We learn from a very young age not to be sore losers. Whatever the outcome, you are not supposed to throw a tantrum and definitely no name calling. Unless the game was rigged, the winner won it fair and square. Be gracious because it would otherwise look very bad on you. Simple lesson which we all try to pass on to our kids.
My youngest still can't help herself at times though - not winning any rounds of Uno can be too much to handle. Large grains of tears would swell up in her eyes as she tries to keep her emotions in. She would pout and her breathing gets shallower. And often it is when I try to console her that she would let out her loud distressing cry. Being a man of principles, I would remind her in the gentlest way possible, usually hugging her tight, that there will always be a winner and loser. Sometimes, my second son would also try to reassure her that it is okay that he's won.
The whole family stayed up late last night to watch the live news coverage of the General Elections results. I was rather surprised that all the kids took so much interest in it. My second son had the most questions - how many PMs will there be, why do the number of seats won by PAP increase so much after an announcement, what do the winners do after they win. One question he asked which I found particularly interesting was whether the parties that did not win would feel angry. I am not sure why, I told him that they would not feel angry but they would be disappointed. I thought about it this morning and I think it may have been that I wanted them to understand that disappointment rather than anger was the right emotions to have in such situations.
What I think I should have done perhaps is to explain to my kids that there was a rare exception where the losing candidate lashed out in anger and blamed voters for their incompetence. He claimed that he had a better economic plan and a better manifesto and that "all this is is a mandate for authoritarianism and brainwashing". He implied that Singaporeans were mindless individuals under the control of the Government and that we were no different to North Korea and the Chinese Communist Party. He berated "I guess Singaporeans get the Government they deserved. I don't want to hear anymore complaints". What was most unfortunately was that he spoke as if he wasn't a Singaporean, but rather a foreign candidate trying to teach the rest of us what democracy ought to be. Kenny didn't even take the time to thank all those who did vote and support his party. Sadly this was missing in most of the interviews with the parties that lost. Sadly too that many of these candidates did not talk about respecting the choice of the people.
Whatever our views and whoever we voted for, we ought to be proud we allowed democracy to arrive at a decision. The outcome is the voice of the majority and that is the beauty of this system. People who chose the incumbent are not mindless nor irresponsible nor cowards. Whether you are rich or poor, whatever your race or religion, whatever your vocation in life, you are entitled to your one vote. We should be very proud that in this country, there are no concerns about vote-rigging and phantom voters, nor heightened risks of post-elections riots. We should be proud that we are a diverse nation with diverse views but can arrive at an important decision in a respectful and dignified manner. One people with one heart.
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