By Ng E-Jay
On Wednesday 17 Feb, PM Lee Hsien Loong called for the Registers of Electors to be updated, exactly one year after the Elections Department had conducted the previous revision. [1]
The Registers of Electors contain the particulars of all eligible voters at the time of revision. There is one Register maintained for each electoral division. According to Section 5 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218), a person must be a citizen of Singapore, be not less than 21 years of age, and be an ordinary resident of Singapore in order to be a qualified elector.
The latest update of the voter rolls would allow people who became new citizens since the time of the previous revision to be eligible to vote. There seems to be a consensus in cyberspace that new citizens would tend to vote for the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) out of gratitude at having been given a chance to live and work in Singapore.
According to the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA), a revision to the Registers of Electors has to occur not more than three years after each general election. The previous revision was completed in April 2009, almost three years after the last general election in May 2006, within the timeframe stipulated by the PEA.
The current revision however is occurring at a time when not required by law. This has fueled speculation that elections are due soon as the ruling party would want to include as many eligible voters as possible, especially new citizens. Are we on the beat to the hustings?
On 18 Feb, a day after the Elections Department announced that the Registers of Electors were being revised, the government gazette also published the boundaries of altered polling districts pertaining to the current 14 group representation constituencies (GRCs) and 9 single-member constituencies (SMCs). [2]
However, prior to the publication of the Electoral Boundaries Report which is normally released shortly before the general election, opposition candidates will have to continue to play the guessing game as to whether the constituency they are targeting will remain intact or be absorbed into other constituencies.
The government announced last year that the number of single seat wards would be increased and the average size of the GRCs would be reduced. Other proposed changes to the electoral system include having up to 9 non-constituency members of parliament from the opposition camp should there be insufficient opposition MPs to make up the number.
However, fundamental defects to Singapore’s electoral system remain. Elections are currently under the sole purview of the Prime Minister’s Office and there is a complete lack of independent oversight. Election deposits which currently stand at $13,500 per candidate make barriers to entry unreasonably high for the opposition.
Without a free and pluralistic mainstream media, and without any independent body overseeing the conduct of elections, these changes to our electoral system are merely cosmetic makeovers that bear the semblance but not the substance of liberalization.
Former PAP stalwart Lee Khoon Choy wrote in the preface to his autobiography that “It is often said that one must write history from a distance”.
With the current monopoly that the ruling party has over political discourse in Singapore, it is often hard to envision a political destiny different from what the PAP has laid out.
Yet I am sure that if the PAP does not level the political playing field and bring fairness and transparency back into the game, history will not judge it kindly even if it is written from a distance.
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A note for overseas voters:
Shortly before the 2006 general elections, the laws were amended to allow citizens living overseas to vote.
When the revised Registers of Electors are exhibited for public inspection, Singaporeans residing abroad may apply to be overseas electors by registering online at the Elections Department website, or by submitting an application form by registered mail or by hand to the Elections Department or to any of the overseas registration centres as stated on the Elections Department website. [3]
Registration for overseas voters will remain open until the writ of election is issued, and will resume after the election.
Once an applicant has been successfully registered, his or her status as an overseas elector remains valid until the Registers of Electors are next revised.
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References:
[1] Channel News Asia, “Electoral rolls to be updated“, 18 Feb 2010.
[2] Channel News Asia, “Government gazette publishes boundaries of altered polling districts for GRCs, SMCs“, 18 Feb 2010.
[3] Elections Department website: http://www.elections.gov.sg
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Has ANY online petition worked before? Pointless.
“Frankly need to see who the candidates are. Just to vote xxx out? Will the replacement do a good job?”
If you do not try, how are you going to know ???? Well, the one(s) to be (or yet to be) replaced have already been tried & tested and they do not come cheap either (in fact premium price in order to stay ultra fresh & uncorrupt).
What good job ? Just bring in the foreigners ? Got it ? Why not you bring in a lot of other children (orphans) into your home so that they can compete it with your own son (or daughter) for your love. If you do not have any son, just do some mind trick & treat yourself as the son in the example.
