9th Edition: THE SITE FUCKING CRASHED LMAO edition.
A lot of images and posts of the last general got broken. So I think it's better to make a new one.
Discuss anything on Southeast Asian politics. Coming 2024 Elections, open orgs, People that should be dead for different reasons running in Malaysia's elections or just random shit. There are still dozens of us… hopefully! Starting off this general with massive wave of cult sex camps.
Matrix room:
https://matrix.to/#/#!YeYeuZuLSYkegWssey:matrix.orgLast threads:
https://archive.ph/5rqoxhttps://archive.is/Jlc7Ahttp://archive.is/0NhJHhttp://archive.is/nDq1Khttps://archive.vn/cxwtyhttps://archive.is/ayshzhttps://archive.is/2NLO8https://archive.is/3f5Rf>>2239643For real though this might open a 4 front war and fully fucked south asia
Like the Indians will back hashina returning to bangladesh in a special military operation + backing the taliban and baloch nationalists. Pakistan might approach the turks for help while egging on china.
>>2239676fuck. sake.
What side will UK gonna take?
>>2239729whatever side daddy america takes.
but if kier takes a neutral or pro pakistan side that pretty much guarantees the hindu population of the uk becoming permanent tories
>>2239790Thanks i'll give it a read.
IDK about civil war but i 100% think there will be inter-community violence.
Can someone make a thread?
==Indian military action could be possible: Pakistani security source=
With the increased bluster from Indian government officials, Pakistani security officials believe that Indian military action could now be possible, but say the country is “ready for any Indian misadventure”.
“We are maintaining a high level of alertness and vigilance, but unlike India, we don’t want to create any unnecessary hype by talking about our readiness,” a security source told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, as he has not been authorised to speak on the matter.
“India is wrong if it thinks there isn’t going to be any tit for tat. However, we are both nuclear-armed countries, and Indian aggression could lead to an irresponsible situation. Both of us should act carefully,” he added.
The official further questioned India’s allegation of Pakistani involvement, noting the attack took place nearly 200km (125 miles) from the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries, and highlighting the presence of more than 500,000 Indian security personnel in the Kashmir Valley.
India urges its citizens in Pakistan to return home
India asked its citizens visiting Pakistan to return home “at the earliest,” a day after it unilaterally suspended a bilateral water-sharing pact, the Indus Waters Treaty, with its western neighbour.
It also asked Indian nationals to avoid travelling to Pakistan, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
The ministry announced the suspension of visa services to Pakistani citizens. Earlier, it had suspended visas to Pakistani citizens under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation framework.
Pakistan has retaliated with its own measures, including suspending all trade and closing land routes as well as its airspace.
Day 4 morning of the Singapore election and it is pretty wild so far. Day 1 dropped a bombshell on the political campaign.
PSP did not contest as many areas as before, while RDU fills up the gap. Both are rather left wing in their economic policy , with RDU even proposing an UBI for Singapore. A siaolang party, PPP has also contested many seats in PAP strongholds. All other parties did their nomination of candidates without much fanfare. However, the biggest opposition party
and my party, WP has made one of the coldest and most high stakes gamble since 2011.
Marine Parade, one of the GRCs (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_representation_constituency) district that they ran in 2020 and been campaigning ever since, had been redrawn to hollow out WP strong areas for MacPherson, a PAP stronghold. Most parties announced their candidate line up days before the election. WP did so too for areas they already controlled, Hougang, Aljunied and Sengkang. Notably WP did not mentioned their line up in the other battleground GRCs they are in, East Coast, Tampines, Marine Parade, Punggol and also two other SMCs. Everyone, even within WP membership, was wondering who was going to these 4 GRCs.
On Nomination Day, WP made the very very (literally down to last hour) minute to completely abandon Marine Parade, sending their Marine Parade candidates and membership directly to Punggol instead. Effectively 140k people in Singapore cannot vote, a walkover since 2011. This has attracted mockery and frustration from PAP and two minor parties contesting in Tampines. The former had to send a deputy prime minister to buff up the PAP line up in Punggol at the very last minute, while the latter was upset a much bigger opposition has come from its turf to their turf without informing them. WP also sent two candidates to two SMCs but that's a story for another time.
But why the move? All three GRCs has a regional advantage for WP to exploit.
