“Should Singaporean Youths be Allowed to Vote at 18?â€
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For those who are interested
http://www.wp.sg/youth/index.php
Youth Quake
“Should Singaporean Youths be Allowed to Vote at 18?”
The Workers’ Party Youth Wing is pleased to invite you to participate in the first of our YouthQuake Forums and partake in a discussion on how youths in Singapore can be encouraged to adopt and carry forward a refreshing new agenda on voting age. This forum session seeks to educate, empower, and unite young people to bring youth-centric issues into the forefront of public discourse. It aims to provide an opportunity for youths to share their insights and opinions on promoting a vote@18 agenda in Singapore.
The first YouthQuake Forum will be held on
Date 3rd May 2008 (Saturday) Time 1400 hrs – 1600 hrs. Please be seated by 1345 hrs Venue 216-G Syed Alwi Road #02-03 
The speakers for this event are:
- Choo Zheng Xi: Zheng Xi will be speaking on the pros and cons of a vote @ 18 agenda.
- Bernadette Tan: “A vote @18 agenda is more than a political issue. It’s a core social issue.”
- Khairulanwar Zaini: Khairulanwar will be touching on the double standards adopted in Singapore of doing national service @ 18 while voting @ 21.
Speaker profiles:
Choo Zheng Xi
Choo Zheng Xi is a second year student at the NUS Law Faculty. He was the youngest speaker to make his case at the Speaker’s Corner, taking to the soapbox in 2000 at the age of 14. His activism has since refined but he is no less passionate about youth involvement in the public sphere. Zheng Xi organized Myanmar Peace Awareness Day on all local campuses on August 2007. This involved public forums, red ribbon and armband distribution, and public petition signing. He is also the owner and Editor of TOC (www.theonlinecitizen.com), a local online news and social commentary website with an established readership. He is currently involved in a blogger’s project to craft a position paper on deregulation to be submitted to the government. He looks forward to a day when youth involvement in public discourse will be the norm rather than the exception.
Bernadette Tan
Bernadette Tan is 17 this year. Formerly from Methodist Girls’ School (MGS), she is currently in her first year at Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC). In MGS she represented the school in a variety of debating competitions. Now in ACJC she has continued her career as an orator, having already represented the school in the National Forensics League, an American oratory competition. She is the eldest daughter of Eric Tan, the WP East Coast candidate in the 2006 General Elections.
Khairulanwar Zaini
Khairulanwar Zaini is willingly defending the nation although he would be glad to be deprived of the honour for the next remaining ten months. He remains a silent sideline observer of the socio-political landscape in Singapore, sporadically becoming outraged at certain political developments and even more sporadically writes about opposition development at (http://burningrepublicstate.wordpress.com). A liberal at heart, he awaits the day a Singaporean politician will campaign on themes of hope and love.
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How politicised are the youth?
What is their level of awareness and knowledge?
High level or low level?
Easily fooled, agitated and manipulated by propaganda?
If PAP spreads propaganda in the mainstream media, what is their reaction?
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NO.
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N.O.
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At 21, i don't think most Singaporeans young adults are even concerned with the politics
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too young to vote and not aware of issues. A dumb idea by WP youth Wing.
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No.... reason, easily influenced by any source...
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vote wat?
which psp game the best?
or whether fahrenheit or bang bang tang more cool? -
At 18..... most youth can't even control their homos.
And even if they could Vote..... does it means that they will get to......
one word - Walkover
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If NSman below the age of 21 can be deem mature enough to carry arms and live ammo in public to perform their duty, why are they not mature enough to vote ?
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They can vote if they are politicised.
But if they know nothing about politics and easily hoodwinked...
Want to be soldier also must go BMT.
Want to vote, must be aware also.
But PAP regime won't allow that.
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YES!!!
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"If NSman below the age of 21 can be deem mature enough to carry arms and live ammo in public to perform their duty"
Really? Does that occur?
If 18 can vote you can be sure PAP will takan the teenagers who vote opposition or organize opposition activities outside of camp. The 18 year old girls will be studying so why should they be involved in politics in an undemocratic country.
"most youth can't even control their homos"
WTF.
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They can vote if they are politicised.
But if they know nothing about politics and easily hoodwinked...
"If NSman below the age of 21 can be deem mature enough to carry arms and live ammo in public to perform their duty"
Really? Does that occur?
If 18 can vote you can be sure PAP will takan the teenagers who vote opposition or organize opposition activities outside of camp. The 18 year old girls will be studying so why should they be involved in politics in an undemocratic country.
It does occur in the army but more so in the police.True, voting will politicise the population but more importantly, it also empowers the people an opportunity to vote for the country's future.How democratic or undemocratic about this country is IMO an another issue. I think the issue here is the percieved maturity of the population that made the voting age in Singapore above 21 and i find this ridiculous.Poh said something about some youth knowing nothing about politics and are easily hookwinked, but i like to ask, how many adults in singapore knows politics and are fully informed to be hookwinked-proof?Takan by PAP? Hmm, i dont really know but im pretty sure a few of my former colleagues whom were critical of the govt hold good positions... -
" im pretty sure a few of my former colleagues whom were critical of the govt hold good positions..."
Imperative word is "were". And were they critical enough to join protests etc? If their livelihood is dependent on the PAP regime, they will be marginalized by the PAP government as well.
The reason why Singaporeans should not be able to vote at 18 is because firstly unlike Western countries, they are not taught at school in detail about politics for eg parliamentary system etc as part of the compulsory curriculum. Secondly LIKE Western countries, at 18 regardless of the draft or not, the majority of the teenagers are too immature or too young to remember what life was like for working adults say 5 years old.
Unless you are really smart and have too much free time, I doubt that at 18 most people would also lack the basic knowledge of political science and philosophy...
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I doubt that at 18 most people would also lack the basic knowledge of political science and philosophy...
PAP can use mainstream media to do propaganda work.
But that would be like waiting for gold to fall from the sky.
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"It does occur in the army but more so in the police."
Then they should not be allowed to do so. I dont trust a 19 or 20 year old to make a correct decision when confronted with a situation WITHOUT supervision.
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That is your opinion and i respect that, however what i want to point out in this discussion is how ironic is the govt when they deem citizen below the age of 21 inmature to vote while on the other hand gives servicemen within the same age group the responsibility to carry arms and ammo in public."It does occur in the army but more so in the police."
Then they should not be allowed to do so. I dont trust a 19 or 20 year old to make a correct decision when confronted with a situation WITHOUT supervision.
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Maybe PAP fears that the youth might vote against them.
Hmm...18-20 years old, mostly all in SAF, become politicised...
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NO
at 18, i don even tink they give a damm about political issue
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at 18, 75% of the youngsters will vote for opposition. just because they can vote, and they think its fun too.
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Originally posted by stellazio:
at 18, 75% of the youngsters will vote for opposition. just because they can vote, and they think its fun too.
no lor.People have brains to decide whats good for them.
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Originally posted by stellazio:
at 18, 75% of the youngsters will vote for opposition. just because they can vote, and they think its fun too.
At 18, the boys will vote for the Opposition if the WP promises to remove National Service. At 18, the girls will vote for the ruling party if the PAP promises not to draft girls into National Service.
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If I were 18, I would vote for whichever party that will put the girls into my platoon and share my bunk :)
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Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
If I were 18, I would vote for whichever party that will put the girls into my platoon and share my bunk :)
sad to know that you were born stupid, your stupidity wasn't a result of aging.
you can't do much about it, it's hereditary.