Well there it is. For the first time since 1965 the PAP has lost a Parliament seat that they are holding to an opposition party in a by-election.
And, it's not just about losing their seat, the fashion in which they lost it is also devastating. The Workers Party won the seat with a resounding 3182 majority.
Please remember that this is a by-election and not a General Election in which the PAP has all the resources to concentrate into the area.
The PAP even deployed their Prime Minister, Hon Lee Hsien Loong, to campaign for them and still they falter.
EFFECT ON MALAYSIA?
I dare stipulate that the result signifies the start of a Southern Political Wave against incumbent. A wave of discontent against the PAP will definitely spill over to Malaysia.
Why? Because the same reason for discontent with PAP occurs in Malaysia too, minus one major factor - corruption.
Yes, among the list of discontent of average Singaporean against the PAP, corruption is not on the list. The same cannot be said about their Malaysian counterpart.
From the various articles and analysis i've read, here are the list of Singaporean discontent with PAP:
1.0 Influx of cheap immigrant labor
2.0 High cost of housing
3.0 High cost of amenities
4.0 Decaying standards of public service
5.0 Deteriorating standards of public education system
and others.
Also, the demographics of the Punggol East parliamentary seat is also interesting. Most of the residents are young families with small children and just starting a family.
All of the above are present in the Malaysian government too. Add corruption and discrimination, it makes the wave from the south inevitable.
SPILLOVER EFFECT TO MALAYSIA IS INEVITABLE
Hundreds of thousands of Malaysian gets their livelihood from Singapore. In the service industry, thousands of Malaysians cross the Causeway everyday to work in various firms in Singapore. Malaysian farmers sells a variety of produce to Singapore at better prices than here. Malaysians in the transport industry ferries people to and fro and not to mention high skilled migrants from Malaysia settling down in Singapore and paying taxes.
The sign of disapproval shown by Punggol East voters will resonate with all of them all. I am very sure of that.
I mean, with the PAP doing a much better job than the BN, the people still rejected them for not living up to their standard.
There is no reason, then, for Malaysians not to reject UMNO seeing that UMNO is nowhere near the standard of PAP. Plus UMNO is so bloody corrupted.
If one were to compare the PAP and UMNO government, it's like comparing Lionel Messi with an English Third Division player.
I mean where in the world can a government attract millions of tourist in a year to visit the concrete jungle we have come to know as Singapore?
Yet, the Singaporeans rose up and made their message clear yesterday. They were essentially rejecting PAP for the destruction that they saw will happen in 10 to 15 years. Not now.
So, what reason could UMNO give to justify Malaysians to continue their support for them when they are never in the same league as the PAP?
Punggol East first. Putrajaya next.
GOD WILLING!!!!!
TULANG BESI
ps A few notes on the recently concluded elections
a) Kenneth Jayaratnam does not cut the mustard when it comes to Singapore politics. He's nowhere near his father mainly in the area of humility. Smugness and electoral sucsess is mutually exclusive
b) SDP took a bold step of withdrawing thus making themselves still relevent in the eyes of Singaporean electorate
c) SDA is as good as dead. For your information, UMNO Singapore is part of the SDA and even the Malays in Singapore don't give a rat's behind about them
d) Malays Singaporean will flock the PAP. In fact, the Malays will not even consider the Singaporean UMNO branch.
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