Social Media and the 2011 Singapore General Elections

By: Shaz Hassan

As a 26 year old Singaporean who has spent most of her life being mildly offended at the political apathy that Singapore’s vaguely totalitarian regime (i.e. the People’s Action Party or the PAP) has managed to instil in its citizens, I was pretty disappointed at the 2011 Singapore General Elections. Not because it was one of those standard ‘walkovers’, to use a Singaporean term, where the PAP basically walks over everyone else (bar maybe one opposition party member) to take their parliamentary seats, but because it wasn’t. The Workers’ Party managed to steal away more than one or two seats (six at a go, in fact), the opposition managed to garner 40% of the vote and the people behind the quaint titles of Senior Minister and Minister Mentor resigned. In regimented Singapore, this was equal to PURE AND UTTER CHAOS. The only reason I was disappointed was because I wasn’t in the country to experience it first-hand!