Singapore Presidential Election : Who is the real winner?

As I sat in front of the TV this evening to watch the swearing-in of Singapore's 7th President, I wondered who is really the real winner after the hard fought campaigns by the 4 Tans.

Tony Tan?
He is probably the obvious choice since he won the election and tonight he is officially the President of Singapore.  But with his pathetic winning percentage of 35%, one wonders if he has really won over the hearts & minds of Singaporeans.  While he has garnered the most votes among the 4 candidates, he cannot claim to have won over the majority of Singaporean.   In fact, this result has in a way dented his impeccable public service records of over 3 decades.  With his credentials & track records as compared to the other 3 Tans, he ought to be disappointed with his own performance.  And the worst is yet to come.  If there is really a global crisis and the government needs to use our reserve, what will he do? If he agrees to the use of reserve, the likely reaction would be that he is beholden-ed to the government.  If his answer is no, then he will probably be blamed for any fallout from the crisis.  Why would a man who has already achieved so much be willing to be in the hot seat at a nice ripe age of 71?  I don't envy his position.

Cheng Bock?
He was so near & yet so far to becoming the elected president of Singapore.  His career has never reached anywhere near to the position of the highest office of Singapore unlike Tony and it must surely be very painful for him.  In fact, on hindsight, if he had formed an alliance with Kin Lian, he could have been the man sitting beside the PM & the CJ tonight.  At the age of 71 now, the game is effectively over for him.  Big loss!

Jee Say?
He is the face of the Opposition.  Anybody in Singapore who is against PAP would probably vote for him.  While the Opposition garnered 40% of the total votes during the recent General Election, he only managed a disappointing 25% votes.  While the end result is poor, he has certainly gained good experiences and may yet be the winner in time to come.....and time is what he has as compared to the other 3 Tans.

Kin Lian?
Obviously he lost big as he himself confessed that he was shocked at the result.

PAP/ruling party?
While the party succeeded in getting its "preferred" candidate to become the president, the slim win is effectively a snub from majority of the people.  It is a common believe that Tony = PAP.   If there is anything that the ruling party can gain from this presidential election, it must be the knowledge that a lot of work still need to be done to convince the people that their interest & well being are of utmost importance to the government.

Singapore?
Certainly the presidential election epitomizes the spirit of democracy in action.  Singaporeans can be very proud of our unique democratic system which is largely contributed by the ruling party.  However, in the aftermath of the election, we are none the wiser as we continue to grapple with the issue of national unity and a polarized society.  Singapore will be the real winner if the 35% voters are right.....and we all must pray & hope so.

So, is there a real winner?

Probably Andew Kuan is the real winner. He could not get the eligibility certificate and that saved him the trouble of a hard campaign and the $48K deposit that would probably be forfeited if he had stood for the election.  The moral of the story : IF YOU DO NOT GET WHAT YOU WISH FOR, IT MAY NOT BE A BAD THING AFTER ALL.

However, I strongly believe that the real winner is YOU AND ME, THE BLOGGERS!  The presidential election has given us so much content to blog & gossip, share & argue, enlighten & confuse...etc.   I am pleasantly surprised that my blog audience has shot through the roof (by my standard as a newbie in blogging), thanks to the presidential election and Singaporedaily!  This is probably my last blog on Singapore presidential election & I hope you bloggers out there will continue click on my site & share my life journey.........