1 September 2015 was Nomination Day and what a day to kick off the hustings in Singapore Elections 2015. After all nominations papers were filed MediaCorp’s Channel News Asia then aired a “live” telecast of a forum featuring 7 candidates from 6 political parties – 2 from PAP (Ms Denise Phua & Mr Lawrence Wong) and 1 each from the Reform Party (Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam), National Solidarity Party (Mr Lim Tean), Singapore Democratic Party (Dr Chee Soon Juan), Singaporeans First Party (Mr Tan Jee Say) and the Workers’ Party (Mr Perera Leon Anil).
There are at least a couple of firsts in this elections. For the first time, all 29 electoral divisions will be contested. This is also the first elections in the post-Lee Kuan Yew era and it does seem a little odd not having him around either at the rallies or on TV giving his assessments of PAP candidates and how he thinks PAP will fare against the opposition.
But viewing the “live” telecast of the forum on Tuesday (1 Sept 15), it soon became apparent to me that 3 main issues could most likely define this elections and possibly how the electorate could vote. 
- 1. Immigration and its attendant challenges
It became quite clear after the opening statements from the 6 opposition party reps that immigration is THE issue which will get more than its fair share of airing in this elections. The influx of foreigners has been linked, if not directly blamed, for a host of other heartaches – lack of job opportunities, low wages, over-crowded MRT trains, high housing prices, inadequate essential infrastructure to deal with increase in foreigners, higher stress levels, etc. The PAP representatives did their best to explain the need for foreigners but it was met with firm riposte from opposition party reps.
- 2. Track Record vs Policies For The Future
The PAP wants voters to judge them by their track record or what it terms, the report card, detailing all that they have achieved for the people of Singapore on things like health insurance (MediShield Life), wages for lower income and older workers (Workfare Income Supplement), housing (the various policies to increase supply and cap rising prices), securing jobs and being industry ready (SkillsFuture, a national initiative to encourage tertiary students to acquire industry skills through apprenticeships and Earn & Learn programmes), etc. The WP rep questioned if this is really the best way to judge how worthy a party is of the electorate’s vote as a report card is by its very nature, retrospective. The WP would prefer looking at future policies and initiatives which the party wants to implement as more effective in garnering support and votes as they give a glimpse of how lives of people will be affected.
- 3. Local Municipal Matters vs Representing People’s Views In Parliament
The PAP wants voters to judge them both on how the MPs have run the town councils as well as their performance in parliament, in being the voice of the people. The opposition parties appear to place more importance in the latter, in better representing the people’s concerns and establishing more debate before bills are being passed in parliament. In these aspects, the PAP is the very antithesis of the opposition parties, maintaining that greater opposition numbers in parliament is no guarantee for better policies. The PAP holds that most people are more concerned about municipal issues and how well their townships are run because these issues directly impact on their everyday lives.
And finally, the character of the candidate especially where it concerns honesty and integrity. While I feel this is not a key election issue, I do acknowledge that it will hover like a fog over the entire duration of this elections. The SDP has called for clean electioneering and for all parties to steer away from name-calling and gutter politics. The PAP, on the other hand, while supporting the call for clean electioneering, has reserved its rights on calling out on any candidate it feels has fallen short of its high standards of integrity – something that it obviously feels all Singaporeans have the right to know before they vote.
About a week to go before the people go to the polls and a truly exciting hustings can be expected over the weekend.
And to end off this post, I chanced upon this website where you can find out details of the schedule of all the rallies and view videos of the rallies if you were unable to attend them personally. Alternatively you can check out Toggle.
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