May the 4th Be With You

It is a great day for the universe, my friends. Today, we celebrate STAR WARS DAY! Why? Well, just read out the title of this post, it should be obvious enough.

Sad to say, I cannot call myself a Star Wars fan because I didn't even know about this day, until today, when I saw it as a trending topic on Twitter. That's right, Twitter! *takes a moment of silence to contemplate and be grateful for the fact that Twitter is so integral to my life right now*.

So to repent, I'm going to do a Tumblr Star Wars 30 day challenge - ALL CRAMMED INTO ONE SINGLE ENTRY for your entertainment. Okay, I won't have like wordy explanations, I'm just going to give one word answers because it's 30 freaking questions, no way am I going to finish it in time. And to further repent, I'm gonna change my Twitter background to a Star Wars theme!!!

1. All-time favorite character in Star Wars
R2D2. Resourceful, witty, superbly skilled in just about anything - AND HE DOES ALL THIS WHILE COMMUNICATING WITH BEEPS AND BLOOPS!

2. Favorite member of the Rebellion
Han Solo. Cocky, cool suave - yet fights for a cause close to his heart.

3. Favorite member of the Empire
Boba Fett. Speaks barely 2 lines in the original trilogy but is widely known as the most bad ass bounty hunter ever.

4. Favorite Jedi
Obi-Wan Kenobi. Love that I have seen him progress from a Padawan to one of the best Jedi Masters out there. Wise, with immeasurable wit especially in the prequels.

5. Favorite Droid
I answered R2D2 to the first question. So I have to choose another one? Obviously C3P0 for his wishy washy motherly character! But I'd go with the Magna Guards from episode 3 because I like their weapons.

6. Favorite type of ship, or specific ship
The Naboo Royal Cruiser for it's sleek design and silver coloured exterior. Sorry to fans of the original trilogy fighter ships. Look at it!!

7. Favorite planet
Coruscant. Reminds me of New York City. Although I have not been to NYC, that's what I'd like to think of it as.

8. Favorite movie in the original trilogy
The Empire Strikes Back

9. Favorite movie in the prequel trilogy
The Phantom Menace. I know I know, WHATTTTT? But it was the first movie I ever watched, and you always remember your first more fondly than you ought to!

10. Favorite photo that’s related to Star Wars
Was going to go with a parody photo or one of those funny caption ones, but well... I have loved this photo since I was young, it really spooks me out actually, how someone so young and pure minded could be manipulated to become Darth Vader.
 

11. Favorite battle
Space battle or lightsaber battle? The Rebellion destroying the Death Star I for the former, and Anakin versus Obiwan on Mustafar (the final battle).

12. All time favorite scene in any of the movies
The Endor moon chase on the speeder bikes. OK I don't know why! It just is!

13. Favorite quote
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. - Yoda to Anakin when he first met the Council in Episode I.

14. A scene that makes you happy
The Ewoks celebrating Threepio as their god in Return of the Jedi.

15. A scene that makes you sad/angry
Anakin slicing the hands off Mace Windu, Palpatine killing him, then Anakin proceeding to slay everyone in the Jedi Temple.

16. Photo of your Star Wars related things (books, action figures, posters, shirts, etc.)
I don't really have anything Star Wars related other than the DVDs for the prequels and a few books: 

17. Your favorite moment in The Phantom Menace
Since we're talking about mere moments... Anakin defiantly stating "I'm a person, and my name is Anakin" when Padme asked if he was a slave.

18. Your favorite moment in Attack of the Clones
Obi-Wan falling from a height when Anakin zoomed by just in time to catch him in the cruiser... Obi-Wan then said "What took you so long?", as a form of unspoken thanks.

19. Your favorite moment in Revenge of the Sith
Definitely not favourite per say, more like most chilling... Anakin had just turned over to the dark side and walked into the Jedi Temple. A little Padawan of like, 5 years of age asked him "Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?", and he just stared at them and activated his lightsaber.

20. Your favorite moment in A New Hope
Luke staring at amazement at his father's lightsaber.

21. Your favorite moment in Empire Strikes Back
SO MANY. The beginning when Luke stuffed Han inside a tauntaun. The pivotal moment when Luke finds out who his father is. Oh My Gosh I LOVED Luke and Yoda meeting for the first time on Dagobah and the training that ensued! And finally Cloud City where you have the famous "I Love You... I Know" scene from Leia and Han!

22. Your favorite moment in Return of the Jedi
When Darth Vader killed the Emperor. Again, because it was significant, a father's love for his son that could somehow erase all the brainwashing the Emperor did.

23. Something you wished was different in the series
I wish there was a longer time gap between the two trilogies, and also, I wish they never introduced the stupid midichlorian concept to explain The Force.

