The Field Marshal

My First Vote Imagine, 30-plus years and queueing up to cast my first vote. Yes, that's the political reality in Singapore. For good or for ill, I am given the power to vote for a candidate of my choice for my constituency for the very first time in my adulthood. Alas, my choice is clear since the calibre of the members of the party whom I voted for clearly outshone their competitors. Although I can't deny that I harboured the thought of voting for the 'other side'. By now, I am sure Singaporean readers would have guessed which party I voted for. Anyway, I have to describe how I felt as a first time voter. Being born into a democracy, and studying it during my first year in university, I always wanted to exercise my right to vote the person who will represent me in parliament. Blame it on the political realities in Singapore, or the lack of talent to challenge the incumbent, but the constituency I stayed in were always one of those under the 'walkover' category. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when my ward was one of those challenged by the opposition. My dream of casting a vote has finally come through. As I stepped into the polling station this afternoon, I got this sense of destiny. The feeling was that my single vote has the power to shape the bigger picture. Singapore's destiny is in my hands. As I collected the voting slip, my mind made a quick mental decision, which is pretty rare, on which party I should vote for. Once I was in the polling booth, the decision was made. With 2 strokes of the pen, the cheap kind used by civil service, a 'X' marked the area on the slip which I was supposed to mark. Weird as it may sound, I had second thoughts once I crossed the slip, guess that was the indecisive me at work. With a firm push, I slide my voting slip into the ballot box. That's pretty much the end of my voting experience. That voting experience was to continue from last night 10pm till this morning 2am. Both Mydaemon and I were glued to the TV as we watched the electoral results unfold. We were particularly worried for Chiam See Tong as we have a soft spot for this guy. With $80million backing for the PAP challenger in Potong Pasir, I feared that Chiam's political career will come to an untimely end. Thus, with each result, the adrenaline in my arteries increased. However, we sensed that something was amiss when PAP failed to get a thumping victory in the initial results. Being an ex-political science student, I sensed something was amiss. When Hougang's result was read, I was whooping for joy. But there was fear that this joy would be short lived as the result for Potong Pasir took ages to be announced. Moreover, Mydaemon and I made a pact to consume a lemon cheesecake, which we bought earlier from Carrefour, to celebrate Chiam's victory at Potong Pasir. The thought of consuming the cake became a distant one as the result took the longest of time to be announced. When it was finally announced, I whooped for joy. Chiam has been re-elected with a bigger margin. Good job Chiam. Guess the upgrading carrot did not work on Potong Pasir's residents this time. Here's a salute to the brave Singaporeans who stood up against rewards for their beliefs. Once this result was out. I was looking forward to hearing the result for my GRC. Afterall, I can't help but feel excited on how my single vote would affect the result in my GRC. On hindsight, I think it did. Although it was a single vote, I think it helped in the overall numbers since all votes played an important role in my ward tonight. I am sure one of my MPs was totally disappointed with the result. But I guess he should be thankful for winning the ward. Just imagine if all those who thought like me voted for the 'other side.' That would have made things interesting. In the end, I guess it is a wake-up call for the incumbent. I am now looking forward to 2012, at least that's the latest date by which the next election will be held. That should be an even more interesting elections. Till then, I hope the PAP government will continue to deliver what it promised us during the elections.