the things we learn from being political

There are three taboo topics that you should never talk about to a potential love interest (apparently makes a bad impression) on the first few meetings - politics, religion and... sex...

I find myself constantly talking about the first topic, to almost all my candidates and newfound friends! And I am constantly surprised by my, and their passion! Honestly, for me, I am in the hotly contested zone, so of course, my area, having made the headlines every day last week and with the now-famous slogan 'repent...you and your children'... I would be more passionate about the concerns surrounding my area and the quality of the contesting candidates. But I am pleasantly surprised that many candidates, fine young (and old) men, told me of their support and respect for the various parties, following the events closely. I start to realize that while I am lackadasical about the truly apolitical - who void their vote or don't even turn up or don't even know the names of their candidates in their residence; those, I cannot help but feel sorry for them and thankful that, well, I have some strong thoughts about the matter. I can't help but feel touched that when the newfound friends know that I am being involved in the election on a small, small scale, they all said that it's really good of me and sms-ed and called me to press on!

I was really impressed by a new friend, a really cute foreign talent, who has only been here for a couple of months; and he can tell me before the election that, he hopes that Singapore will change, echoing the thoughts in my heart. And after the election, he told me he was glad that WP can win a GRC. I've seen so many apathetic apolitical locals that I am amazed he knows so much, and knows enough to care. (He wrote a whole paragraph in our email-correspondence, so passionate...I LIKE.) I really like people who speak with passion. Just like the candidate whom I found out lived near me, but just a street away, so he was in a different GRC. He frankly voted for the ruling party for his area as it's best, but he told me of his admiration for the party I voted for, and the various candidates of note. He's a really high flyer in his job for his age and I assumed he would not be concerned about our kind of issues, but he told me his concerns about the soaring housing prices and also made it down to one of our rallies. And when he spoke you could see in his eyes that he really cared. I was touched and impressed at the same time, the kind of choking feeling you have in your throat when you hear someone speak with heart. Plus, we were talking about salary scales and he said sincerely that one day, when he reaches that amount, he will donate part of it to me and my party. You can guess that they've made it into my good books!

I was also amazed to hear the shouts of cheers from the blocks on-going until 4 am when the results were announced... this is something that has to be heard at that moment to really feel the intensity of the joy in it... My regular China lady masseuse who lives in Hougang even declared her support (Told me my friend the Hougang MP is very handsome and all china lady friends love him) and said in Hougang, everyone was cheering happily as well. It's really a great feeling to be living in times like these, to be living amongst people who feel the same way - it's been said that my area had the most concentration of party voters, we were either the rebels - or the ones who dared to embrace change.

And this foreign talent, from the way he mentions about certain things and the way he handles certain other things, I can't help thinking that I'd like to spend a whole lot of time with him. It's strange that despite our different culture and upbringing, we can understand each other perfectly, in some ways, and I do hope that this connection brings something meaningful, at the very least, a penpal? But it's early days yet, the way it is too early to tell what this vote for change means metaphysically.