24. A character you didn’t like in the series
Jarjar Binks.

25. Your favorite book/series from the Expanded Universe
Jedi Quest (Anakin's Padawan years) an Jedi Apprentice (Obi-Wan's Padawan years).

26. Your favorite Obi-Wan Kenobi quote
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes." and "A more elegant weapon from a more civilized age."


27. Your favorite Yoda quote
"Do or do not, there is no try." (other than the one above)

28. Your favorite Darth Vader quote
As Anakin, other than the one above: "Well, I should be! Some day I will be... I will be the most powerful Jedi ever. I promise you. I will even learn to stop people from dying." - because it speaks volumes about how much he fears the people he loves leaving him.
As Darth Vader: "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." - just because.
 
29. Best Star Wars related story/incident you’ve had
We were playing Taboo and the word that came up was "Steven Spielberg". Huijeen hollered "WEIQIN'S FAVOURITE MOVIE!!! STAR WARS!", and someone else shouted "Steven Spielberg!"

Well you can imagine how indignant I was. It isn't the best story ever, but it is the only one I can think of right now.

30. Why you love Star Wars
Because it tells a story of love, redemption, balance, duty, justice and religion amidst a backdrop of futuristic gimmicks like spaceships and lasers. I love that it plays to my literary side as well as my geeky side. While I love the lightsabers and the ships, there's also a part of me that revers the faith the Jedis have, and the cause for which the Rebels fight for. And I know that the Anakin/Padme relationship was doomed from the start, but that didn't stop me from loving their tragic romance.

Anyways...

Yeah, the elections are in 3 days and surprise! I've not blogged a single thing about it. I'm quite sick of all the mudslinging and name calling and analogy driving actually. I know who am I voting for, and I'm not going to influence anyone or anything. All I have to say is vote wisely, this is your country.

Random thoughts: Even if PAP loses a GRC, nothing will change. No way WP's policies will be implemented with just 5 or 6 of their voices in Parliament. Same goes for the other opposition parties.

Also, I've read that you shouldn't vote according to your GRC, like what kind of logic is that I don't know. I want some opposition voices in Parliament too, but I want those opposition voices to come from the WP. In my GRC, RP is contesting against PAP. Whether or not I vote for the PAP will not influence the results of any other GRCs, just mine.

And finally, once a minister is voted out he is out. That means if Aljunied is lost to the Workers Party, there will be no more Foreign Minister George Yeo. I believe the PAP has to be prepared for such a situation to happen and that we will have a back up Foreign Minister......

Which will not be from the Workers Party might I add. As long a party gets the majority of the seats (SEATS NOT VOTES - overall votes don't affect how the parliament is "arranged" for want of a better word*), they are the ruling party. The entire Cabinet will come from that party, since it will be the leader of the ruling party who appoints the cabinet. So I think (and I want) the PAP will still get at least 90% of the seats at the elections.

*I'm not saying it won't affect the thinking of the government, or any party. I'm sure the PAP are not so stupid as to ignore the bare facts that only 66% of eligible Singaporeans voted for them at the last elections. I'm sure it'll affect their future policies if that number falls to 60%. So if you want for vote for the opposition as a scare tactic, go for it. But keep in mind that if everyone thinks your way, the system will be royally screwed. We will not just have change, we will have an upheaval. A tsunami + earthquake + volcano eruption kind of a change.

(So much for finally, I'm so freaking tired at this point I'm sure to have some grammatical errors here and there; forgive me).

Simple bills in the parliament require 50% of the votes to be passed, and amendments to the Constitution require 66%. You do the math - do you think with the current slate of opposition party members we can have at least 35% of our MPs not belonging to the opposition party? Which is why I say, to me, the purpose of having more opposition in the Parliament is just to literally have more diverse voices - something I think our Government should wholly support seeing as the whole point of the GRC system is to have minority (and therefore, diverse) representation in Parliament. Albeit I'm not talking about the same type of diversity here... But you get my drift, no?

Before I go off to watch Star Wars to celebrate May the Fourth (be with you), I just have to add one last thing... The beautiful thing about democracy is that it gives you a voice and lets you have an opinion. Which goes to say that my opinion may not be your opinion, but that doesn't mean any of us are wrong. It means that we agree to disagree, and instead of us throwing insults at each other trying to prove the invalidity of each others' views, democracy allows us to translate our particular feelings for whatever issues onto the piece of paper called the voting slip on polling day, thus eradicating the need for dirty name calling and anonymous bashing.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU! LONG LIVE STAR WARS! OBIWAN FOR PRESIDENT! THE REBELLION FOR RULING PARTY!

YODA FOR SUPREME RULER OF THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!!