“So it begins…” Says Theoden, King of Rohan.

Polling day falls on 7th May 2011.

Some are excited, some don’t care, others ask “why bother?”

Because it is scientific. To be concerned with politics and to do something about it, is scientific.

Science deals with causal relationships. Scientists attempt to find out what are the causes for any given event.

The event in question right now, is the well-being of our existence as Singaporeans. The well-being of my existence as a Singaporean.

What is the cause of our well-being, or more importantly, the lack of?

We cannot get on the MRT

We cannot afford HDB flats

We cannot afford care and treatment for our aging parents

We have things to say, but we are afraid to

Our country people are poor, but the rulers are rich

We are capable and hardworking, but our lands have been given to others for tilling.

You are thinking about ways to get an additional $200,000. Because the price of HDB flats has increased by that amount over the past few years.

Eat at the hawker centre instead of the food court. Figure out which module is the easiest to score so that you can get good grades and hopefully find a job that pays well. Search for a 2nd part-time job on jobsdb.com that fits your NS Remedial Training schedule. Pay for a part-time distance-learning Masters degree from some unknown university overseas so that your employer will promote you instead of the guy from China. Argue with your parents every night and try to convince them that you have no money to get married. Fight with your spouse everyday about whether to pay for a domestic helper so that both of you can work full-time and pay for your baby’s medical expenses – while living with your parents.

All that for $200,000. And it all probably wouldn’t make a difference. Because by the time you’ve got it, you’d need another $200,000 more.

What you don’t see is that that you have to go through all these, because some people in power decided some years ago to start selling public housing at market price. Public housing at market price.

All the above problems are caused by the decisions taken by people with power. To change the effects, you change the causes. To solve the problems, you take the power away from them, and give them to others who will make decisions in your interest.

And you save $200,000. Just for knowing the cause of your problems and fixing it.

In other words, being scientific.

This also means that your political apathy and ignorance, and all your efforts and time spent on trying to get $200,000, efforts and time better spent having dinner with your lonely parents, helping the poor and the destitute, saving abused animals, mentoring youngsters from orphanages, appreciating art, reading good books, learning how to dance…

Is no different from being unscientific.

All your attempts to get that additional $200,000 is unscientific.

All you have to do, is to get the government to change the policy back to what it was.

And you save $200,000.

How do you do it? You do it with your vote. You do it by persuading others to vote with your combined interests in mind.

And you can only do it if you know politics.

To be political is to be scientific.

To be scientific is to give yourself a shot at having a good life.

‘Liking’ this is not scientific. ‘Liking’ this will not save you $200,000.

Sharing it will.

- Chee-Han Lim

And for that matter, if you ask me Tin Pei Ling or Nicole Seah – I’d say the latter. She proves to be a lot more concerned about genuine national issues like the rising costs of living, falling wages and the lower income groups.

“You need policies to go down to the root of the matter and you cannot rely on organizations to do the job for you.”

Never mind the vulgarities on Twitter, who doesn’t swear when they’re really mad? We’re not perfect, and we all have our temper to vent somewhere – it’s a personal account and doesn’t the government advocate some kind of freedom of expression? Moreover, it wasn’t directed at anyone.

Personally I feel that she’s very down to earth, is willing to learn and share, and committed to pressing issues important to her and her “sense of justice”, just refer to this video. Well, I do like her and prefer her over TPL, and she does look more endearing and presentable to me – which is important since we might be seeing her more and more often in the media and press as a representative of NSP?

Finally, at least she doesn’t pose meaninglessly with a Kate Spade bag.