It times to appeal to the true sons and daughters of Singapore to take possession of your own destiny. Why pay a bunch of fools who lose so much of the country’s assets and treat us as mere fools to listen to their garbage. Every election is a mere rehash of the SOS (Same Old Shit). There is no new ideas merely threats and advise to work our shit butt out to feed their face. What quality of life have they delivered. Its a mere promise to themselves.
Please stop listening to the same old garbage and take possession to vote some credible people and not all the MPs (missing persons) who only turn up at the doorstep when its election time
Err if PAP gets 80% of popular vote, will E-Jay and friends accept that the majority of S’poreans want the PAP? Or will they find reasons to deny that PAP has people’s mandate.
My Views
“Do you guys know that the government has just announced huge increases in ITE and polytechnic school fees for both PRs and foreigners? The fee increases ranged from $480 to $3,180 (compared to the token $10 rise for a citizen)”
Even though there is an increased in the fees, but most foreigners and PRs in Singapore are considered well-to-do as compared to many Singaporeans. Seriously, these increment would it really bother them so much?
Besides, why are such measures only coming up when it’s near election and after so much resentment created? Money first or people first?
incumbent symphatizers or supporters would argue : “there is no strong team to take over, so must only vote for 1 party”
I am concerned about this situation.
I fear that people who think like the above may forever use this reason to justify their decisions.
My concern is like this.
1. what happens if there is a real need for Transparency?
This have to wait because there is no strong team who has done it before?
2. The people may not be wise after 50 years in that they DENY growth of an Alternative team. More of these talents even when present were denied getting the exposure to run town councils.
Eg. a job candidate has paper qualification without experience. employers only want experienced ones. If people go by this rationale, ALL Fresh grads can never get a job because “they have not done it before.” Do you people see the irony in this ?
In short, my Concern is that with a 50 year in a row team and a preceptually near-inExistent Alternative Team, in a hypothetical situation in future where there is a need to demand greater Transparency or something important like Accountability,
I wonder, based on the same rationale used by symphatizers , does it mean Eternal No Change?
got feeling, aljunied grc will be broken up into smc(s).
I got a feeling aljunied grc would be broken up into SMCs.
The new citizens themselves have already formed enclaves within our estates, e.g. new indian citizens living in the east/tanjong rhu/ marine parade area and new chinese citizens in jurong etc. Thus I will not be surprised if these constituencies are broken into SMCs as no matter how intensive the oppositions contest in them, PAP is still going to win due to allegiance from the new citizens.
the PAP will give out GOODIES in this BUDGET… banking on the short memory of citizens.. buying VOTES with public $$$$$$$$$$$…. they will want to generate some degree of “feel-good” factor for the election that will arrive in the JUNE Hoilidays..
This coming election is going to be a historical war between PAP and the people of Singapore. If people succeed, Singapore can still be saved, if PAP succeed our doom is certain. The last few years have been a traumatic years for people in Singapore and our merlion was not spared the lightning too. PAP has no solution to many of our problems and they aggravated them for their self-gain & esteem without much regards to the suvivial of every households. This is it, I will not say how much hate is inside every humans in this island and if we don’t make it right for our country, we will never make PAP right again and our only chance in this coming election will no longer be repeated. This is going to be the final battle in the new decade while Singaporeans still exist as majority.
GRCs are unconstitutional.
They rob the individua independent citizen’s right to stand for election in them.
Presently, individual independent citizens can only present themselves for elections in SMCs which is totally unconstitutional.
So GRCs should be abolished and be reverted to the original SMCs.
Period!
We know that :
1. There are some good reasons for people to want change.
2. Some are Afraid that if many vote out the incumbent, left with a team without the experience.
3. Some simply afraid to vote a certain party.
I like to propose a new model for voting system that can achieve Win-Win-Win:
But 1st a question to all :
1. Do you know why voting is done All at once nationwide?
Technically speaking, i think there is no need to do it big bang, so to speak. I mean, 50% population cast votes on 1st day and the next 50% the next day. At end of each day, open the results to public. With this information , the last 50% can decide more easily.
The benefits of this model:
1. The outcome can be , in a way, managed by the electorate.
I’ll explain. Some want change. But there is no team to take over with experience needed.
