Singapore—Businessman Calvin Cheng, a former Nominated Member of Parliament, started a social media post on Wednesday (Nov 4) by talking about the elections in the United States and ended it by saying that a recent drive to Aljunied-Hougang was the “worse (sic) experience” of his life.
Mr Cheng, who is a prolific social media poster known for his pro-ruling People’s Action Party views attempted to explain the outcome of the polls in the US, which, at the end of Election Day on November 3, had not been decided.
Of the 270 electoral votes needed to win, US media reported that the incumbent, President Donald Trump, had won 213 votes, while his rival, former Vice President Joseph Biden, had 238 electoral votes.
With only seven states left, the fate of the US depended on the “swing states” which could still go either Democrat or Republican.
Mr Cheng endeavoured to explain this “swing vote” phenomenon. “The reason why US elections come down to swing states is that over the years, people move to states where other politically like-minded people live.
Most states have become solidly Democrat or solidly Republican,” he wrote.
He went on to explain that deeply loyal Republicans were unlikely to live in California, with the same going for true-blue Democrats being unlikely to live in Utah.
And then the former NMP wondered if the same would happen in Singapore in the future?
“Will Singapore become like that one day? If you are a PAP supporter you won’t live in Aljunied-Hougang, and if you are an opposition supporter won’t dream of moving to Jurong?
Maybe.”
He went on to tell of a recent incident wherein he went to Aljunied-Hougang, a stronghold of the opposition Workers’ Party, that left him feeling ill, although he did not state the reason why this occurred.
“The other day I accidentally drove into Aljunied-Hougang and froze. Couldn’t move when I realised. Car couldn’t move, legs couldn’t move. When I finally managed to shake myself out of my stupor, I was drenched in sweat. Immediately went home, puked three times and was in bed for 3 days. Worse (sic) experience of my life.”
The Workers’ Party has won at Aljunied GRC for the past three elections, 2011, 2015, as well as this year. It is, in fact, the first Group Representation Constituency won by an opposition party, and the WP seems to only have gone from strength to strength in the area.
Indeed, the WP’s top tier leaders have all served as WP MPs, including former Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, current head and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, and party chair Sylvia Lim.
In July’s General Election, the WP had its best showing yet, with the slate composed of Mr Pritam, Ms Lim, Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap, Mr Gerald Giam and Mr Leon Perera winning 59.95 per cent of the vote last July, a gain of nearly nine percentage points from the last election.
It seems as though Aljunied’s residents are very happy with the WP indeed. —/TISG