More ppl than at an average S-leage match

I was over at Hougang over the long weekend with friends for a Worker's Party Rally. Amist the fanfare and excitment of finally having elections in Singapore again, I noticed a few interesting observations.

1) It sure was damn jam-packed! One can wind down the window or follow the horde of people carrying newspapers, fan, chairs etc and you will be able to find the rally site. The carparks were packed n you really can't get any parking lot 5000km from the site.

2) It sure was crowded!
At first I thought only a hand-few of ppl would turn up. Maybe 1000 the max. The number of cars and ppl walking along Hougang was surely not going to be propotionate to the number of ppl who would actually stand on some muddy field right? Boy I was sure wrong. When I first arrived at about 8.15pm, I found myself a nice little spot 100 m away from the stage, and when I realised that I wasn't part of the crowd, we made our way through the 'Zouk-like crowd' to probably about 50m from the stage. We were also at where the loudspeakers were and could hear everything, including those from the front row of the stage. However by about 9pm, when I stood on a chair that we had brought along to take in the view, I was flabbergasted!There was at least 5000 people triple plus gathered. I kid you not. I think it could even have been 10-12 triple 000s. I don't think I guessed wrong. The whole field, including on the trees, side walks, HDB corridors etc were covered by someone!I felt a sense of nationhood that such a crowd had turned up and I sure was fired up!

3) The speeches were disappointing.Besides a Henry 'something' and another hokkien speaking candidate, the other speakers were well below par.These aspiring politicians should go for some courses or pactice more first man! There speeches at times bordered on nothing. If i listened carefully, i could tell where they will coming from, but if i was there for the fanfare, i wouldn't have been able to catch any of those balls that they were trying to throw to the crowd!So if in the very unlikely event that a politician would even be surfing the internet let alone my blog at this stressful period of time, please please please, attend a rally or two, stand among the ppl and listen to your fellow candidates speak. Please. Get your message across in a structured way. Structure it so that ppl can follow.

4) The ending was even more disappointing. Due to the bad speeches, the lack of emotion quotient, or as what I remembered saying, the inability to make my hair stand, the ending was a pure anti-climax. The crowd was not worked-on! We were not made or even forced to think, to feel, to empathise, to feel one with the worker's party!Such a big big disappointment!

However, in all the gloom that i seem to have suggested, all isn't lost for this opposition party. I see and hear where they are coming from. They have a few more days to get their act right. And many more ppl will definately come to hear and hopfully support them.

I do remember hearing alot of these chanting though... 'Workers' Party Workers' Party Workers' Party'!