WHO CAN UNITE SINGAPORE?

During the election campaigning for Singapore's Presidency, Dr Tony Tan said that he wants to unite Singapore.

The foremost thought I had when I read that was, how is he going to get that done?   What an odd statement at the oddest of time.  The PAP just lost Aljunied GRC, and gone were cabinet ministers George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua.

He was not wrong to say that nor had he fail to understand his role as President.  As President to all Singaporeans, he is to be a unifying figure that is above partisan politics.  But his background as former DPM in the PAP cabinet made his declaration unattainable, not in the "New Normal" a term he coined reflecting the current political climate.

His New Normal sees those who would normally vote anything PAP doing otherwise.  If it had not been Dr Tan Cheng Bock, the Presidency could have landed in the hands to Tan Jee Say.  As it is, the anti-PAP camp can now stop blaming Tan Kin Lien for spoiling Tan Cheng Bock's chance of becoming President for it was Tan Cheng Bock who is the one spoiling Tan Jee Say's chance.

The New Normal is so unpredictable, senseless most of the time, and aggressive at times.  Suddenly Singaporeans find themselves sucked into a world where one has to decide "are you for them or for us?" atmosphere.  The most ridiculous stories are retold by people who are supposed to have gone through good education and when you ask them if Singapore's education system is good, they readily and assertively says NO!.

So I guessed uniting Singaporeans is just being indeterminate.  Getting back to life normalcy is probably what Singaporeans are yearning for.  Returning to "Peace" was probably what former remiser and now super rich man Peter Lim had in mind when he put forth $3million for Peace Studies.  It is just too noisy.

Ironically it is the opposition in parliament that can unite Singapore or bring Singapore back to normalcy, albeit a new normalcy.  The ruling PAP may have done a great deal since 2013 after losing the Punggol East by election, but when people continue to believe that all good things done by the government are entitlement for taxes paid, nothing can ever earn it due appreciation.

This is also one of the reasons why the PAP got so frustrated with the Workers Party for not making a stand for or against the government.  The WP holds the card to uniting Singapore and bringing Singaporeans back to life normalcy, done with noisy quarrels.

The WP with the highest probability of being the next government can and should stand up to matters where the law is broken or where matters that affects all citizens as in the case of CPF.  After all, if it indeed becomes government, it will continue to uphold law and order and will not allow the vandalizing of public properties go unpunished.  But it had chose to remain silent allowing anti-PAP elements to undermine law and order by cheering such acts.

The WP could have picked up public uneasiness about CPF transparency in parliament forcing the government to respond in all completeness and accuracy.  But it chose to allow Roy Ngerng to continue publishing disparaging articles of the CPF by showing disinterest in an institution that is created in the very parliament for which the WP is being part of.

If only the Workers Party would do what is expected of an honourable opposition, Singaporeans will be more than grateful for its magnanimity for acting above politics for the good of all Singaporeans.  Friends don't have to see each other with suspicion as to who are you aligned to.

We want a peaceful, friendly Singapore, not one preoccupied with petty quarrels about things that many a times are fabricated.

Who can unite Singapore and bring us back to normalcy.