It is 1:01am in the morning and in a moment’s time, my first General Elections experience will begin and I will be following my MP Dr Amy Khor as she goes for the nomination day. Yes I am a member of PAP but do not let this fact put you off from reading the rest of my thoughts.
Over the past few weeks, topics concerning politics seem to be talked about in every single meal conversation and I of course, participated as well. Sometimes the conversations escalate into debates, subsequently into arguments as it gets heated up and emotions starts to build up. G.E in Singapore has never being able to build up this level of nationalistic sentiments before
This General Elections will probably be the most exciting one we will ever experiencing knowing fact that almost all seats are being contest. It is also gratifying to know the many young people are getting involved in the process and regardless of the result, I believe that many of us youths will be inspired to be the new wave of entrepreneurs/leaders in the future.
I feel that in order in order for Singapore to progress beyond this GE, I feel that the politics in Singapore need to mature. The political parties need to work together and we dearly need that heroic leadership figure to emerge.
- Political Parties
Start from the bigger picture, I shall first talk about the political parties. Looking at History, there is a long record of bad blood between the PAP and all the other political parties such as WP & SDP. Just looking at how their leaders have been persecuted, citing a few examples such as Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam from WP & Mr Chee Soon Juan from SDP. I am sure that the opposition is extremely pissed off with PAP and for personally; I view it as morally insulting. Essentially, all of these people share the same aspirations and passions to serve the people and was it really a necessary evil to put them aside in the name of national interest and progress of the country?
From the PAP's point of view it seem to me they do not see much value & illegitimacy in the opposition party. As of now, I can envision how PAP & the opposition are able to see eye and work cohesively together as a government no matter what the outcome of the GE is. What I fear is that this will cause an entrenchment in the government like what happened in US between the republicans and democrats which almost caused the closure of government. Parties no longer try to implement policies that prioritize national interest but rather, blindly focusing on their own party interest at the expense of the people.
The politic parties need to start choosing people that are really capable of becoming politicians. Being a politician is difficult profession that requires one to be able to inspire, influence and lead. Every single aspect is not an easy to be achieved and it requires a combination charisma and hard work and training to achieve. Sadly to say for PAP, I am quite disappointed to say that there are many incapable MPs that simply don't cut out as a politician. Nicole Seah probably would seem like a more convincing politician.
Throughout history, politics is one of the root causes of conflicts & violence. I shall not go into detail here to quote specific examples here =) In any case, my point is that the political parties, politicians and people must be responsible and not lead our current country into a state of violence.
For the politicians, Please stop using lowly tactics such as personal attacks, buying votes and rather, focus on debating on the more important things such as policies.
For the current the politic parties, please place national interest as your priority. You need to start to have things like a basis of mutual respect, mutual understanding and proper communication so that no matter which party wins the majority, the government cans actually function for its people.
Lastly For the people, I guess we need to learn how to filter away all of the political rhetoric/propaganda and not be blinded by it.
In this period of time we are in need of a strong leadership figure such as John F Kennedy or Barack Obama whom are able to set aside petty politics and focus on serving the nation. We need all of the various political party in the government to be able to work cohesively together. Petty politics is seriously one huge market failure that we simply must avoid. Singapore is simply too vulnerable and we cannot allow for political instability which will have detrimental effects on our country.
Still I have faith in youths and I believe that in the next few General Elections, such a leadership figure would appear and unite the people regardless if they are from the major political party or the oppositions. Until then, more good years to come =D
Well! Just my 2 cents worth!
With Love,
Ying Quan
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