An excellent thought experiment.
What if Tin Pei Ling and Chen Show Mao swapped places?
By Ng Tze Yong
I'VE spent a good part of the past two weeks keeping a finger on the pulse of the online community in the buildup to the General Election.
Two personalities - Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Chen Show Mao - have dominated online discussions, so much so that the antagonism towards one seems to be fuelling admiration for the other.
But I thought we'd do something different here for a change. Neither lambast or praise, but have a little fun with a thought experiment.
I was thinking: What if we made them swap places?
What if, in an alternate universe, Mr Chen showed up in PAP white and Ms Tin in WP blue? Would their political fortunes differ?
For a start, I can imagine Mr Chen in a crisp white shirt, lightning bolt perched above the left breast pocket. He'll look quite radiant.
But it would also be all too easy to anticipate the brickbats thrown his way.
The man studied at Oxford, Harvard and Stanford, spent decades abroad as a top lawyer and - wait, this is the best part - even speaks like a Chinese foreign worker!
Temasek Review would have a field day. Few would consider it a big deal he served his NS or now wants to move back to Singapore.
The same reversal of fortunes awaits Ms Tin, I would think.
With the help of a little marketing, she could conceivably come across to opposition supporters as a breath of fresh air - enthusiastic, spontaneous and focused. A young lady with guts and kawaii looks to match.
That remark about taking her parents to Universal Studios? Some would find it endearing. Try and imagine a straight-laced PAP MP saying that!
We can easily extend this thought experiment to others.
For example, what would sharp-tongued netizens have to say about the ailing Chiam See Tong, if he wore white-on-white?
And the accolades that would rain down on Brigadier-General Tan Chuan-Jin, if he had traded green for blue, not white?
The plausibility of these scenarios is not the point here. Remember, this is a thought experiment.
What it goes to show is that all credentials being equal, the support that a candidate gets can be overly dependent on the party he or she stands for. It paints a picture of what it's like to support a political party like a football club, with loyalty and passion getting in the way.
Certainly, a thought experiment like this can be a simplistic way of looking at things.
Firstly, the party which a candidate chooses to stand for does matter a whole lot, especially in a government dominated by one party.
Secondly, elections aren't always about individual candidates but the bigger picture, such as a party's policies and the balance of power.
Still, it's just as important to realise that voting along party lines is the first step on the road to partisan politics, when critical thinking gets traded for blind loyalty, bickering and gridlock.
For if and when the day comes that the opposition captures a substantial share of seats in Parliament, partisan voting will no longer simply be a way of rooting for the underdog.
It will become an impediment to a functioning democracy.
http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElection/Blogs/Story/STIStory_656164.html
What if Tin Pei Ling and Chen Show Mao swapped places?
By Ng Tze Yong
I'VE spent a good part of the past two weeks keeping a finger on the pulse of the online community in the buildup to the General Election.
Two personalities - Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Chen Show Mao - have dominated online discussions, so much so that the antagonism towards one seems to be fuelling admiration for the other.
But I thought we'd do something different here for a change. Neither lambast or praise, but have a little fun with a thought experiment.
I was thinking: What if we made them swap places?
What if, in an alternate universe, Mr Chen showed up in PAP white and Ms Tin in WP blue? Would their political fortunes differ?
For a start, I can imagine Mr Chen in a crisp white shirt, lightning bolt perched above the left breast pocket. He'll look quite radiant.
But it would also be all too easy to anticipate the brickbats thrown his way.
The man studied at Oxford, Harvard and Stanford, spent decades abroad as a top lawyer and - wait, this is the best part - even speaks like a Chinese foreign worker!
Temasek Review would have a field day. Few would consider it a big deal he served his NS or now wants to move back to Singapore.
The same reversal of fortunes awaits Ms Tin, I would think.
With the help of a little marketing, she could conceivably come across to opposition supporters as a breath of fresh air - enthusiastic, spontaneous and focused. A young lady with guts and kawaii looks to match.
That remark about taking her parents to Universal Studios? Some would find it endearing. Try and imagine a straight-laced PAP MP saying that!
We can easily extend this thought experiment to others.
For example, what would sharp-tongued netizens have to say about the ailing Chiam See Tong, if he wore white-on-white?
And the accolades that would rain down on Brigadier-General Tan Chuan-Jin, if he had traded green for blue, not white?
The plausibility of these scenarios is not the point here. Remember, this is a thought experiment.
What it goes to show is that all credentials being equal, the support that a candidate gets can be overly dependent on the party he or she stands for. It paints a picture of what it's like to support a political party like a football club, with loyalty and passion getting in the way.
Certainly, a thought experiment like this can be a simplistic way of looking at things.
Firstly, the party which a candidate chooses to stand for does matter a whole lot, especially in a government dominated by one party.
Secondly, elections aren't always about individual candidates but the bigger picture, such as a party's policies and the balance of power.
Still, it's just as important to realise that voting along party lines is the first step on the road to partisan politics, when critical thinking gets traded for blind loyalty, bickering and gridlock.
For if and when the day comes that the opposition captures a substantial share of seats in Parliament, partisan voting will no longer simply be a way of rooting for the underdog.
It will become an impediment to a functioning democracy.
http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElection/Blogs/Story/STIStory_656164.html
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