to vote or not to vote

So the UK has spoken. And the Tories have won.

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It's quite amusing -- having Singaporean friends studying in the UK at this time. They're in their early twenties, and most of them were so excited about the opportunity to exercise their vote as Commonwealth citizens. i did too, back when i was an undergrad -- in the election that brought Tony Blair to power. Back then, there was definitely a sense that this might actually be the only time in my life i'd ever get to vote in a national elections. Even now, i think, it's still the running joke -- that as Singaporeans, there is a chance we'd never get to take part in our own elections here if we live in constituencies that are never challenged by opposition candidates, and that the only time we might ever get to vote might well be in a country not our own.

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i voted Lib Dem. Not because i felt any stake in their policies -- but because as a foreigner who wasn't residing long-term in the UK, it just felt wrong, somehow, to be casting a vote that might actually make a difference to the election outcome. So i avoided voting either Tory or Labour and went with the coolest, most popular no-chancer instead. In other words, i voted for the sake of voting, and not because i had anything real to say.
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Now, i'm not sure if my reasoning back then was sound. i guess it all depends on how you see it. It could be interpreted as a refusal to take responsibility, an abuse of a privilege that, to be honest, i'm not sure i actually deserved. One of the young Singaporeans i know who's studying in the UK right now made the case that, in the short run, he enjoys the protections and amenities provided by the current government, and will be affected by the policies of the new government; and in the long run, he's giving a voice to future students and visitors who 'have not yet arrived' but will still be part of the larger political community that is the UK. He felt that voting responsibly was his way of contributing to the community that had given him so much. He also said that using his vote was his way of trying to make the UK a better place for those who were not doing so well under the current government. (No prizes for guessing which way his vote went ... ).
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i'm still in two minds about this. Not that it matters. For now, i'm just wondering whether i'll get the chance to vote in this year's General Elections. (We're all pretty sure it will be this year ... ). i did, in 2011: the first time i ever got to vote in a GE here. Not that there was any real choice ... i hope, of course, that i do get to vote again this year -- and that this time, the choice will be a meaningful one.
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