>Punggol: Next to Sengkang, a recently held WP area. Both have similar demographics of young families who are less likely to vote PAP. WP has also won some area in Punggol as a SMC so it still has a presence there. WP sent their rising star player and young married MPs there to contest>Tampines: Highest concentration of Malay (33%) in Singapore. Malays are mad at the Malay PAP MP in the area for being terrible on Malay issues. Before WP came over, PAP has 66% of the votes too. To that end, WP sent their well known Malay MP form their stronghold over to Tampines, effectively solidifying (or at least trying to) the Malay vote. WP has also been low key campaigning here for years, so their presence is more well known.>East Coast: The most pro WP area from Marine Parade was given to East Coast, which WP already had 47% last election. Among all three, WP has the most ground game here, with membership doing campaigning in this area since the last election. In fact the only other area that they have done campaigning in for this long and this hard is in Marine Parade. To that end WP sent the weakest candidate line up here.The move was cold but efficient. WP's leadership made a statement that they didn't feel like they could win Marine Parade with the changes, nor do they have the resources and personnel (in terms of members not candidates) to indulge in a losing campaign. They however made a promise to return to campaigning in Marine Parade after the election. So many people were annoyed, even within the party. But alas this is politics and sometimes there are casualties.
I do not know the outcome of this play, but I do know that WP is playing to win above all else. If it flips only no GRC, its reputation is deeply blemished. If it flips one, not much has changed. If it flips two, it will be hailed and lauded just like in 2011. If it flips all three, WP is a government in waiting.
Day 2 has its own surprises as well. Major parties had their own rallies in certain designated areas. I will mostly talk about WP rally since it was by far the most popular in terms of people attending and livestream viewers with WP's viewship was at more 12 times the second largest viewed rally and also I was there myself lol
PSP, the major party in the west, and SDP had their speakers harp on the transgressions of PAP government these past few years. PSP's leader lamented that PAP lost its way after all these years and how PSP is try to fix PAP mistakes. Fittingly for a man who was a PAP MP for decades. SDP also mentioned their campaign to reduce GST and reform to the CPF structure. PPP whines about PAP and WP, especially the latter for abandoning Marine Parade and putting Tampines in a 4 way fight. Their leader even saying "Don't ask me about Pritam Singh (WP leader) again. I am not interested in him I am not gay." This man was stepped over for a major position in WP and has had a 20 year crashout from it. PAP mocked SDP's electoral moves and harped on staying together in troubling times.
Most other parties chose stadiums in secondary schools to do their rallies, but WP made an interesting choice to do so in a open field at Sengkang, the GRC that they won in 2020. The field is also adjacent to Punggol too, a strategic choice to get Punggol voters to come over and witness the rally. WP has had a reputation of holding massive rallies, but also its inability to transfer these massive rallies to votes. This is because the people who do come usually don't live in WP contested areas, or who are just noisy PAP voters. WP in 2015 infamously held massive rallies but still almost lost Aljunied. 2020 there were no rallies yet they still flipped Sengkang.
Still their reputation for having an electrifying rally is maintained. The field was muddy but the rally stage was built up in time. Every WP candidates came to the rally and sat on the stage. They talked about all kinds of issues, similar to the PSP and SDP, harping on PAP's mistakes and rallying their base for a more diverse views in parliament and within the party.
But what is interesting are the minor issues they harped on. First one was voter secrecy, because they want to assure voters that voting is secret hence they have nothing to fear voting for them. Indeed many speakers talked about rejecting their fears and encouraged others to do so. This is to combat the PAP's narrative of fear in a world of tariffs and global recession. The youngest candidates even quoted a line from Game of Thrones "Can a man be afraid if he is brave? That is the only time he can be brave!". I cringed but the crowd loved that shit.
Another minor issue was reforms to the education like reducing class sizes and stress from tests. But how they did it was interesting. Many of the candidates have kids or going to have kids, and use them as rhetorical devices to talk about the manifesto policies WP has made. Indeed a common theme among the speeches is to have hope. Hope for a better Singapore and a better future.
Perhaps one of the personally shell-shocking moment was when a Malay female spoke about Palestine. It was in our manifesto too, but has been kept low key since the manifesto was published. This might solidify the Malay and Catholic vote at the expense of the Christians. Already people are calling WP the Woke Party. We will see the ramifications of this soon enough.
Finally, a Malay man spoke about transport, incorporating the recent train breakdowns and many statistics in this speech. He was not a great orator and it was by far the most boring speech. But alas what he was talking about is perhaps the most important topic of the night. WP has pledged to establish a National Transport Corpoation, effectively nationalising all of transport services in Singapore. As he harp on how the profit motive is killing the effectiveness of the transport services, a leftist standing beside me told me he should talk about CEO's pay to incite the base. I insisted on talking about the profit motive, even saying that to talk of CEO pay is center left politics, and the profit motive is left wing politics.
The rest is standard showmanship. The one running against the National Trade Union Congress chief in a SMC made indirect attacks on his character. Many people didnt know who he was but his speech has rocked the political scene and has made him a considerable threat in the SMC.
Finally, our leader was such a drama king. Showed up late mid-rally (thought it was preplanned but turnt out to be traffic problems). Mocked PAP candidates in Houagang and Adjuined, and also the massive freebees they have given in these areas to win (LABUBU!). He ended off by asking the rally attendees to look the left and right and to take care of one another safety while exiting the rally stage.
