To those living in my home of Sunny Singapore, you’d be aware of the recent elections. For two days, nobody tweeted about anything else. And if you happened to randomly tweet about sunbathing in your own balcony, your tweet would get lost at sea, a sea of political rants, thoughts and statements.

I think the most significant thing this election is that everyone finally saw each other. Not for the apathetic folk that we presumed each other(and ourselves) to be. But for an actual nation of people. People who argue, people who debate, people who actually give a shit. A few months ago, everyone thought Singapore was like the Singapore some dumb American thinks it is. But we know better now.

I think the general consensus amongst the Gen Y-ers is a general disappointment with the lack of opposition seats. I share that opinion. How does a party with only 60% of the vote get 93% of the seats? Simple my friends, by manipulating the GRC system.

How can a party with 60% votes get 93% of the seats? – Temasek Review

This is why some of the people I know vote opposition whether or not they have any merits. The need to overthrow this system, for some, is the vital deciding factor in voting opposition. And when I think about it, what good is it to vote on faith and merit in a system that lacks fairness.

As someone from the outside looking in, and by the outside, I mean the uncontested Tanjong Pagar GRC, I feel I’ve gotten a bird’s eye view of everyone’s passion, furor and well, what’s the opposite of apathy? One thing we can’t argue is that Singapore had a political awakening this year. Or at least for me, I’ve never seen my peers as invested in the shaping this country as during this General Election. Prior to this, the most common question was, “Who actually cares?”

Well, this year, we found out, we actually care. Weird. I didn’t think I did either. The antidote to apathy? Well, it’s being able to have a voice, and using it. This time, we had help from Zuckerberg, Jobs and the Tweetbird. For me, this talk on TED, felt incredibly relevant to me during this election time.

Dave Meslin, The Antidote to Apathy:

Reason being, yes this year, we had a really super mini revolution, a GRC was finally won by the Worker’s Party. And it had been the most contested election since independence. And many of us feel it’s still just not enough and I agree. But what I find has been really healthy, is apathy being slapped in the face this year. And people paying some damn attention.

The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.

So while my twitter feed is littered with rage against Chiam See Tong’s loss, Tin Pei Ling’s Kate Spade Bag, and PAP’s general lack of ability to say anything but “We will work very hard”, let’s remember, this rage is actually stemmed from pride. Pride in our nation.

Sounds horribly cheesy? Well, let’s just not take it for granted next time.

I leave this post with this final video. And yes, Egyptian issues are a totally different ballgame than Singaporean ones, but I like what Wael Ghonim says, “The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.”

Wael Ghonim, Inside the Egyptian revolution: