~by: Ravi Philemon~
~pictures: Shawn Danker~
‘Change’ was the theme of the 2011 Presidential Election. All four candidates tried to articulate and win over the electorate with their version of change.
For Presidential candidate Mr Tan Kin Lian, it was change through demystifying the office of the President. He wanted to do this by producing an annual report to account for the reserves under the custody of the President.
For Mr Tan Jee Say it was the substance of change. He wanted the President to be unaffiliated to the ruling party so that the primary role of the President which (according to him) was to check and balance the government would besides being independent, would also be perceived as non-symbiotic.
For Dr Tan Cheng Bock, change was about symbolism. He advocated for a clear separation of the offices of the President and Prime Minister. He wanted the Prime Minister’s Office to shift from the Istana and be situated elsewhere.
Even for President-elect Dr Tony Tan, it was change by the acceptance of the ‘new normal’. A ‘new normal’ which will see a stronger opposition in Parliament to compliment the ruling party to formulate better policies to enable a better Singapore.
In the end it was about who communicated their idea of change the best; it was also about whose idea of change the majority accepted (even if it was razor-thin) as something they can live with.
And speaking about communication of ideas, I think the new media was more instrumental in deciding the winners in the Presidential Election, than it was in the last General Election.
Let me explain.
In my opinion, it was Dr Tony Tan and Mr Tan Jee Say who went across various platforms to not only communicate their ideas, but also to give alternate media almost unhindered access to cover their campaign.
This was the reason why Mr Tan Jee Say was able to garner more than 25 per cent of the votes, and Dr Tony Tan was able to convince those that were ‘sitting on the fence’ that he may be worth considering.
And when I say the new media was more instrumental in deciding the winners of this election, I do not mean those that tried to reach out from their own new media platforms, (for going by that, Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Mr Tan Kin Lian were perhaps more tech-savvy than the other two) but those who besides engaging from platforms of their own, also engaged from those of others.
For example the team that was covering the Presidential election from TOC, needn’t guess on the schedule of Tan Jee Say during the campaign. His media team was very proactive in providing the full run-down of his schedule and gave unhindered access to our team.
As for Tony Tan, he kept engaging TOC despite the critical pieces our writers were writing about his campaign. He had absolutely no reason to do so.
Contrast this with one candidate’s “you are the one who wrote nasty articles about me right?” confrontation; and “Because I’ve never heard of you guys from the online media and my friends haven’t either, so it’s hard for us to take you seriously. The important media is the print media”, dismissal by another.
In a four-cornered, tightly fought election, proactive engagement with a platform like TOC could have given Tony Tan and Tan Jee Say that little bit of edge.
TOC congratulates Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam on being elected.
Going forward, it will be very difficult for the new President to not keep engaging the people of Singapore, using different and varied platforms.
In fact, this was the question TOC asked President -elect Dr Tony Tan at his media conference after his electoral victory, “How does he intend to remain accessible to the people of Singapore?”
To which Dr Tan replied that there are “many noises” before correcting himself, “voices – sorry” in Singapore today, and that he intends to reach them through small group gatherings and community events.
At the media conference, I had a relook at the handout which was given out (it was a copy of Dr Tony Tan’s statement at the media conference), and I was drawn to the words, “[Big SMILE]” on the handout; which was a personal reminder for him to smile at a certain juncture of making his statement.
I think this will be descriptive of the tenure of the new President. He will have to have a personal reminder to engage and remain accessible to the people who elected him, ever so often.
–
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Dear Tony Tan
Who are those who voted for you? The Lee family, the elites and businessmen who have their own agenda, the ignorant and ‘kia-si’ and the expired actress. More than 60% of Singaporean who do not trust you did not vote for you. It is a sad day for us as we have become the laughing stock with your participation and winning this PE race. We hope come next election, those ignorant and ‘kia-si’ can wake up their ideas and we can then look forward to a real good man to become our real ‘People’s President’. As for you, come clean with your sons’ NS stint and pledge to donate half the pay first, else, whatever that comes out from your mouth are just rubbish.
Suggest that you take 35% of the salary!!!
