8 May 2011:
Much ado about voting.
Yesterday from 8am to 8pm, people all over Singapore flocked to polling centres to cast their vote. This election has been the most firecely contested since 1963.In the morning, the authoritarian called his brother about whether or not my grandma needed to vote. He was afraid that she would be fined if she did not. The authoritarian did not know that under the rule, people who did not vote would have their names struck of the Electoral List, and their eligibility to vote for future elections will be forfeited.
Once he knew that, he phoned my grandfather, and successfully persuaded him not to vote as well. It would save trouble for the authoritarian.
I reasoned that since my grandfather was so old, shouldn't he be voting, since it was a memorable thing to do? Then came the reply, "He is already so old, why should he still vote? What else can the MP help him in?"
So ... People are voting because of personal benefit? No doubt, you vote for the candidate whom you believe is able to help your constituency the most. But, ain't this thinking a little materialistic, and non-patriotic?
There are people that want to vote, want to have change, yet they cannot. And there are people who treat voting as a chore once every four years. There are people who rather they not be involved - "voting? leave me out" - and shy away from it.
Yet these people are concerned about local happenings. Irony much? Isn't voting a way to be concerned as well?