Singapore voters on Saturday headed to the polls after taking in the calm of cooling-off day following a frenetic nine days of election campaigning.
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While hot-button issues such as cost of living and plurality in parliament versus the security of a PAP-led government form the main themes, the electorate cast their ballots with rally catchphrases ringing in their ears and political memes dancing on their minds.
Here’s what voters may have been thinking of as they stamped their political choices on the ballot paper:
Pod boom
Voters were spoiled for choice when it came to catching their would-be MPs on podcasts in this election. While the last election in 2020 saw the early stages of the medium gaining prominence during the country’s first online campaign amid Covid-19 restrictions, cabinet ministers and prominent opposition figures alike chose platforms like Yah Lah BUT, The Daily Ketchup and Political Prude in this election to convey their messages.
In an episode of Yah Lah BUT on Thursday, hosts Terence Chia and Haresh Tilani criticised the new format of national broadcaster CNA’s round table with candidates. Unlike the format in 2020, where candidates asked each other questions, this year’s round table on April 28 featured candidates answering questions posed by the host or an expert.
“Podcasts seem to be the only platforms that are trying to advocate for more conversation in this election, and that’s where I hope that we, you know, we are part of the process of training people to want more conversation, want more authenticness, authentic conversations with their leaders,” Chia said.
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Echoing his sentiments, Tracy Loh, a senior lecturer in communications at the Singapore Management University, said the more “relaxed” format provided viewers a different perspective of politicians.
“It allows politicians’ personalities to shine through especially if there are off-the-cuff moments during the podcast. Hence politicians can come across as more authentic and transparent,” she said.