Elections in M'sia and Its Impact on SG

[fuzztremecho]

Friends

This is a heavy topic.Be mindful of things of you are are about to post.


The political landscape in M'sia changed overnight..previously only Kelantan was in the oppostion camp

Now we have Penang,Kedah,Selangor and Perak..the people have spoken through the voting system..we have seen heavyweights ministers losing their seats and young people making political waves

Even a blogger-mr Jeffrey Ooi had been elected as an MP.
What does this say about the future on M'sia and Sg politics in general ?

What happen in M'sia,whether we like it or not,has a deep impact on us Sg..we are siblings..we fight and patch up over trivial matters.

Could this scenario (the ruling party denied a 2/3rd majority) ever happen here?

-qoute from a senior leader of the ruling party Barisan Nasional
"Voters were confused when making their decision because of the various issues raised by the opposition and possibly the explanations given by the government were not effective. According to him, people still like the BN(Barisan Nasional) but they wanted to show that there was something that needed to be taken into account and corrected"

Discuss.

 

[zerosoul79]

yeah.. i guess the political climate is indeed changing everywhere..
prob because the new generation of voters are less politically apathetic. Their votes are crucial and unlike the baby boomers generation, are more vocal and more active proponents of change... and of course the recent waves of strong protests have further illustrated this.

it remains to be seen how it will impact us.. but as bob dylan puts it.. "times they are changing"

 

[fuzztremecho]

one of the things I foresee that will impact us is probably to issues pertaining to the relationship between M'sia and Sg. As the ruling party is denied an overwhelming majority, policies that would be tabled and debated over would probably take a longer period of time to be pass as a law. M'sian Parliament do have colorful exchanges 'tween fellow MPs

for example..

1) an increase in fuelling prices for Sg vehicles refuelling in M'sia
2) an increase in property tax for foreign home buyers
and
3) to allow Mesa-Boogie dealership to be in Sg instead of M'sia (how i wish)..hehehe

 

[alvyn]

Hmm I've been rather out of touch with politics recently due to performances and stuff, only found out about this incident this morning in the papers.

I'll comment on it from a non-academic perspective - the future of Singapore politics will NOT change much. We will definitely not see something similar happen in Singapore due to a few reasons.

Most importantly, the opposition party in Singapore has no foothold to stand on, and whatever foothold that they manage to achieve in the local political scene is quickly and overtly removed via legal methods. I'm not one to condemn the opposition party, but I'll have to say that the difference between the Singapore and Malaysian opposition is the fact that the Singapore opposition party still does things that shoot themselves in the feet.

The political culture is indeed changing worldwide, as zerosoul has said. But sadly, I doubt that this wave of political change will affect Singapore, seeing how we as Singaporeans prefer to keep our political discussions to internet forums and kopi-tiam chit chat sessions.

It's not a bad thing, this political apathy, seeing how we have limited avenues to express ourselves, and even though I can be pretty outspoken about our local political scene, I have to be a pragmatist and admit that regardless of what I feel about the government, there's little to no way of speaking out, without the fear of being labelled a deviant by both the everyday citizen, and the government as well.

I don't think there'll be an increase in petrol prices for SG cars... to draw that kind of discrimination between M'sia cars and SG cars would be tantamount to committing political suicide - can you imagine what kind of backlash they would face? As for higher taxes on foreigners who own property, that's quite possible, but again I doubt it. Opposition or mainstream, the government still has to answer to the people, and seeing how foreigners actually own a pretty significant amount of land in Malaysia (sorry guys.. no facts to back this up =/), to increase taxes suddenly with a governmental changeover would reflect rather badly on the government, and they'd incur the label of being a xenophobic government.

 

[fuzztremecho]

=alvyn

good POV
+1

agreed that the political climate 'tween M'sia and Sg are different.
One of the reasons that were being lobbied around was the "Anwar factor".

10 yrs ago, Mr Anwar was heir apparent to then PM, Tun Mahatir. We all know what happen then..now he is the common denominator for the opposition-the so called rallying factor

haha..i'm thinking what will be if any our popular bloggers (maybe mrbrown or xiaxue?) = MP, akin to Mr Jeffrey Ooi.

this election spoke volumes about the votes of the new generation-"internet savvy,globe trotting,well educated" young men and women.
We have plenty of Softies who would be voters come next election but the reality of the situation here is unless you live in an opposition ward,you would probably never get to vote.

I have never vote before.What a joke.
The reason-walkover on nomination day.

 

[subversion]

this election proves to me, among other things, the Malaysians dare to choose their leaders & not be easily put down by the intimidation of fundamental issues. they don't just embrace their forefather's brand of party preference, they evaluate & decide accordingly.

of course, the repercussion here would be that the new faces in the govt (BN or otherwise) have not proven their worth so the risk of empowering someone new to the fold is a valid concern.

we note the politicians across the causeway have been very negotiable with us thusfar despite their fiery provocations throughout the years. the religious faction who are making headway into the political scene are displaying fanaticism in their politics. imagine having more of these people in charge & s'pore having to deal with them.

 

[fuzztremecho]

the religious faction dominates the northern states.-the Malay heartlands
BN power base is our immediate neighbour - Johor.

Economically,our common interest is with Johor and Iskandariah Development Region (IDR). However, Penang is now under the controlled of DAP and DAP shared more than just common history with our ruling party


Does this augurs well between the federal government and our own ruling party?
Or do we have another economic zone being develop together with Penang?

