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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I attended WP's rally for Punggol East By-Election last night and once again felt very Singaporean. Attending rallies has always been an enjoyable thing in my opinion, and it comes from being physical present at the site to soak in the atmosphere. You may stream the live speeches online or read the transcripts from the party's website, but you're just getting half the deal. The other half is really how the crowd responds and reacts, and also, how strangers interact in such a way that you think that there's still hope in our people. Let me elaborate.
After 17 hours of continuous rain, the field was grossly muddy and water-logged. Upon reaching the venue, what I saw was hundreds of people making their way to the centre of the field from all around, with mud splashing upon their bodies. It isn't exaggerated--a number of the audience have mud up their backs and even close to shoulder level. Some of them were older folks, determined to be there to give support even in inclement weather and having their feet soaked in mud. We also overheard an uncle convincing his wife to step into the mud, since they're "already here".
Another aspect that you'd probably miss if you're not physically present, is the different flavours of sights and sounds from the audience. One unforgettable example was when LTK greeted the crowd “大家晚上好”, to which the entire crowd gave a unanimous, forceful and resounding “好！” that I swear could be heard miles away. Another unforgettable flavour comes from the trumpets and confetti that supporters prepared by themselves. Whenever an elected WP MP was introduced to give a speech, some supporters would release confetti. Someone would also use his trumpet to belt out classic victorious tunes that were similarly heard when knights on horses return from battles in the olden days. Oh yes, not to forget the typical WP supporters' creativity, in the likes of tall homemade structures and banners, and fanciful balloons like Angry Bird etc.
Here comes the proudest moment I felt last night. After the rally ended, we proceeded out of the field area and there was a small slope. It's one that would be cleared in just 2-3 steps, but because it was totally slippery and muddy, it was dangerous. Here, the scene was too heartwarming that I couldn't forget: one row of people were there at the base of the slope, extending their hand out to catch everyone who's coming down. I grabbed one hand and came down successfully, and I could already feel myself losing my balance. So many "Thank you" were heard and exchanged, and I did pay it forward and helped a few others to come down too. Some people also snapped and shared photos of the line of helpers. At that instant, I genuinely felt that there's hope in Singapore.
人生是黑白的.
7:02 PM <3
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