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Friday, April 15, 2011

And They Call It Democracy



Rumour has it that in the upcoming elections in a certain small country in the Straits of Red-Dot, the Gahmen will be buying votes rewarding those who voted for the Peoples inAction Party with a cash bonus, allegedly. Isn't that great? But of course it is, it's wonde... hey, hang on! How do they know who you voted for?

Rumour has it that every voting card has a number on it and that as it is assigned to you... um, allegedly. But logically, if the Gahmen knows that you voted PAP, they will know if you voted for some other party (with a leader bankrupted or in jail or both, and hence ineligible to stand), allegedly. People here seem to be aware of this, but are afraid to speak out, IKYN!

Expect a knock on the door at 4am. Allegedly. (I certainly am.)

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Already the PM has been vocal in his defense of the policy that specifically ignores the needs of the people in wards that elect non-PAP candidates. Their HDB (public housing) flats will not be upgraded- the lifts on many currently only stop on every second floor, for example. You must walk up or down stairs to take a lift if you live on the wrong floor.

Sigh.

Lots of stuff about the upcoming elections can be found on the recently gazetted (made to register because they express political views, and unable to accept overseas contributions, an old anti-communist law I believe) The Online Citizen. (I'm not linking to it, as the connection is suspiciously slow, but please Google).

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Welcome to the world of tiger democracy. Allegedly.

E@L

5 comments:

DanPloy said...

There are plenty of precedents in the world today.

I am looking forward to reading of the people of Newton marching along the Scotts Road, led by a rather portly Australian, looking to overthrow the despots in charge of the country.

Until their resolve is challenged after 100m when they realise it is hot outside of their normal air-conditioned comfort and they decide to retire to the first chicken rice stall they find, (a further 10m away).

Skippy-san said...

From my perspective, I find this more than a little sad-for Singapore is a place I really love. But what I see is they are the trend, not the exception. Reduced to its core-this is what Tea Party policies are all about: Do it our way or else!

Sucks.

expat@large said...

Dan: and the chicken goes down the throat of the beast... The received wisdom used to point the other way - the politics in the tropical countries was always unsettled because of the sticky weather! But that was before air-con.

Skip: I really don't know why I get surprised by this stuff every time. One of PM Lee Jr's brilliant throw-away comments last election was that they couldn't have opposition members in parliament because they'd have to bribed all the time to get anything done... No concept of the two-party system.

The Tea-party may be a bunch of gullible fuckwits supported by self-serving billionaires, but at least they aren't apathetic. Um, but is it a good thing in America's case?

expat@large said...

http://meagainstthem.com/2011/04/15/8033/

Skippy-san said...

Wait till they get control of the Senate and /or the White House. It will draw lessons from PM Lee.

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