Thanks WP for raising the key points

I was there at the rally last night. If there's one thing I feel, it's the kindred spirit of Singaporeans. Allow me to express in detail what it's like. The common Singaporean folks attending the rally do not hesitate to openly express contempt at PAP's political tyranny and persecution while openly showing care and concern for fellow Singaporeans attending the event. For example, they kindly offered to share their picnic mats, black trash bags and newspapers with strangers (myself included) for sitting on the grass. They reminded one another to pick up the litter after the event so as not to bring fines to WP. This kindred spirit of Singaporeans had been lost for years ever since we're beginning to be sensitized by PAP's policies to become realistic and to its extreme, cold and selfish. Suddenly what I experienced in the rally last evening seemed to be a lost-and-found sort of deja vu. I was even thinking perhaps it's the only moment when the true Singaporean kindred spirit can ever be felt.

What really struck me is the reminding by WP of the dreams expressed in our National Pledge: "to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality..." The pledge is probably memorized by all Singaporeans yet to the point that, these important elements expressed in it became taken for granted and perhaps lost in some Singaporeans. We're supposed to build a democratic society so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. But till date, have we reached these dreams? Or, are those ideals expressed in the National Pledge simply just pipe dreams that will never be realized?

Justice and equality for who? Shouldn't it be for the people - every Singaporean from all walks of life? How come we can't feel any justice and equality? Justice only for the rich, politically powerful and connected elite in Singapore, such that grievances suffered by the lower strata of the society is overlooked? Equality only for the rich, politically powerful and connected elite in Singapore, such that the ideals of the 'First World living standards' only apply to them while the rest of us have to make do with the dregs of the country's economic pie? Till date, have we achieved happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation? Perhaps more accurate is that till date, under the so-called 'benevolent autocracy' of PAP, we achieved more unhappiness and grievances, rising costs of living that burns through our pockets such that we're steadily being pauperized instead of gaining prosperity, and in some areas, we're regressing instead of progressing as a nation.

Only to PAP, it's about the party's survival than for the people. Party has become larger in life than the State and its people. It's about political happiness, prosperity and progress for PAP's continued political hegemony, nothing else about for the people. PAP has subsumed the State and with that, the people in it. There's no nationhood to talk about, merely statehood, because to PAP, it's all about party's survival in the guise of a pretended existence of a 'nation' when all we see in Singapore now is the lifeless shell of 'statehood' in which the soul of the country - nationhood - is being constantly robbed and undermined by PAP.

I was formerly in Hougang SMC and while I respect the political choices of my former neighbourhood residents, I still urge you to think long-term and not be enticed by the short-term benefits brought about by the carrots dangled by PAP. For the sake of our offsprings for posterity, we need to ensure our country moves forward sociopolitically instead of backwards. Your vote counts, and please make it count towards realizing the dreams expressed in the National Pledge. Only we, not PAP, can uphold this National Pledge.