Do Not Be Intimidated on Election Day!
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You didn't read the post above? Everything is done in such a short time full view of the candidates how to do that?
If the ballot was barcoded then it would be another thing, lol.
Even if they tried to "fix" opposition supporters what good will they do except to screw themselves over when those affected by fixing become enraged and now totally don't support them?
Know that any relevation of fraud in the election process is a very serious issue, this means that the mandate of the PAP is false, that our country is basically corrupt, and the ruling party is breaking the consitution in order to maintain its power. Who will want to serve NS? How can the CPIB function anymore? Investors will be shaken. We will invite international scorn and possibly even santions.
More importantly, people will lose confidence in the ruling party, in long run this will only hurt them.
The ruling party has more to lose then gain by trying to fix our votes, they may legally "fix" individual places (such as mine given it's an opposition ward), but to get down and dirty with individuals is not something they are so silly or boliao to do on a large scale unless you are some really prominent rabblerouser.
So please, no more conspiracy theories.
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"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
-- Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States (1801–1809) -
If it is ever found out that PAP is tracking votes, I think it will create a huge scandal and many heads will roll. I think there i too much downside for the PAP to get caught tracking votes.
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WOAH. thanks for this. didn't know the voting process was so intimidating.
can I use my own pen? lol. wanna use a BIG BLACK MARKER.
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to put your "irrational fears" to rest, let us see a quote from somewhere:
Party Chairman Sylvia Lim, She was in the Singapore Police Force for three years as a Police Inspector She initially did investigation work at the Central Police Division HQ, and then became a staff officer under the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). She then later on became a lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic and is still currently employed by Temasek Polytechnic to this day while concurrently serving as an NCMP before the parliament was dissolved for the 2011 elections. I think its safe to say no guesses as to who she'd vote for.
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P & C = Private and Confidential??? i tink its more like Public and Confrontational...:)
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Whatever you vote, it will be a secret.
Foreign countries are watching too.
Spore will not be a fool to see what voters vote in their slip.
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Originally posted by Keen on u2000:
If it is ever found out that PAP is tracking votes, I think it will create a huge scandal and many heads will roll. I think there i too much downside for the PAP to get caught tracking votes.
It's an honest mistake.
Let's move on.
It's only a once in 50 years event.
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Dont worry, cast your vote without any worry.
Remember, we hv one additional public holiday.
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According to the Election Dept, it said that tracking is only in theory, may or may not be able to track. Have not try yet since the first election. Anyway, do you how much manpower is needed to try out this theory. This election alone alot of manpower needed. You think they are going to waste 1000 staff to sift through millions of voting slips. Where are they going to do it, need a big open space and lots of transportation also. All this just to find out who you or your family or friends voted for. Must be crazy right. Would you do it yourself logically?
The appropriate way is to use computation like you do in school or University to derive an estimation. The number of voters in a constituency is fixed. The percentage of votes is also known. The boundary of the constituency also known. From the estimation, it will give you a map segmented by constituencies and their boundary. There would some with better percentage and some lower. Just redraw the boundary base on these estimates you would be assured a balance spread of voters. That's why you see there is always changes in boundary. Don't believe just check with your friends, some don't even know which constituency they belong to as it keep changing.
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So sad to see people talking rubbish here. Just vote whoever you think will do the country good or whoever you want to support.. No one will be able to change the way you vote, either by intimidating or in other ways. Just remember to vote wisely.
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Sylvia Lim assures voters: YOUR VOTE IS SECRET, REALLY
In the 3rd Worker's Party (WP) rally held on 30 April 2011, WP Chairperson Sylvia Lim assures voters that their vote is really secret. After the counting, polling slips are placed in large boxes, sealed and stamped. To further ensure secrecy, she and Low Thia Kiang will pen their signatures on the box. The sealed box will then be placed in the supreme court vault, also witnessed by the incumbent and opp political parties. After 6 months, she and Low Thia Kiang will witness the opening of the vault, ensure that seals and signatures are intact, and finally the box would be incinerated under everyone's watchful eyes. AN INDIVIDUAL'S VOTE CANNOT BE TRACED.
