mrbrown on polling night of the Singapore General Elections
Once every five years, the elections roll around and make me the busiest person on the planet.
Being the Grand Central of elections humor is not a job I take lightly. My wife becomes an Elections Widow as I spend hours at the coffee shop listening to old men gripe and complain and attending rallies to see if politicians will say something stupid (they do not disappoint).
- More on CNNGo: mrbrown goes to a rally
The mrbrown channel: A preferred choice
So on Polling Day, at 9:30 p.m., when the results were to be announced, I was happy to spend the long night gathered with 30 of my friends at an elections-friendly shop, to catch the announcements on TV.
We had booze, soft drinks and a big-screen TV. And I provided the necessary side commentary while we watched the drama unfold.
Watching the results with me were several thousand Twitter followers who followed my tweets, both the snarky stuff and the winners/losers info that I got wind of even before it was announced live on air.
Yes, I sent out a tweet about the much awaited Aljunied GRC results (WP beats PAP 55-45 percent) long before it was officially announced.
The GE's unsung hero
The highlight of the evening had to be the Returning Officer (RO) Mr Yam Ah Mee. He was a hoot to watch as he came back again and again to the podium to announce the results of each constituency with his trademark calm and impartial monotone.
Each time he walked up to the podium, we would declare, "RObocop is back!".
By the middle of the show, we had already memorized his famous lines and could repeat them along with Mr Yam:
"Pursuant to Section 49, Subsection 7E, Paragraph A of the Parliamentary Elections Act, I declare…"
The man is now an overnight sensation and has more than one Facebook fan page, as well as music remixes and fan videos done in his honor.
Other fun things to do included commenting on our leaders when they came up to do their thank-you speeches.
Heckling the politicians
Our DPM, Mr Wong Kan Seng and his PAP team did not do very well against the team belonging to veteran opposition member Mr Chiam See Tong (in Singapore, winning by anything less than 60 percent of the vote is an embarrassment for the ruling party).
When the height-challenged Mr Wong came up to the podium to say his thank-yous, I could not resist shouting "Phonebook! Someone get him a phonebook!"
The other height-challenged minister, Mr Mah Bow Tan, our unpopular Housing Minister, also drew snickers from us when he made his speech. He also won, but with the worst result of his election life.
I wondered if the crowd below would find it strange that they could hear his voice from the sound system but could see no one at the podium.
It is nice to know that the ruling party is a party that does not discriminate on gender, race, religion and height -- it never occurred to me how many shorty-pants leaders we had.
Saving the best for last
As the night wore on, everyone wanted to know the results for Aljunied, where an "A" team of opposition candidates was trying to unseat a ruling party team that included a well-liked Foreign Minister, a lady Minister, and a potential Speaker of Parliament.
But for some reason, that announcement was only made near the the end. But Singaporeans stayed up, way past 3 a.m., to find out this hot seat result. Maybe "The Man" was keeping the "bad" news for last.
And when it was finally confirmed that Aljunied had indeed fallen to the opposition, cheers (and tears) could be heard throughout Singapore. Some of my friends left to join the party at Hougang Stadium, where the victorious Workers' Party had gathered.
This was the first time a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) was ever wrested from ruling party control, since the GRC scheme was created in 1988.
It was a big deal.
The RO factor
Another interesting thing was watching leaders being cut off while making their speeches because Returning Officer, Mr "RObocop" Yam, was about to make another result announcement.
There was a certain democracy about it. It doesn't matter what minister you are, but when the RO has another result to announce, sorry, your airtime is over.
It was a great GE. One of the best, in fact. There was drama, there was stiff competition from a competent opposition, and there was the comic relief provided by the unflappable Mr Yam.
- More on CNNGo: In pictures: The Singapore General Election 2011
Pursuant to Section 49, Subsection 7E, Paragraph A of the Parliamentary Elections Act, I declare the 2011 General Elections the best GE ever.
And not even Kanye will dispute that.
