Petition

In the wake of the elections, petitions have been springing up like wild mushrooms in the internet. My newsfeed is flooded with friends asking me to join this petition to bring BG(NS) George Yeo back, get him to replace Tin Pei Ling in Marine Parade, others in the pro-opp camp wants a by-election to be held in Potong Pasir, others demand another recount as they believe the margin was too small.

I have been ignoring all these requests, except for the one that is campaigning for BG(NS) George Yeo to be running for presidency. My reasons are very simple. The acts of creating petitions and the participation in them, reflects badly in Singapore's image as a democratic country. These petitions belittle our electoral process and will impede the development of democracy in Singapore.

Firstly, I believe in the fair and open elections in Singapore. Some people had told me not to be naive in my thinking, others have said the fear is still there. Well, I am utterly disappointed to hear all these. If indeed those allegations were true, then I would like to ask, why are these people still voting for the incumbent? Do you still believe in its legitimacy to run this country? If there is a chance that the incumbent party becomes inefficient or corrupt, will they still vote for them out of fear? Most importantly, a fair and free elections is the fundamental feature of a democracy. To deny is citizens of that constitutional right, will mean that the state has failed in upholding the founding belief this nation was built on.

There are sources online to read up on it. http://wp.sg/your-vote-is-secret Some may say that this is a biased source, since this is from the opposition website. But hey, these are all verified by all the opposition representatives when they went to incinerate the votes. Another point to consider that the vote is a secret, is to look at the residents of Hougang and Potong Pasir. I do not see all of them disappearing one by one each day for the past 20 years and 27 years respectively.

So, with these petitions rallying for a by-election at Potong Pasir, I personally feel that Singaporeans are just undermining the whole electoral system. It is fair and open system. Both the PAP and SPP candidate were at the counting centre to witness the vote counting process, thus I believe no Singaporean should question the final result. All I can say to those 200+ people who voided their vote, it is your fault for not taking a stand.

Secondly, this petition reflects the maturity level of the society. This elections, without any doubt, has increased the political awareness of many Singaporeans. The older ones have finally feel empowered with the chance to vote and the first time voters have realized the importance of their choice. With the increase of blog posts, facebook notes and the debates on online forum, there is not a single suspicion that Singaporeans have rise up to challenge the label of being "politically apathetic".
However, being involved and politically active is different from being a mature one. The petitions have clearly shown the society's lack of maturity. The results have been tallied, and the choices of the people who have voted for the PAP is clear. Therefore, in order for the society to progress, the respect for every individual's wishes must be recognized.