Dear Tony Tan, I used to have a lot of respect for you and the government that preceded this one.. There were real positives and I as a citizen was thankful. Now, not anymore… with how the PAP had reinvented itself..The present PAP leaders have lost the moral authority to lead.. I did not vote for you this time round when all along in the past, I would have no secound thoughts.. Why? Have I changed or has the govt changed? I believe you know the answer yourself…
Do you believe that Tony Tan can ever be independent oif gahmen? NEVER !!!!!
He is connected to the cheekbone, the jawbone and the mouth bone to the PAP. He knows nothing else.
He will be a Pappie forever. He is as independent of the PAP as LHL is.
If you believe that TT can EVER be independent..then pigs will fly.
I made an arithmetical mistake and would like to amend it here.Tan Kin Lian’s loss at 4.9% of the votes is a result of the short time he came on the public scene. As a statistician he will readily put the probability of his being elected as a function of the time he is in public view compared to to the others. I guess it is something like 1 year to 40 years comparing him to say TT who got 35% of the votes. Thus his votes should numerically be 1/40 X 35 = 0.87%.And Tan Kin Lian actually got 4.9%. About five times more votes than expected. To simplify the calculation, I ignored non linearity where the present appearances of a person in the public eye figures more prominently than the past.
The PAP knows the importance of being public faces in the press and on TV. That is why it strenuously prevents opposition members from showing up in any media for 50 years long, be it the press or TV or even assembling quietly in the streets. That why the ISD has to be so active and judges bend over backwards to slam their victims into financial oblivion. The PAP is now reaping the rewards of their rampage on the citizenry by ISD and Judges because the fear of catastrophic loss has reduced opposition faces to vanishing point, such a point is Tan Kin Lian. It is up to the citizenry to fight the ISD and cowardly judges if we want our choice of leadership from a wide spectrum of society and not just from the relations and friends of the PAP.
I am still suspicious of TCB’s role in the PE. He may have successfully projected himself to be neutral and independent of the govt, but to me, if you have been with Pap for over 20 years, there’s no way u could be as independent as claimed.
I believe (and this is my personal opinion) that both TT and TCB are Pap’s men put up for the PE.
1. Do u suppose Pap wld put all their eggs into the basket in TT after the results of the recent GE? Knowing the ground anti-pap sentiment, they would need a back-up candidate.
2. TCB, with his so called history of run-ins with pap, would be that ideal back-up candidate. If TCB had won, pap will still be relieved – TCB wld still have the Pap dna in him, and whatever happens in the backgrd, with TCB as president, Pap can ‘persuade’ TCB to be most agreeable wif policies pertaining to the presidential powers. During the campaigning, TCB advocated settling disagreements ‘privately’ – something he emphasised repeatedly.
3. Taking TKL out of the equation, TT and TCB wld take the bulk of the votes. This killed the hopes of TJS, which Pap will definitely not want to hv as president.
4. From the onset, the MSM trained their guns on TJS, accusing him of not understanding the role of the presidency and most importantly, portrayed him as Confrontational. TJS did not help his own cause with the televised/internet debates – he left it too late to undo the damage done.
5. Divide and conquer strategy was used to perfection by Pap. That’s why they allowed TJS to obtain the COE.
6. Many say if TJS did not run, TCB wld win hands down. I beg to differ. Pap had a twofold strategy by allowing TJS to run – a) in the name of democracy and knowing many will cry foul if TJS was ruled out b) ensure the votes will mean a Pap endorsed candidate wins ie TT or TCB. In the case of TCB, he was Pap’s back-up or Plan B.
So at the end, a vote for TCB meant TT stood a better chance or at worst, Pap’s 2nd choice wld have won!
sg is democracy doomed….
prepared to be boiling frogs sg
Cynical, if TCB had not run, you can be sure TT will be a sure winner. You must be one of the die-hard opposition right? Ask the middle ground, had TCB had not run, where would their votes go? The answer would be TT – the one with the best credentials to protect the reserves (President role is to protect and not spend the reserves).