A captivating rally that does own up to the reputation given by older folks who has had seen them before 2015. I only hope this and with livestreams they can reach the targeted audience and get people in the battleground GRC to vote for them.
>>2242186My family was theorizing that the PAP deliberately called an election as quickly as they could to make sure the opposition would have as little time as possible to prepare. That and due to long Labour Day weekend, a substantial number of citizens would probably be abroad. Also unfortunately, the Labour Day rally is scheduled for 25 May instead
>This might solidify the Malay and Catholic vote at the expense of the Christians.The Gaza issue is very much a coinflip, some care a lot and some just don't, unless it gets pushed to the forefront I don't think it will turn a lot of people round.
Day 3 of the election is the day for party broadcast.
Parties now are already doing outreach. Basically going around hawker centres and train stations to hand out a calling card of their faces and names. WP also hands out an A4 size paper dictating the tldr of our manifesto pledges, while also having a QR code to access the full manifesto.
Like their symbol, PAP comes and goes quickly while making a loud noise. Camera crews even with a videographer and someone carrying a boom stick follows the PAP MPs as they canvass the voters going about their lives. PAP even gives out brochures and freebies like sweatbands, ice cream.
Day 3 was also a time for everyone to fire back at what was said during the rallies. PAP leaders mocking SDP and WP electoral moves, while SDP counters by calling said MP a hypocrite for abandoning Aljunied when he lost there. WP leader also defended his decision to enter Tampines against the PPP leader. They probably knew each other personally since the latter is an ex-colleague of the former before the 20 year crash out. Nothing major to report.
The only other important thing to note is the party broadcast. Each party was asked to make a message for public, with the time given to them is in proportional to their seats contested. The minor parties harp on the usual topics. Rising living costs, stagnating wages, rising inflation. Indeed in terms of economic issues, almost all the opposition parties are mostly in sync with welfare state policies. It varies on exactly how they go about doing it. RDU does use this time to preach left wing populism, claiming that they are against the 'billionaire class' for 'those that are left well'. Ironic that RDU leader mocked the constant rebate vouchers given by PAP but is also pushing UBI, which is like an universal rebate voucher anyway. Nonetheless, RDU does come across as more sane and inspiring than most of the minor party, including PSP, whose leader meanders about the global crisis and how PSP would do to tackle the issue
By sharp contrast, WP's leader didn't mentioned much of his economic policies nor was he as sarcastic as his rallies. Instead, he was somberly talking about how WP wants to build a functioning democracy, and how WP has governed its GRCs well. He also mentioned his party's parliamentary record, his members being more active in parliament than most PAP members and even the two PSP members. He even mentioned that the WP is not a contrarian when it comes to voting PAP's bills, usually voting along sensible bills and debating on different. This attitude is what originally causes many to criticize WP as too moderate and accommodating to PAP, hence the infamous PAP-lite moniker. He brings it back to accountability and diversity in Parliament. Perhaps to assure swing voters that not much will change if WP captures their area, and how WP is a sane opposition party that will act wisely instead of opposing for the sake of opposing, a statement that many in the opposition do feel. We will see if this moves the needle for some, but the base isn't exactly impressed and galvanized by this party broadcast.
Unfortunately, PAP has the longest time and the last word. And oh boy is the broadcast terrible. The prime minister creates doom and gloom narrative of the world, with tariffs overheard and the potential rise of multipolarity. "A storm is coming for us." Repeating "Uncertainty." "Existential threat." My friends were so off putted by his constant doom and gloom and they were already tuned out by his bland and uninspiring speech. And yet he ends off with his constant vouchers and rebates. PAP is becoming a caricature of its oppositions. Reducing economic policies to vouchers vouchers vouchers while constantly putting Singapore into a siege mentality. Idk if many voters will start to drown out this constant negative vibes and/or aura the prime minister gives, but we will see.
>>2244045Yea they always do that. It is frankly embarrassing to do that and turn around claiming everything is fair.
>Labour Day rally is scheduled for 25 May insteadYea that is kinda bullshit but oh well.
>The Gaza issue is very much a coin-flip, some care a lot and some just don't, unless it gets pushed to the forefront I don't think it will turn a lot of people round.Already social media platforms are criticizing WP. Also one thing to note is that the churches do message or lobby their flock to vote for PAP, infamously doing so in the cooling off period. The christian zionists could use their network to do so since WP takes a hard stance against Israel.
Day 4 of the campaign and we are about halfway done. The electoral campaign is until May 1st, where there is a cooling off day and then an election. Already controversies are arising. A Muslim preacher in Malaysia endorses WP for supposedly meeting WP malay leaders to talk about various malay issues and Gaza. The Muslim preacher makes it seem like there was a deal made with WP malay leaders on certain matters. A minor scandal online happened for a day or two.
