The Election Night
I had high hopes but ultimately were disappointed, or we never understood the real sentiments of the Singaporean people. I joined an election live watch event at the Projector , hoping to witness the turning of Jalan Kayu, Tampines, Punggol, or Sembawang West. I was prepared to stay up until 3 or 4 a.m. until all election results are finalized.
The first shouts of sorrow came when the sample count of Sembawang West came - with 53 votes for Poh Li San and 47 votes for Chee Soon Juan, followed by close losses from all the potential constituencies which could have flipped - but did not. The picture grew clearer every time the returning officer announced the finalized result for a constituency. In the end PAP won 87 out of 97 seats in the parliament with 64% popular vote (a 4% increase from GE2020 during COVID) with WP winning the rest.
We left early for home and didn’t sleep until 3 or 4.
Not a Singaporean
I am not a Singapore citizen, though longing to be and have stayed on this island for almost ten years (funny enough it has become the only place that I can call home), I am well aware of my position (barred by law, foreigners are not allowed to voice support for political parties nor influencer any Singaporeans decisions on elections) and have been very mindful to not cross any lines. However I could not restrain myself from getting to know more about politics and elections, where each candidate and political party stand and hope parties that align more with my own political views could win more parliamentary seats. Nevertheless I’m saddened by the thought that I could not make any meaningful changes with my immigration status after binding, investing, and identifying myself with this land.
There’s only 2.6 million eligible voters in this general election where the total population has surpassed 6 million - half of the people will determine the fate of the other half - who are equally human and living (the resemblance of Greek democracies).
Policies on a Non-Citizen Resident
Costs of living is the major issue that I’m concerned with in this election followed by housing. Past COVID I witnessed the greatest inflation and price raise in the past 10 years. Hawker foods rose 40-50% (attributed to supply-chain shortage and raising RENT, there’s almost no law in restricting RENTS in Singapore which I could see why people kept voting for PAP). Utilities and transport fares rose. There’s simply no action for the incumbent government to control the costs of living despite the vouchers dispersed every now and then (I’m ineligible for the vouchers). Resale markets soared to ridiculous levels. At this stage I couldn’t even dream of owning a home of my own.
Ironically the PAP is the only party that are somewhat ‘friendly’ to immigrants, claiming “Singapore can’t do without foreigners”. Mosquito oppositions parties like PPP and NSP stretched far in the xenophobic spectrum. Chee of SDP said ‘We allowed foreigners to come by the hundreds to buy good-class bungalows and drove up property prices’ and ‘Do you think people like James Dyson and Zhang Yong love this country like we do?’ It saddens me that Singaporeans can easily forget that their ancestors were immigrants decades ago, but the sentiment of we v.s. them is prevalent in all places I guess.
The Unfair Game - Do Anything just to Get Ahead, Right or Wrong
The opposition pulled a hard and honorable fight this general election despite every factor working against them. The electoral boundaries were redrawn 20 days before the election day with drastic changes to almost all constituencies existed in 2020 - Telok Blangah was cut from West Coast and joined Tanjong Pagar, Ang Mo Kio cut in half and Jalan Kayu was created, Bukit Batok absorbed into a GRC and a diamond shape of Sembawang West was cut out from Sembawang, East Coast was cut in half and along with it its plans. Strongholds of WP see changes but not drastic - parts of Aljunied were cut to Tampines, effectively reducing the vote base of WP. We can only assume the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee were comprised of really competent people who carefully studies the political stances of residents and carved the boundaries like a work of art - which is proven time and time again to be effective in elections.
In almost every constituency the PAP candidates had advantages in almost every aspect - exposure to residents, resources, money, number of volunteers. Our mailbox were stacked with PAP material this general election. It’s extremely difficult for the opposition to come close in the poll, not to mention holding their grounds.
Should the election be a fairer game the political landscape will be an entirely different place. Sadly the manipulative rules are here to stay for the decades to come.
It still bothers me when Singaporeans can resonate with such a party that plays dirty just to get ahead (or is this the Singapore spirit from the start? and never compassion, empathy, nor equality) in elections, elected back Ng Chee Meng - a military general disrespectful to the educators and approved Income-Allianz deal, and kept electing Josephine Teo. Do people really feel it’s right for these part-time MPs and ministers to earn millions while just voting along party lines? They’re still buying the narrative that land is scarce and they’re fighting for tiny HDBs while their ministers live in bungalows three times the size of a football court?
Singaporeans deserve the government they chose.
Workers’ Party, PSP, and SDP
WP has retained its 10 seats in the parliament in the next five years while improving overall vote shares in all constituencies it contested. It will have another 2 seats in parliament under the NCMP scheme (a scheme where when fewer than 12 seats are won by opposition parties in a general election, the seats will be filled by the best losers). It has emerged as the only strong and credible opposition and will likely be the only opposition party that can win seats in elections in the foreseeable future. There’s still hope.
PSP saw a shocking lost this time with their vote share dropping from 48% to 40% in West Coast - another work of art of gerrymandering. Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Pua will both lose their seats in the parliament as NCMPs. This will also be the last election of Tan Cheng Bock. The future does not look to bright on them.
The most extreme case was Bukit Batok SMC , a constituency where Dr. Chee Soon Juan worked on for 10 years suddenly vanished from the political landscape. Having no chance to contest in a 5-member Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, he had no choice but to stage himself in a brand new SMC - Sembawang West for a better chance to win in a short span of less than a month. Although lost he stilled pulled 47% of the total votes against an incumbent MP for five years. I felt deeply saddened imagining the emotional roller coaster Dr. Chee had last night with the hope be becoming an NCMP, only to be surpassed by WP’s Tampines team by less than 0.5% of the votes. A politician Singapore does not deserve much like Bernie Sanders.
The defeat of Dr. Chee was emotionally draining for me as well cause it’s really hard to see a perseverant man sacrifices 30 years of his life for the same cause, only to have all factors turning against him and lose by such a small margin. I was deeply inspired by his passion and values throughout this general election and hope he can regain his strengths to contest in the next election.
I recommend two speeches from this general election - Andre Low’s on the first day and Dr. Chee’s on the last day. Dr. Chee IMO has delivered the best speech in GE2025. Cringy as it sounds I cries at two of his speeches .
Life goes on
In the end, life will go on just like the past five years. A thought that is both depressing and consoling. Political involvement is not an option for non-citizen, but volunteering for NGOs is still an option I’m considering.
Hopefully I will be able to cast my vote in GE2030.