While this is a fact, it should not invalidate the reason for change. When the 1st 50% vote results announced, the next 50% populace can see if sufficient seats they like the opposition to have is achieved. If so, those scared of a surprise or FREAK result can manage the situation by making the right decision. This is what i call voting for what the nation need rather than voting out of fear of Freak result.
The second 50% can decide, if the 1st result shows no one voted for the opposition, to cast a vote to an opposition candidate they feel is a high calibre or honest and reliable person. This candidate can serve as their voice they like to have in parliament to raise alternative solutions or views or suggestions or simply speak up for the meek and weak.
People can choose to vote for the Nation rather than to vote for a party. This is Wholistic.
I hereby copyright this idea on public domain of TOC today the 19th of February 2010 at 11:26pm.
I Copyright this , Feb 19, 2010 23:26
Can you shit only 50% today and shit the remaining tomorrow ? Cannot right ? If you need to let go, you need to let it go all at once. Same as voting.
Having only 50% of the populace to cast vote on the 1st day is tentamount to asking for trouble as pent up tension for the remaining half can cause revolt on the following day leading to disaster of epic proportion.
Luckily only have 2 kids. My wife asked for 1 more, I told her that life is getting tougher and tougher. Not just you will suffer with more children to care and feed, the kids themselve will also suffer more hardship in the near future.
Everyone must remember that when LKY came into power neither he nor the PAP had any experience to run this country.
Running a country is not a one man job but it includes everyone government, people, think tanks etc so your vote to opposition will not as some claim topple the entire country but will make everyone work harder for you as the victor will try to maintain his lead and the vanquish will try to win your ideas.
This is true democracy, to all who say that it will happen like LKY said “chaos, pandemonium and economic meltdown”, this was what they similarly said Singapore will become after separation, even the wise old seer is not always right how can we forget “more good or golden years”
Well, i would say to get your best deal from the PAP, the best way is to vote them OUT.
I am pretty sure once they suffered defeats, they will handed out more goodies. And they will realized the who really is the boss.
If you silly voted them in, after election. Everything will back to normal. You are the trash, they are the king.
So, GUYS, REMEMBER. VOTE THEM OUT TO GET THE BEST DEAL.
Why is Cooling Off not applied on New Citizens?
Such good intentions of Cooling Off should undiscriminately given to the new citizens as well.
i mean they should invited to vote after getting citizenship for a few years, lets say 5 or 10.
Let us vote oout a few ministers and see if they have what LKY calls “spurs in their hides” when they try to find an equally well-paying job in the private sector!!!
I can easily name a few untalented ministers…eg. LSS, LBH, WKS, LHK, MBT…..
Can i say regardless of who becomes the ruling party, the civil service continues to operate 24×7?
Hum Burgstein
Feb 20, 2010 0:09
totally agree with you. how much would they know about the political landscape in SG after a year? that’s like a honeymoon period for new citizens, where everything is nice and pretty.
a good five years or so will get them fully “integrated”. it helps with weeding out the fair weather citizens as well.
The PAP and its supporters are well known to be working hard on the ground. They know the ground well and they know what their residents want. Because Singaporeans’ needs change as time changes, the government has to adjust its policies to serve Singaporeans. Such changes in policies have nothing to do with election dates. You guys should know the PAP well by now, the party never worries about losing votes whenever it implements necessary but painfully policies - never mind the patient’s protest, force the bitter medicine into his mouth; he will be grateful to you when he is cured. And look at what happened over the past decades, election after election, the people voted in the same government who understands their illnesses and knows what medicine to prescribe.
Singaporeans are pretty stupid when it comes to voting.
I don’t have any expectations.
whatever shit we are in, WE deserve it.
MM called on Singaporeans to bear with the inconveniences or competition for space on buses, MRT trains, even in schools with foreigners. Well, now Singaporeans is asking MIW to bear with the inconveniences or competition for space on parliament with opposition party. Fair and square…LOL!
//My Views
Next time you see your Papaya Masters, kindly tell them to take a 90% pay cut, for starter, aka as you said ” force the bitter medicine into his mouth”. 90% of all MPs pays can help many families. Show me if they know the ground, otherwise why the huge influx of angry comments in online forums?
