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Monday, September 14, 2015

Dun Shy Shy! Just Say It Was the WP!

Don't be so coy leh... Mr Tharman?

I read the papers this morning and let out a giggle, followed by a chortle, followed by a laugh. Of course, I spilled tea all over myself! I laughed because I was sooooooo happy.

Kiss and Make Up
When I read that Tharman Shanmugaratnam had said last night that the opposition should "keep playing a constructive role in Singapore politics" and "the opposition plays a critical role in advancing the country", I rejoiced with a giggle, a chortle and a laugh.

In the past 5 years, only PAP and WP sat in Parliament together. Hence, Tharman Shanmugaratnam's reference to the opposition who can "keep playing a constructive role in Singapore politics" must mean the only opposition party who has been playing ANY sort of role in Parliament in the past 5 years - the WP.

As far as I see, it is clear that Tharman Shanmugaratnam respects the WP. I am so happy for that!

On their end, the WP have lost with dignity. There was no petty anger. No one from WP said, "Singaporeans get the parliament they deserve."

To grow our country, we must have love. God is love. Hopefully, the PAP and the WP will love each other as much as we love them.

Not Used To Adversarial Politics
I grew up in an era of the one party rule. I am not used to adversarial politics. I got through the 2015 elections like a bewildered child watching her parents slug it out and draw blood from each other. One commentator living in Australia said that what had happened in Singapore was mild compared to what he sees daily in Australia. On the intellectual plane, I understand that.

Emotionally, I do not.

Whose Side To Take?
The 2015 elections sent me to bed twice to hide under my pillow. It was like witnessing parents fight dirty. All that mudslinging! There were all manner of boats from Sampans to Titanic to Cruisers! Then there was something about Patterns. And, people even fought over orh luak! Wah piang!

Then there were WP supporters who jeered at the PAP politicians. Aiyo! D*** stressful! I felt for those hapless PAP politicians who had to face that down and live to see another day. I also felt bad for those jeering WP supporters (so different from the gentlemanly WP politicians) because their anger must have come from having suffered too much under the stupido PAP policies from 1990 to 2011.

I tell you, the cognitive dissonance I experienced (when I saw the suffering people jeering and Ng Eng Hen's dignified courage in the face of those jeers) just about sent me to the Loony House. I had NO idea whose side to take!!

So, I consoled myself by making fermented vegetables.

Fermented asparagus, garlic and cherry tomatoes... nutritious probiotic food!


Heal the Hurt
In my immediate circle, there are WP supporters who are heartbroken. Really, they are devastated. My beautician gave me a good scolding on WhatsApp because she needed to take her pain out on someone, and I happened to be there at the wrong time.

These people suffered greatly under the idiotic PAP policies of the past. Generally, these are people from the lower socio-economic spectrum... beauticians and other blue collar workers.

There is GREAT emotional anguish. It would be good if WP can move beyond its own hurt to tend to the broken hearts of their supporters. WP still has a voice and they can increase their online voice, and out of Parliament presence.

PAP can also look beyond its own triumph and see these people's broken hearts, and ask these broken hearts for a 2nd chance to mend their hearts.

White ermine... picture from HERE.

Plutot La Mort Que La Souillure
Translated, this phrase means "Better to die than to be sullied". Legend has it that Queen Anne of Brittany came across a white ermine one day, during a hunt. Chased into a corner by the Queen's hunting dogs, the white ermine had 2 choices (1) to die (2) to take the only route of escape through a puddle of mud.

Instead of escaping by running through mud, the white ermine chose to face the dogs and die.Queen Anne was moved to recall her dogs and take the emblem of the white ermine for her coat of arms, along with the motto "Better to die, than to be sullied."  It is clear to the electorate which individual politicians got through the fight with ermine fur still white.

The demeanour of some of our campaigning politicians (notably, Gerald Giam, Daniel Goh, He Ting Ru, Leon Perera, Yee Jenn Jong, Sylvia Lim, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Ng Eng Hen, Ong Ye Kung and Tan Chuan Jin) demonstrated that spirit of honour. They were prepared to die a political death than descend into the mud and start slinging it about, whilst bathing themselves in it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The government controlled media was use to perform character assassination of targeted opposition candidates before and during the election hustings. Public institutions and government agencies like police were politicized instead of remaining neutral. Pap candidates can openly violate "Getai" rules etc with impunity whereas opposition candidates have to adhere to the multitude of rules and regulation. Even twitter bugs were blamed for cooling day campaigning.

Incumbents repeatedly said they have a good track record, honesty and integrity. Really? Based on some of the example of abuses stated earlier, are they that honourable? The truth is power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.Being addicted to 50 years of continuous power, how can you forgo this power drug? The political future of PAP will eventually be dismantled by the shameless abuse of governance by this small group of power hungry and self serving people. We need proper checks and balance to protect this nation from such eventuality; hence we need to support a good opposition party (parties) who wish to provide credible alternatives in an increasingly unfair political landscape.

Petunia Lee said...

Anonymous... thank you for your well-reasoned comment. Absolute power corrupts. That is why we must have a credible opposition presence in Parliament.

Petunia Lee said...

Sorry ah... Another ANONYMOUS left a message with a vulgarity of sorts.

I have reproduced it here... minus the vulgarity of sorts...

"Mediacorp was the most shameless. PM's Nat Day Speech and the details of the goodies announced then were repeated day and night, even in between news bulletin, during the campaign period.
And those news were already overdone 2 weeks before by all medias, so where is there the need to keep repeating if not to help the incumbents?"

Soojenn said...

That's the purpose... to maximize their (incumbent) advantage. An interesting quote from Adolf Hitler to explain why this is so.

"The receptivity of the masses is very limited. Their intelligence is small but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and we must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want them to understand.” ~Adolf Hitler

Anonymous said...

Just an observation. It seems like many have recognized that absolute power corrupts absolutely and we must have a credible opposition presence in Parliament. However, nobody is willing to nurture opposition and hope that others will make some sacrifices in other constituency but not his/her. Personal interest is still placed much above the nation interest. This election demonstrates that Singaporean does a great disservice to poor LTK and WP candidates. If I see them next time, I will ask them to quit altogether since Singaporean are still kiasi, kiasu and kiabo and no point to continue to fight for democracy. Their sacrifices are absolutely NOT worth it!

Petunia Lee said...

Yes. They did sacrifice a lot. It is heartbreaking.

Melodies said...

When I see this "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" phrase, I think of our neighbouring country PM. Indeed, this phrase describes it all! This neighbouring country doesn't have a robust check and balance system to prevent their PM from having absolute power, hence the PM has eagerly exercised his power to corrupt absolutely. Luckily, Singapore does not have this type of PM. Can Singapore continue to be lucky indefinitely? Can Singapore self-check system robust enough to stop fraud and corruption?