Saturday, April 01, 2006
NUSWS Elections (30/3/06)
well well, how do i begin? to start with, there were only 30+ people who attended the elections in CFA. c'mon people, its our band. if you don't care about who's gonna be your future exco members, then its not boding well for the band. even dr mak was there, for goodness sake!
there were several issues from this elections which led me thinking:
1) the issue of who is being allowed to vote. the day before the elections, a list of 'eligible' voters were circulated. they were those members and alumni who had been active in the band in these 2 semesters. those who just joined this semeester, or were not active, or those not from nus (guest players), were not allowed to vote.
so what happened during elections day? due to not enough nusws members showing up, those ineligible people were allowed to vote. which brings the question of fairness and rights out into the open. there were several ineligible people who didn't bother to turn up cos they can't vote. and now suddenly before the elections started they are allowed to vote? kinda sudden and unexpected eh? and what about the notion that rules can be easily bent and meddled with to suit the purposes of the occasion? not enough members to vote? hey, lets invite non-eligible ones whom we told 'you can't vote!' when they were actually part of the band also that they can vote! so that we dont need to have elections on another day! yippee! =p
2) the issue of not being allowed to vote if you weren't there. nope, you can't ask others to help you vote also, even if you wrote a letter authorising them to do so. which again brings into open the question of fairness and the right of members to vote. why must you be there in person and listen to the candidates talk before you were allowed to vote. is it that crucial? why can't a system where members use their nus email addresses email their votes, so you'd know its really them and note some vote-rigging stuff? even overseas singaporeans are allowed to vote in the singapore general elections, they dont have to come back all the way to singapore. there are ways to get beyond the poor-attendance barrier.
3) the issue of not having majority of the votes. while most of the posts are non-events, posts like the presidency would surely require a majority vote in order to be confirmed. cloud received 16 votes, firdaus received 11 votes and xiaoxuan received 7 votes, and cloud was declared the winner. but the begging question is shouldnt a second round of votes be called, where it is only between cloud and firdaus, since in the first round, cloud didnt have a majority vote of more than 50%? how can a president be elected when support is below 50%? ridiculous! this is only normal elections procedure. at least we'll all have a clear picture and are satisfied when things are done the right way.
i think there were other issues i may have missed out. but these were some issues which i felt strongly about. can something be done to change the system to a better one next year? we'll have to wait and find out. me as a comm member will definitely try to improve it for the better.
anyway the elections are over and here are the results for those of you who didnt went:
President: Cloud Chen Zijun
Honorary General Secretary: Chong Yoke Khee
Treasurer: Ni Xiao Xuan
Concert Master: Kirk Benjamin
Librarian: Soon Hock Wei
Publicity and Publications Secretary: Muhammad Firdaus Bin Zainal
Welfare Officer: Derek Ong
Property Master: Post still open
Logistic Officer: Post still open
btw, some people might construe this as a sour-grapes post, which this is not! i accept the results of the elections as it is and have no misgivings whatsover. i'm just pointing out the flaws in the system. i am happy and excited to be in the comm and hopefully great things will happen in future, through hard work of cos!
i try my best to be open and have constructive honest discussions cos i care for the band, and i hate seeing things screwing up without something be done to rectify them. i know i might receive flak for some comments that i made, but then again, if i just kept quiet about nagging matters, it defeats the purpose of me trying to point out issues in the band and trying to help improve the band. so if you care pls join in the discussion and we'll see what we can come up with to help improve the band. let not be apathetic nusws members! until then, comments are appreciated. do you have any suggestions to improve the elections process or any other matters in NUSWS? share them! lets try improve NUSWS. until then, have a nice day!
Next event coming up:
NUSWS General Meeting
Thursday, 6 April 2006
7PM
CFA
Be there of be square! =p
but seriously, be there if you care about the band, cos we'll be deciding important issues like nominating whos gonna be our next conductor after dr mak. it's a very important matter and the opinion of every single member counts. yes, even the "ineligible to vote" members. plus there'll be nice catered food, yummy! seeya there!
