This year is the first General Election where most Singaporeans are given the opportunity to vote for the party which we feel should be forming the government. For the first time in our 40 odd year history did the opposition parties seriously rise up to give a challenge to the ruling party.
I'm not sure if I've been so indoctrinated by the policies as i grew up or i simply have a very very neutral mind to tell that some opposition candidates are plain jokers. Not to say that I support all the new candidates from the ruling party, there are a few who do not seem to be the best fit for the job.
But I do understand one thing, the flaw in democracy is democracy itself. It makes the assumption that the citizens know best and will choose for the best outcome. The truth is, all the citizens know the end goal, they want a good life, good everything. But not everyone know how to get to the end goal and the government has to be the one leading the citizens in this pursuit.
More difficult here is a "good life and a good everything else" may vary from one to the other. If only we can gather everyone with the same goals and put them in one country. That would make the job of all governments in this world have a much easier time. The down side, peace within countries, but like chaos among countries.
Anyway, back to GE. Results this year is also a turning point in our political history. And from my layman understanding of the results. This is what I see.
Generally Singaporeans are now more educated, voters especially. Before this election, there is a sense that the country is run in a "everything the government says is right" way. Because the government is always right, no one said otherwise until this year, there had been so much opposition voices coming forward. So much so that it brings out all the little unhappiness everyone has about the government and amplifies them. I'm skeptical that singaporeans hate the ruling party as much as the results shows. But some opposition party did do well to really amplify all those tiny unhappiness and amplify them so big that they mattered.
All in all I still think the government had done a wonderful job bringing us to where we are, and perhaps this change is something we need to bring us even further into the future. Nothing is perfect, development of a government/country especially, don't expect this small in the political scene to make everything perfect miraculously.
*being a civil servant or public servant will never be what it used to be*
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