In that time, the PAP prime minister publicly rejected identity politics, claiming it is needlessly divisive in our multiracial country. A shadow jab at WP leader, especially since the recently disgraced and ousted Muslim MP was infamous for preaching identity politics and using it to fight for malay issue. The WP leader makes a point to reject the Muslim preacher's endorsement, clarifying that the Malay MPs did meet with various malay community leaders, of which the preacher decided to enter to talk about his pet issues. No agreement was or can be formed with this outsider. WP maintained that it is independent of foreign influence and of religions being used as identity politics. A bold move for a party that has its MP candidates play up their ethnic background and language speaking during rallies.
It is also another round of rallies. Not much happen other than one of the SDP's candidates accidentally saying racist slur against of her own party members. She didn't think it was a slur but alas the damage is done. Minorities were outraged over what has happened. I will speak about it later. PAP has its ex-MPs and ministers whine about how the world is going to a dark place and how they must have a strong mandate, as if WP or PSP could topple their government. So bleak and deary, idk why anyone wants to hear it. WP candidates was even mocked as strangers to Punggol.
For WP's rally, it was rather muted. Held in the Tampines GRC, much much more people showed up in the junior college where it is held than the PPP, one of the smaller party running in the 4-way Tampines GRC. Perhaps it would show that it is only a 2-way fight in Tampines? Regardless, the Tampines and East Coast candidates gave their speeches and pivot their personal issues to their manifesto pledges. What was interesting was that some of them loved to raise their fist for a while after their speech, while some just bowed and waved. Perhaps a sign of who is the left wing and right wing of the party? One of the best speakers that night was the one running in the Changkat SMC, a really really small area of Tampines craved out as part of a gerrymandering plot to dilute Opposition. He mocked this gerrymandering, alluding it to North/South Korea and West/East Germany. Instead he pledged to make a Tampines plan, to vote WP in both GRC and SMC "under one roof". A cheeky reference to a sitcom long ago. His references in his speech even stretched to Star Wars (May the Fourth be with you) and 三国演义. His humour and Singlish really sells his personality. Even when the emcee gave him timing slips, he made quips about it and carried on. Definitely one of the sleeper candidate to watch.
As always, WP leader was late to the rally but still dominated the stage when it is his turn. He mocked the PAP manifesto, a shocking short and vague document. I originally thought it was TL:DR verison of the manifesto, only to find it is the actual document! The WP leader viciously attacked the manifesto, calling it a blank check. He also mocked the PAP members in NTUC (both in WP contested SMCs), using them to assure the public that even if they are voted out, they still has job security in serving the people in NTUC. He asked voters to keep them focused on NTUC. He really loves to mock the PAP candidates, especially those contesting in WP areas. He even attacked the NTUC-Allianz deal, mocking the NTUC PAP MPs for being impotent on the issue. They refused to debate on the deal or even defended its actions. Eventually the deal was scrapped. He says PAP-NTUC is a twisted symbiotic relationship where the latter is controlled by the former, while WP has a symbiotic relationship with Singaporeans. He also ended his speech with the stuff he said earlier about his party independence from foreign actors.
Will this move the needle? I do not know but we will see.
Day 5 of the campaign was disappointing in flair and events. PAP tried their best to defend themselves from the NTUC-Allianz deal, even attacking the WP from abstaining on the emergency bill that was proposed to stop the deal. WP of course shoots back, claiming that Parliament didn't need new legislation anyway and could rely on preexisting laws and powers.
Tonight there was also a Roundtable discussion that welcomed the top 6 parties (PAR, PSP, SDP, WP, RDU, PAP). SDP refused to show up while WP and PSP sent their younger and more eloquent members. What a nothingburger the Roundtable discussion. It was not a debate or even a conversation between parties, but a questionaire where everyone gave their speech on specific issues. PSP and WP representatives were smart to tie their answers to manifesto pledges. PAR's leader tried to make long tirades against the PAP but was cut off. RDU did well to make passive aggressive remarks to the PAP. Unfortunately PAP gets the final say with much more time than all parties. In fact everyone could the PAP representative was reading off an Ipad. This could have been an email! vibes off of this discussion. PAP representative did not say anything new, but focus their attacks on WP for their manifesto policy. Nevertheless, many people loved the PSP and WP representative. The time on TV could increase their profile by a lot.
