May Day

Here in Singapore there is an observed Labour Day holiday today, since May Day officially happened on Sunday, May 1st. Labour Day also happens to be the day when the government begins distributing its "Grow and Share", package - much like the tax breaks those in the USA received last year under the economic incentives package. While the package itself benefits individual Singaporeans (who wouldn't want $800-$100 in extra money?), some Singaporeans have wondered if this isn't just an incentive to vote for the current ruling party, since general elections are happening May 7th. The timing of the payout is a bit suspicious, reminiscent of the recent payouts that citizens of Bahrain received from their rulers.

Politics in Singapore

Singapore has a unique political system: it is a representative democracy in which the same party has been in power since 1959 (51 years!). Either that means everyone likes the current government, or the ruling party has taken pains to write the rules in their favor. Perhaps a bit of both. Some people point to the Group Representation Constituencies as a re-drawing of boundaries to consolidate constituencies which the current ruling party, the People's Action Party, believes it might otherwise lose. Sounds like the age-old battle between Republicans and Democrats on voting lines, eh? Except in Singapore there is no clear opposition - just one party that runs the government.

Don't get me wrong - the PAP has done wonderful things for Singapore, as increases in immigrants to Singapore indicate. But many Singaporeans view the current party as complacent, pointing to increasing pay raises that officials voted for themselves - many times higher than the average salary. With an average of around $2 million, according to IMF and The Economist, political leaders in Singapore get paid the same as many CEOs or sports stars.

What makes this year's general elections slightly different than previous ones is that many more seats are being contested and quality candidates are being put forward by other parties. Response has been quite good for many of these candidates despite the rule that limits campaigning to the 9 days before voters cast their vote (a policy that seems to favor the incumbents) - choosing not to vote is against the law here. Of the 84 seats available, in fact, on May 7th all 84 are open to contest. While most Singaporeans believe the current party will stay in power, many also want Singapore to have a decent opposition party that will bring true democratic debate to the country's decision-making process. In this they hold the sentiment of the middle-aged Chinese Singaporean I talked to:

"I want the PAP to win, but not by too large a margin. We want to give them enough opposition so that they're no longer complacent and start paying attention to the needs of Singaporeans rather than their own interest."

We'll find out what happens when Singaporeans go to the polls on May 7th.

John McCain

Last Tuesday I went to see John McCain at a rally in Lancaster. I figured since both candidates were in my city (just down the block from my house) I might as well go see them both and see firsthand what the difference was.
I joined some friends who are hardcore McCain supporters in the long line to get in (there was no possibility of standing outside the cordoned area, since the rally was in a gym instead of outside in a park) and eventually made my way through.
What amazed me was the number of Obama supporters yelling obscenities and wearing tshirts, etc.. intended to spark something who were standing or walking around where the people were lining up to get in - almost as if they wanted conflict to occur. I didn't see any anti-Obama people openly at his rally on Friday, but here were anti-McCain people at his rally, most of whom were being ignored by those in line. It strikes me that this may be the fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats, at least in Lancaster: D's are much more emotionally tied to their candidate, where as R's are much more willing to separate their emotions from their decision. I have to admit I'd rather make a rational decision than an emotional one, but maybe both are valid.
Inside people were giving out signs to hold up, and when I declined one offered to me, the girl looked at me with a weird expression, as if she didn't know what to do with me. I smiled at her and she smiled nervously back.
Finally the candidate came out, and with him were Sarah Palin and her husband. Sarah introduced McCain and he gave his spiel. I have to admit I was pretty impressed. They said some good things - I was impressed more by the way they delivered their ideas, though. They were very specific about their goals and the way that they intended to achieve them. Energy independence was a big topic, something Barack didn't touch on, and there were specific measures that they intended to use to get there. It was cool too how both people running spoke too - I have yet to hear Biden speak a single word.
Maybe it was just that I had never heard their positions, or maybe that Barack assumed people had already heard his positions, but McCain was somehow clearer about what he wanted to do with and for the country.
Still with-holding judgement, but it was definitely good to experience both sides of the political spectrum.

Barack Obama

Yesterday afternoon I went to see Barack Obama. Seriously. He made a campaign stop in Lancaster's Buchanan park, just up the street from my house. So I rode my bike over there to see what all the commotion was about. I climbed a tree to get a better view, since there were so many people there. It was kind of like Zaccheus and Jesus, except that Barack didn't call me down from the tree and tell me he wanted to eat at my house. Good thing, too, since I didn't have any food ready. I heard him introduced and about five minutes of his speech, and then got yelled at by the secret service to get down from the tree. I guess they don't like people in trees around presidential candidates. That was as close to Zaccheus as I got. So I got down and listened to the rest of the speech from the ground - fortunately I could still see him ok, since I was taller than most of the people around me. He gave a good speech, I thought, given that he only spoke for 45 minutes. He has a comfortable and easy way of speaking, and he seems to think clearly, though the long hours of campaigning are showing their toll in his pauses and his lost train of thought. But all in all, a good speech. I've never been really interested in politics, especially presidential campaigns, but this campaign is a bit different - I think because both candidates are coming to my back yard. Good 'ol Lancaster. And they're both coming to places I can walk to. So I plan on going to see McCain in the flesh when he shows up on Tuesday - see what it's all about. Maybe then I can make an informed decision.