<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - AMK: Alex still working after midnight!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt89 <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>11:17 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>49571.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>Singapore (The Star/ANN) - It was after midnight and Alex Tan was busy distributing flyers of Singapore's opposition Reform Party candidates at coffeeshops near the Ang Mo Kio MRT station.
It is the first time 23-year-old Tan will be voting in general elections and he is standing as a candidate too.
"The Prime Minister said people do not sense our presence in the area, so we have come out for the walkabout after midnight. People must know we are here.
"I used to do night-cycling and there are a lot of people out after midnight.
"So I thought it would be a good idea to come out to campaign after midnight.
"It's a lot cooler at night. We would be busy at the party's rallies to come out any earlier," he said.
Tan is from the Singapore People's Party (SPP) but he is on loan to the Reform Party "in the spirit of opposition unity" to contest the six-seat Ang Mo Kio constituency.
In Singapore, there are two types of constituencies one is made up of single seats and known as SMC, while the other is made up a group of seats (GRC) and must be contested as a team and include a candidate who comes from a minority race such as Malay or Indian.
In the Ang Mo Kio constituency, Tan and his Reform Party team are facing the daunting and almost impossible task of trying to unseat Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his PAP team.
In the 2006 election, PAP easily won the constituency by securing 66.1% of the votes.
Brothers John and Frank and their friend Kabi, who are all first-time voters, were at one of the coffeeshops enjoying a late night drink when Tan came distributing the Reform Party flyers.
John, 23, who is a mass communications student, said he would vote for opposition because he wanted a voice in Parliament but his brother Frank, 25, was for PAP all the way.
"I am not anti-PAP. Do you want the government to keep pressing forward and leave the injured behind?
"If a restaurant has loyal customers all this while, do you force your loyal customers out to get new customers?
"That's what the PAP government is doing," said John, who had concerns over the government bringing in foreign workers and ramming laws through Parliament because it has a two-third majority.
He said the opposition had no track record because they had not been given the power to govern.
"So, why not give them five years? If they fail, people can vote them out five years later," he said.
He also did not agree with the high salaries the Prime Minister and ministers are getting.
"If being an MP and a minister is about serving the public, why should they be paid millions?
"Their sense of achievement should come from serving the people and not fat salaries.
"The SDP (Singapore Democratic Party) announced that if its candidates are elected, its MPs would give half their salary to service the people.
"Why doesn't PAP do that?" he asked.
Politicians in Singapore are the most highly-paid in the world.
The Prime Minister earns S$3,870,000 (US$3.1mil) a year, which makes him the highest paid elected leader in the world.
In comparison, US president Barack Obama earns only US$400,000 a year.
Singapore ministers get salaries of at least S$1.2mil a year which is even more than the US president himself.
In a country where the rising cost of living is an issue, high salaries of the ministers touch raw nerves.
While John is really annoyed, his brother Frank however has no problems with the high salaries the ministers are getting.
"The money is a curse. They can't be spending so much," he said.
Another businessman, who came with his son to the PAP rally in Serangoon, thought a few million was not too much to pay for the Prime Minister or ministers for the job they do.
"I think it's okay. And I make more than the Prime Minister does," he said.
But others who are struggling to get by on S$2,000 to S$4,000 a month are not so forgiving.
They are upset that while prices keep going up, their wages do not rise in tandem.
And ministers keep drawing fat paycheques from taxpayers money.
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
It is the first time 23-year-old Tan will be voting in general elections and he is standing as a candidate too.
"The Prime Minister said people do not sense our presence in the area, so we have come out for the walkabout after midnight. People must know we are here.
"I used to do night-cycling and there are a lot of people out after midnight.
"So I thought it would be a good idea to come out to campaign after midnight.
"It's a lot cooler at night. We would be busy at the party's rallies to come out any earlier," he said.
Tan is from the Singapore People's Party (SPP) but he is on loan to the Reform Party "in the spirit of opposition unity" to contest the six-seat Ang Mo Kio constituency.
In Singapore, there are two types of constituencies one is made up of single seats and known as SMC, while the other is made up a group of seats (GRC) and must be contested as a team and include a candidate who comes from a minority race such as Malay or Indian.
In the Ang Mo Kio constituency, Tan and his Reform Party team are facing the daunting and almost impossible task of trying to unseat Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his PAP team.
In the 2006 election, PAP easily won the constituency by securing 66.1% of the votes.
Brothers John and Frank and their friend Kabi, who are all first-time voters, were at one of the coffeeshops enjoying a late night drink when Tan came distributing the Reform Party flyers.
John, 23, who is a mass communications student, said he would vote for opposition because he wanted a voice in Parliament but his brother Frank, 25, was for PAP all the way.
"I am not anti-PAP. Do you want the government to keep pressing forward and leave the injured behind?
"If a restaurant has loyal customers all this while, do you force your loyal customers out to get new customers?
"That's what the PAP government is doing," said John, who had concerns over the government bringing in foreign workers and ramming laws through Parliament because it has a two-third majority.
He said the opposition had no track record because they had not been given the power to govern.
"So, why not give them five years? If they fail, people can vote them out five years later," he said.
He also did not agree with the high salaries the Prime Minister and ministers are getting.
"If being an MP and a minister is about serving the public, why should they be paid millions?
"Their sense of achievement should come from serving the people and not fat salaries.
"The SDP (Singapore Democratic Party) announced that if its candidates are elected, its MPs would give half their salary to service the people.
"Why doesn't PAP do that?" he asked.
Politicians in Singapore are the most highly-paid in the world.
The Prime Minister earns S$3,870,000 (US$3.1mil) a year, which makes him the highest paid elected leader in the world.
In comparison, US president Barack Obama earns only US$400,000 a year.
Singapore ministers get salaries of at least S$1.2mil a year which is even more than the US president himself.
In a country where the rising cost of living is an issue, high salaries of the ministers touch raw nerves.
While John is really annoyed, his brother Frank however has no problems with the high salaries the ministers are getting.
"The money is a curse. They can't be spending so much," he said.
Another businessman, who came with his son to the PAP rally in Serangoon, thought a few million was not too much to pay for the Prime Minister or ministers for the job they do.
"I think it's okay. And I make more than the Prime Minister does," he said.
But others who are struggling to get by on S$2,000 to S$4,000 a month are not so forgiving.
They are upset that while prices keep going up, their wages do not rise in tandem.
And ministers keep drawing fat paycheques from taxpayers money.
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
