Attended another WP rally on Wednesday night. It's probably weird that I might have more interest in this than some voters who are actually living within Punggol East. Even without the accompaniment of a friend (I'm not naming you here), I'd still probably have attended it alone, because being the final rally of the party, it's at the highest climax, with the largest turnout and the most electrifying atmosphere.
I especially loved all the speeches. For the record, although I did not attend rallies conducted by the other parties, I did stream some of them live. But, no other party delivers as well consistently. I loved how strongly the arguments were put across; how each person spoke with a theme in mind and tackled it with a close focus. I loved how every speech was well-timed, well-rehearsed, and ended with the same statement uniformly. Looking at the state of all opposition parties, really no one else can come close in terms of credentials, credibility and decorum. My personal opinions, thanks.
There was one thing that I noticed too. The party wasted no opportunities in unveiling at least 4 new highly potential members, and made them speakers at the rallies. Amongst them are 2 lawyers, 1 professor and 1 engineer, all of whom delivered powerful, charismatic speeches and gained much publicity and experience through this platform. So whatever the eventual outcome may be, the party has already gained very much in many ways, including a little warm-up test for these future candidates.
I must also continue to highlight the acts of normal Singaporeans shown at the rally. It is weird, but gracious acts are very forthcoming at opposition rally sites. I have a fellow Singaporean giving me a whistle to blow; I have heard countless exchanges of 'Sorry' when people accidentally step on each other at the very crowded site; and I have seen strangers (regardless of race) exchanging smiles at each other. Whether or not this is unique to opposition rallies, I'm not sure, but I suspect there's an unspoken 'unity' feel among the rally audience. Elections may be divisive by nature, but I can tell you, seeing these outpouring of acts at rallies is very heartening.
To me, By-elections are worth observing as much as General Elections do, as these 'bonus' rounds of competition are important half-term scorecards for political parties. Conventionally, By-elections favour the Oppositions, and I see it pretty much so this time as well. However, I personally believe that the potential loss of vote share for the ruling party may not be sufficient enough for any opposition parties to take over the Town Council management. Nevertheless, it had definitely been a good punching practice for the opposition parties, to publicise, to test their election machinery, and to prepare for a bigger GE2016.
人生是黑白的.
1:19 AM <3
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