GE2015: Don’t Spoil Your Vote. Choose.

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The sound and the fury: Welcome to Election Season.

My friends will know that I am keenly interested in local politics, and every election, you will find me absorbed in the news to the exclusion of almost everything else.

To be honest, I wasn’t really feeling it at the start of the campaign. With the country just emerging out of an SG50 celebratory high, it felt a bit disconcerting to plunge straightaway into a divisive election, where one would take sides and bring grievances to the fore. Indeed, that is what has happened, and it feels a bit regrettable, given the whole one-united-people vibe just a month ago.

The PM’s election strategy to call for elections at this time, just as the populace had been in a reflective mood over how far we have come in the last 50 years, is not unexpected. There is no denying that this is a watershed year for Singapore as we celebrate 50 years of independence, something that was accentuated by the passing of our first Prime Minister. Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death marked the passing of an era and sparked an unprecedented wave emotion that rolled over the entire country. We were inundated with stories of his life and how he and the PAP sought to build this nation “from mudflats to metropolis”. And for the first time in a long time, many paused and listened. As a result, I think the ground isn’t as hard as it was in 2011. Whether this strategy pays off for the PAP, we will only know come Friday.

I find myself in a unique position this GE2015 because I will FINALLY be able to vote after being part of that small group that did not get to vote during GE2011. I’m excited because I finally get to make a choice and play my own very small part in the process of deciding the course of our future here. And I want it to count.

Because the truth is, this isn’t the first time I will be voting in a General Election. I got to do so once before in 2001 when I was still living with my parents in a ward I’ve forgotten the name of (since it has been changed so many times!!). I was young, naive, and didn’t have a good understanding of the election process. There were two teams standing in our ward — the PAP and SDP. My parents brought me up politically aware, and in that era where the PAP were campaigning on their estate upgrading plans and withholding lift upgrading to opposition-held wards, I was downright appalled by their bullying attitude and hugely reluctant to give them my vote. But what of the SDP? At that time, there wasn’t this access to information that we get on the internet these days. I didn’t know much about them apart from Dr Chee’s bad rep and what I heard at election rallies. They didn’t seem credible. (Incidentally, whoever coined the term “credible opposition” for the PAP was some kind of a genius.) So my very first time voting, what did I do? I didn’t choose either party. Yup, I spoilt my vote. I thought I was making some kind of a statement about the disaffection I was feeling for the ruling party. I was wrong. It was only when the votes and percentages were counted that I realised that I had not made any statement at all because vote percentages are calculated on the basis of VALID VOTES. By not making a choice, I had taken myself out of the equation. I in fact played no part in the outcome, leaving it in the hands of others. At most, I was a footnote, an indication of some dissatisfaction in ground sentiment. At worst, I was one with the goondus who didn’t know how to vote properly. I still regret it.

So my message for this election is DON’T SPOIL YOUR VOTE. The opportunity to vote only comes round once every 5 years, and for some of us, it’s been way longer than that. The husband turns 40 next year and this is going to be the first time he’ll be voting in the GE. This is a small way in which to have a say in what you want for yourself and for Singapore. Sometimes the choices you are presented with put you between a rock and a hard place. What should you do?

I cannot tell you how to vote though I think much of what I said during GE2011 still stands, with the qualifier that the PAP government has made some welcome policy shifts which should rightly be recognised. But this I would say:

Do know who you are voting for — and against. I had a conversation with a friend who declared he was voting for the PAP because the opposition was not credible… but could not tell me who the opposition party standing in his ward was, let alone the candidates. Erm, that wasn’t very convincing.

Do do your homework. Get to know who the candidates are, their background, what they purport of stand for, their track record (if any). Read their party manifestos. Listen to their rally speeches. With everything online these days, you really have no excuse not to.

Don’t listen to everything everyone says. It is bound to give you a headache. That said, it is definitely useful to have some trusted friends to discuss things with to broaden your perspective.

Don’t read Facebook comments to articles on the internet. This is for your own sanity. I always feel my braincells die a bit when I succumb to temptation and start reading comments. In the previous election, it used to be filled only with vitriolic anti-PAP rants. Now there are also vitriolic anti-opposition rants and super pro-PAP scaremongering comments. Something is bound to make you angry. It’s just not worth it!

Do make your own considered decision. Having done your homework, you can at least assure yourself that you will be making an informed choice. Even if you eventually decide to vote with your gut. Even if you decide you want to make the irrational choice. Your values are your own. What matters to you might not matter to someone else, even if he/she is your spouse. Vote with your conscience.

Don’t spoil your vote! There is no perfect choice and for many, the choice might not be clear. You might not even like the choice that you are making. Bo pian is also a choice. Incidentally, I learnt after the husband volunteered as a counting agent for the PE that it really isn’t that easy to spoil a vote. When there is an ambiguity, the vote will still count if the intention of the voter can be determined, and naturally the determination of this is open to a lot of creative arguments. This is a good piece on that.  So (again), don’t spoil your vote. Choose. And live with it for at least the next 5 years!

Happy polling day everyone!