Why I started to blog

Recently I bought a book titled “How The Mighty Fall” by Jim Collins. I have read his other books “Built To Last” and “Good To Great”, they are all fabulous read. In “How The Mighty Fall”, the author identified 5 stages of decline. The third stage is called “Denial of Risk and Peril”.

After reading the book, I begin to wonder if this is relevant to how PAP has lost a GRC to the opposition in Election 2011. Could this loss be the beginning of the end of PAP? Afterall, its share of votes has fell from 75% (in 2001) to 66% (2006) and then to 60% (2011).

I was one of those Singaporeans who expected the PAP to lose more than just one GRC in Election 2011. The reason why I feel so is simple - I have seen and heard too much unhappiness about this government in my daily life. In any case, when the opposition won just a GRC and many constituencies registered a lower PAP votes, I was happy because I feel that this is a strong signal to the PAP to wake up. I was also relieved that the result turned out this way for I believe that we will have a terrible aftermath effect if the PAP has lost its controlling power over the Parliament.

I love my prime ministers, from LKY to GCK to LHL. I find them to be capable leaders compared to the others all over the world. I used to love our government more, but over time, I began to dislike them, then the “dislike” turned to hate. That is why I would have voted for an opposition even if they have put up a monkey as a candidate. That’s right, hatred is a strong feeling.

In PM Lee’s post-election conference on 8 May, he was composed and gentlemanly, as usual. He provided a summary of the election outcome, the landscape which the election took place in and then he moved on to show his great leadership quality calling for all MPs, opposition or PAP to work for the people’s interest and serve with diligent. Towards the end, he expressed that the government have heard the voices of the people and promised to change. He ended by calling to everyone as Singaporeans to close rank and work together. I was touched by his sincerity and agreement with the election result. I am convinced that he has heard the voices of Singaporeans.

The buzz about losing George Yeo as an MP clearly expressed that Singaporeans know who the good MPs are. If it was another PAP candidate in Aljunied, the PAP may have lost by a bigger percentage.

After the election, I thought about the result for a long time. I concluded that the PAP has governed Singapore well in the last 40 over years (a very short time of nation-building). It has done well in many areas but has somehow lost touch with its people. I hate to think that the use of internet has contributed significantly to the losses of the PAP because what’s there to lose if you have done all things right in the first place?  I have come to the conclusion that the present team of leaders, especially PM Lee, is good people. I wish so much that I can tell them what went wrong so that they can fix it for the sake of achieving a better Singapore with happier Singaporeans. This is when I realized that I may not know ALL the unhappiness of the people. I know what I know and this Blog is an expression of how I will share what I know over time with others.

I also hope that through this Blog, I will get to know more about others’ concerns and perhaps if time allow, I would like to research on these issues and blog about them too. This is the first time in my life committing to a Blog. I hope I can do my part well.