5 things we learnt from tailing the Workers’ Party in Nee Soon GRC
[FONT=open_sansregular]August 16, 2015[/FONT]
[FONT=open_sansregular]Bye bye, PAP Aljunied Team, it was nice even though we haven't even met you.[/FONT]
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Jeanette Tan
Tan Xing Qi[/FONT]
[FONT=open_sansregular]Chong Pang market, within Nee Soon GRC, was temporarily painted blue this morning.
Why, you might ask? Bigwigs from the Workers’ Party were out in full force, walking the very ground that their party will contest in the impending General Election.
Low Thia Khiang
Photo by Tan Xing QiSylvia Lim
Chen Show Mao
The PAP candidates were out and about, too, with Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah leading a potential candidatewhom we’re pretty sure will be fielded, ACRES founder Louis Ng. Also spotted: lawyer/rockstar Josephus Tan:
At the same time, WP chief Low Thia Khiang responded to DPM Teo Chee Hean’s accusations of him shedding “crocodile tears” over outgoing transport minister Lui Tuck Yew’s surprise departure. Low added today that he thinks Lui is “down to earth”, “doesn’t score political points” and is a “responsible minister who is prepared to be accountable to the members and answers matter-of-factly”.
Here are five observations we have from Sunday morning’s walkabout:
1. The Workers’ Party’s decisiveness informs us that they are not geographically promiscuous.
Hougang SMC MP Png Eng Huat, who was today’s flower pot with Lim, confirmed his entrenched position in the 24-year-long-held opposition ward. He also told us he will do his best to fend off PAP grassroots veteran Lee Hong Chuang, who has just been confirmed to be the ruling party’s suicide mission candidate.
We notice that over in Punggol East, Lee Li Lian also confirmed this, addressing media there on Sunday morning too.
2. Bilingual tennis: DPM Teo whacks WP in English, Low responds with Chinese idiom.
So Low decided to return the favour with a Chinese idiom: 忠言逆耳, which means good, honest advice is hard to accept.
He added in English:
“(Since DPM Teo) wanted to comment in that way, I think let Singaporeans judge and see this is the kind of standard of the PAP in politics. Is it the kind of politics we want in the future? What do you want the future of Singapore to be? Do you want to be more civilized in our political engagement? We are not a third world country. The voters will have to decide what do they want Singapore to be. I will leave it like that.”
At the rate that the politicians are throwing out expressions, phrases and idioms, we’d like to say that very soon we will liak bo kiu (catch no ball).
3. Everyone wants a piece of them.
Now, this morning, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim introduced his slate of candidates for Jalan Besar GRC. This was the size of the group of media who attended the event:
And this was the scrum at Chong Pang Market:
4. Their approach in introducing new faces to residents
Tailing some of the bigwigs were people whom we think are likely to stand in Nee Soon — accompanying Low, for instance, is Kenneth Foo:
And following Png Eng Huat is 30-year-old property agent Ron Tan:
We think they might have a bit of room to improve on this point — and it’s pretty important, actually! The newbies tailed the bigwigs pretty meekly most of the time; they didn’t introduce themselves, neither were they introduced by their seniors, and most of the time, we didn’t see them interacting with the residents they met.
Perhaps it was the morning crowd as some stall owners had no time to talk to them.
Compare this with Lee Bee Wah and how she carefully introduced Louis Ng to each resident she shook hands (with both hands) with. Ng even introduced himself as a new candidate.
Perhaps the WP might find a learning point from the ruling party on this front.
5. WP is quite the tease
Everyone expected them to announce their slate of candidates but they didn’t, so maybe everyone feels cheated.
When the media got wind that the walkabout will be held at Chong Pang, many expected that this could be WP’s turn to introduce the potential candidates contesting in Nee Soon GRC.
Instead, it was just the announcement that WP’s elected MPs will be staying put to defend their constituencies.
And to prove that WP is such a tease, Sylvia Lim posted this on Instagram:
From left: Ron Tan, Young WP member Pam Chae, Sylvia Lim and Kenneth Foo Seck Guan.
Speaking of Instagram, Lim might want to thank the DPM Teo for giving her Instagram account more publicity. Her three-day-old account has more than 1,500 followers now.
Lim is proving to be quite the thrower of shade with her latest Instagram post where she described Chong Pang as Nee Soon GRC anchor minister K Shanmugam’s den and that he is her “favourite” minister.
We are not sure why the quotation marks but we hope the Law and Foreign Affairs Minister has a good sense of humour.
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