This unfair format is probably a reaction to the 2020 debate where PSP,WP,SDP and PAP sent their representative to debate on TV. WP sent Jamus, a handsome economist to debate with guailang PAP minister Viven (he is a male Indian). Much was said during and about the debate, but one thing that struck with me was when Jamus sidestepped accusations from Viven that WP was PAP-lite. He talked about not giving PAP a blank check and there will always be trade offs between capital and labour, with PAP choosing the former and WP the latter. This line is what solidified my view that WP isn't a moderate centrist party, but an acutal succdem party. And its manifesto about nationalizing transport, hawker centres and coffeeshops is pretty impressive for a succdem party. It has even pushed for JTC corporation (Singapore government's organization) to buy or acquire more commercial and industrial land in order to keep rents low. No doubt these policies were only possible with someone like Jamus in the party. As a sidenote, too many people who complain about WP being too moderate and bland ought to read its manifesto. In fact a WP volunteer recalled receiving some chafing from certain voters for being too left wing. WP is moving the Overton Window in Singapore with their bold moves.
Anyway, Jamus became an overnight sensation with Sengkang eventually becoming a sleeper hit in the 2020 election, flipping over to WP. Micheal, who is WP's representative for this cycle could have had a similar effect that night. But the format didn't allow for such verbal jousting. Nevertheless, more face time on TV with his handsome face speaking clearly on the manifesto positions could still carry Micheal and his Tampines team forward.
I hope everyone is frustrated with PAP's heavy handed approach in the election and changes to the GRCS and now the debate format to vote otherwise out of spite. This and the economy should turn the needle elsewhere. 2015 and its pessimism still looms over all of us in believing that change is unlikely. I hope 2025 brings a new era in politics.
Day 7 of the campaign is where another round of rallies are made. This time WP goes to Punggol to do their rally, in the exact same area as PAP a few days ago. You may start to notice that my posts are becoming shorter and shorter. That is because I am recalling from memory. And also because the next few jabs between PAP and the Opposition are more or the less on the same issues.
PAP usually gripes about 3 main points
>Opposition does nothing coz they only know how to criticize
>Opposition winning more seats would mean PAP and therefore Singapore would be weaken in negotiation
>Opposition eliminating potential ministers (that were parachuted in of course) would mean a severely weakened cabinet
And as always, opposition parties would respond with
>Opposition can only do something when it wins seats and get into committees
>PAP is more or less going to have 51% of the seats in Parliament anyway so Opposition should be voted in to give them a majority
>PAP cannot whine about losing ministers if they move them to hotly contested seats in the first place
That and the PAP's narrative about tariffs and fear of a new world order vs the Opposition's narrative about hope for a better Singapore in the face of a bad economy. The rally speeches for WP is more or less the same. Talk about their lived experiences, pivot to a particular manifesto policy, tell people to vote not out of fear but out of hope. And that Workers Party is a loyal, rational and credible opposition.
When I say Punggol has star power, it is clear in their speeches. They made grand speeches that night, attacking their direct opponents in the area and rebutting the snide comments they have made. They mocked and depict them as out of touch. The WP leader would later touch on that too. Nothing too unusual.
What is unique is the WP's chairperson (basically the 2nd in command), who leaned into her old age last time, leaned into her femininity. She was WP's chairperson for decades, and usually one of the few women running for the party. This time 5 additional women are running with her and she took today to highlight that. A bit idpolish but I guess it is needed. She makes a particular point that this might be the only time Punggol can vote for WP. It is a fresh made GRC, whose parts has been divided up into other areas before. a poignant point of the constant and drastic gerrymandering in Singapore.
But would that be enough for Punggol voters to vote WP? I have heard that many young people want to vote WP but are unable to convince their parents to do so. I can only hope the pure star power, that many inside and outside of the party believe to be the key in winning elections, can carry us here.
Day 8 of the election and there are scandals abound. A WP members contesting against the NTUC chief, has his chat leaked where he constantly berated many aspects of Singapore and whatever he found unhappy. While of coz he said nothing racist or sexist, people seem to be offended, or think others will be that he was so vulgar and crass. A sign of how mindlessly conservative Singaporeans can be. What is worse is that many in PAP spoke out against wokism, yet they indulge in their own brand of purity politics and cancel culture. Bad press for the next few days, but nothing has changed on the ground in terms of sentiments.
This day, WP has its rally in East Coast. A decades long battleground GRC that was always out of reach from WP. Last election, it sent its biggest star into the area, Nicole Seah. A pretty firebrand speaker of her time, she hopped around parties before coming to WP. She was basically our AOC. Alas, the heir apparent of the PAP's prime minister was parachuted into this area at the last moment, giving her an uphill battle. Still she managed to pull the GRC to a 53-47 result, the third closet result of the whole Opposition contesting areas (not including Hougang and Aljuined). The PAP heir apparent was disgraced by the result of the election as a whole and basically retired from politics, leading to the current guy to take over.
A few years ago, she was caught on video having an affair with another WP MP. This forced them both to resign from politics. A huge shame and a massive waste of momentum. Her disappearance and PAP's heir apparent minister makes this area a rather bland and boring fight.