 

[subversion]

the fact that their representations in parliament have been increased, it would be very easy for them to win vouchers. if they intrude into certain bilateral negotiations, they would have a bigger pool of supporters backing them up, regardless of the venue of their dominance. this is worrying because religion-tinged politics would stir up emotions far too easily.

 

[Phanto]

is it safe to travel into malaysia now? I've got a camp in Johor city area, and im quite worried as I heard that there is possible unrest and stuff

 

[guitarsan]

this election proves to me, among other things, the Malaysians dare to choose their leaders & not be easily put down by the intimidation of fundamental issues. they don't just embrace their forefather's brand of party preference, they evaluate & decide accordingly.

Very true. If only Singaporean are like that.....sigh. We are so affected by HDB upgrading threats, government's sweeteners/lollipops and all the doomsday messages if we vote for the oppositions. Singaporeans like to complain about the government this and that, but when it comes to election, many will chicken out and vote the status quo because of the above. A taxi driver once told me jokingly the 4 K's of Singaporeans during every election are Kiasu, Kiasee, Kay-kiang and Kia-chenghoo. Maybe he got a point.

 

[subversion]

safe bro- don't go there with a political motive

 

[subversion]

Very true. If only Singaporean are like that.....sigh.

i'm actually hinting at this- you made my day!!

 

[fuzztremecho]

agreed bro sub

valid point..can DAP and PAS work in tandem? thats the big question

 

[subversion]

i somehow have my misgivings but let's not judge what has not transpired as yet. if it's good for our neighbours, we can only applaud their moves.

 

[fuzztremecho]

subtle hinting by you Sub thumbs up

haha i know but as i mentioned earlier..we must be mindful hehehe

remember one female writer was goaded to join the fray for her analysis on the local scene..so does a blogger taken to task...

but from what I analyse, PM Abdullah did make some wrong calculations on calling for elections. the sentiments on the ground does not go well for BN currently and yet elections were called for

These are the "protest votes".

Local scene, with what had happen for the past 2 weeks, I also do believe that we can see some form of protest votes if elections are call.Lower mandate margins maybe..

 

[snuffleupagus]

Their fundamental economic policies were earmarked to be tackled and now this?I foresee critical issues being swept under the carpet over the next few months. Democracy can be pretty funny sometimes as people could be emotionally driven when it comes to voting.But anyways, that Jeff Ooi fella walks the talk and was sick of just being an arm chair critic like so many Singaporeans who whine and whine but do nothing, now lets see what happens and if he could really change what he set out to.Talk is cheap.

 

[fuzztremecho]

hmm interesting snuff..

the economic policies..ah yes the Malaysian Budget 08.You are probably right..issues will be swept under the carpet..but then there is a much stronger opposition to force certain bread and butter issues so I doubt that issues will be swept..

our local scene here is lame compare to them..the most exciting was only last week
"How did Mas S. escape? "
I believe this quote have been Sub's fav quote of the year

" I am sorry..This should never have happened"

 

[malaysian]

agreed bro sub

valid point..can DAP and PAS work in tandem? thats the big question

i'm sure they will manage to figure out a way to work together.
heck, they might already have a way to work together.

 

[fuzztremecho]

ah yes my fellow bro malaysian

hows your side?
BN or Opp ?

 

[THOA]

I would like to address a few things

... is the fact that the Singapore opposition party still does things that shoot themselves in the feet.

True to a certain extent. But it does them no justice that the ruling government has the media as a vehicle to saddle and heighten seriousness of the opposition's "footshots" while softening the blow of their own "footshot". A great and current example is the still-to-be-found Mas Selamat. Home Affairs Minister, Wong Kan Seng, came into the media spotlight for a brief period to acknowledge the mistake (as opposed to His mistake) as a way of flashing a piece of democratic idealism, but after that was ushered out to make way for a more "problem solving" approach by sharing the responsibility of looking for Mas Selamat to the public.

This mistake, as opposed to what James Gomez's mistake during the 2006 elections (read: Singaporean general election, 2006 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) was focused less by the media. Ironic how Wong Kan Seng was one of the more vocal critics on this matter. Where is his voice now?

The introduction of the rise in GST in the mids of an already rising inflation does not help either. The recent budget talks may help to pacify the situation in the short term (Singaporeans getting Hong Baos again... Yay...), but I am personally concern the implications of cost of living over the long term. It is fortunate that unemployment is at a record low, and that the Singapore economy is still strong despite the US recession. (STI well above 2,800 points, compared to just above 2,500 exactly 2 years ago. Heck, before the US recession, it was even above 3,000!)

But sadly, I doubt that this wave of political change will affect Singapore, seeing how we as Singaporeans prefer to keep our political discussions to internet forums and kopi-tiam chit chat sessions.

Again, true to a certain extend. But such discussions, although seemingly insignificant on surface level, can be enough to affect mindsets and ultimately decisions on who to vote for in the polls. We see it already happening in the last election; the percentage gap of votes between the ruling and the opposition has narrowed (PAP garrnering just above 66% - Parliamentary General Elections 2006):

"In the end, the political status quo was kept but PAP saw a reduced margin."

Although it is not enough to cause a significant change in the system as compared to what is happening in Malaysia, it is significant enough to cause concern among the ruling party. It is also significant enough to show that there IS less apathy and more desire for change.

Just some thoughts...