Saturday, May 13

5/13/2006 10:30:00 PM

Disappearance of Aljunied GRC ? ?

After the loss of Aljunied GRC to the PAP team led by Foreign Minister George Yeo, Miss Sylvia Lim, party chairman of the Workers' Party declared, "We will be back."

The question is: Will the Workers' Party even have a chance to come back to contest Aljunied GRC in 5 years time?

If one were to notice, every GRC that encountered a close fight between the opposition and the ruling PAP government, suffered the same fate of being craved up; Braddell Heights in 1981, Eunos in 1988 and Cheng San in 1997 all but disappeared from the face of the electoral map.

What about Aljunied 2006? What will Aljunied GRC 's fate be?

The author thus present the following argument forward:

The practice of continually moving the goalpost around is an indication to the public that the PAP is shying away from healthy and much needed competition posed by an increasingly credible opposition and this sharply contrast with the PAP's claim of being a 1st World government.

In this case, if the PAP is a 1st World government, as what they potrayed themselves to be, the author would like to urge the PAP to keep the current electoral map intact. This is for two purposes:

1. To ensure a level playing field for all parties concerned.

2. To allow the voters in the constituency to judge for themselves as to whether the PAP or the WP have done a better job over the last 5 years.

By having stability in the current GRC system, it meant that the current political parties can start preparing for the next general election, and not worry about last minute changes to their party tactics and strategies. For example, at the last election, in terms of resources and party strategies, the Workers' Party was caught off guard by the sudden inclusion of serangoon gardens into Ajunied GRC at the last election.

If the PAP have done what they are supposed to over a period of 5 years, they have nothing to fear. The electorate, which is increasingly educated and street-smart will reward the party who have been consistently at work in their respective wards, by giving them their all important vote.

In the case of Chua Chu Kang and Nee Soon East, where there is a relatively strong opposition presence in the form of seasoned politicians like Steve Chia and Dr Poh Lee Guan, did the PAP lose their seat even though there were no boundary changes to both single member constituency?

The answer is NO ! On the contrary, both Mr Gan Kim Yong and Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee coasted to victories with 60.4% ad 68.7% of the valid votes respectively.

So why is the PAP fearful and consistently re-shaping the electoral map time and again? (All the talk about population shifts being the catalyst for the repeated changes in the arrangement of the electoral boundaries is flawed and doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.)

From the above discussion, it can be seen that the author sees no basis for the PAP government to keep shifting and bending the rules to fit their agendas. Being a 1st world government, allowing for fair and honest play should be one of their top priority for them. By constantly resorting to changing the electoral map just goes to show how 1st world our ruling government actually is. The PAP has always been synonymous with the tag of being a clean, fair, honest, efficient and popular instiution. In this case, the author would like to put this to the ruling PAP government: Live up to what you stand for, stand up and face the competition head on.

P.S. This appeal is in no sense an endorsement by the author of the current GRC system. The author still believes in the abolition of the current GRC system and the subsequently establishment of Single-Member Wards

|

::::::::::[Bernard Chen Jiaxi]::::::::

Comments: Post a Comment

Latest: Parliament to sit from 27 Feb-9 Mar to debate Budget




Contact Me !


bernardchen06@gmail.com

What I Stand For !


The Budget & you

Vote at 18

Singapore Youth Parliament

Goods & Services Tax

Frozen Government Fees in response to GST Hike

Goals of the Revolution

Re-politicisation of Young Singaporeans

Emergence of a vibrant environment for political debate

Two-party system of government in Singapore

Emergence of a distinct national identity in Singapore

Singapore Political Parties


People's Action Party

Young PAP

The Workers'Party

WP Youth Wing

Singapore's People's Party

National Solidarity Party

Malay National Organisation (PKMS)

Singapore Democratic Party

Singapore Elections History

Singapore Political Links


Government of Singapore

Istana

Parliament of Singapore

Constitution of the Republic of Singapore

Search for Singapore's Parliamentary Reports

Singapore Press Releases on the Internet

Speeches Archives

Singapore Elections Department

LawNet - Legal Workbench

R E A C H

Citizen Journalism


Singapore Window

Little Speck

Think Centre

Singapore Review

Newsintercom

SIRC

The Lighter Side


Adventures of an Elite Girl

My SketchBook

Sticky Issues

Talkingcock

Mr Brown

Miyagi

The Void Deck

Singapore Donkey

Singapore Political Blogs


Yawning Bread

The Online Citizen

Singapore Surf

The Intelligent Singaporean

Singapore Angle

Kitana

Singapore Patriot

Singabloodypore

The Kuay Teow Man

a little fish finding her way in the world

Chemical Generation Singaporean

George Yeo & Ephraim Loy

The Anti Neo-Democracy Theorist

Singapore Mind

James Gomez

JG News

Molly Meek

No political flims please, We're Singaporeans

Disgruntled Singaporeans

Mr Wang Bakes Good Karma

Words of the Lionheart

Randon Thoughts of a Free Thinker

i-speak

Students Sketchpad

Singapore Watch

The Legal Janitor

Singaland

Young Republic

Shades of Grey

My Singapore News

Singapore Government

Singapore Media Watch

Chia Ti Lik's Blog

A Singaporean

Singapore Alternatives

Yaw Shin Leong @ WP

Melvin Tan @ Singapore

Singapore Election Watch

singapore blog directory

2006 Singapore General Election

CNA coverage of the 2006 GE
2006 Singapore General Elections
PAP's Manifesto(PDF Format)
The Workers' Party Manifesto
2006 Elections Rally Archives
Singapore Election Pictures

Political Digest


Political Science Resources

Newspapers around the world

Opinion Asia

Institute of Policy Studies

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

ASEAN

United Nations

NATO

Council of the European Union

No. 10 Downing Street

The British Labour Party

The Conservatives

White House

The Democratic Party

Republicans

American Rhetoric

Kremlin

Asia Democracy

Political Media & Flims


Singapore Rebel

Idea behind the Revolution

A brief history about the author pertaining to the theme of shadow of transcendence.

It came about in the wee hours of the early morning while being whisked away into memories of the past etched deep within the mind. Bittersweetness that tingled the tastebuds of his emotions and feelings, the only way out for true LIBERATION from this reality is what is behind the shadow of transcendence. Revolution, the taste of iron-rust blood coiled with the lingering bittersweetness is the only contemplation of which the simplicity of life has to offer in exchange for the shadow of transcendence.

Enjoy what i make out of maturity and the urge to eradicate the appalling lack of a national identity and political apathy among Singaporeans and more importantly, serves as a tool to awake and rouse the tendencies for political change among Singaporeans.

`Propaganda

NO TO NCMP ! ::: That sucide squad that survives ! ::: First hand Polling Results : Part 2 ::: First-hand Polling results ::: Poor foresight of the PAP?! ::: Bread and Butter issues ! ::: Gomez-Gate ! ::: The waiting continues . . . . . . . ::: Open and Inclusive society ::: Our same old beloved Government :::

Do you see the need to increase GST from 5% to 7%
Yes
No
I don't know
I don't care
  
pollcode.com free polls
Do you think SIngapore should lower the minimun voting age from 21 to 18?
Yes
No
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Number of Visitors :

Our Glorious Past

11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 ::: 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 ::: 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 ::: 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 ::: 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 ::: 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 ::: 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 ::: 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 ::: 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 ::: 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006 ::: 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006 ::: 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006 ::: 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007 ::: 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007 ::: 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007 ::: 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007 :::

S

H

a

D

0

w

[ o-f ]

T

R

a

N

s

c

E

n

D

e

N

C

e

Get awesome blog templates like this one from BlogSkins.com