A short note on Taufik before it becomes extremely old news.

On Wednesday night, shortly after turning 24, I decided to do my patriotic duty as a Singaporean and join my friend in the alliance she founded - Non-Malays For Taufik. I could not, in good conscience, allow Sylvester "Ah Beng To The Core And I Love It" Sim, to represent my country on an international level. As a result, I coughed up S$2 and voted four times for what it was worth. Thankfully, my votes (nothing compared to Olinda Cho's 900 times, but still) did make a difference.

However, with MediaCorp's refusal to reveal the margin Taufik beat Sylvester by, as well as both finalists being awarded exactly the same prizes (three-year management contract and a one-year recording contract, with Sly already being prepared to be marketed to the Chinese music market) in addition to the cancellation of World Idol, the very first Singapore Idol is turning out to be a bit of a joke. What was the point of having people vote in the first place if it wasn't going to make a difference as to what would happen to the two? I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have voted if I'd known there wasn't going to be a World Idol this year, and that many others feel the same way too.

C'mon, MediaCorp. Play fair.

Edited on December 8: MediaCorp, apparently responding to the protests of many angry fans, revealed on December 6 that Taufik had won by a landslide, having obtained 62% of the 1.1 million votes the night of the final. Wow. Now that was unexpected.