Our parliament has finally ammended the Parliamentry Act to
legalise overseas voting - something that should have been done A
LONG TIME AGO. Talk about efficient government? LOL..
Although the election department is quick to point out
that:
(a) you must have resided in Singapore for an aggregate
of two years during the period of five years of being away as of
the cut-off date of the Registers of Electors; OR
(b) you are -
(i) on full-time training or full-time service abroad as a member
of the Singapore Armed Forces, or as a public officer or an
employee of a Singapore public authority;
(ii) on full-time training which is sponsored by the Singapore
Government or any Singapore public authority;
(iii) employed outside Singapore by an international organisation
of which Singapore is a member, or any other organisation
designated by the President under the Constitution of the Republic
of Singapore; or
(iv) the spouse, or a parent, child or dependent of a person
referred to in sub-paragraphs (i) to (iii) above.
Reference: http://www.elections.gov.sg/overseasreg_faqs.htm
They did not publicise the criteria for inelligbility states
that:
(f) your name has not been entered on a register of
electors in any other country of territory
Reference: http://www.elections.gov.sg/forms/ovrform.pdf
Although the revised Parliamentry Act has been highly publicised
as the government's intention to attract Singaporeans abroad to
come back, there is a problematic clause in the revised
Parliamentry Act. The clause excludes Singaporeans residing in a
foreign country that impose foreign residents to register as a
voter.
One such country is the United Kingdom. Singaporeans (student or
non-student) do not have a choice to exclude our
names on the British Register.
Commonwealth (former British Colonies) residents in the UK
are entitled to vote for British election, and thus our
(Singaporeans in UK) names will be entered in the British Register
by default. Registration as a Voter for British Election is
compulsory in the UK.
The consequence of the conflict between the Singapore Parliamentry
Act and British Electoral System is that Singaporeans
residing in the UK will loose our voting rights as a citizen of
Singapore, irregardless if we had resided in Singapore for an
aggregate of two years during the period of five years of being
away as of the cut-off date OR on public-funded training
program outside Singapore OR being a spouse of such a person.
Firstly, having our names in the British Register does not
necessary mean that a Singaporean whose name has been entered on a
register of elector in a foreign country has lost his allegience to
Singapore.
Secondly, it happened not by our choice. It was imposed on us. We
did not choose to have our name in the British Register, so why
should we (Singaporeans in UK) loose our voting rights?
There is no sense in the revised Parliamentry Act!!!