//my views
really? tell leeHaveLied to start the elections now.
the pigs@parliament are lazy and irresponsible.
how they invested the town council funds is prime example.
//my views
the pigs know the ground? then they must be sad to know their days are numbered. Their days of collecting 10K a month doing nothing, scolding people and screwing up investments are soon over.
Because the people want many of them out.
The signs are all there:
1. revision of downpayment upwards to 20%.
2. pretending to increase the differentiation between pr and S’poreans through fee increase for PR.
3. telling people they will slow intake of ft.
Honestly, we should be asking more.
At least 1.5 times what the Taiwanese/Hker/south Koreans are getting now in benefits.
As interest…
Hi My Views,
Let us examine your claims one point at a time:
1. “The PAP and its supporters are well known to be working hard on the ground”…
Do you honestly think the Opposition and its supporters are not working twice as hard? Are you that daft to believe everything reported by the MSM, knowing full well that the MSM is no friend of the Opposition but the closest friend, ally and bedfellow of the PAP?
No, my friend, the PAP and its supporters need not work so hard. They have the means to pay for whatever they want to do, whereas the Opposition and its supporters have to do most things with their bare hands and with their blood, sweat and tears. Their steps are small ones. You have read wrongly and equated their small steps with not working hard.
2. “They know the ground well and they know what their residents want”…
And how do you supposed you came to this conclusion? Again by what’s been reported by the MSM? By the votes at election time?
People lend their support for various reasons. You and I know the reason how the PAP could stay in power for so long is because of selfishness. Singaporeans are generally selfish and would vote to protect their own interest. In this case, their interest has nothing to do with the well-being of the country. They vote to protect their assets. Carrots at election time are always the best giveaways in exchange for votes – something which the opposition could not offer.
If they knew what the residents wanted, they would not be annoying more than one-third of the population. No, my friend, their interest is geared toward the survival of the party. With the amount of grievances these days, they are now struggling to garner anything above 50% of the votes. And even with 50.05% of the votes, they will, together with their mouthpiece, still declare that they know what Singaporeans want. And it takes people like you to believe them – still.
3. “Because Singaporeans’ needs change as time changes, the government has to adjust its policies to serve Singaporeans”…
Ha! Ha! Ha! Do Singaporeans need change? That will be ‘yes’ for some and ‘no’ for others. But this government is forcing change unto all Singaporeans. Is this the way to govern, one size fits all. Come on, surely you know better than this?
Agreed that it is good for the country to move along with the global world but one must not forget that while pushing ahead, there will always be those struggling to keep pace. The blatant disregard for this group of citizens is one of the biggest sin of this government.
Furthermore, we have been hard-hit by last year’s global recession and we have yet to recover from their injuries inflicted by it. TH has bled multiple-billion of our hard-earned money, so is the GIC, the latter with losses still being incurred to the tune of another, what, seven to eight billion dollars?
Do you want to wait for another global tsunami to see our savings wipe off the face of the earth before we realize our stupidity in placing our eggs in one basket?
Tell me then, who needs change more – the people or the government?
4. “…. the party never worries about losing votes whenever it implements necessary but painfully policies - never mind the patient’s protest, force the bitter medicine into his mouth; he will be grateful to you when he is cured”….
You know what? I get the sickening feeling that you are GCT in disguise. This trick does not work anymore. It did with LKY and GCT’s government, and for good measure, it applied quite well then. However, with LHL’s government, we have seen nothing, after taking so many bitter pills, to warrant any belief that his concoction is working the same as it was in the past.
I do not have to cite examples for they are aplenty in blogsites like TOC and many others.
No, my friend, the bitter pills of LHL is killing us more quickly than any antidote we could come up with. Forget about being grateful this time around. The only gratitude we are going to have is that we die in our sleep and have nothing more to do with this life in Singapore. But before we hope to die in our sleep, we have to make sure that ourchildren and their future are brighter than ours.