So why the serial numbers on the voting slip, she asked. The serial numbers ensure that the voting slip is genuine and not photocopied. With the serial numbers, voters cannot cheat by bringing with them their own 'voting slips', ensuring 1 person 1 vote. In Low Thia Kiang's 20 years experience, the serial numbers on voting slips have never been used to identify an individual. -
Originally posted by tranquilice:
Do Not Be Intimidated on Election Day!
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/10/14/do-not-be-intimidated-on-election-day/
The recent calls for more opposition MPs to form the next government in Singapore are heartening. However, the issue of intimidation at polling centres remains an obstacle towards such an undertaking
Knowledge is power, and it is important for first-time voters especially to know what awaits them at the polling centre so that they may prepare themselves mentally and vote according to their wishes, whether it is for the ruling party or the opposition.
After the last Parliamentary Elections in 2006, there was a deluge of letters to newspapers from voters who complained of being intimidated at the polling centres. I believe that one person complained that when he asked why his ballot slip’s serial number was being written down, the only reason given by the registration officer was that they were simply instructed to do so.
I have voted twice as a resident of Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency, once at Siglap Community Centre and again at Victoria Junior College. I remember being very nervous as a virgin voter and can barely recall my initial experience apart from the fact that I was frightened into voting differently from my original intentions.
As such, I will only describe the setup and processes at the polling centre in Victoria Junior College for the benefit of my fellow citizens although one can reasonably expect these to be consistent across all polling centres.
As these are from memory, and no one wants to hang around the polling centre mapping the place, I apologize in advance for any discrepancies that are presented here.
Figure 1 is an example of what the polling centre looked like, with the circles behind the tables representing the registration officers there.
The first level of intimidation comes as you approach the tables for your attendance to be taken. Registration is necessary since voting is mandatory by law in Singapore. The strange thing that happened here was that although I had gone to the table on the right, the staff there had to shout out my name and identity card number to the people on the left. In this way, for some unknown reason your presence is announced to everyone present.
Don't be intimidated
Let's get intimate with the MPs, esp PAP MPs
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Originally posted by Duraigoh:
Don't be intimidated
Let's get intimate with the MPs, esp PAP MPs
So they can give out free lodging and food at Changi like what Cynthia Phua did?
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To the Men-in-White
Sunday, 24 April 2011 at 22:14
You guys were once my heroes. When I was young, I was so proud that I had a government that was indeed one of the world's best, if not, THE BEST. Although LKY was (and still is) portrayed as a fearsome, if ruthless leader, he was much respected. When he appeared as our PM on the world stage, my heart never failed to swell with pride because it was obvious that he was also someone other world leaders respected.
But not now. The problem is, you are victims of your own success. And the world has changed, yet you remain stuck in the 1960s. This is why your once-fantastic branding is being eroded, why I find it hard to support you like before.
1) You were too successful
First, there was LKY and he was a great leader. He was like a god and still being treated like one. He "miraculously" transformed a small, poor, resource-less little island into a country that now has one of the highest GDPs in the world, where other countries are now trying to learn from. No one can take that achievement away from the first PAP team and indeed, I would guess that this is also the main reason why many in the older generation are still your loyal fans. I may not agree to all the strategies you've used then (and some were downright questionable) but I can't deny that you had some very good reasons to do so. But unfortunately, when you've set the standard of governance so high, every other subsequent PAP team that comes along can only look worse and worse. And it doesn't help that you constantly try too hard to be perfect. The higher the bar is set, the more difficult it is for the PAP teams that come after to match it. In a way, I think LKY only does his own team a great disservice by publishing so many personal memoirs, recounting again and again how good he was. Because the more god-like he is, the more voters like me will wonder, how can we ever have another "god" like him to lead us? And the answers you propose will always be a disappointment. Because, against a god, everyone will look like a mere mortal. Didn't anyone tell you that you can't replicate a god using your same old cookie-cutter?!! Great leaders are first of all rebels, don't you know (and LKY was one too!)?
