Reader littlecartnoodles has highlighted concerns and questioned the integrity of the whole Tur Kwa election process held on mrbrown.com:
The radio button for "Tur Kwa" was selected by default when readers come to this website.
This just reflects the iron-fisted stranglehold by the Ruling Party on the limited choices that voters have.
Voters who want an alternative spelling must take the explicit step of manoeuvring their mice pointers to click other radio buttons, knowing that their IP addresses would be logged by the servers.
We wish to point out that the reason that the radio button defaulted to "Tur Kwa" is because of a technical limitation of the polling system and not an attempt at gerrymandering.
Voters still have the option to choose the spelling that best represents them, by clicking on the other candidates. We would also like to reassure voters that your vote is secret. No IP addresses are logged when you vote, and the only reason we know which sector of the internet supported which spelling is because we have alert counting agents.
Reader morningside also questioned:
Why are u posting your poll question with a rulling party's mentality? When you ask how to spell "tur kwa", and "tur kwa" is one of the choices, isn't it naturally that MOST Singaporeans will simply choose the "status quo".
In response to that, our choice of "Tur Kwa" in the title of the polls is by no means an endorsement of that spelling. Voters are free to choose an alternative spelling, and we are sure that "Tur Kwa" is leading not because we use that spelling to describe the polls, but because it has a proven track record, being used even in leading and impartial newspapers.
In case anyone feels we have been heavy-handed in dealing with littlecartnoodles' questioning of this Tur Kwa polls, a lack of response on our part would have undermined public confidence in the integrity of mrbrown's elections system, and done serious damage to the reputation of the mrbrown and pork liver in general.
On another note, "Tur Kwa" as a candidate is leading at 35.1%, which is a strong mandate indeed. However, "Ter Kwa" is not far behind at 32.5%, so it is still too early to call. Jalan Besar Coffee Shop bookies are refusing to take any more bets for now, citing the close fight.
Reader mystery pointed out early that "Ter Gua", a fairly young and unknown spelling, may lose his deposit, but it looks like sympathy votes for what some has termed Suicide Six (there are six letters in "Ter Gua") has brought its share of the votes to 15.4%, well above the 12.5% candidates need to get in order to have their elections deposit refunded.
This election is a watershed one, and the fight is far from over, as we also await the votes from our overseas readers (who have met all the required criteria to vote, because we do want overseas voters who still have a stake in Tur Kwa).
Vote carefully, vote wisely!
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