Heh heh... no lah, I didn’t attend any rally this year. Since I wasn’t able to go to any, the next best thing was to get info from the mainstream and 'alternative' media. And the next next best thing I could do for myself was to go on a trail of rally sites, as they were being prepared.
A phrase I read in Mr Brown’s post had somehow stuck in my mind: ‘this kind of photo op does not come every day (once every four years, actually)’. I thought to myself, it's the eve of Polling Day, and a day like this, in fact, will not come by again.
So I took off for a bit to get my share of alternative media-ing.
Serangoon Stadium, the evening of 4 May (pictures taken the day before). Preparations underway for the PAP rally. Wonder why the stage was angled to face just the grandstand.
Flags all round the Stadium. As you can see, some people are very well situated. No need to step out of their house to hear what's going on.
Potong Pasir, the evening of 5 May, i.e. eve of Polling Day.
I have more pics here for sentimental reasons. Potong Pasir will always be part of my memories because I lived near there. Before the CTE was built, it was along the way to town. And school being in the town area, you can imagine how many times I passed that way. My grandfather passed away when I was a few months old and was buried at Bidadari Cemetery, which I therefore became pretty familiar with. My other grandfather, who passed away when I was in my teens, had his niche at Mt Vernon, also nearby.
Anyway, this place, let's admit it ok, has great significance in modern Singapore history.
Once upon a time, many years ago, I stood here in the rain. The stage is angled differently this time, and of course there was no MRT station then. But I wanted a picture to remember that field.
I also took shots of these SDA flags. Who knows how many of them we’ll see the next election?
And I had to have a shot of Mr Chiam’s campaign poster. Who knows if we’ll ever see these again, I thought. Got historical value.
Mr Chiam's banner. Does this place look like a slum to you?
Serangoon Stadium, the same evening, 5 May, to host a WP rally that night.
I was about to turn into the car park when the traffic police closed it off although it wa
s only 5.30pm. I asked the officer if I could have just one minute there to snap my pictures. But he refused. I guess he was just obeying orders. I decided not to argue with the policeman lest I be accused of being up to something sinister. One must tread carefully in sensitive times as these, you know. There might very well have been CCTV cameras stuck up the trees or something, what with the increased security necessary at rally sites and all. So parked illegally somewhere and snapped. Stage set at a different angle from the one for the PAP rally.
5.30pm and there were already people there. Could have been helpers, I suppose, b
ut then again, if they were helpers, they would have been doing stuff. There were some guys putting up hammer flags around the stadium, for example. Anyway, you can see some people sitting on their own or in pairs, etc. I think these were early birds, there to chope their place.
The ice cream vendors were there already. One ice cream lady smiled at me and I said to
her that she would have good business that night. She said she wasn’t sure because if they were surrounded by a huge crowd, it would be difficult to sell anything. She asked me why I wasn’t going to attend the rally, and said I should have gone for the AMK one the night before.
See, even the ice cream lady is interested and in the know. I cannot, for the life of me, fathom those people who say, ‘So troublesome, this year must vote.’ These people don’t appreciate what it means to live in a democracy and have a choice, and they don’t appreciate what it means to live in a democracy and have a choice when many in that same democracy don’t have any choice to make.
Of course I was late picking the boy up from my in-laws' place and he wanted to know, 'Why so late?' Aiyoh... how to even start explaining these things to a 7-year-old? Don't worry, son, I promise you will not grow up politically apathetic. Because you have a mother crazy enough to drive all the way to the battle sites to take such photos.
A phrase I read in Mr Brown’s post had somehow stuck in my mind: ‘this kind of photo op does not come every day (once every four years, actually)’. I thought to myself, it's the eve of Polling Day, and a day like this, in fact, will not come by again.
So I took off for a bit to get my share of alternative media-ing.
Serangoon Stadium, the evening of 4 May (pictures taken the day before). Preparations underway for the PAP rally. Wonder why the stage was angled to face just the grandstand.
Flags all round the Stadium. As you can see, some people are very well situated. No need to step out of their house to hear what's going on.
Potong Pasir, the evening of 5 May, i.e. eve of Polling Day.
I have more pics here for sentimental reasons. Potong Pasir will always be part of my memories because I lived near there. Before the CTE was built, it was along the way to town. And school being in the town area, you can imagine how many times I passed that way. My grandfather passed away when I was a few months old and was buried at Bidadari Cemetery, which I therefore became pretty familiar with. My other grandfather, who passed away when I was in my teens, had his niche at Mt Vernon, also nearby.
Anyway, this place, let's admit it ok, has great significance in modern Singapore history.
Once upon a time, many years ago, I stood here in the rain. The stage is angled differently this time, and of course there was no MRT station then. But I wanted a picture to remember that field.
I also took shots of these SDA flags. Who knows how many of them we’ll see the next election?
And I had to have a shot of Mr Chiam’s campaign poster. Who knows if we’ll ever see these again, I thought. Got historical value.
Mr Chiam's banner. Does this place look like a slum to you?
Serangoon Stadium, the same evening, 5 May, to host a WP rally that night.I was about to turn into the car park when the traffic police closed it off although it wa
s only 5.30pm. I asked the officer if I could have just one minute there to snap my pictures. But he refused. I guess he was just obeying orders. I decided not to argue with the policeman lest I be accused of being up to something sinister. One must tread carefully in sensitive times as these, you know. There might very well have been CCTV cameras stuck up the trees or something, what with the increased security necessary at rally sites and all. So parked illegally somewhere and snapped. Stage set at a different angle from the one for the PAP rally.5.30pm and there were already people there. Could have been helpers, I suppose, b
ut then again, if they were helpers, they would have been doing stuff. There were some guys putting up hammer flags around the stadium, for example. Anyway, you can see some people sitting on their own or in pairs, etc. I think these were early birds, there to chope their place.
The ice cream vendors were there already. One ice cream lady smiled at me and I said to
her that she would have good business that night. She said she wasn’t sure because if they were surrounded by a huge crowd, it would be difficult to sell anything. She asked me why I wasn’t going to attend the rally, and said I should have gone for the AMK one the night before.See, even the ice cream lady is interested and in the know. I cannot, for the life of me, fathom those people who say, ‘So troublesome, this year must vote.’ These people don’t appreciate what it means to live in a democracy and have a choice, and they don’t appreciate what it means to live in a democracy and have a choice when many in that same democracy don’t have any choice to make.
Of course I was late picking the boy up from my in-laws' place and he wanted to know, 'Why so late?' Aiyoh... how to even start explaining these things to a 7-year-old? Don't worry, son, I promise you will not grow up politically apathetic. Because you have a mother crazy enough to drive all the way to the battle sites to take such photos.
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