song of the day: (it is so cute like regina spektor x3) Just press play and it will make you happy.
Today I’ll be talking politics again! Because tomorrow is Nomination Day, the day the candidates file their papers, and we’ll know who’s contesting who in which GRC (group representational constituency). Basically Singapore is divvied up into sections called constituencies, and political parties vie for each constituency. To be honest I’m not sure about the exact mechanisms, so to the website I go! http://www.elections.gov.sg
“For the upcoming General Election, there will be 12 SMCs and 15 GRCs making a total of 27 constituencies and 87 MPs. There are altogether 2,350,873 electors on the registers of electors of these 27 constituencies”
There you go.
Also the wiki page, which my friend says will make you shit brix.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporean_general_election,_2011
Basically it just feels-- as in the political climate is feeling really desperate at the moment. The PAP seriously feels threatened by the opposition, I think. On sunday in the Straits Times they did a full-page tear apart of the SDP’s (Singapore Democratic Party) Tan Jee Say’s paper on singapore’s economy, and his suggestions for improvement. Which is basically a position paper, but I lack the vocabulary to describe it properly. Also I don’t want to rephrase “SDP’s/ Tan Jee Say’s”. #grammar
Secondly, on tuesday (today) they make a stupid cheap shot at the SDP’s (I cannot for the life of me remember how to spell his name) Vincent Wijeysingha’s youtube video where he attends a gay rally. I mean, okay, to some voters it makes a difference if Wijeysingha wants to pursue a gay agenda, or if he was gay. But if he really wanted to pursue the agenda, he would have already MENTIONED it by now, since the issue itself generates so much attention. More publicity for the SDP.
The PAP is so afraid that they will lose the vote that they mention things like this. It’s not that I think that it’s wrong to pursue a gay agenda; Wijeysingha totes should-- I’d be overjoyed if he actually did. But to do so is not strategic as it would make one lose a huge percentage of the vote, since most singaporeans are staunchly conservative. Another angle SDP party members are taking is that the fact that Wijeysingha is gay has no implications on his ability to serve. Which is entirely true.
The whole issue just makes me so angry because the PAP is taking this opportunity to talk about 377A, which hasn’t been raised so far, and using it to divide the electorate. To distinguish Us from Them. However, 377A ISN’T a bread and butter issue that concerns most singaporeans. LGBTs in singapore still remain a minority, and being queer myself, I quite frankly am comfortable with the amount of leeway the authorities give us. Repealing 377A would be a good thing, but it would only affect a small percentage of singaporeans. This repealing would also be a symbolic move, which the present government is unwilling to take. It says that the government is supportive of LGBT issues, and it would pave the way for legalizing gay marriage, but given current social attitudes, it is too much to ask.
I think the General Election should be about issues that affect all singaporeans, such as the economy-- housing prices, minimum wage, the government’s allocation of resources-- and not about controversial issues that are only brought up to attract attention.
The third reason why I think the PAP is desperate, is that they’re making Lee Kuan Yew contest in the Tanjong Pagar GRC. The PAP is quite literally pulling out the stops. That dude is famous and all, but what about the statement where they said LKY was just going to act in an advisory role? How much can he do, now that he’s semi-retired and is 87 years old? He’s been in power since 1965, and had political influence a few years before that. That’s almost 50 years. If singapore wants to call itself a developed country, it should have a fair and just government to match. No other developed country has a leader in power for this long. And his SON is contesting in Ang Mo Kio GRC to boot. The PAP should have faith in its current lineup of candidates, and not have to play this card just to be confident that they can win the vote.
I’ll update tomorrow, and probably end up blogging for longer than BEDA.
[interruption: I’m listening to #8in8 and it is surprisingly good for the short time they had and I don’t want to spoil it so I’m listening the rest tomorrow and then tomorrow I will wax lyrical about it, so you guys might have a bonus blog; the 8in8 blog and then the nomination day blog. yeah. run on sentences ftw.]
EDIT: I'm reading through the facebook comments on the note, and realising that things are pretty crappy for non-nuclear families-- gay families, single-parent families, and there is a lot more to 377A than I thought, symbolically speaking. And also a lot more queer friendly singaporeans. :)
someone says, "Don't get drawn into a debate about the 377, Nicole. It's a distraction, focus on the political issues. As Margaret Thatcher supposedly said "if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left". So please just keep hitting their political weak spots, not suck into personal issues." #agree
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