Had TCB not contested, TT would win with a wide margin (similar to a PAP vs SDP contest where SDP will not win anything ). So TCB cannot be put in as a second choice. Unfortunately, some just refuse to see.
The problem with the online media like TOC and TRE is, it is so out-of-touch with reality and the ground. You go around say PAP is out of touch with the ground – but some of these websites are worse. That is why all the polls conducted by TOC and TRE are so inaccurate, and why polls conducted by more neutral websites like yahoo is so much closer to reality.
I do think Dr Tony Tan has a very good personal appeal . as said , he opened himself to questionings and less friendly sides. his reactions shows he is a great man , as is TJS . we must separate politics with the presidency office.Its now for our new president to show us by his works.
Cindytan. Nope im not a die-hard opposition supporter. In fact i hv been supporting the pap for years…until only recently.
On ur points, how about this:
Had TCB not run? In the first place, wld TCB run if TJS not run?
Given the aftermath of GE 2011, do u think pap wld not anticipate an candidate from the opposition camp?
No doubt, TCB was the first to announce his candidacy, followed by TT and TKL (of these 2, can’t recall who was earlier); and TJS was the last. But the chronology does not tell the full story.
My question is, given the general anti-pap sentiment after GE 2011, do u think the pap will be foolish not to plan for contingencies?
Do not under-estimate the pap – they do plan ahead; notwithstanding that it was their arrogance and complacency that led to the “bad” result in the last GE.
And they probably envisaged several scenarios in the PE, even if they did not know then it would be TJS, they forsaw the possibility of a opposition candidate.
Not forgetting, the govt has the entire ISD, SIB and whatever intelligence network/machinery – and they must have gotten some intell info way ahead of nomination day.
We are now in a situation where there is almost no one not connected with the PAP. Even TJS and TKL have their roots in the PAP one way or another. This is a bad state of affairs because the citizenry cannot bring the whole range of people in our social spectrum into leadership positions. Incest within a family has the same characteristics. Incest creates highly inbred individuals who are mostly defectives in some aspects. We are beginning to see and hear more of such political defectives in the speeches made by new PAP MPs. How are we to put an end to clones upon clones of the same type of people who bark at the same rhythm as the chorus of a Greek tragedy? The answer is staring us in the face: free the judges from political control of their appointments so that they do not need to demoralize society by their sordid justice, get rid of the ISA and its physical embodiment the ISD, normalize the salaries of office holders like Ministers so that the stakes for their holding on to public office is not so high as to be insurmountably impossible etc. Most of all my fellow citizens have courage, confront the political police in the event that you are singled out for humbling. This fear of the political police and sudden catastrophe has become our collective unconscious bringing memories of the hantu of our childhood days. With hantu so broadly based in our society, PAP will be the very air we have to breath for the next half century.
Online media will continue to be a popular venue and a growing importance as a convenient outlet in future elections for netisens to express themselves. Many are skeptical about the print media especially the main national broadsheet who is seen by many as grossly biased towards the ruling party.
It also acts as a safety valve for those who wish to vent their pent-up frustrations online.
That over time, whether a candidate is sincere or deceptively charming wearing a BIG SMILE will show eventually. As the Chinese saying goes “When the water is drained out, you can see the stones”.
But, one thing is certain. The growing divide is pointing to a growing grasp of the political realities by voters which will promote democracy and make Singapore a better place to make it your home.
Forget how TT won votes, I don’t think he won any. There are at least 100,000 super duper rich Singaporeans (see http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_707984.html). Each of this multiply 8 (which may consist of parents, children, siblings, cousins, close fried) easily gives 800,000 (35%) who voted TT.
In fact before this, there was already accurate speculation that TT has at least 35% votes. So he scored the minimum guaranteed!