Everyone this side of the ECP already knows who is WP and what it stands for. EC is the non WP-area that has constant house/market/hawker visits for 10 years. The only area that can compare to EC is Marine Parade. This and the addition of Joo Chiat, already an infamous WP stronghold, and Chai Chee to EC does make this area easily contestable. Unfortunately, the line up this year is not particularly eye catching, so much so that most people even forget it exist (last pic attached doesnt have EC in the meme). And they need this rally to really catch eyeballs.
And it was a rough start, already a lighting alert delayed the rally by half an hour. It was very close to being cancelled, potentially causing a riot outside. This meant that some speakers couldn't speak tonight to save time. Still the stadium was as always filled to the brim.
East Coast speakers that night did have some nice speeches. One uses the imagery of blue skies to come to EC. Even those who are not contesting EC talk about EC as an old home. Perhaps the most polarising is Nathaniel Koh. Someone who is like the anti-orator, speaking in a calm and monotone style. Yet he speaks of his struggles and the struggles of others. Many dislike his bland speechmaking, but many like his earnest and sincere approach. Finally, the star of EC, the steward of Joo Chiat, JJ spoke. An old man who spoke until he started coughing, making Nathaniel Koh come up to him to offer him some water. He mocked the gerrymandering his home of Joo Chiat being moved around to dilute its votes. He attacked his PAP counterparts for his foolish comments.
Finally it was the WP leader's turn. He attacked the partisanship of PA, Sparkletots and RC. These institutions were dominated by PAP and used to act as electoral machinery for PAP. The people are infamously insufferable and partisan. It is also a way for people trying to get benefits for their children or citizenship for themselves. When WP wins an area, they are still denied these resources to serve their residents' municipal needs. He also appealed to the youth, telling them that WP has faith in them in whatever they do. He has also appealed to new citizens, saying that a pink IC makes you one of us. The former is a solid source of opposition, while the latter is infamously and stereotypical a source of PAP votes. Indeed many natives have accused PAP of selling pink ICs for votes, breeding a sense of doomerism and nihilism in singapore politics. The narrative of the Great Replacement Theory is very much alive here, for native Chinese and Indians hostile to the mainlanders. It does not help that the new citizens themselves proudly say that they vote for PAP precisely because it gave them their citizenship.
I fear xenophobia rising in Singapore, whose citizens are already outnumbered by foreigners in this country. Only 2.8 million out of 5.8 million on this island are able to vote. Already PSP and SDP are embracing anti-immigrant rhetoric, with WP adopting more moderate positions. Things could get worse and worse for new citizens if they persist in this quid pro quo style of voting. Blue skies ahead for Singapore or stormy thunder? The EC GRC is a battleground for these competing visions for Singapore. No star power, no online or media appearances, just pure ground game and legacy voting.
I apologise but I must blend Day 9 and 10 together. The polling ends in a few hours and the sample polls will come up soon. Suffice to say, nothing major happened in the last 48 hours. An Instagram story of a MOE teacher berating the NTUC chief for his rude comments when he was Minister of Education went viral on social media. But so far nobody IRL commented on it to make it particularly significant. The WP Punggol team made a stance against the overt objectification of one of their candidates.
PAP have had their loyal dog, the NTUC to hold a MayDay rally on Labour Day. Later that evening, PAP brought out all the big guns to hold rallies in all three battleground GRCs for WP. They have effectively abandoned the west and north of Singapore to focus on the east. They are desperate and scared of losing, aiming for a Hail Mary. Will that be enough? I will find out hours from posting this.
WP made their final rally in their home stuff. Hougang and Aljunied. I have never noticed before, but Hougang still looms over WP in terms of producing volunteers and candidates from that area. Many candidates spoke their experiences working in Hougang. They have even made a youtube documentary of Hougang, where the previous leader of WP went to appeal the Chinese educated residents and temples to capture the SMC. He would later tighten his grip on Hougang, visiting residents on regular house visits. He even visited every wake in the area, something that is more or less practiced by all WP MPs in their own respective areas. This entrenched the area to WP, a home fortress to retreat to. Earlier I mentioned an insane gamble made in 2011. The previous WP leader was literally goaded to move out of Hougang to contest Aljunied himself. He handpicked a team, which included the now WP chairperson and leader to contest Aljunied with him, leaving a protege to hold the fort in Hougang. He won both and the two has never slipped WP's fingers since. He retired after 2015, and since kept a low profile. His health is declining too and he feels out of touch of the youth. This is why he gave leadership to someone completely different from him, an indian major who turned into a lawyer. He does do campaigning during the past few days, but doesn't want to talk to the press. Many have asked him to make a rally speech which he is famous for, but it is clear this is a new WP and any sign of interference would make them look weak.
