Elections hustling!

Hustling is happening with great fervor on a national scale here in Singapore - it's General Elections 2015 season!

I am particularly excited about this election because it will be the first time I exercise my right to vote. First time voter or veteran voter or not voting at all, it is hard not to get caught up in the flurry of walkabouts, rallies and debates. It has been a colorful week of campaigning so far with candidates of various party hues (10 different ones to be exact) pounding the grounds of hawker centers and void decks as well as the online arena hard. 

The campaign period is over as of today and tomorrow's Cooling-Off Day. No political campaigning is allowed on this day as it is meant to "give voters some time to reflect rationally on issues raised during the election before going to the polls". This amuses me a little because voters' minds could already have been made up before the official election campaigning period i.e. they have their own worldviews. Seth Godin, author of the popular marketing book All Marketers are Liars, defined worldviews as the underlying beliefs and judgments that influence people's behavior that already exist before an encounter with something being marketed to them. 

In my case, I am a great believer in the importance of political diversity. Political discourse should not be dominated by a single party and views ought to be debated in a public arena before a decision is made. It might be a messy process but better to have a policy that was passed after a baptism of fiery debate, rather than one that is rammed down people's throats supposedly because it is good for them but later found to be flawed. 

So, despite the plentiful promises and  accusations fighting for my attention this election, certain messages are a lot more likely to appeal to me than others. If you are familiar with Singapore politics, you might be able to guess who I'm more likely to vote for ;)

Anyway, here are some photos taken at different election rallies I attended. This being my maiden voting experience, I wanted to hear as many parties as I could, even if I had already pretty much made up my mind. What better way to get a feel of a party and the kind of support it has than to immerse yourself in a rally?

Hammer time! Workers' Party rallies usually attract massive, enthusiastic crowds. I traveled all the way to the Eastern part of Singapore just to experience a Workers' Party rally

Just a People's Action Party supporter with funky sunglasses and his buddy Lee Kuan Yew, at the lunchtime rally yesterday. This was also my first time seeing the Prime Minister in the flesh and hearing him speak.

In case you were wondering if it is ever possible to change a person's worldview, certainly! It can take a long time though and if it is an entrenched social worldview, perhaps even decades of continuous education (think of how long it took before it became acceptable for women to go out and work side by side men instead of taking care of their homes and kids). I guess the lesson for election hustling is that if you want to win over those who do not share your worldview, you need to be determined to work the ground for a long time before you win more folks over.

Photo credit: All photos taken by me