@AJ
What if in the next 5 years PAP created another 50,000 super duper rich Singaporeans? That would mean SDP sponsored TJS will get a lot less vote? This must be good.
alamak,TT is the least supported EP ever before.
whatever TCB percentage of votes is,it cannot be considered pro-establishment votes.
so,65 pct of singaporeans registered their UNHAPPINESS over thE papigs as DR TT IS CONSIDERED pap-linked.
if this sway continues,we are gonna see more support for PRO-SINGAPOREANS OPPO IN ge 2016.
the pap govt must realise their folly in being anti-citizens and overtly pro-FTs and highly pro-rich.
if not,they will be the minority before they know.
if DR TT does not help marginlasied singaporeans get jobs n get back their decent livelihoods,he will be be out come 2016/2017 as well.
a PEOPLE’S ELECTED PRESIDENT should be PRO-VOTERS,PRO-SINGAPOREANS.
if DR TT do otherwise,he will be ousted.
@Ah Kong 2 cts
Then 50,000 ordinary or poor Singaporeans will get even poorer! and the 50,000 richer will most likely be out of the 800,000 who voted TT. In fact I hope this happens because no one believes TJS. Trouble is, by the time they see that TJS is right, it is too late, game over.
@Ah Kong 2 cts
From what I know, TJS’ campaign is to give ALL ordinary Singaporeans equal chance to be super duper rich, he does not try to bribe a part of the population like 50,000, like what PAP does with taxpayers money from ALL Singaporeans.
The 60.1% voted out as they did out of no choice or hopson choice. This figure has no meaning because firstly voting is compulsory. In a situation, you have to vote the sycophant A, whom you dislike because of he is a fake and B the leftover from all the political defamation suit and character assasination by name calling and character assasinationm being practized here not to mention the GRC and gutter politics verging on buying of votes, what can we expect of the quality left in B. Do we have Gandhi or Mandela among them to choose from any more?
Let us be realistic. We have the 39.1 % who know the facts and truths of all the wrong doings carried on in the name of leadership and talent hypocrisy.
We still have Chen Show Mao, Low Thia Kiang, Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, TKL, TJS, Nicole Seah. If we don’t support them, or demand too much of them, what do we expect the electors to do?
I do not see the media giving TT the advantage. Thru out the campaigning, he did not come across as having a lot of ideas and daring to change. He probably won the slim margin thru all the endorsements he got from the trade unions and the others. If TCB had got the same type of endorsements, he would have won TT flat down.
@AJ
Problem is Singaporean getting richer, use to be 1 millionaire per 1000 in the 1970′s but became 11 per 100 just a few years ago and now is 17/100. By the next election when USD becoming USD1 = SGD1 that would be 25/100. TJS is also one of the millionaire created by PAP but he is a dog that bite the owner.
dan
. If TCB had got the same type of endorsements, he would have won TT flat down.
…………….
noped if tanchengbock came across a child who just fell down while pickin a durian
and saved that durian…
he would had won…
New media engagement may have given ONLY Tan Jee Say the edge. Without this he would fare no better than TKL.
It would be a straight fight between TT and TCB, and without the new media, TT would have won by a wide margin.
In other words, the new media is to the detriment of TT. Fortunately he he still emerged the winner. Lucky for Singapore and Singaporeans.
BENEO
In other words, the new media is to the detriment of TT. Fortunately he he still emerged the winner. Lucky for Singapore and Singaporeans.
………………..
indeed we are lucky and GREATFOOLS…
p..s. ow much is your parents’ cpfs savinin$
credit below to fortune magazine
===========================
Now we learn from the August 15, 2011 issue of Fortune Magazine that Singapore has no sovereign wealth.
Instead it has a sovereign debt of US$254 billion, which is 95% of Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This puts Singapore at 8th position as one of the world’s most indebted nations. Singapore is near the bottom of the pile; only seven developed countries are more in debt, in terms of GDP.
Apparently, Singapore has borrowed heavily from its own Central Provident Fund (CPF) which holds the retirement funds of Singaporeans. This explains why Singapore is not only raising the retirement age, but making it more difficult for Singaporeans to get their retirement funds even when they reach that age.
……………..
so a s shole cared to share ow much is you parents’ cpf$ OWED the DEBTs above?
