Well, Temasek Polytechnic's Students' Elections 2006 has officially ended. Votes have been polled, and after tallying all of them up, Temasek Polytechnic Students' Union (TPSU)'s Executive Committee for the Academic Year 06/07 has been officially decided. Here's how the list shapes up:

1) Alvin Neo Wee Kian (INT) - 421 votes
2) Ong Kai-Ming Terence (ENG) - 391 votes
3) Lee Tat Ming (BUS)
4) Sarah Lois Yong Shi Hui (BUS)
5) Cai Yu Ting (BUS)
6) Tan Yee Ping (BUS)
7) Clifton Lam Jia Hao (BUS)
8) Nathaniel Jodin (BUS)
9) Low Yi Ling (BUS)
10) Leong Soon Poh (ENG)
11) Tan Yi Jia (ASC)
12) Li Wei Sheng (BUS)
13) Glenda Goh Ming Zi (BUS) - 194 votes
13 ) Elene Liew (BUS) - 194 votes

Now, like last year, there is a tie for the 13th seat in the ExCo for TPSU this year. Last year it was between Rajes and YaoDa(was a no-brainer last year =x)...but this year, fate chose to deal a cruel blow to 2 good friends who became close during the elections period. It shouldn't be like this, but Fate has us all on a tight leash..so these gals gotta do what they must do - present their case in front of the confirmed 12 candidates and hope these 12 people pick either one of them to be in the committee. Im torn between 2 dilligent workers who are good contributions to the committee. Anyone who can find a solution to incorporate these 2 into the committee together, please lemme know, as i don't have the slightest of ideas who to vote for.

But moving on to personal thoughts, I'm deeply gutted to have lost out on the presidency AGAIN(ok, not open secret that when i first ran for SU, i aimed to be part of top 2, something like a dark horse), even worse this year as it's my penultimate year in TP and I would have loved to cap my TP journey with a "TPSU President" tag on my resume. But that's not the only reason why I wanted Presidency that much..I truly believe i can contribute fully in that capacity and withstand the heat,pressure and demands that the hotseat emits and actually bring SU to greater heights. And to lose by 20 votes was plain cruel - I truly felt the disappointment and tears England felt when they lost to Portugal on penalties, never mind that England CAN NOT win a penalty shootout for nuts (3 Lions FactFile: England have only won 1 of their last 6 penalty shootouts in major tournaments - and that came against Spain in Euro 96 2nd Round). I felt like just seating there after the election results a la Frank Lampard. It hurts just as much as the penalty taker who missed the deciding shot, as much also as the team-mate rooting for him. Not to mention the pain and anguish maximised, felt by the English fans who have to endure 42 years of pain at least for another major trophy - Euro 2008: Austria & Switzerland.


Nonetheless, the main concern is the students in TP. They deserve alot better after the circus that was TPSU ExCo 05/06. I, as newly-elected VP of TPSU, vow to bring new, refreshing activities and events to the table for TP students, as well as revitalize current events to make it more appealing to a bigger crowd. To the new committee - Let's work together, for a better SU. To Alvin Neo - I've lost out, but hey, for the better of the TP students. Harmony aight? ;)

(Edit: I left out on the thank-you speech...I wanna thank the 390 people who voted for me this year. Not to mention people like Pok, Hang, Tay, Kenny Lee, Teow Hwee, Bao Fa, Jun Wei aka Ah GAD, Louis and other IFC SIP people who helped me pull votes as well as put up posters all over TP. Also to people like Wendy, Joelle, Daphne aka Yean Ping, Glenda & Elene for helping me pull votes from people who i have no idea who they were. To my mom, who sponsored my posters/election campaign from day 1..I Love Ya Mom!...as well as to the many people out there who i may have forgotten to mention...Hope I'll get to repay you all by doing a good job in TPSU.)


One last time before 05/06 ends - TP OEI!


Ok, I'm off to watch the World Cup final!! 4 years after Brazil defeated Germany thanks to a (slimmer) Luiz Nazario Da Lima Ronaldo brace, 2 new teams stand up against each other for the right to be called World Champions for the next 4 years at least. Will it be France, they of the football magician Zinedine Zidane, pacy Thierry Henry and creatively-unknown Franck Ribery, adding to their sole World Cup triumph back in 98 (where they beat Brazil 3-0, thanks to a carbon-copy pair of Zidane headers and a Petit break-away in the 89th minute)....or will it be Italy, they of the impregnable defence(leaked ONLY 1 goal so far, and that was a Riccardo Zaccardo freakish own goal VS the USA) marshalled by the experienced and solid Fabio Cannavaro, no-look-pass Andrea Pirlo and goalscoring machine Luca Toni, who will claim their 3rd World Cup title, the last being in 1982 when Paolo Rossi, back after a 2-year suspension due to alleged match-fixing, topped the goal-scoring charts and brought the crown directly to Italy's feet.

History suggests on 1 hand, that the Italians are well-poised to win it, as their last triumph was on the back of a match-fixing scandal, similiar to this year, where Juventus, Fiorentina, AC Milan and Lazio are currently standing trial for charges along those lines. On the other hand though, France are in good stead as well...their route from the S-Finals onwards was the same as their last major honor - EURO 2000 (Back then, they beat Portugal after a last-minute penalty from Zinedine Zidane, from a Abel Xavier handball..then went on to beat Italy in a pulsating final 2-1 (aet) when David Trezeguet came off the bench to score a cracker inside the penalty box to seal it for France).

Form books suggest Italy though, who have not conceded yet.

This time around, i'm watching this game PURELY as a spectator...a football fanatic who loves the romance of a good football match - served up in attacking style by teams who wanna win the World Cup.


France or Italy?


Stay tuned.....


Terence..OUT!