I’ve lived in Hougang all my life, or Aljunied as it is more commonly known during elections season.
In 2011 I watched from afar, from a rented house in Taiwan, as Aljunied voted the first Workers Party Group Representative Constituency into parliament. Chen Show Mao took over as our Member of Parliament and I waited to see what change the WP would bring.
Four years on, life is not vastly different. I can’t say life is better under the opposition, but it hasn’t gotten worse. We got our upgrading way back in 1999, so lifts already ran to every floor and walkways to all the bus stops were sheltered. I’ve never seen Chen Show Mao at my door, but then again I had never seen his predecessor Cynthia Phua either.
Today I went to my first rally, where the crowd bled blue and roared every time Low Thia Kiang and his compatriots disagreed with the PAP.
But there are questions I want to ask, of these men and women who aspire to lead the country; questions that went unanswered while they roused the crowd. How do we maintain our competitive edge if China does build the Kra canal? Are “the reserves” going to be the blanket answer to how all the new schemes in their manifesto will be funded?
And when all the fist pumping and chest thumping and political mudslinging gives way to five years of real life, what makes you think you can please a mass of Singaporeans who voted for you out of disenchantment? For that matter, can anyone?
To travels and trunks 