Whether or not all four are linked to the PAP is a matter of definition and timing. Maybe only two can be called truly of the PAP. Nevertheless it shows a dearth of political experience dished out to Singaporeans. It certainly is not a healthy state of affairs as indeed we the citizenry are feeling the heat of two million new bodies brought into our country, choking our jobs, transport , housing, medical , educational services.The PAP has sold our country with us as sitting tenants. All because there is no effective voice in Parliament to oppose such moves and moves to enrich themselves by gross overpayment of remuneration and sucking the juice out of the honey pots of the country. The ISD is a sentinel watching over the population for any challenge against the centre of power and the judges will do everything asked of them to quash any dissenters. To ensure that the PAP is not the sole dish on offer we have to oppose the centre of power’s power and that is the PAP version of the Rule of Law. How to do this? That is the question. There seems to be no answers which are safe and easy.
Think this is irrelevant in the sense new media haven’t outnumber state media greatly.. We need more like yahoo, onlinecitizen, tre, mrbrown, etc
Dr Mahathir and the anti-establishment Singaporean were clearly disappointed that Tony Tan was elected instead of TJS. If TJS is the president Dr Mahathir would be excited and waiting for the political drama played our in the new paper and new media.
@Ah Kong 2 cents
I am most shocked to read your post that TJS is a dog that bites the owner. So all of us who got rich in Sg are dogs who bite the owner? More importantly, a society makes progress thru continual challenges to do better each tie, thru diversity of ideas & thru competition. So, it is appalling to say a fellow Sporean (not of the ruling party) who stood for election is a dog that bite the owner.
Millionaires in Sg increase but they don’t tell you that poverty in Sg has also increased. If they do, it is clear that the Govt steals from the poor to give the rich. We don’t know & we cannot assume that what the Govt is doing is the right thing.
@Ah Kong 2 cts
To make it clearer:
All of us who got rich but continue to point out the Govt’s wrong doings are dogs who bite the owners? If so, then it is open bribery, no other way to explain it.
@Ah Kong
If you cannot undersand let me make it clearer. The Govt make us rich, say by letting us use dirt cheap labour or more precisely, slaves. We must then support them no matter what, even if they suppress better candidates from gaining power thru unjust means. Besides, we cannot outshine anyone in the ruling cabinet? Is that it?
TJS fought a great battle against the three ex-PAP cons. Even Sir Ivor Crewe send a congratulatory message to him. Read the warm words from Sir Ivor:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/tan-jee-say/congratulations-and-commiserations-from-sir-ivor-crewe/161967773882506
Hey James,
Who is Sir Ivor? Guess what, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton also have sent congratulatory messages to TJS. They encouraged him to buy Manchester United FC IPO. Now that’s something.
@cynical
My dear fellow Singaporean, please stop for a moment and listen to yourself.
Amen.
@Johnathan Wang
1. Let us be honest with ourselves, sites like TOC are biased – towards the opposition. I don’t see how doing the opposite of the ST brings about balance in any debate of issues which is important and much needed – unless you are not interested in balance. While I agree that the ST has a strong bias towards the PAP, frankly, I don’t learn anything new when I read your articles. They are so one-sided that any honest citizen cannot read them and take it as face value. All I see is an alternate reality. All this love for TJS online might have lead readers to misread sentiments of almost 75% of other Singaporeans and assume that TJS was a contender for the Presidency. You guys exist in your own alternate reality. I understand that when you see other like-minded comments you feel a sense of relief that you are not alone. It is understandable.
By the way, what is the purpose of the site again?
2. “…which will promote democracy and make Singapore a better place to make it your home.”
An over-simplistic statement don’t you think?
Premise: People hear what they want to hear.
Question: Why isn’t Tan Jee Say considered a former PAP man when he has been willing to work under one for so long?
Or did he pull a Michelle Bachmann, working for the enemy to understand how it works.
Question: If Tan Jee Say was working for GCT for so long, do you think he might have known what was the 1987 ISD case all about?
A man came out of the wilderness claiming to be their saviour and the people bit like a hungry dog.
Dear Ravi, unless I am mistaken, I belive you mis-quoted Tan Kin Lian as saying “He wanted to do this by producing an annual report to account for the reserves under the custody of the President.” I believe it was Tan Cheng Bock that said that about publishing annual report on the reserves.