5. “And look at what happened over the past decades, election after election, the people voted in the same government who understands their illnesses and knows what medicine to prescribe”…
Why must the PAP and its supporters always, always, always treat Singaporeans as if they are a disease that needs to be cured? No, my friend, it is not the patient who is ill this time around. It is the doctor who is sick – sick to the bone – and he does not know it yet.
It is the patient who must now prescribe the bitter pill for the doctor. We have no other choice. A change of physician may just do the trick. What choice do we have unless and until the doctor look himself in the mirror and declare himself sick?
Fellow Singaporeans,
Another important issue is the compulsory National Education the ruling party seeks to impose on our children.
Is this is not a political agenda to brainwash our children?
Parents should decide the kind of education our children receive. We should not allow the state to manipulate and force important issues down our throat.
Please take the issues of foreign influx and compulsory National Education seriously.
Then there is this “Maintenance Of Parents Act”.
Does anyone believe filial piety can be imposed upon us by law? This will only cause more hardships to our children and cause families to break up. Fancy having parents sue their children in court?
What about those who were neglected by their parents since young? Or worst, those who were abused by their parents?
And the Public Order Act that restricts our freedom.
Are these laws meant to protect us, the citizens, or to protect the PAP’s hegemony?
Please don’t allow this madness to continue.
It is superfluous to consider the calibre of opposition members.
1. We’ve seen a lot more Credible Opposition members e.g. Reform Party and SDP – the sort that PAP would like to woo.
2. As the Chinese would say, fire is already lapping away at your eye-brows, all of us are in a precipitous situation NOW. It’s either seize the day and kick out the pigs or die and it’s our own business.
Vote Protest. Vote OUT PAP.
The PAP has lost their courage, conviction and spine.
Instead of producing a report card to votrs on how do the ruling party has faired and fulfiled last election’s pipe dream, PAP is good at drawing new picture with the best colour and story line they can find.
PAP used to tell us without giving them a landslide, foreign invetsors won’t come… well, election after election, PAP govt fail to avoid recessions while they draw 6 times US politicians’ wages.
PAP used to tell us that opposition parties candidates have low academic qualification, now when opp parties found some scholars , PAP says that paper qualification is less important than ability, well…what abilities PAP young / new MPs have brought to Parliament, have they ever raise a bill ? have they ever spoken for people before their leaders change tacts ( liek PR vs citizens issuses )..
Have any PAP MP ever vote against bad policies ?
Some of them spend time tio write book, launch bloggers, BUT do they feel our economical crunches and do they feel our pains ?
They are great pretenders and their cronies flood the main stream press’ forum pages, singing praises shamlessly.
The PAP that foungt for people is dead, cold and frozen, they have lost their sould since 1984 when they began prolonging their regime by introducing GRC.
From one native Singaporean to another………
Remember, the rule of law does not prevail in Singapore!
Singaporeans are not treated fairly! Please wake up and look around you.
Do you want your country to be exploded with fts, prcs, fws?
Do you want to be treated 2nd class citizens in your very own country?
Do you want to hear lies and more lies, by the MIW?
Do you want to see more of our billions of dollars lost, with no accountability and
transparency?
And: the lists of “hurts and disvantages” for Singaporeans continue.
VOTE OUT PAP
Hey My Views,
Tell the world, how many singaporeans are denied voting in each election.
How do you know how many votes they would have lost ?
Technically , there is no way to know.
So, your words are based on your own assumptions.
come back here and debate.
My boy in school learns this …”Jaywalking is ILLEGAL”
I dont think it’s wrong, but surely it instills a ‘Just Follow Instructions’ way of educating our next generation.
The ‘PAP Way’ of education is not healthy for our future generation.
I agree. This era belongs to the innovative and creative.
The old ways no longer work.
Its the New Economy now.
I fear we may continue to rely on foreigners if we cannot produce innovative and creative talents where such skills cannot be achieved by studying but needs a Free Environment to cultivate.
The end is near. I mean, end of the day. I going to sleep now.
Which place is best for sporeans to migrate in terms of culture, living standards and quality of life as well as Cost of living? I need to know.
Enough said. This govt is an absolute waste of time. 44 years of rule and it has successfully turned Singapore into nothing more than a rubbish dump for foreign workers. Well, the dustbin of history awaits them come election day.