thank GOD i finally passed my driving test today. as of now, you will know me as benjamin kwek, licensed to drive :D my god. the minute i got into the car i KNEW, somehow, that today would be a good day to drive. the traffic was heavy but not scary, and easy to maneuver in. i lucked out today. i was supposed to drive the route that included a U-Turn at a very confusing area

 

in front of the area to U-Turn, there is a Yellow Box. for those non-singaporeans, this is a big bloded yellow box with a cross, which is a no-stop area - you cannot stop here, because you would be blocking access. now, what would happen if i had to stop in the box after completing the U-Turn? would i have gotten an automatic failure? it's an offence to stop in the box. luckily, there was a traffic jam in front of the U-Turn, so the instructor diverted me to a bloody easy place - he didn't even test my U-Turn! :D lol anywayz. in the end i got 14 pts for stuff like checking blind spots and whatnot - nothing serious.

 

AAAHHH!! i'm allowed to drive!! watch out singapore - the newest menace is ON THE ROAD. the first car i got to drive after passing? THE RX-8! i messaged my dad for permission, and i dunno what crack he was on, but he LET ME! omg! i was like COOL dude. my sis was in the car with me, of course :D i need someone there to talk to otherwise i might go stir crazy in that car. the gear shift is so short and the clutch is so damn sensitive! the short stick meant that i couldn't figure out if i was in 3rd or 1st, they were so close together! *sigh* i'm such a n00bc0re driver. hopefully when i get to aus and buy a car it'll be better. sigh.

 

anywayz. DRIVE!

 

peace out.

later.

omg that was the worst weekend day i've ever had. went for the ndp rehearsal, despite the flu.

 

it was a HOT day. even the drifting clouds did little to dissipate the heat. sitting out in the sun all day, i obviously got a sun burn on my forehead and arms. they did the contigents first, so we had to be on high alert for fainters. at first there were few, but then they started coming in droves! i was radioing in every like 5-6 mins. most of them were walking in on their own.

 

we got a quick respite from the heat by the intense rain. lasted about 1/2 hour, after which all the seats were soaking wet. nice. got rained on too ><. nice

 

and to top it all off - I HAD THE FLU!! so tired and dead by the end that i didn't even care what the hell i was doing. walking sideways...throwing things...at the end i was just lying on the ground until a medic came over and gave me a checkup. 37.2 degrees, and a heartrate of 93. diagnosed SHAGGED OUT and gave me panadol. came right back up the next day. well done medics.

 

can't wait 'til next week. :)

in sunday's paper, there was a page 1 article that reads as such:

 

THE People's Action Party (PAP) needs to move with the times in order to satisfy the aspirations of a new generation of voters, said Senoir Minister Goh Chok Tong.

 

"We can't fight the next battle using today's strategies," he told reporters on Friday, at the end of his two-day visit to WAshington. "We will not know what the people's attitudes will be like four to five years from now, but we know it will be a different electorate."

 

The next election - which will take place by 2011 - will, for the first time, have a majority of voters born after independence. Political observers say the PAP will have to win over this post-1965 generation in order to maintain its dominance. "The party is trying to understand the new ground - what the younger generation thinks and what we must do to meet their needs," said SM Goh.

 

AN example of this is how the Government is likely to take a softer stance on online political discussions in the next polls, he said.

 

Information, Communications and the Arts Minister Lee Boon Yang indicated last week plans for a review that could affect the ban on "live" video feeds by political parties at election-time.

 

SM Goh said a change in approach is needed since "policies and stretegies have to be shaped accordingly to meet the new mood".

 

THerefore, it is not possible for the Government to keep its curbs on the use of new media indefinitely. "This is just one example of how we've got to change as the situation changes," he said.

 

As an indication of the shifts, eligible voters polled by the Institute of Policy Studies after the May 6 elections said they were influenced more by the need for alternative views than by issues such as estate upgrading.

 

SM Goh acknowledged during Friday's interview Singaporeans' strong desire for opposition MPs. The PAP won 66.6 per cent of the valid votes at the polls but failed to unseat the opposition in Potong Pasir and Hougang.

 

"The PAP is not out to have a clean sweep," he said. "What we are trying to offer is certainty of good government and good people in charge. SO my message is this" Have your desire for opposition fulfilled, but never to the extent of changing the governemnt,"

 

Stressing the importance of political stability, he said: "The world is full of challenges and uncertainty...so it is important for Singapore to have predictability."

 

Otherwise, the country could lose invest as foreign companies become unsettled by any uncertainty.

 

Dr Fatimah Lateed, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, welcomed SM Goh's remarks yesterday, adding that she sees herself and other young MPs as agents of change.

 

"The post-65er MPs meet weekly and we will be rolling out concrete plans soon," she said. "The aim of thoese plans is to engage the new generation of voters. Right now, the image and approach of the party may not be what these voters are looking for."

 

SM Goh was in Washington as part of a regular exchange of high-level visits. He will participate in the World Economic Forum's annual Young Global Leaders forum in Vancouver this weekend.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

here's a clue: the time for change is not now, pap. the time for change was BEFORE this election! now the "post-65ers" have found you to be old-minded and slow to realise that we are not going to vote for you simply because you made us independent!

 

the real killer was when they put a ban on blogging, then made it mandatory to register your blog if you wished to express any feelings regarding the pollings. even the older, pre-65ers know that the only reliable source of opinions is the internet, specifically blogs. there was no way in hell you could believe that the straits times was reporting anything worth while, after all they are the PAP's bitch. by killing the post-65er's most powerful form of communication, you effectly alienated an entire generation of voters who will one day become your key demographic.

 

i know it's not fair to compare the "democracy" in singapore with the true democratic systems in the US or Australia, but seriously, have you EVER seen a situation where the Republicans have NOT won? where the Labour party GETS into power? no! and even if they did, they'd be so inexperienced that for the most part, failure is almost certain. like my mom was commenting the other day, the only situation where pap would have a challenge is if someone BROKE OFF from the party and formed his/her/their own faction!

 

the addition of new, younger MPs has, i ASSURE you, not improve the pap's standing. what's the point of adding 20+ year old people who, by the next election, will be entirely forgotten? trust me, they may be basking in their political "victory" right now, and fired up to do stuff, soon they'll settle into the life of the forgotten "fad of the hour", and never be heard from again. younger politicians are newbies will, evetually, become disillusioned and look to their elders for support.

 

and speaking of elders, what the hell is up with the old man?? can't be just SHUT THE HELL UP now?! he's becoming more and more of a liability than anything else. what i would really like to know is what position he would create when the next PM comes in? i ask because, as we all know, he will never die. maybe Senior Minister Mentor? at this point we're getting pretty irritated by his constant meddling in singapore. the man may have been fine back when we were a little town with no hope of survival, but with the pap's revamp to a "newer" image, it's out with the old, in with the...old? seriously, the dude needs to take a chill pill and like lie on the beach and sleep for a while, take in a movie, just CHILL! does he not trust his own son? he would actually dare to stand up before the free press and declare that the straits times is being controlled by th government for the sake of stability! i tell you, that takes real balls. it also makes us sound like a freakin' benevolent dictatorship.

 

too late, pap. too late.