The attendance was of course full af, and the viewerships remains ever high. The same themes and topics were retreaded, so I won't dwell too much on that. WP leader kept his attacks on PAP manifesto and leadership, while claiming that WP is a force for good worthy of more seats in Parliament. As a grand finale, he invited the old leader up on stage for their traditional pledge recital. Interestingly, he asked a new candidate to recite the pledge, while he stood beside the old leader to take the pledge. A sign that he is passing on the torch soon? Time will tell.
All in all, WP made a great campaign with few missteps, an excellent manifesto that is worthy of taking over the government with. Its politics of hope and change shine every brighter than PAP's doom and gloom. Its emphasis on check and balances and policies to combat the cost of living shows it is a proper succdem party with potential of becoming more socialist. I remain optimistic of WP but ever pessmistic and disgusted by the people it is trying to represent and serve. Many leftists make the mistake of thinking if they have just the right rhetoric and policy suggestions, they would win votes. But Singapore's politics has shown time and time again to not be the case, that is all boils down to electoral machinery to try to appeal to the reptilian mindset of the apathetic voters. I dread being disappointed but not surprised at the results that is coming out soon. For better or for worse, Singaporeans will get the government it deserves.
Well the results are out and it was indeed gloomy skies but alas my point about being disappointed but never surprised about Singapore still stands. An absolute garbage showing for Opposition. It seems that the fear mongering of the election really did work and Singaporeans gave into the politics of fear. A national swing to PAP despite rising living costs and housing prices. WP did made some gains, but it was muted with the gerrymandering and parachuting of ministers. Maybe even the new citizens? Regardless it was no 2015 and WP did well considering the opposition parties. It seemed like Singapore wants more of the same problems and same bullshit. Vouchers, fear and gerrymandering. What a nation of cowards. The fact that the NTUC chief got in is an indictment to the population.
I cannot in good conscience be pleased with the result. My contempt and disdain for the Singaporean population has only solidified. Whatever terrible thing the government did for the past few years and what they will do now is on their hands. The last time after 2015, they increased GST and had the White Paper about population. I dread to think what is to come soon. Already so many online are coming out of the woodwork to say that actually PAP is handling things well. Yet HDBs is being sold a million in Sengkang, fertility rate drops to all time low of 0.97, and inequality rises. WP appealed to people's better angels and their economic woes, but they gave into fear and uncertainty. 66% voted for what is to come.
>>2252462Yea, PSP did real bad this time. Not really sure why but their ground game is pretty bad as well. I guess their performance in parliament isn't as good as WP. At least the mosquito parties will recede into the background and more talk time will be given to WP.
>>2252804>What a nation of cowards. The fact that the NTUC chief got in is an indictment to the population.Eh, this happens all the time in other places. The majority will not want to move until the situation has really gone FUBAR and drastic change is needed. It's a classic case of the frog being slowly boiled and not moving until its too late. Even when the bad circumstance could have been averted if more had been done before, people just won't care until shit is really bad.
I always think of the circumstances that kicked off the Russian and Chinese civil wars, no hope, no food, mired in brutal conflicts that had devastated the land. A lot of times people need to be forced by really bad times to change, maybe there just is no real alternative.
>>2253048Yea in a way WP is a real succdem party in a sense that it is actually advocating for policies that is designed precisely to avoid revolution. Failure to meet inroads in parliament is accelerating the conditions of revolution. What I fear is that socialism will not take root but naked nativist extremism not unlike Trump and Reform Party.
>Eh, this happens all the time in other places.Not to such an extent like in Singapore.
Laos got attacked by hmong terrorists 2 soldiers died.
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/news-asia/laos-outpost-attack/>The first attack on the Lao base happened on May 3rd. Reports say the attackers split into several small groups, using a plan to draw in reinforcements before launching a stronger assault. This led to at least two Lao soldiers being killed. Lao forces captured three suspects during the fighting.Currently it seems that the attackers have fled across thailand again
>As of midday on May 5th, Lao forces still haven’t regained complete control of the area. They have avoided using heavy weapons for fear that stray shells could land on the Thai side of the border. In a previous clash, a 7.26mm bullet hit the roof of a house in Thailand, leading Thai authorities to warn Bokeo officials.Seems very sus and probably thai funded
>The three people detained told officials they belonged to an ethnic group with a long history of conflict against the government in Laos. The reason for the attack on the Lao base remains unclear, but it’s suspected to be linked to either the local drug trade or ongoing ethnic tensions.Definitely hmong nationalists and vang pao remnants
>>2252804>The fact that the NTUC chief got in is an indictment to the population.The fucking NTUC chief is in some kind of scandal now and some PAP voters are trying to wash their hands of voting for a party who put him in in the first place. Such bullshit man.
