<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top> Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Understanding The Incumbency Advantage</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>Roboxxxxx <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>11:12 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>50433.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>There is only one way that I can explain this elections to myself from the POV of opposition parties: except for the result of SDP being the most improved party, this was a pro-incumbency elections for the opposition parties.
1) Hougang was won because it is an incumbent ward. Even if PAP voter Yaw Shin Leong managed to earn more than Low Thia Khiang ever did in Hougang, it is still not really good good given the groundswell from the protest voters.
2) Aljunied, apart from being a longstanding weak ward for the PAP, also enjoyed the pro-incumbency advantage; while people were more willing to say goodbye to Chiam See Tong presumably because of his health status, they were not quite willing to vote Low Thia Khiang nor Sylvia Lim out of Parliament.
But with the WP’s Aljunied team, Singaporeans also got an unheard of and never-talked-about opposition MP in Muhd Faisal Abdul Manap.
But not Vincent Wijeysinghe, Tan Jee Say, Michelle Lee, Ang Yong Guan, James Gomez, John Tan, Alek Tok, Teo Soh Lung, Nicole Seah, Kenneth Jeyaratnam, Gerald Giam, Eric Tan, Benjamin Pwee, Wilfred Leung, Jimmy Lee (unsure about these last three), Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss, Hazel Poa nor Tony Tan. (I honestly had not heard a single thing about second best performing loser, the WP’s Yee Jenn Jong, but he must have had some voter attractiveness to have done as well as he did.)
The GRC scheme very definitely weeds out political talent, if you ask me, so that the Singapore Parliament can continue to wallow in its mediocrity, the WP’s objective of a “First World Parliament” with its 6 new MPs, and quite possibly a couple more NCMPs, notwithstanding.
Tin Pei Ling will stand as a case in point, though I personally don’t feel that she is worse than any other PAP MP.
3) The best performing loser, Lina Chiam, also enjoyed incumbency advantage.
In other words, nothing has changed despite a swing of votes against the PAP and towards the opposition parties: The Singapore Parliament will continue to be an exclusively right wing one.
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1) Hougang was won because it is an incumbent ward. Even if PAP voter Yaw Shin Leong managed to earn more than Low Thia Khiang ever did in Hougang, it is still not really good good given the groundswell from the protest voters.
2) Aljunied, apart from being a longstanding weak ward for the PAP, also enjoyed the pro-incumbency advantage; while people were more willing to say goodbye to Chiam See Tong presumably because of his health status, they were not quite willing to vote Low Thia Khiang nor Sylvia Lim out of Parliament.
But with the WP’s Aljunied team, Singaporeans also got an unheard of and never-talked-about opposition MP in Muhd Faisal Abdul Manap.
But not Vincent Wijeysinghe, Tan Jee Say, Michelle Lee, Ang Yong Guan, James Gomez, John Tan, Alek Tok, Teo Soh Lung, Nicole Seah, Kenneth Jeyaratnam, Gerald Giam, Eric Tan, Benjamin Pwee, Wilfred Leung, Jimmy Lee (unsure about these last three), Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss, Hazel Poa nor Tony Tan. (I honestly had not heard a single thing about second best performing loser, the WP’s Yee Jenn Jong, but he must have had some voter attractiveness to have done as well as he did.)
The GRC scheme very definitely weeds out political talent, if you ask me, so that the Singapore Parliament can continue to wallow in its mediocrity, the WP’s objective of a “First World Parliament” with its 6 new MPs, and quite possibly a couple more NCMPs, notwithstanding.
Tin Pei Ling will stand as a case in point, though I personally don’t feel that she is worse than any other PAP MP.
3) The best performing loser, Lina Chiam, also enjoyed incumbency advantage.
In other words, nothing has changed despite a swing of votes against the PAP and towards the opposition parties: The Singapore Parliament will continue to be an exclusively right wing one.
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