2) You were too smart for your own good
No one can or has been able to rival you in terms of your (mostly) rational and well-thought through, sound policies. Especially in terms of our economic policies. You're so darn good with your cost-benefit analyses, your economic forecasts, your financial planning. Every policy you rolled out is justified using very rational arguments that the opposition and the public find hard to counter argue. You are top-notch, because you have a very brainy team, all with impeccable qualifications from world renowned universities. Unfortunately, this made you assume that only you have the brains and everyone else is just an idiot who needs only to listen and obey. The game of politics cannot be played by cold logic alone. And it certainly can't be won by treating your voters as morons.
An example of this would be the issue of bringing in the IRs. Yes, your cold, rational argument makes very good economic reasons for having casinos in Singapore. No one can argue against that. But not everything can or should be measured by dollars and cents or by the amount of GDP it will generate for Sg. We're no longer the generation in the 1960s that constantly had to worry about money or material matters. We've moved up the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In fact, most Singaporeans work ridiculously long hours, are constantly too stressed to even go on dates or have sex (hence the low marriage and fertility rate) that we're all very very disillusioned with the constant drive for wealth. Increasingly, we want to slow down, have time to smell the flowers and be with our families. And having casinos that will bring in more crime (organised ones too), encourage more addictive behaviour and increase broken families will not sit well with a population who now values quality of life rather than personal wealth. Yet, you bull-dosed these concerns and won yet again with your cold, rational, economic arguments because there wasn't enough opposition in the parliament to stop you.
While people may buy into the cold logic of your policies now, your lack of empathy and human touch are slowly alienating voters. The breaking point may not be now, but you can be sure that the disconnection is getting wider by the day. It's a time-bomb that will go off at some point.
3) You forgot evolutionary laws, history and your own past
While you're very brainy, you're mostly all technocrats and specialists. You've scorned the social sciences and the humanities, you think these are only for sissy people whose A Levels don't qualify them for specialist degrees. Yet, if you had been more well-informed in these areas, you might have learnt some valuable lessons about power. History, for example, is the best teacher that could have taught you that power never ever ever ever lasts forever. Indeed, the more you try to hang on to it, the more it will invite adversity. History would also have taught you that every regime was once in opposition. As Marx could have told you, the history of mankind is all about class (or power) struggles. You may be in power now, but one day you'll be overthrown. However, you have hope of leaving your great legacy behind if you take a leaf from the pages of human evolution, which would have taught you that it's human diversity that has helped the human race to overcome the odds, to survive this long. But instead of embracing diversity, you tried your hardest to kill off any form of alternative views, whether these come from within your party or externally. You only wanted to hear your own voice or voices that are exactly the same as yours. This inbreeding will eventually be your demise. Most of all, you forgot your own roots, where you were once an opposition party too. You focused so much on hanging on to your power, you forgot your original vision, you forgot your voters and you forgot why you are governing Singapore.
4) Power breeds fear and paranoia
In the beginning, you used power in order to stabilise the political situation so that you can give the masses homes, food, clean water and their livelihoods. That seemed a justifiable use of power even though it involved some ruthless and ugly tactics. But over the years, you started to crave power for itself. Again, you forgot the story of Macbeth (see, I told you the humanities are important!!) - where an originally good leader was so obsessed with his new power that he saw everything as a threat towards it. He became so paranoid that he even killed his best friend whom he thought was after his throne. He only heard what he wanted to hear from dubious soothsayers (which turned out to be half-truths). Needless to say, Macbeth eventually had a tragic end. Like Macbeth, you've become so obsessed with winning overwhelmingly in every GE that you use every weapon you have, every trick up your sleeves to clobber the opposition to smithereens. Smear campaigns, legal suits, changing electoral boundaries, raising the cost of candidature, forming GRCs, threatening the electorate with upgrading...it's like watching the Brazilian football team beat the Singapore team by 82-2, except in football the rules are fairer and the referee neutral. Why do you need to resort to such gangster-like ways? You could have won overwhelmingly anyway with all the talent you have! I'm not sure how long this bullying strategy can go on but sooner or later you'll become the thug that the electorate can't wait to get rid of.
