The fear factor revisited... two views

I enjoyed the TODAY commentary by correspondent Venessa Lee, "A General Election like no other" (10 May). Her interviews with both PAP and opposition politicians drew a consensus, captured  in National Solidarity Party chief Goh Meng Seng's observation that more voters, particularly the younger ones, had adopted a more hands-on attitude as they sought to assess candidates for themselves.

Here is the link to the article:

http://blogs.todayonline.com/singaporevotes/2011/05/10/a-general-election-like-no-other/

Also, on the issue of the so-called fear factor that can -- it has been claimed -- inhibit support for the opposition, there appeared to be agreement too that GenY voters especially are less affected by it. Singapore People Party's chairman Sin Kek Tong put it thus: "For those who are 30-plus, 20-plus, where's the fear? Another 10 years, (it'll be) completely gone."

I'm not so sure.

A letter, "Why this PAP voter stuck with the party" (10 May) in The Straits Times, from someone who described himself as from the "older electorate", used this logic in how he cast his vote: "... the decision of the Workers' Party to contest in Aljunied GRC ironically laid the groundwork for the PAP's success in other constituencies at the expense of WP's fellow opposition parties.

"For older voters like me, the fear of a PAP defeat in Aljunied GRC convinced me to vote for the ruling party in Tampines GRC. I voted thus because the WP left me with no choice. In my view, there was nothing to fall back on if voters elsewhere plumbed for the opposition.

"If I had voted for the opposition in Tampines GRC, and it had won, that would have led to a larger cluster of GRC-victorious parties.

"It could well have meant that the PAP might not have been returned to power -- a risk that I wasn't prepared to take."

I think this writer's sentiment reflects that of quite a number of voters, and I suspect this number includes those from the ranks of Gen Y too. If so, both the PAP and the opposition parties will be factoring in this sentiment in their next General Election strategies.