Disclaimer: This blog does not 'persistently propagate, promote or circulate political issues relating to Singapore'. It does not qualify to be 'registered'. Besides, it's not the 'election period' yet.
With 'the election period' to be announced shortly, I just want to play safe and post this now. Although I don't have 'political issues' to 'propagate, promote or circulate'. I just want to write about how my citizenship education began at home.
I was thinking, after the lot of 24 new, mostly 'young' candidates were introduced, that there would be many unfamiliar faces this time round. Although my parents aren't exactly 'into' politics, it was a sort of family tradition to watch news about the run-up to the elections and stay up for the results on election day itself. Election in, election out, we would see many familiar faces, and I'm not just talking about the Old Guard and their colleagues. There were also some die-hard opposition members you would see every election. Even the gentleman who announced the results at the Singapore Conference Hall was a familiar face. I wonder if we will still see him this year.
I've continued to stay up for the results each election day, although it has certainly become a lot less exciting to watch. There are much fewer results to report now, of course, compared to the pre-GRC days, and it takes such a mightily long time to count the votes for GRCs.
Something we often found rather amusing was the set of symbols that are permitted for independent candidates to use, among them the chair and a pair of spectacles! I don't know who came up with those symbols but they are surely designed to put any independent candidate at a disadvantage. I mean, if you represent a chair, how much of a fight can you offer the bolt of lightning, hammer, star and circles, etc?
Fast forward to the 90s. That was when I attended election rallies for the first time and I'm sure my interest in them had something to do with growing up in a home that regularly watched election news.
I remember standing in the rain at a certain rally, my first one. I also remember watching from my sister's 10th floor flat a certain very exciting rally at a certain stadium in a certain year. You just have to be there and listen and experience for yourself to know what the candidates are about. The media can't possibly tell you all you should or need to know. The rally might last some 3 hours but you are only going to get maybe one not very long article on it. Also, if you are not there in person, you will never really know the crowd's reception and reaction, which can be very interesting, to say the least.
What also left a deep impression on me was the camaraderie among people at these rallies. I can't quite explain it, but it's like there's some kind of bond among those who turn up. Many of us would park illegally (because there's just not enough space in the legal car parks). As you leave your car wondering if you will get a traffic police summons, people walking the same way will be joking, 'Don't worry, if they come they have to fine all of us!' Then there are people who voluntarily direct traffic (surprisingly, I've not seen that many traffic police doing this on such occasions), and people who signal to you to wind your window down so they can tell you where you can find a space to park further down the road. I'm not making any of this up, and none of this is from hearsay. I experienced all this myself.
Then there was also the time we decided to go up one of the nearby blocks, rather than stand in front of the stage with the crowd (easier to see from up there). Well, there was also a little 'crowd' at the common corridors, including both residents and 'strangers' like ourselves. No one minded us 'outsiders' standing in front of their homes, and, in fact, there was this man I remember who welcomed us to the place and recommended us good spots from which to watch the rally! Generally, everyone had a good time, cheering, passing comments, and joking with each other. Again, you just have to be there to know what I mean.
So I have many fond memories of the elections and too bad that this place is probably going to be walked over. Once again. I don't know of any walkabouts or hand-shaking that have taken place around here in the past few weeks.
But I shall still stay tuned.
With 'the election period' to be announced shortly, I just want to play safe and post this now. Although I don't have 'political issues' to 'propagate, promote or circulate'. I just want to write about how my citizenship education began at home.
I was thinking, after the lot of 24 new, mostly 'young' candidates were introduced, that there would be many unfamiliar faces this time round. Although my parents aren't exactly 'into' politics, it was a sort of family tradition to watch news about the run-up to the elections and stay up for the results on election day itself. Election in, election out, we would see many familiar faces, and I'm not just talking about the Old Guard and their colleagues. There were also some die-hard opposition members you would see every election. Even the gentleman who announced the results at the Singapore Conference Hall was a familiar face. I wonder if we will still see him this year.
I've continued to stay up for the results each election day, although it has certainly become a lot less exciting to watch. There are much fewer results to report now, of course, compared to the pre-GRC days, and it takes such a mightily long time to count the votes for GRCs.
Something we often found rather amusing was the set of symbols that are permitted for independent candidates to use, among them the chair and a pair of spectacles! I don't know who came up with those symbols but they are surely designed to put any independent candidate at a disadvantage. I mean, if you represent a chair, how much of a fight can you offer the bolt of lightning, hammer, star and circles, etc?
Fast forward to the 90s. That was when I attended election rallies for the first time and I'm sure my interest in them had something to do with growing up in a home that regularly watched election news.
I remember standing in the rain at a certain rally, my first one. I also remember watching from my sister's 10th floor flat a certain very exciting rally at a certain stadium in a certain year. You just have to be there and listen and experience for yourself to know what the candidates are about. The media can't possibly tell you all you should or need to know. The rally might last some 3 hours but you are only going to get maybe one not very long article on it. Also, if you are not there in person, you will never really know the crowd's reception and reaction, which can be very interesting, to say the least.
What also left a deep impression on me was the camaraderie among people at these rallies. I can't quite explain it, but it's like there's some kind of bond among those who turn up. Many of us would park illegally (because there's just not enough space in the legal car parks). As you leave your car wondering if you will get a traffic police summons, people walking the same way will be joking, 'Don't worry, if they come they have to fine all of us!' Then there are people who voluntarily direct traffic (surprisingly, I've not seen that many traffic police doing this on such occasions), and people who signal to you to wind your window down so they can tell you where you can find a space to park further down the road. I'm not making any of this up, and none of this is from hearsay. I experienced all this myself.
Then there was also the time we decided to go up one of the nearby blocks, rather than stand in front of the stage with the crowd (easier to see from up there). Well, there was also a little 'crowd' at the common corridors, including both residents and 'strangers' like ourselves. No one minded us 'outsiders' standing in front of their homes, and, in fact, there was this man I remember who welcomed us to the place and recommended us good spots from which to watch the rally! Generally, everyone had a good time, cheering, passing comments, and joking with each other. Again, you just have to be there to know what I mean.
So I have many fond memories of the elections and too bad that this place is probably going to be walked over. Once again. I don't know of any walkabouts or hand-shaking that have taken place around here in the past few weeks.
But I shall still stay tuned.
A chair, anyone?
Comments
Another rally I attended, in the northeast, was a huge affair, had to park a distance away and walk there. Yes, there was much camaderie and it was really quite fun especially when the crowd started dispersing and daringly jaywalking as we had strength in numbers.
The day I stood in the rain was not the same day you did! I've not heard that person before.
Perhaps the 'young' Singaporeans who are reportedly 'apathetic' should attend a rally or two. They might just find that local politics is not so boring after all.