greater electoral success in the future.

They will act as a bloc to bargain with the Government. They will also seek to block constitutional amendments - thereby again preventing effective governance. Ms Lim has said as much publicly.

This is exactly what we see in the United States, Taiwan, Belgium and other similar systems, which the WP claims it does not have in mind.

The result? Policies which would benefit the people cannot get passed. Many thoughtful American observers lament that this is happening in the US right now. In reality, the WP's vision is a 'Fictional World Parliament'.

"They will act as a bloc to bargain with the Government. They will also seek to block constitutional amendments - thereby again preventing effective governance."

MP Indranee Rajah. Like the rest of her comrades, having opposition in the parliament will bring down the productivity of the whole government. Instead of blindly signing off policies efficiently, the government will have to waste time "fixing" opposition, elaborating on empty policies and finding excuses for flaws that were brought up. And the worse scenario she could imagine is how the opposition can have the power to block fishy constitutional amendments.

Read more about Indranee Rajah in "Why MP Indranee Rajah needs a class in elementary logic".

Lim Swee Say - Not sure what is the party's direction for the country but we'll get there. I guess.

"Along the way there will be uncertainties, there will be unexpected events and so on. If we are to jump over the wall, we'll jump over the wall. If we have to go around the wall, we'll go around the wall. But what is important is that, yes, we may adapt to situations in the short term, right, but in the long term, over the next three years, five years, the direction must be very clear"

Labour Chief Lim Swee Say attempting to explain why the PAP's manifesto appears to be missing the "micro" details and policies addressing hot-button issues. And while trying to follow him on his explanation on his party's direction, I got lost along the way. Perhaps due to an unexpected wall which I do not know whether to jump over or to go around.