5) Power corrupts absolutely
Power is not power without money. And in this aspect you've outdone yourselves by pegging your salaries to the private sector. You're the highest paid politicians in the world and your income is >40 times that of the median income of the general population (only less than Kenya). Of course, you justify it with yet another one of your cold, rational arguments of attracting and retaining the best talents in the government. But seriously, how can you compare public sector salaries to the private sector? In fact, many of your candidates have never worked in the private sector before and one wonders if they'll survive even for a day in a private company. Yet, they are paid private sector salaries, paid not from profits but from taxpayers' money. And though I fully agree that politicians must be paid their worth, don't you think getting 40x the median income is crossing into the lines of corruption? Ok, even if all our Ministers and PM are worth every cent of their $4m annual salary, it also means that they have to perform much much much better than any other government in the world. Again, you have set the standards and expectations so high, you only have yourselves to blame when you cannot meet those expectations from the ground. And the more you fail to meet their expectations, the more the electorate will think you're not worth your astronomical salaries. It's a vicious cycle that you've started and it's going to be very hard to stop now.
You talk about the so-called "crutch-mentality" of the poor, yet this same mentality can be applied on yourselves. When you've used money as the main means to attract people into your party, you've basically recruited people who value money above serving the country in the people's interest. These politicians who are in it for the money will not have the incentive to think independently or to represent the people's interests because they've got millions to lose if they don't toe party lines. Because they're paid millions, what incentives do they have to empathize with someone struggling with 2 jobs to make ends meet? Very soon, the voters will feel that you're just a bunch of corrupt officials, no different from those in many 3rd-world countries.
The way I see it, you only have yourselves to blame for this situation you're in. The only way you can somehow reverse these trends is to learn from Madonna (see, you never thought popular culture could teach you anything right?). She keeps herself relevant not by sticking to the same old formula again and again. That would have killed her career long ago as it did to countless of other pop stars. Rather, she keeps re-inventing herself and her image to keep them relevant to the current times. And she pushes the boundaries. She's always ahead of her time and like a true leader, she sets the trends not follow them. She's a rebel. Yet, all you have done is to remain exactly the same as you were in 1960s. The electorate is increasingly tired of your same old scare tactics using HDB upgrading as a stick, tired of you saying that Singapore will go to ruins if the opposition wins, tired of you always using smear campaigns against opposition candidates, tired of your arrogance and lack of empathy, tired of you giving out inconsequential hongbaos before elections only to increase your own salaries by millions after.
You keep encouraging us to think out-of-the-box, yet you're perpetually stuck in the same adversarial mindset towards the opposition. If you can only start to think of your relationship with the opposition as a mutual symbiosis - you share a portion of power with them in return for your longevity and credibility. Power is always temporary, but your legacy needn't be. Just look at the current Conservative Party of UK which traces its roots back to the Tory Party in 1678. Do you think they could have survived this long without any meaningful opposition, no defeats, no radical internal reforms? Are you so politically shortsighted that you can only see your future in the next 10, 20 or 50 years? C'mon, think further!! And didn't anyone tell you that in other to be the best, you need to have competition? Otherwise, how can the electorate be sure that you're indeed the best, if they can't compare you to any other party?
I'm no military strategist, but I do think that sometimes, you need to lose some battles first in order to win bigger battles later. It will not be a bad thing for you to lose a few GRCs in this GE. In fact, if I were you, I will be celebrating. Because nothing gets people going like failure. Rather lose some small battles now than to wait for the big bomb to explode later. By then, not only will you disappear into the dust heap of history, so too will Singapore. That will be your ultimate betrayal to this country that you so painstakingly and successfully created out of a little red dot on the map. -
i heard from my friends that your vote is not secret. a friend went to RC to seek help, the MP told him he did not vote for PAP, and does not deserve help. another friend went HDB to apply flat, and was told by officer he did not vote for PAP, and will get lower priority.
so can someone tell me is our vote is really secret?????
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Voting is secret. anyone attempt to find out what otehrs vote for, if known and still use it to treathen or drive it for other purposes or agenda really what do you think?