I wrote down notes during the Face2Face.
Otherwise, my two cents, I believe Tan Jee Say actually got the boost from New Media and Tony Tan not so much.
But the reason why Tony Tan got a boost from the New Media was because PAP supporters were incensed by the new media(online) obsession with Tan Jee Say and therefore voted Tony Tan in retaliation.
‘game’ over.
it’s time to look at the score-board.
with sincere and due respect to outgoing PREZ NATHAN,he did what he had to do,no more ,no less.
i sincerely hope that ho had gone the extra mile to remind PM lee N the cabinet that getting good n honest hardworking singaporeans out of jobs is not the wisest thing to do for our people,as a NATION,or for Sinagpore’s longer-term socio-economic viability as TIME will subsequently tell UNLess pm lee n the cabinet sincerely takes serious steps to return JOBLESS SINGAPOREANS back to meaningful employment n decent workable ‘DEPLOYMENT’.
SINGAPORE CANNOT think that the current influx of ‘globalised’ immigrants are of the same mindset as our forefathers.
it would be fatalistic to perceive such.
just a point to noTE: how many percent of FTs/PRs thus far have taken up SINGAPORE CITIZENSHIPS despite the govt’s persistent offer.
how many singaporenas have been rendered JOBLESS because the gvot thinks ‘FT’ FIRST instead of SINGAPOREANS FIRST?
THOSE SINGAPOREANS AMONG US WHO HAVE BEEN forcibly made redundant by the careless FT POLICY will likely not be able to come back to MAINSTREAM WORK and many are barely surviving as taxi-drivers,estate agents or some sort of insurance /financial advisors.
in fact, everyone is ‘advising’ or selling’ to every other ‘jobless’ guy he meets?
the incoming EP must not merely guard the reserves BUT must consider to put the other interests of common singaporeans like joblessness etc on his ‘MUST DO’ list.
what good is high GDP numbers when so many more CITIZENS are being unfairly and inconsiderately MADE JOBLESS N PENNILESS?
HOW CAN THE GOVT EXPECT JOBLESS SINGAPOREANS TO MANDATORILY CARE FOR THEIR AGED PARENTS in our progressively aGEING POPULATION scenario?
GAINFUL EMPLPOYMENT is the ‘FIRST KEY’ ot guarding the national reserves for wihtout meaninful n gianful employment,HOW COULD WE GROW RESERVES for OUR SINGAPOREANS who are left to perish by the wayside?
our now ENRICHED GOVT ministers n TOP CIVIL SERVANTS must honestly begin to CONSIDER the common good of all singaporeans especially those marginalised one way or another or all our efforst of NATION BUILDING N SOCIAL COHESION will likely disintegrate by and by.
IT IS A LONG N ARDUOS JOURNEY for our NEXT EP,DR TT, and he can either ‘re-made’ or BREAK singapore.
GOD BLESS ALL TRUE BLUE SINGAPOREANS N SINGAPORE.
@Cynical
I wrote the same observations as well. I had a feeling after watching the Face2Face on TOC website that Tan Cheng Bock was placed as a silent dark horse for the PAP to attract all the voters that are disaffected by Tony Tan but not neccessarily want to change parties.
@CindyTan
You are correct in pointing out that online media like TOC and TRE surveys are skewed because they attract mostly the netizens who are already biased towards the PAP. Still, TOC and TRE are the only alternative sites to counter the very Pro-PAP mainstream media owned by Mediacorp and SPH. That by itself is worth having TOC and TRE around as a balance. Any savvy media netizen will actually take their time to gather information from botth Mediacorp and SPH and gather info from TOC and TRE to actually read a more complete picture of what the general mood of the people is regarding politics.
@Come Together
You are pulling people apart by not allowing people to challenge & question the wrong doings. Talk is good, positive conflict is good, whereas suppression to keep quiet encourages bad acts to be perpetuated & the side of society who suffers in silence will forever harbour ill feelings.