>>2261933That is like some Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere type of imperialism all over again…
>>2266495IIRC they also already have a higher density of cooperatives in comparison to China so this isn't as unbelievable as it might first seem.
Also they will be / are buoyed by their proximity to the nodes outside of historical US uniploar world dominance, in addition to directly bordering two people's republics.
What NON-armed\military campaigns, actions, militancy, and activity, do (otherwise armed) Maoist groups perform? india, nepal, philippines, i think turkey even(?)? Do they "organize" peasantry? try to do charity, volunteer work, triangulate food and medical aid, etc? Do they fight CELIBATE religious priests (in India- brahmins, for example) or nepalese buddhist-monks?
How bad is life as a landless rural laborer really , In Nepal, Turkey, or even Peru wherein PCP-SL is still mildly active?
>>2266495>socialism>free healthcare and educationNot what socialism is.
>>2270011Not a fan of maoists but it's insanely difficult for maoists to do all that considering they're busy either on the run from the government (philippines and india) or doing sectarian autism (nepal).
This year Labour Day Rally was rescheduled to 25/05/25, as May 1st was during the campaigning period. So it is somewhat regrettable that there was a significant decrease in participants and media personnel this year. I guess the election tapped out a lot of people's enthusiasm for politics and people are checking out.
Still it is interesting to see members from almost all the opposition parties, even the "siao lang" ones. In fact that fucking meme jokester guy came to the event. At the very least, I know he isn't a clout chaser. I will keep in mind to remember the people who did came since it does show their sincerity.
The succdem party had the most presence here but the real opposition party really invested in this event is the SDP, who lately embraced a huge left wing shift. Their star youth member, who is also the owner of a left wing media platform is one of the speaker that night. SDP youth wing also has their own booth, trying to recuit young people that come to these events and get them to sign their electoral reform petition. Their leader even announce a consumer coop with his cafe as a starting point. Altogether i find this party's moves to be overtly ambitious and grandiose, in stark contrast to the succdem party's more cautious and arduous attempts to build a party machinery designed to win elections.
Already the succdem party members are rather resistant to setting up their own booth, assuming their significant presence here is implicit endorsement. I do suspect divisions within the party and where the fault line lies, but still the party is not as radical in its posturing than its manifesto.
Speaking of which there booths gauging the parties' policies effectiveness. Interestingly it only has PAP and WP, implicitly showing that we are in a two party state lol. I did ask what can WP do better in policy and got some feedback over certain redistribution measures but not any structural changes to fight inequality. Well at least we are the best among the parties.
Last year I mentioned that the sex work organization was agnostic on whether sex work is work. But this time they are advocating overtly that sex work is work. I guess their groundwork is still helping sex workers with welfare and stuff, but now it seems they are truly invested in advocating for it. Artists has also formed a collective too and offered their paintings as decorations.
The speeches this year was rather underwhelming as more 'professional' speakers and activists are speaking this time around. As always, the race and gender makeup of the speakers are lean drastically into minorities and female, just like most of the audience as well. I even lamented to someone I know that chinese singaporean are very classcucked compared to the minorities. Previously there were the poor and workers speaking about their struggles and what now, now they are 'activists' and politicians speaking.
More glossy and showmanship speeches that is very utopian socialist in nature. Amazingly, the last speaker, the SDP guy spoke about workers of all stripes uniting together, including the migrant workers. Perhaps the closest speaker to being a marxist on stage.
Indeed this worker rights org has pivoted to migrant labour and their rights in their organizing for the past year, with 50 migrants workers watching a livestream of the whole event. All the end, the organizers did their own mini march while the migrants sang the Internationale in a rather monotonous tone but they sang it in their native language via the livestream. A spectacular finish to this event, much better than the previous one. I do hope the country just as this event is slowly pivoting to socialism more and more. Perhaps I can advocate for socialism in my own way but that remains to be seen if the succdem party is a viable platform. 英特纳雄耐尔, 斗阵就一定赢!
>>2285465Sounds like fun, I couldn't be there since I was down with the flu after doing a weekend night shift at my job.
>Their leader even announce a consumer coop with his cafe as a starting pointPls no, I've had enough with all these tiny, air-conditioned, corner cafes selling their overpriced items that never seem to last more than a few years at a time. Seriously no, if I had to come up with a business idea for workers, it needs to be something on the lower end, I had an idea ages ago for a "Complain King" bar, it's mostly like a normal bar, but there's a stage with a mic where anyone who has had a bad day at work (or some horror boss story) gets to help radicalise everyone else by complaining loudly about what happened. The trouble is that I'm really not a drinking person and after my experiences handling drunk people in the police and social services, I'm really not into alcohol of any sort.
Also, since the little india riots there are a lot of restrictions on the sale of alcohol, so its been a dead end idea since.
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