There was no other way, says PM Lee
By Rachel Chang
REPORTERS yesterday asked Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong about the last-minute removal of unionist Steve Tan from the People's Action Party's (PAP) slate for Tampines GRC on Nomination Day, and what it said about the PAP's selection process.
Mr Lee said in response that 'there is no absolute certainty in any process of choosing people'.
'We're looking for many attributes, strengths and capabilities, and also testing for weaknesses, and there's no process which is 100 per cent accurate,' he noted at a press conference at the PAP headquarters in Bedok.
'And even if you're accurate now, something may happen later on and we have to revise our assessment.'
Mr Tan, 37, told reporters he had bowed out for 'personal reasons'. Mr Baey Yam Keng replaced him in the Tampines GRC line-up while new face, orthopaedic surgeon Chia Shi-Lu, took Mr Baey's place in Tanjong Pagar GRC.
The PAP team led by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was returned unopposed in Tanjong Pagar GRC after a team of independents led by Mr Ng Teck Siong of the Socialist Front missed the noon deadline to submit its papers.
This is the first time the PAP is not fielding a candidate after he had been formally introduced to the press and public.
PM Lee was unequivocal yesterday that the PAP leadership had not known about Mr Tan's personal situation, arguing that the change would not have been so last minute if it had known.
He said the party and Mr Tan could have 'pretended there was no problem and just carried on'.
'But Steve Tan is honourable, we are (as well), and we decided that awkward as it is, we just had to go through with this, make the last-minute change and explain to people: I'm sorry, something has come up... we have had to make a change.'
Mr Lee said the party had to 'respect and accept' Mr Tan's own personal reasons. However, journalists kept returning to the PAP's candidate selection process and whether the party had known beforehand of the problem that led to Mr Tan not being fielded at the last minute.
'If it had not been necessary to do it at the last minute, it would not have happened at the last minute. I mean, does it make sense for me to volunteer to do something like this if I had an alternative?' Mr Lee asked in exasperation.
He also rejected claims that the insertion of Dr Chia, 39, into Tanjong Pagar GRC - resulting in an unknown face becoming an MP overnight after the PAP team was returned without a contest - dented the credibility of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system.
The PAP has no reason to field a weak candidate in a GRC to pull the whole team down, he said, calling it double standards to judge the PAP's late moves more harshly than the opposition's.
'Look at the opposition line-ups. They change much faster than any PAP line-ups for the GRCs, and nobody has said that's a weakness of GRCs.'
Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, who was also at the press conference, pointed out that the party leadership had said there could be more candidates introduced after the formal sessions.
He noted that opposition parties had introduced candidates only two or three days before Nomination Day.
'Somebody was introduced at 7.30 this morning!' said Mr Lee, referring to the Reform Party's candidates for Ang Mo Kio GRC, for which he is leading a PAP team to contest.
Holding up a sheet of paper with candidates' pictures and biodata, he said: 'We compile this from newspaper cuttings. You see three blank holes in Ang Mo Kio GRC.'
'Chia Shi-Lu is a known quantity, he's been seen, he was introduced this afternoon, (the newspapers) have written him up and he will prove himself.'
Dr Chia was previously identified by The Straits Times as a possible candidate, but was not in the batch of 24 that the PAP introduced.
'We were fully expecting a contest in Tanjong Pagar, like everywhere else,' Mr Lee said, adding that the party was working on the basis of all 87 seats being challenged.
As to why Dr Chia did not step into Mr Tan's place in Tampines GRC, but was deployed in Tanjong Pagar instead, Mr Lee replied: 'Why don't you ask Mr Low Thia Khiang why he went to Aljunied instead of Tanjong Pagar?'
By Rachel Chang
REPORTERS yesterday asked Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong about the last-minute removal of unionist Steve Tan from the People's Action Party's (PAP) slate for Tampines GRC on Nomination Day, and what it said about the PAP's selection process.
Mr Lee said in response that 'there is no absolute certainty in any process of choosing people'.
'We're looking for many attributes, strengths and capabilities, and also testing for weaknesses, and there's no process which is 100 per cent accurate,' he noted at a press conference at the PAP headquarters in Bedok.
'And even if you're accurate now, something may happen later on and we have to revise our assessment.'
Mr Tan, 37, told reporters he had bowed out for 'personal reasons'. Mr Baey Yam Keng replaced him in the Tampines GRC line-up while new face, orthopaedic surgeon Chia Shi-Lu, took Mr Baey's place in Tanjong Pagar GRC.
The PAP team led by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was returned unopposed in Tanjong Pagar GRC after a team of independents led by Mr Ng Teck Siong of the Socialist Front missed the noon deadline to submit its papers.
This is the first time the PAP is not fielding a candidate after he had been formally introduced to the press and public.
PM Lee was unequivocal yesterday that the PAP leadership had not known about Mr Tan's personal situation, arguing that the change would not have been so last minute if it had known.
He said the party and Mr Tan could have 'pretended there was no problem and just carried on'.
'But Steve Tan is honourable, we are (as well), and we decided that awkward as it is, we just had to go through with this, make the last-minute change and explain to people: I'm sorry, something has come up... we have had to make a change.'
Mr Lee said the party had to 'respect and accept' Mr Tan's own personal reasons. However, journalists kept returning to the PAP's candidate selection process and whether the party had known beforehand of the problem that led to Mr Tan not being fielded at the last minute.
'If it had not been necessary to do it at the last minute, it would not have happened at the last minute. I mean, does it make sense for me to volunteer to do something like this if I had an alternative?' Mr Lee asked in exasperation.
He also rejected claims that the insertion of Dr Chia, 39, into Tanjong Pagar GRC - resulting in an unknown face becoming an MP overnight after the PAP team was returned without a contest - dented the credibility of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system.
The PAP has no reason to field a weak candidate in a GRC to pull the whole team down, he said, calling it double standards to judge the PAP's late moves more harshly than the opposition's.
'Look at the opposition line-ups. They change much faster than any PAP line-ups for the GRCs, and nobody has said that's a weakness of GRCs.'
Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, who was also at the press conference, pointed out that the party leadership had said there could be more candidates introduced after the formal sessions.
He noted that opposition parties had introduced candidates only two or three days before Nomination Day.
'Somebody was introduced at 7.30 this morning!' said Mr Lee, referring to the Reform Party's candidates for Ang Mo Kio GRC, for which he is leading a PAP team to contest.
Holding up a sheet of paper with candidates' pictures and biodata, he said: 'We compile this from newspaper cuttings. You see three blank holes in Ang Mo Kio GRC.'
'Chia Shi-Lu is a known quantity, he's been seen, he was introduced this afternoon, (the newspapers) have written him up and he will prove himself.'
Dr Chia was previously identified by The Straits Times as a possible candidate, but was not in the batch of 24 that the PAP introduced.
'We were fully expecting a contest in Tanjong Pagar, like everywhere else,' Mr Lee said, adding that the party was working on the basis of all 87 seats being challenged.
As to why Dr Chia did not step into Mr Tan's place in Tampines GRC, but was deployed in Tanjong Pagar instead, Mr Lee replied: 'Why don't you ask Mr Low Thia Khiang why he went to Aljunied instead of Tanjong Pagar?'