When I was younger & working in Sg, I simply obeyed orders, thinking I was a good citizen by being a faithful & loyal hardworker, esp if working in the civil service. I thought I was a good person because I supported the Govt & all the more I would think so if I worked for a Minister! Can you see that TJS might be like myself in the past.
I am now a very experienced employee, travelled, read widely, lived an active social life & ahem, become wiser. I now know what is right & wrong & that not all Ministers even the PM, are necessarily good & right. Now do you see I have the potential to be the next TJS too, only I am not as brave, qualified & bright as he.
Dear Tony,
I hope you don’t mind me calling you Tony. I am sure being fresh from
campaigning, you are still in a backslapping, informal, mix with the
commoners mood and don’t mind my being informal.
I am not sure if you are presently basking in the after-glow of your
victory. But it must be difficult for you to accept that the majority of
Singaporeans did not vote for you and in fact view your victory with dismay..
Your victory must have been a big relief to you given the very slim majority
you won. Put in another way, you almost lost. If just 20% of the spoilt
votes had gone to TCB, it would have happened. To paraphase Winston
Churchill, “never has so much depended on so few”, 7,269 voters to be
precise.
I am sure you read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” where the element of
luck was highlighted in “Success”. You were extremely lucky in having 3
other candidates and they were certified fit to contest and the votes were
therefore split.
You were lucky to have two fairly strong contenders who to some extent
diluted the votes among themselves. If it was a straight fight between you
and TCB or you and TJS, I daresay the outcome may have been different.
You were also lucky that TKL entered the fray and proved to be stubborn
until the end. He could have surrendered early in the campaign when it was
apparent that his was a lost cause and asked his supporters to back TCB or
TJS. This could have endeared him to Singaporeans. Instead he persevered
in his self delusion that he had a chance and is the one who made it
possible for you to win. Singaporeans will remember him for that.
I need to be upfront with you and say I did not vote for you.
I did not vote for you as I thought you would not be independent being so
intimately tied up with the Government and the management of the reserves
only up to two months ago. I wanted somebody who was much more independent
and not afraid to speak up. You did not fit my requirements.
I was also very disappointed and angry at the continued silence over your
sons’ NS. Why is it so difficult for you and your sons to provide
information on what they did during their NS and refute all the various
allegations? If your sons are proud of their NS record, then why be so coy
about telling more.
Surely with your background as a banker and a top politican, as you yourself
stated, it is important not only to be principled and fair but to be seen to
be so. You surely know better than to place yourself in a position where
your actions and motives can be questioned. People will always wonder and
question. Continued silence will just leave this sore festering and blight
your Presidency. Who knows when and under what circumstances this
controversy will resurface and this could even affect the PAP in future
elections?
Given your actions during this campaign, I will not hold my breath waiting
for clarification and I think Singaporeans will never know unless the
information is forced and pried out somehow.
We had previously a President, who was not elected by any Singaporean voter,
and who served for 12 years. A Presidency best distinguished for being the
highest paid political office in Singapore much more than even the Prime
Minister himself). Now we have a President chosen by one out of 3
Singaporeans. So there has been some progress after all.
Could I suggest you start off your Presidency on a high note? How about
donating your entire President’s pay to charity? TKL and TJS were willing
to part with some of the pay. TCB thought it was tantamount to buying
votes. You said nothing. Since you already won the elections, you can start
off your Presidency with this magnanimous gesture. This will be a powerful
symbolic move to put your Presidency on solid moral ground right from the
start and emphasise your commitment to public service for all Singaporeans.
I
am sure you can spare the few millions involved. This will make it
exceedingly difficult for future potential candidates to challenge you the
next round.
I am afraid I cannot give you much advice right now on what else you can do..
Although you have won, you know that the majority of Singaporeans are
disappointed that this happened. But a win is a win and is better than
losing. You are now in the saddle. I am sure your advisors will be
brainstorming with you over the coming months on how you will define and
manage your Presidency.
The PAP itself probably also was very relieved that you had won but will
have to reexamine the reasons for your poor performance and learn from this
episode.
For the future, I just want to say that although we may stand as a sign of
respect when you officiate at functions, do not mistake this as anything
else than a sign of respect to the office that you hold.
