Day 123 - Winds Of Change (?)

Its 8am in Singapore right now, it is definitely not an ordinary Saturday... its Polling Day. Singaporeans go to the polls to day to elect who they want into Parliment. No surprise which party will win.

This 2006 Sg election, I believe is a the most exciting election to date, from my experience, I did not experience the 1959 type of election. From the perspective of someone overseas, it is definitely a very interesting election this time round. The ruling party did not return to power on nomination day, the opposition is fielding what seem to be a credible team at a certain GRC. Besides reading the regular news from ChannelnewsAsia, I also read some election related blogs. sgrally and yawningbread are some very good sources. It is interesting to see the turnout at opposition rallys, especially WP(workers party), reminds me of some rock concert or even the malaysian cup fever days.

Winds of change are blowing... causing this is the internet. The internet has provided alternate sources of media regarding the elections. No more pro-govt news paper reports only. Election blogs provide alternate views and coverage of opposition rallys which regular media(newspapers) do not cover. Youtube is a very powerful medium, election rally speeches were placed on it, this gives many people to listen to every rally speech.

The internet is certainly a powerful medium for communication, what I displeased me was the attempt to restrict blogs, podcasts etc etc during the election period... WHY? The world has moved forward, our election process should not be left behind in the 60s. Why are we a 1st world country when the forms of media are restricted? Fortunately this has not stopped people from posting in forums, doing election blogs, posting on youtubes. The internet is evolving, and this wave cannot be stopped. (as you can see I am a huge fan of open media, participatory media)

Anyway as a view from the outside, I think the James Gomez issue is blown out of proportion. Come on, give that man a bloody break. Personally, I do not give a damn about this issue, why should so much time be spent talking over this incident? Why should so much time and space in the mainstream media be dedicated to it? I am more interested to know WHAT are the plans for Singapore's future, WHAT are the bread and butter issues. NOT some stupid election form incident.

Well I will be watching the results with great anticipation, while i cannot predict the overall results, I think overall the ruling party will garner a lower percentage of the votes, but they will maintain a strong grip on the government. I am not expecting the opposition to win many GRCs, even in Aljunied where the "best" chance is... that is probably gonna be a very close fight. Possible opposition victory are: PP, Hougang and probably CCK.

p.s SOME IDIOT TAPPED INTO MY HP NUMBER AND SENT 32 SMSes which cost 10cents each....