Singaporeans are fools.

"Herp derp the government is bad."

"Herp derp we need more cheese."

"Herp derp we're going to vote them out at the next election! That'll learn 'em reel good! GE 2016! GE 2016!"

Listen up, you lot. If you take a larger view of things, what's going in Singapore right now is far beyond the scope of anything you're capable of handling, with or without the ballot box. Sometimes, it isn't your fault, as Mr. Clarey says.

All right, so let's ignore the impending ice age. Let's ignore the flailing global economy all across the world, which Singapore is terribly vulnerable to. Let's ignore the forces which are at work in the world today that extend beyond this little red dot two degrees north of the equator.

Let's even assume that, say, the Workers' Party wins enough constituencies to garner enough seats in parliament to form the new government.

What do you expect to change?


Remember, folks: executive power always trumps democracy. Switzerland still hasn't begun desporting criminal foreigners residing in the country, despite it being voted into the constitution. The Eurocrats are still attempting to hold power in Italy in the most undemocratic fashion.

So the Workers' Party gets in, and let's assume that the transition from one government to the other is smooth.

What do you expect to change? That the WP will magically start deporting all foreigners? That they won't do a complete about-face once in power? You mumble and grumble in your coffeeshops and internet forums about how you're going to teach the incumbents a lesson, about how everyone is going to vote against them, but do you think an opposition party in power is going to make everything better just by being there?

Executive power trumps democracy. The civil service trumps the people. Do you really think anything will change? We have ex-army generals heading up the public transport providers. The telcos, power, port, media and more report to the incumbent government, at least in part. You think they're going to make things smooth sailing for an opposition government? And who's on the board of directors? Oh wait, the Prime Minister's wife. Oh, and the government owns the trade unions as well.

The incumbent government literally owns the whole damn country, from the infrastructure to the civil service. It has people who are not in elected positions all around.

What do you expect an opposition party to do?

You think that the Worker's Party is going to start pulling jobs, freebies, and cheese out of its magic government box? You want more stuff; what do you expect the Workers' Party to do? Raid the national reserves to pay for your cheese? Do you seriously think the president will let them plough into the reserves like no tomorrow to feed your growing appetite for government handouts?

It's not those who vote that matter, it's those who count the votes who do. Executive power trumps democracy.

The time to change things through the ballot box passed a long, long time ago. For better or for worse, you're stuck with the Singapore that we have today; you certainly weren't complaining back when things were booming. You were too busy squealing and jockeying for a position at the trough that you didn't notice the fence being built around you.

4 senior citizens posted an open letter in TRS pleading to the PM to give back the Singaporean Dream of 5Cs, car, condo, credit card, country clubs and cash to their children. It was only a few years back that Singaporeans were all in their highs, dreaming of the 5Cs, to do good in life. Everyone was full of confidence to achieve his dream of a comfortable and better life. The appearance of this letter is kind of a sudden and exudes a sense of despair that things are not getting better.

And again, my fellow countrymen fail to understand that this was the dream that ruined them. That is why we are here in this cesspool today. Faced with the impending hellhole that is the future, Singaporeans dream of a time when they were being fattened up for the slaughter, when all that mattered was stuffing one's face with the latest batch of dextrose-rich mash dumped into the feedlot, when it was all so much simpler.

With the way the world is going, we may not even see a general election in 2016 even if Singapore remains stable.