You sure you can win

I have no idea why, but it seems like one almost candidate got his day of fame making to the news.

Yes, I am talking about Mr Shirwin Eu (#SureWinYou)

http://www.tnp.sg/news/odd-news/defence-shirwin-eu

Let's just say that there is little not to like about the young man. He is a family man, started a family, have a supportive wife, and entrepreneurial as well, after all,  he is an Uber driver shows that he is hardworking and holds down an honest self-employing job, unlike some other contestant.

But most of all, I think he has guts, enough guts to go up and get the form to stand for election and more so for showing up on nomination day. That takes a lot of courage because by simply showing up, he might have been seen as an anti-establishment troll or someone to upset the status quo, and to stand against the power that be and the chief anti-establishment just doesn't goes down well in any case.

He is honest as well, as he can candidly say

“I like to be elected. I like to, eh, enjoy the fame and wealth of this job prospect."

And that he does have detractors and mostly from the opposition supporters, thinking that he is either a lunatic or a troll. If he was successfully nominated, he would have made it a 3 corner fight, spoiling the chance for Dr. Chee

But what he did, in his failed bid for the nomination, highlight the following due process not mentioned in any National Education Material.

 Parliamentary Elections Act
(CHAPTER 218)  

 Nomination papers

27.
(2) 
(b)be signed by a proposer and a seconder, and 4 or more persons as assentors, each of whom must be a person whose name appears in the register of electors for the electoral division in which the person seeks election;
 

Which means that for someone to be nominated, Sherwin needs to find 6 person within the constituency to nominate him.

While some might decry this as being unfair, but just think about this, if  it is somebody that might not have even heard of, suddenly comes to town and run your town for the next 5 yrs, how would you feel?

The only unfairness here is that, if it is someone that  comes from a party that have established grassroots everywhere, party members in every neighbourhood if not every block, the question might not be the rules, but how such an entity has been allowed to exist in the past decades using tax payers money.

Then, there is a need to put down a deposit. Which may sound mercenary, but probably necessary as the campaign, the posters and the rally all cost money. the only point that is hardly fair is to have the deposit forfeited should the candidate fails to garner a certain level of votes.

What is laughable is the point that people takes issue with an independent candidate. Having someone to stand for an election is the democratic process, the only laughable situation is when the election is a walk-over and the saddest part is that having common folk deriding the democratic process and people actively embarking on this process in the hopes to serve them.