I am a Cheng San Voter in 1997 when it was hotly contested by Tang Liang Hong and JBJ. PAP started to use their despicable vote buying tactic via HDB upgrading programs.
Any person with a strong belief in Democratic Values would immediately be disgusted with such vote buying pork barrel politicking. I decided that if I wanted to continue to stay here in Singapore, I will have to change the political system drastically else my future generations will suffer with such bad values.
I keep my Core Values of Democracy intact since. It is easy to be preacher of Democracy but it is never easy to be a true practitioner of Democracy. Example like Freedom of Speech. Most people will only pay lips service to Freedom of Speech or "Transparency", "Accountability" or such, but when it comes to the crunch, they will just forget all about these values and do otherwise.
The simplest Democratic idea is "Freedom of Speech" or Expression. Many people just pay lips service to it but when people started to criticise them, they became defensive and basically shut people up by blocking them from expressing themselves.
Back to the Core Values of Democracy which pushed me towards Opposition Politics, I hope that opposition parties and ruling party alike, should not cultivate that bad mindset that your votes can be bought over. Anybody who tries to buy votes in any ways, should be dealt with. PAP should be taken to task for many of these breaches but the political reality in Singapore under its absolute Monopoly of Powers, without effective separation of powers, it is really hard to establish the Rule of Law politically. (That is why we ended up with that idiotic conclusion that inside a polling station is not regarded as "within 200m" judgement!)
But nevertheless, we as Democratic warriors, should not fall into the dark side just because the PAP has no Honour whatsoever in upholding Democracy. They have breached the rules which they set for themselves but get away with it repeatedly but that doesn't mean Opposition parties who are fighting to establish REAL Democracy in Singapore should do what they did.
Goh Meng Seng
The following is the Electoral Rules on Corrupt Practices:
CORRUPT PRACTICES
Personation
57.—(1) Every person who —
(a)
at an election applies for a ballot paper or to record his vote at a DRE voting machine in the name of some other person, whether that name be that of a person living or dead, or of a fictitious person; or
(b)
having voted once at any such election, applies at the same election for a ballot paper or to record his vote at a DRE voting machine in his own name,
shall be guilty of the offence of personation.
[19/2001]
(2) The offence of personation under this section shall be an arrestable offence within the meaning of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (Act 15 of 2010).
Treating
58.—(1) A person shall be guilty of treating if he corruptly, by himself or by any other person, either before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly gives or provides, or pays wholly or in part the expense of giving, any meat, drink, refreshment, cigarette, entertainment or other provision or thing or any money or ticket or other means or device to enable the procuring of any such meat, drink, refreshment, cigarette, entertainment or other provision or thing, to or for any person —
(a)
for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or refrain from voting;
(b)
for the purpose of inducing that person to attend or remain at any election meeting;
(c)
on account of any such person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting or being about to vote or refrain from voting at the election; or
(d)
on account of any such person having attended an election meeting.
(2) A person shall also be guilty of treating if he corruptly accepts or takes any such meat, drink, refreshment, cigarette, entertainment or other provision or thing or any such money or ticket or who adopts any other means or device to enable the procuring of such meat, drink, refreshment, cigarette, entertainment or other provision or thing.
Undue influence
59. Every person who —
(a)
directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or loss upon or against any person in order to induce or compel that person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of that person having voted or refrained from voting at any election; or
(b)
by abduction, duress or any fraudulent device or contrivance, impedes or prevents the free exercise of the franchise of any elector or voter, or thereby compels, induces or prevails upon any elector or voter either to vote or refrain from voting at any election,
shall be guilty of the offence of undue influence.
