Quora Answer: How Should the Singapore Government Deal with the Traitors Who Voted Opposition?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How should the Singapore government deal with the traitors in Sengkang who voted for the Opposition?”

Singapore is a democracy.  We have elections.  We vote for the representatives we feel best represents us, regardless of the party they represent.  You obviously do not understand the concept of democracy.  People must understand that our loyalty, as citizens, is to Singapore, not the PAP.  To claim that people who voted for the Opposition are traitors is not only offensive, but dangerous.  Such a thinking is a threat to our democracy, our fabric of society, and our social cohesion.

Singapore is not a mature democracy, in that the electorate does not understand that we are supposed to vote on the issues, not the personalities, not the branding of the party, not tribal loyalty.  We are voting for our future, our aspirations, our political philosophy.  There should not be excessive partisanship here.  We support the correct positions regardless of who said it, and we proscribe the incorrect positions regardless of who said it.  For me personally, if a sitting minister, such as Heng Swee Keat, says something obviously racist like, older Singaporeans are not ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister, we punish him at the polls.  Who does he represent?  Older Chinese, or al of us?  If an Opposition candidate, such as Khan Osman Sulaiman, supports a racist preacher to pander to his base, we punish him likewise, because we do not need those types of idiots in Parliament.

It is important that we celebrate our democracy.  We congratulate the winners, regardless of their party affiliation, and we now support our elected representatives as they focus on the real work of running this country in this challenging geopolitical climate.  That means coming together as Singaporeans, regardless of party affiliation, regardless of race, language, or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality.  We said that pledge.  Now, we must live up to it.