Wednesday 30 April 2008

London Votes!

It's funny how wife and I never had the opportunity to vote in Singapore but are now presented with a chance to do so tomorrow.
The face-off is between Ken Livingstone, the Labour incumbent versus the Conservative Party (read opposition) candidate Boris Johnson. We had polling cards, a leaflet explaining the policies which each candidate is proposing and what each of them stands for, sent to our flat.
The incumbent is riding on his past credentials and the fact that he had presided through the 'golden years' of the revival of London as a global financial center, a consequence of the policies his party has implemented. However, there is always a tradeoff for achieving such goals. Public transport is expensive, population growth has seen an exponential spike due to the attractiveness of working in London and the rising cost of living.
The voting will take place on the 1st May, which is not a public holiday unlike the rest of the world.
I can't help recalling my younger days in Singapore where my parents were voting ...