Bribery
(60) The following persons shall be deemed guilty of the offence of bribery:
(a)
very person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, gives, lends, or agrees to give or lend, or offers, promises, or promises to procure or to endeavour to procure, any money or valuable consideration to or for any elector or voter, or to or for any person on behalf of any elector or voter or to or for any other person, in order to induce any elector or voter to vote or refrain from voting, or corruptly does any such act on account of that elector or voter having voted or refrained from voting at any election under this Act;
(b)
every person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, gives or procures, or agrees to give or procure, or offers, promises, or promises to procure or to endeavour to procure, any office, place or employment to or for any elector or voter or to or for any person on behalf of any elector or voter, or to or for any other person, in order to induce that elector or voter to vote or refrain from voting, or corruptly does any such act on account of that elector or voter having voted or refrained from voting at any election under this Act;
(c)
every person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) to or for any person in order to induce that person to procure or endeavour to procure the return of any person as a Member of Parliament, or the vote of any elector or voter at any election under this Act;
(d)
every person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement to or for any person who is assisting or has promised to assist a candidate at an election to induce that person to refrain from assisting that candidate;
(e)
every person who upon or in consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement procures or engages, promises or endeavours to procure, the return of any person as a Member of Parliament, or the vote of any elector or voter at an election under this Act;
(f)
every person who —
(i)
advances or pays or causes to be paid any money to or to the use of any other person with the intent that the money or any part thereof shall be expended in bribery at any election under this Act; or
(ii)
knowingly pays or causes to be paid any money to any person in discharge or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery at any such election;
(g)
every elector or voter who, before or during any election under this Act, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, receives, agrees, or contracts for any money, gift, loan, or valuable consideration, office, place or employment, for himself or for any other person, for voting or agreeing to vote or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting at any such election;
(h)
every person who, after any election under this Act, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, receives any money or valuable consideration on account of any person having voted or refrained from voting or having induced any other person to vote or to refrain from voting at any such election;
(i)
every person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, on account of and as payment for voting or for having voted or for agreeing or having agreed to vote for any candidate or group of candidates, at an election, or on account of and as payment for his having assisted or agreed to assist any candidate or group of candidates, at an election, applies to that candidate or to any candidate in that group, or to his agent or agents, for the gift or loan of any money or valuable consideration, or for the promise of the gift or loan of any money or valuable consideration or for any office, place or employment or for the promise of any office, place or employment;
(j)
every person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, in order to induce any other person to agree to be nominated as a candidate or to refrain from becoming a candidate or to withdraw if he has become a candidate, gives or procures any office, place or employment or agrees to give or procure or offers or promises to procure or to endeavour to procure any office, place or employment to or for that other person, or gives or lends, or agrees to give or lend, or offers, or promises to procure or to endeavour to procure any money or valuable consideration to or for any person or to or for that other person, or to or for any person on behalf of that other person.
[10/88]
Punishment and incapacities for corrupt practice
61.—(1) Every person who —
(a)
commits the offence of personation, or aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of the offence of personation;
(b)
commits the offence of treating, undue influence or bribery;
(c)
publishes or causes to be published any election advertising during the period beginning with the day the writ of election is issued for an election and ending with the start of polling day at that election which —
(i)
in the case of election advertising that is, or is contained in, a printed document, does not bear on its face or, if there is more than one side of printed matter, on the first or last page of the document, the names and addresses of its printer, its publisher and the person for whom or at whose direction the election advertising is published; or
(ii)
in the case of any other election advertising, does not bear in the form and manner prescribed under section 78A the names and addresses of its publisher and the person for whom or at whose direction the election advertising is published;
(d)
makes or publishes, before or during any election, for the purpose of affecting the return of any candidate, any false statement of fact in relation to the personal character or conduct of the candidate;
(e)
makes or publishes, before or during any election, for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of any candidate, any false statement of the withdrawal of any other candidate at the election; or
(f)
being a candidate or an election agent, knowingly makes the declaration as to election expenses required by section 74 falsely,
shall be guilty of a corrupt practice and shall on conviction by a District Court be liable —
(i)
in the case referred to in paragraph (a), to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both;
(ii)
in the case referred to in paragraph (b), to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both;
(iii)
in the case referred to in paragraph (c), to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both;
(iv)
in the case referred to in paragraph (d) or (e), to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; or
(v)
in the case referred to in paragraph (f), to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
[31/2001; 10/2010]
(2) Every person who is convicted of a corrupt practice shall become incapable for a period of 7 years from the date of his conviction of being registered as an elector or of voting at any election under this Act or of being elected as the President or a Member, and if at that date he has been elected a Member, his election shall be vacated from the date of the conviction.
[21/91]
(3) A prosecution for a corrupt practice except any corrupt practice as defined in subsection (1)(d) and (e) shall not be instituted without the consent of the Public Prosecutor.
[15/2010]
(4) Without prejudice to section 57, every offence of undue influence or bribery under section 59 or 60, as the case may be, and every other corrupt practice under subsection (1)(c), (d) or (e) shall be an arrestable offence within the meaning of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (Act 15 of 2010).
[10/2010]
(5) Where any election advertising is published in contravention of subsection (1)(c), the printer of the election advertising as well as the person for whom or at whose direction the election advertising is published shall each also be guilty of a corrupt practice and shall each be liable on conviction to the same punishment and incapacity under this section as the publisher thereof.
[31/2001]
(6) Subsection (1)(c) shall not apply in respect of —
(a)
the distribution of a book, or the promotion of the sale of a book, for not less than its commercial value, if the book was planned to be published regardless of whether there was to be an election;
(b)
the publication of a document directly by a person or a group of persons to their members, employees or shareholders, as the case may be;
(c)
the publication of any news relating to an election —
(i)
in a newspaper in any medium by a person permitted to do so under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (Cap. 206); or
(ii)
in a radio or television broadcast by a person licensed to do so under the Broadcasting Act (Cap. 28);
(d)
the telephonic or electronic transmission by an individual to another individual of the first-mentioned individual’s own political views, on a non-commercial basis; or
(e)
such other circumstances or activities as may be prescribed by the Minister by order in the Gazette.
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