GE2011 Part 5

I am a simple Singaporean. My income is considered above the median income of working Singaporeans, and that excludes the possible bonuses that I will possibly receive. But my journey to this is not so easy. I can't be considered poor but I have been through the lowest points that other people of my age and stages would have to go through. What are they?

I was privileged enough to get a decent education, but that did not come easy. I remembered my mum told me that she had to appeal for me to enter the primary school which she tried to enroll me into. After my PSLE, my family had to appeal for me to enter the secondary school I had wanted to go to. After my GCE O'Level, I had to appeal to go to the junior college that I wanted, but this time I failed. My first three months were spent there, it was one of the top JCs in Singapore and I got 'relegated' to a JC which wasn't even ranked yet at that time. The only time when I didn't have to appeal for my education was my university education, which I managed to secure a place without much struggle. So my education didn't come easy.

In terms of wealth, it didn't come easy too. After some incident during primary school, my family experienced a financial crunch and I believe that meant that I wasn't really the most privileged among the kids around. My dad tried to get me handphones when I was secondary four, back when handphones were not that popular yet, but that's pretty much the only toy I was able to enjoy. I got my first PC after secondary two, and even then, it wasn't really good. NS days were better but money didn't come easy and NS allowance wasn't that much then. I continued to live by with minimal cash. Throughout university days, I tried not to get allowance from my parents, and I survived on basically around $300 per month. Not much for a university student, on top of that, with ministry commitments. I dun get to buy iphones, or the most popular phones in town. In fact, most of time, I use lousy cheap phones. There were times when I was poor enough to start counting the cash in my wallet and to take a bus ride is a financial decision that seem trivial today.

What I want to say here is this: I was a sandwiched class once. I am a privileged middle class today. During my days when I had to fend for my own education and finances, no opposition party appeared to even ask me how they could have assisted me. I was fortunate enough to have family and relatives who were willing to support me. That is why I always question myself, 'do the opposition really care?' Do they care about me and my livelihood? Do I not know what is like to be poor? Then why ain't I complaining about the PAP?

It is not as if the PAP has been perfect. Some complains include transport problem... transport problem... erm... only transport problem. Yet I remember moving into Bukit Panjang even before I entered pre-school and at that time, there wasn't any GP in the area. There was nowhere to shop around the area and the only redeeming point was 190 which used to end at Bukit Panjang, but then the transport was quite lousy then. Today, we have Bukit Panjang plaza, I see 4 GP clinics just a few steps away from my place, there is LRT, buses now almost go anywhere, and upcoming are two MRT stations. And all these years, until 5 years ago, I have never seen a single opposition on the ground advocating for the residents, till Bukit Panjang became a SMC. My question here, is Bukit Panjang just a political pawn for the opposition?

I am an old fashioned youngster and value the time people make to ensure face to face interaction. Therefore house to house visits are not old fashioned or outdated for me, though most of the time I am the one doing house visits. At least for my precinct, I can personally vouch for the fact that the PAP MP does make his rounds around the blocks on a regular basis. So one has absolutely no case against him that he doesn't appear after getting elected. Again, my question here, till 5 years ago, I have never seen any opposition coming to my house to ask me what I need. I finally see one coming knocking at my door just before the election. Other times, they were out there like mad dogs screaming about the wet market incident, which now they can't bring out as an issue because it wasn't an issue in the first place. So why should I care about the opposition?

My support for PAP at the end of the day is not without grounds. These are local concerns, but local concerns are precisely those things which make or break a MP, cos the residents can immediately see your efforts.

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