After polling day, Singaporeans look for ‘silver lining’ and ‘bright side’ of poll results

SINGAPORE: In the aftermath of the May 3 polls, some Singaporeans who have taken to Reddit to process out loud have listed the “silver linings” and “bright side” of the results.

Many local Reddit users are supporters of opposition parties and had hoped that they would see gains this year. However, this did not come to pass, with the People’s Action Party (PAP) winning as much as 80% of the vote share in some constituencies.

Lawrence Wong asked for, and received, a strong mandate in his first outing as Prime Minister.

Nevertheless, some in Singapore have seen encouraging signs for the opposition.

One citizen listed these in a May 4 post on r/Singapore, writing that for one thing, the quality of candidates rose substantially this year for both the PAP and the Workers’ Party (WP), the only opposition that will see members in the next Parliament, and added that all candidates and Members of Parliament (MPs) will now face closer scrutiny than ever.

Also, the “WP is establishing serious GRC (Group Representation Constituency) strongholds (Aljunied and SK are not even close fights anymore),” they added, and with the WP candidates at Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency (SMC) and Tampines GRC being the “biggest losers,” it means the WP will have 12 members in Parliament, an increase from eight in the last term.

Furthermore, the “Punggol and East Coast WP teams fought a good fight and, if they stay on, will dig roots no matter any gerrymandering claims,” the post author wrote, adding, “most importantly” the battle between Ng PAP candidate Chee Meng and the WP’s Andre Low “showed that incompetence vs a quality newcomer can really be a close fight!”

A commenter on the post made another point: “The two independent candidates did very well, and both got back their deposits. More young capable people are willing to go into politics. That is a good sign.”

“Hope they are motivated by their good results and still be around for the next GE. Jiayou,” wrote a Reddit user in another thread.

Another commenter pointed out that the “WP made PAP work hard for the GRCs they were fighting in.”

In a Reddit post with the heading, “Silver Lining for this GE,” another appeared to agree, writing, “Sengkang MPs have done well and strengthened their vote share by 4% from 52% to 56%, very close to Aljunied’s 59%. WP have arguably gained a second stronghold GRC, which is absolutely huge for them.”

They also pointed to the vote share the WP candidates received at Punggol: “New WP faces with only nine days of campaigning in Punggol against the incumbent DPM (Deputy Prime Minister) is nothing to scoff at. The good news is that Punggol cannot be easily carved up and mixed into other constituencies due to its natural boundaries. If WP holds on to the current team and walk the ground for the next five years, it could well be theirs next GE.”

Many, however, expressed their unhappiness with how the electoral boundaries had been redrawn prior to the election, saying that the outcomes for opposition parties, not just the WP, could have been very different had the former constituencies been kept. /TISG

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