Game on...

it's nomination day today.

i wonder whether Taman Jurong will be contested. we'll know in a few hours i guess...

regardless... as many observers have noted, it is highly likely that the PAP will not be returned to power today. which will be a first in quite a while.

for many reasons, i think that this will be one of the most interesting elections to watch in the last 20 years. for one, it is PM Lee's first election that he is leading. for another, the slate of opposition candidates seem to be of much higher calibre than in the previous few (that i remember of anyways).

the next few days would be interesting...

and i suppose this would be a good time to take some key lessons about democracy from Thailand.

as quoted by Akikonomu, the Thai monarch has remarked that: "The current election is undemocratic. Where there is only one candidate it is not considered a democracy."

some questions that come to mind is:
in Thailand's situation, where the majority (who are mostly farmers) votes in Thaksin, but the minority (of city-dwellers in Bangkok) removes him, is that considered democratic?

is having a small, vocal minority can force a democratically elected president out of power by demonstrations and protests which forced the capital to come to a standstill,considered democratic?

and what about what some of the anti-Thaksin city-dwelling demonstrators say about the farmers (that they are ignorant and hence their opinions should not count for anything)? does that mean that a person who is more educated should have more say about who is in office than someone who is illiterate (and perhaps more gullible) and thus votes based on who promises him more short term benefits?