Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here? Now that GE 2011 has perhaps come to a conclusion with the release of the results?
Undoubtedly, the dust will soon settle and the excitement will die down. Life will go on and we will have to return to our usual daily routines.
But it cannot be life as usual.
Promises were made by candidates from both the People's Action Party and the various opposition parties. We should hold them accountable to them.
It had been said that one of the major reasons behind the surge of support for the opposition parties was that Singaporeans feel that their voices are not being heard or listened to by the governing party, that Singaporeans are using their votes to make their voices heard.
And in response, Prime Minister(-elect) Lee Hsien Loong said his party has heard our voices and will be introducing relevant changes.
We should thus continue to make sure our voices are heard and listened to. We should continue to engage our elected representatives to let them know what are our concerns and aspirations. Wait till the next election, we should not.
And evidently, during the campaigning period of GE 2011, the political consciousness and awareness of Singaporeans have been heightened and mobilised significantly (just the other day, I overheard three secondary school boys talking about the election, haa).
Although we all have our own lives to live, we cannot and must not lose this political consciousness and again allow others to affix the label of "political apathetic" onto us. While it is perhaps not possible to maintain the heightened level of political enthusiasm demonstrated during past few weeks, we ought to retain a basic level of political enthusiasm through keeping up-to-date about relevant developments and issues. In the end, politics is too important to leave it only to the politicians and political parties.
As cliched as this may sound, the end of GE 2011 is not really an end but a new beginning. And we are all part of this new beginning -- how this new beginning will turn out will thus depend on all of us. Our responsibility as citizens goes beyond the mere casting of votes.
P.S.
Politics aside, here's wishing all mothers, including my own, a Happy Mothers' Day!
Undoubtedly, the dust will soon settle and the excitement will die down. Life will go on and we will have to return to our usual daily routines.
But it cannot be life as usual.
Promises were made by candidates from both the People's Action Party and the various opposition parties. We should hold them accountable to them.
It had been said that one of the major reasons behind the surge of support for the opposition parties was that Singaporeans feel that their voices are not being heard or listened to by the governing party, that Singaporeans are using their votes to make their voices heard.
And in response, Prime Minister(-elect) Lee Hsien Loong said his party has heard our voices and will be introducing relevant changes.
We should thus continue to make sure our voices are heard and listened to. We should continue to engage our elected representatives to let them know what are our concerns and aspirations. Wait till the next election, we should not.
And evidently, during the campaigning period of GE 2011, the political consciousness and awareness of Singaporeans have been heightened and mobilised significantly (just the other day, I overheard three secondary school boys talking about the election, haa).
Although we all have our own lives to live, we cannot and must not lose this political consciousness and again allow others to affix the label of "political apathetic" onto us. While it is perhaps not possible to maintain the heightened level of political enthusiasm demonstrated during past few weeks, we ought to retain a basic level of political enthusiasm through keeping up-to-date about relevant developments and issues. In the end, politics is too important to leave it only to the politicians and political parties.
As cliched as this may sound, the end of GE 2011 is not really an end but a new beginning. And we are all part of this new beginning -- how this new beginning will turn out will thus depend on all of us. Our responsibility as citizens goes beyond the mere casting of votes.
P.S.
Politics aside, here's wishing all mothers, including my own, a Happy Mothers' Day!
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