Why I voted White

I did not take this election seriously when it was first announced.

I assumed the PAP would still get a majority, and it would be a better mandate compared to the 2015 elections.

I felt they have handled the Covid-19 very well to the best of their ability, relied on scientific sources and the feasibility of the nation despite some unfortunate consequences.

They shown that at a times of crisis, they have shown that our sinking fund which they have fought so hard to keep was there to keep us afloat.

Many things could have been done better, like the miscalculation of the severity of the dormitory infections.

Further more, I was never a fan of the Worker's Party because I never related to Low Thia Kiang - I did not think he represented the Singapore I recognised. It could be because he related to the hokkien community and I preferred a politician who had a better command in English. Reading the manifesto, although I recognised that they have addressed many social issues that were present in Singapore, the solutions to these issues were not ideal and I would have rather stuck to the existing policies PAP had in place until we had a solution.

I was so sure that PAP had the upper hand and wouls sweep the entire country.

However on Nomination Day, it was announced that Sengkang shall form its own GRC, with the following contestants:

Image from Channel News Asia

Jamus Lim

This candidate basically felt like he was my guardian angel. Everything he has spoken about Sengkang was what I felt Sengkang needed. He spoke about introducing hawker centres that were the identity of many heartlanders. To introduce PWD streets and cycling paths, neighbourhood shops that generate social spaces among the residents.

He was well spoken and handled the debate with Vivian Balakrishnan well despite being a new comer. He has a very personal touch on his social media, as compared to the social accounts by PAP candidates, where their social accounts were obviously handled by an assistant or an activist. There was a touch of humbleness to Jamus that I appreciated.

Ng Chee Meng and his Team

After looking into NCM, I did not take a liking to him at all. Firstly, he can't enunciate, and it was a nightmare hearing him speak. Then again, having been preceded by Chan Chun Seng, I should not have expected much. I read that he is the secretary general of the National Trade Union Congress which was an association to tackle issues such as job re-creation, raising the effective retirement age, skills training and upgrading of the workforce, promotion of fair and progressive employment practices, and a flexible wage system, among other labour-related issues. However, since I see no upgrades or improvements in the construction industry, so, I guess I don't know how to judge his ability. It would have been easier if we had someone like Tharman, Lawrence Wong or Tan Chuan Jin contesting in Sengkang. In NCM's speech, he spoke about initiating "Sengkang Together" campaign, which just tells me that he and his team have no idea what Sengkang needs and only intend to start looking into it when elected through a resident forum. Is it just me, or is it right to say that if residents knew what they needed, they would not need a town council? Anyway, the on-going developments they speak of are so small that it doesn't make a difference to the lives of the residents. Based on word of mouth, he does not seem to produce results to residents' feedback.

The Dilemma

Jamus presence in Sengkang GRC seem to have drawn me to the Workers Party. I started asking myself if we were missing out on a good candidate all because of his association with the party. I related to him as a person, and felt he knew the ground better than the PAP candidates contesting in Sengkang.

There were other things that annoyed me about the ruling party despite being a strong supporter of them. I was annoyed that some activists were so hell bent on winning that they would have done anything to win but listen to the people's voices. I am annoyed that some of them are not even putting in any effort to appeal to the younger generations. I am uncomfortable with Ho Ching's involvement in Temasek Holdings. Despite being a modern woman, I see some things traditionally - I preferred our "first lady" to stand behind her man rather than work along side him, like how the late Kwa Geok Choo stood behind our founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. I am embarrassed by the fact that our Prime Minister cannot keep his family matters within the family. I am sad that the attitudes of Lee Kuan Yew only exists in a handful on ministers, and last of all, I am disappointed, that Tharman Shanmugaratnam is not our Prime Minister.

However despite all the above, they are the better choice. They are practical. And praticality is always better than ideals.

The Decision

Things got a little easier when the posts of Raeesah Khan emerged. Sure, everyone has a past, and opinions of their own. But I cannot and am against a Singaporean Politician to have such views that could potentially influence the way she would govern. (I mean, this is why never want to be an MP because I used to hold very discriminating views on certain nationalities.) She has refered to malays as brown, which has never been used to describe a race in Singapore as far as I am concerned. Heck, I have never been refered to as yellow. Her posts spells out resentment to Chinese community and pushing for racial decide amongst Chinese and minorities in Singapore. I won't deny that there are still hints of racism that exists, but we have managed to create a multi-cultural society that is more integrated than most democracies. Lee Kuan Yew has worked so hard to help form this multiracial society and I'll be damn if it will all go to waste due to one inconsiderate tweet. Furthermore, her views reeks of American far left politics which I detest and do not want any chaos in Singapore like what you have now in America. One could argue that they could question the virtues of some PAP candidates, like how people have accused Heng Chee Swee Keat of being racist by saying Singaporeans are not ready for a non-chinese Prime Minister. While it may sound ridiculous to most millennials, let me share with my personal encounter.

Last week during campaign week, I was at a block visit where my senior MP was doing an introduction of the new MP taking his place. At one household, I happen to be standing between them because the corridor was narrow, and I was tasked to record residents feedback so had to stand close to the MPs. The resident who was an older Chinese resident mistakenly thought I was being introduced as the new MP. The resident thought I was Malay or mixed, and said in hokkien "huh, why didn't you chose a Chinese successor?"

That experience alone showed me that there are singaporeans who are not ready for a non-chinese Prime Minister, given that we have a majority Chinese population.

Of course, I could give Raeesah the benefit of the doubt that she would not cause divide in Singapore, but I would not like to take that chance until I'm proven wrong.

Ultimately, after 10 days of going back and forth on possibly giving Jamus Lim a chance to prove his worth, I have decided that a useless PAP puppet is better than a potentially dangerous far left politian. Of course, if Raeesah Khan stepped down, I would still be in a dilemma 😆.