Just remember that what is worse than an unloved President is a President
that we do not respect. Respect must be earned. Please don’t take the
whole of 6 years to do this.
I wish you luck and success.
In the end, we are all Singaporeans.
Majulah Singapore.
Yours sincerely,
Ah Sook
@Ah sook
If the kind of Singaporean like you our next generation as a nation will be death in no time. I hope you son will throw you out from your house some day.
@Ah sook
If the kind of Singaporean like you our next generation as a nation will be death in no time. I hope your son will throw you out from your house some day.
good old days
1 September 2011
@Ah sook
If the kind of Singaporean like you our next generation as a nation will be death in no time. I hope you son will throw you out from your house some day.
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Huh !!! Are you not able to see that increasing number of people are beginning to think and see the way that Ah Sook is thinking and seeing.
The way I see, our next or future generations are going to kick and throw out all the old tricks as they will be working with more information unlike the old days where the mouthpiece is much one sided.
Come Together
1 September 2011
@Johnathan Wang
1. Let us be honest with ourselves, sites like TOC are biased – towards the opposition. I don’t see how doing the opposite of the ST brings about balance in any debate of issues which is important and much needed – unless you are not interested in balance.
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Don’t you think you are here to shift or hope to change the “biasness” of TOC.
Balance means to have both sides of the story heard and picture seen and not to monopolize it.
ST is bias, TOC is bias, everyone is bias to a certain extent. The more the merrier if everyone can air their own rationale and viewpoints and the free environment itself becomes the resulting balance.
This is good as you get to decide whose biasness more mirrors your own liking and can stick to it, hence your own biasness.
Knew that tcb is planning to be the president, given that he disagreed with the naming of the hospital.
Anyway, everyone should have hope, dream and ambitious to contribute healthy and morally way to reach the top.
I totally agreed with him and nothing wrong. Don’t be too cynical.
Wise men think alike but he is not my choice.
I think in this PE, ST and CNA are way more neutral than TRE or TOC. I recall TRE was picking on irrelevant matters like TCB has an investment in Sentosa Cove and TT has investments in some other properties. Before long, the entire TRE (i.e. the hard core 25%) was scolding TCB and TT for their investments and you were wondering why is this relevant? There were NO discussion on their past contribution and every minor “wrongdoing” like investing in property was blown out of proportion.
The thinking swing voters have a mind of their own. They are not that easily swayed by bad reporting by mainstream or new media. And they don’t give someone a free pass merely because he came on an opposition ticket. So I think TOC and TRE has to do better to swing these votes to the other side. It is clear to me, the same 25% will always vote for the opposition, even if he is a donkey applying for the wrong job. The key is, how to convince the “swing voters” who are free-spirited and are not tied to any party colour?
well, best win, and love to see TT and wife picture everytime i am in govt offices, rather than TJS picutre for the next 6 years!!!
BIG THANK YOU TO SEMBAWANG FOR THE STRONGEST VOTE COUNT FOR TT, BEST OF ALL SEMBAWANG REPRESENT MOST OF THE RACE WELL. IT SHOW THERE IS NO RACIAL DIVIDE IN THIS ELECTION. SEMBAWANG IS AND ALWAYS A DECIDER
I told myself if TJS and his tigress looking wife’s photo is hanging on my office wall I will resign from my job immediately, luckily is the beautiful couple TT and Mary. I love to see them everyday on my office wall.
@ talk cock sing song
Didn’t know one of the criteria is to look good on the walls. Got money sure can look good lah, I will go for botox, dye hair every mth, use best moisturing cream, best skin care & costmetics etc. I see, no wonder need to pay them $4.2mil a year.
i love tt1 September 2011
well, best win, and love to see TT and wife picture everytime i am in govt offices,
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luckily is the beautiful couple TT and Mary. I love to see them everyday on my office wall.
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hey mulltinicker
you must licked the mrs presidiente wife’s naynays that you posted TWICE?
so you vote tonytan just because his wife is pretty? you might as well voted imeda marcos..she can sink karoki better than gurmit sink…