One result is certain, by end of day we will have a 'President Tan' in office but which one will it be? As it is is the first contested presidential election in18 years it will be interesting to see which way the voters swing.
Will they continue their 2011 swing towards a candidate less closely affiliated with the ruling PAP party? Or has this negative energy dissipated?
Whoever is the winner, they will be casting a fatherly eye over the reserves piggy bank and it will be a "fatherly" eye, as all of the candidates are male.
Hopefully in future contests this gender imbalance will be rectified as it was the women MP's who impressed me most in the previous government. Madam Halimah Yacob would have been my pick but perhaps we will see someone of her calibre put their name forward next time around.
In a less serious vein, the title 'President Nicole Seah' also has a certain ring to it, but one suspects she will need to 'age gracefully' before being able to take on the mantle of office!
To lighten the presidential decision making load, readers may care to cast their eyes on the soothing waters of the Pacific, as captured in my latest print below.
Pacific Montage II
Roger Smith, 2011
Roger Smith, 2011
(Click on print to view a larger image)
2 comments:
It is now 24 hours since this original post and the election results have proven too close to call. A recount of votes is needed to determine which one of the two Doctors becomes President.
Will it be the urbane financier Dr Tony Tan, or his humanitarian rival Dr Tan Cheng Bok?
It would appear from the result thus far, that Singaporean's continue to send s strong message to their PEP government that they are far from happy with the status quo.
Whichever candidate emerges the winner they will preside in the knowledge that half of the voters did not support them.
Superbrand Cheesepie says:-
PAP saw its margin of survival plummet from 20% in the recent GE (60% ayes less 40% nays = 20% margin) to a razor-thin 0.34% (being the lead DTT had over TCB). 65% of Singaporeans also voted against DTT.
Had the PM done the following before PE2011:-
(i) reduced ministerial pay by 65%
(ii) reduced Presidential pay by 60%
(iii) pledged to solve flooding by 2015
(iv) relieve the congestion on MRT & buses
(v) made a quantitative pledge on imposing a quota on foreign influx
(vi) produced HARD EVIDENCE PROOF of what DTT’s kids really did during NS to rebut all the malicious smears circulating on internet blogs and chatrooms
(vii) promised all Singaporeans that they would be able to withdraw their CPF special a/c and medisave during their lifetimes and not after
then DTT’s votes may rise to 90% and storm into Istana as a clear victor. As it is, DTT’s pathetic 0.34% margin of victory (if you could call it that!) is now a clear indictment of the collapsing moral authority of the PAPists. Less than one-third of a percentage point LESS, and DTT might have lost. 65% of Singaporeans have also repudiated DTT as their president.
DTT – should be aware of this:- If Your Excellency walk into a hall of Singaporeans you can expect 65% of them not to stand up for you. You better avoid uncontrolled public gatherings for awhile. Stick to PAPists-controlled occasions with all seats and bleaches stuffed with die die diehard PAPist loyalists.
If I were the PM, I would take this very very seriously and hold a huge PAPist corporate retreat to have a proper honest soul-searching to see why this is so. There are lost opportunities aplenty.
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