General Election

 

This year, it was the time for the 2011 general election again. In this year, we saw all sort of parties making preparations for it; nearly all of the GRC’s are going to be contested. But why? In my opinion, I think the reason was simply just that the opposition parties realised that this year was the best time to attack the PAP, the ruling government, because of many recent unhappy events. Some events include the escape of terrorist Mas Selamat, the shortage in HDB housing and the increasing HDB flat prices and flash floods. During the escape of Mas Selamat, people were constantly in fear, worried that the  terrorist might try to hurt them. The increase in the prices for HDB flats left people frustrated that they could not get a flat at an affordable price. The flash floods made businesses, especially shop owners lose a lot of money, as well as car owners lose their cars. All these events are linked to the government, the PAP.  The escape of Mas Selamat occurred because the government did not tighten up the security of the centre enough, while the shortage of HDB housing is due to the government not stepping up on its HDB flat building scheme fast enough. The flash floods was due to the government agencies not improving the sewage and drainage system fast enough. All these were reasons why Singaporeans should not vote for PAP. As a result, the PAP lost many votes from the last 2006 General Election, and they even lost an important 6-seat representative GRC, Aljunied GRC.  This obviously shows that people are not exactly very happy with the current government. The PAP government should rethink its current strategies and polices in order to win some votes back.