Appreciation in the time of pandemic

The scene of thousands of migrant workers in Mumbai struggling to get onto buses to return to the countryside when India announced a 21 day lockdown is heart wrenching. Trapped without a job and facing hunger, many are walking hundreds of miles home with their families to escape hunger. The bus stations thronged with people can be the perfect breeding grounds for the Covid 19 virus and may well spread to the countryside. PM Modi's unprecedented announcement drew a lot of criticism over its lack of planning. The government seemed to have been caught off guard by the exodus.

Taking a world view of this Covid 19 crisis, I can really appreciate the painstaking planning and implementation policies undertaken by our own government. The scene of minister Lawrence Wong (who co chairs the task force to tackle the outbreak) fighting back tears when paying tribute to front line workers moved me immensely. Never have I been so overtaken with appreciation.

The government has plans for a a General Election even before the pandemic is over, and understandably so. It has garnered great trust and respect from the way it is tackling the outbreak. So, strike when the iron is hot. The social distancing measures will certainly limit the opposition parties' outreach efforts.

I question myself. If our government has done so well, does it make sense to vote for the opposition?
Will I be ungrateful to do that?

Now to be objective I have to recall the reasons for my support of the opposition Workers Party

-WP's objective is to secure one third seats so that the ruling party can not change the constitution as it wishes or passes bills without careful deliberation. This is particularly important because a one party government perpetuates group think and does not tolerate different opinion or arguments arising from different perspectives.

- Although politics is inevitably dirty, we can not allow the ruling party to implement policies that  tantamount to bullying the opposition parties like gerrymandering and suing political opponents.

- The ruling party needs constant reminders from an opposition party that a system based on meritocracy, self reliance and rejection of social welfare has dire consequences and that many are feeling that the system is not working for them.

This coming GE won't be a no brainer for me.