¶ 10:46 PM
there were several issues from this elections which led me thinking:
1) the issue of who is being allowed to vote. the day before the elections, a list of 'eligible' voters were circulated. they were those members and alumni who had been active in the band in these 2 semesters. those who just joined this semeester, or were not active, or those not from nus (guest players), were not allowed to vote.
so what happened during elections day? due to not enough nusws members showing up, those ineligible people were allowed to vote. which brings the question of fairness and rights out into the open. there were several ineligible people who didn't bother to turn up cos they can't vote. and now suddenly before the elections started they are allowed to vote? kinda sudden and unexpected eh? and what about the notion that rules can be easily bent and meddled with to suit the purposes of the occasion? not enough members to vote? hey, lets invite non-eligible ones whom we told 'you can't vote!' when they were actually part of the band also that they can vote! so that we dont need to have elections on another day! yippee! =p
2) the issue of not being allowed to vote if you weren't there. nope, you can't ask others to help you vote also, even if you wrote a letter authorising them to do so. which again brings into open the question of fairness and the right of members to vote. why must you be there in person and listen to the candidates talk before you were allowed to vote. is it that crucial? why can't a system where members use their nus email addresses email their votes, so you'd know its really them and note some vote-rigging stuff? even overseas singaporeans are allowed to vote in the singapore general elections, they dont have to come back all the way to singapore. there are ways to get beyond the poor-attendance barrier.
3) the issue of not having majority of the votes. while most of the posts are non-events, posts like the presidency would surely require a majority vote in order to be confirmed. cloud received 16 votes, firdaus received 11 votes and xiaoxuan received 7 votes, and cloud was declared the winner. but the begging question is shouldnt a second round of votes be called, where it is only between cloud and firdaus, since in the first round, cloud didnt have a majority vote of more than 50%? how can a president be elected when support is below 50%? ridiculous! this is only normal elections procedure. at least we'll all have a clear picture and are satisfied when things are done the right way.
i think there were other issues i may have missed out. but these were some issues which i felt strongly about. can something be done to change the system to a better one next year? we'll have to wait and find out. me as a comm member will definitely try to improve it for the better.
anyway the elections are over and here are the results for those of you who didnt went:
President: Cloud Chen Zijun
Honorary General Secretary: Chong Yoke Khee
Treasurer: Ni Xiao Xuan
Concert Master: Kirk Benjamin
Librarian: Soon Hock Wei
Publicity and Publications Secretary: Muhammad Firdaus Bin Zainal
Welfare Officer: Derek Ong
Property Master: Post still open
Logistic Officer: Post still open
btw, some people might construe this as a sour-grapes post, which this is not! i accept the results of the elections as it is and have no misgivings whatsover. i'm just pointing out the flaws in the system. i am happy and excited to be in the comm and hopefully great things will happen in future, through hard work of cos!
i try my best to be open and have constructive honest discussions cos i care for the band, and i hate seeing things screwing up without something be done to rectify them. i know i might receive flak for some comments that i made, but then again, if i just kept quiet about nagging matters, it defeats the purpose of me trying to point out issues in the band and trying to help improve the band. so if you care pls join in the discussion and we'll see what we can come up with to help improve the band. let not be apathetic nusws members! until then, comments are appreciated. do you have any suggestions to improve the elections process or any other matters in NUSWS? share them! lets try improve NUSWS. until then, have a nice day!
Next event coming up:
NUSWS General Meeting
Thursday, 6 April 2006
7PM
CFA
Be there of be square! =p
but seriously, be there if you care about the band, cos we'll be deciding important issues like nominating whos gonna be our next conductor after dr mak. it's a very important matter and the opinion of every single member counts. yes, even the "ineligible to vote" members. plus there'll be nice catered food, yummy! seeya there!
¶ 10:46 PM
Comments:
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LOL. Now you know why there are so many things that need to be changed? The system itself seems to be questionable.
Nonetheless, I hope next year you'll run for president. You have the experience through a year, and I think, that is the most important thing.
I saw the flaws in exco05/06, so I'll set about correcting them in 06/07. If some new guy were to lead, I think we'll waste another year letting him/her learn the ropes. I'll vote for you next year!!
Nonetheless, I hope next year you'll run for president. You have the experience through a year, and I think, that is the most important thing.
I saw the flaws in exco05/06, so I'll set about correcting them in 06/07. If some new guy were to lead, I think we'll waste another year letting him/her learn the ropes. I'll vote for you next year!!
haha.. we'll have to see first next yr la, hopefully things will improve for the better. if i go on exchange, i wont be able to run.
in the meantime, u have my full support and commitment as an exco member!
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in the meantime, u have my full support and commitment as an exco member!
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