Too good to be buried in an older thread. By one of our vets.
"This team did pretty well actually especially the ability to garner votes from the upper and higher middle classes. To expect them to win after 9 days of compaigning in this ward is too much to ask.
The feedback in this thread is good as I read thru, and I just write my thoughts, but some of them are already mentioned.
1. A lot of damage has been done to SDP branding by the poor tactics of CSJ over the years. He is totally out of sync with Singaporeans. If he continues to follow this track, nothing will come out of it. First of all, PAP-led government, for all its faults, is not the totalitarian machine it is made out to be. Hence civil disobedience does not work when generally, many Singaporeans feel PAP has done a "good job" in governing. Nobody can dispute this fact at all.
2. No groundwork done by SDP at all in this constituency unlike WP's thorough preparations in the East and North East spanning over 10-15 years. All their candidates just drop into the wards without much of a groundwork. Again, you can't fool Singaporeans.
3. Candidates' credentials are good but on bread-and-butter issues, they could not appeal to the heartlanders at all. The results really show. They are candidates on a liberal bent. There is a need to appeal to Chinese-speaking masses.
4. Agreed with most forumers here that their public-speaking capabilities can be improved. Dr Ang sounds like a joker, and does not appear to be a serious politician. Tan Jee Say could improve further by appearing more like a stateman politician. He really sounds too serious as though he has an axe too grind. Michelle is pleasant but in one clip, she laughed far too much in the speech. Vincent W, is cut out to be like CSJ.
5. Fighting for gay rights - although SDP said they will not pursue one, nobody believes that is the case with Vincent W. He has openly stepped forward to be in a gay rights forum. This will be a black mark against him, and he has to work harder to change this image. Vincent W and CSJ are cut from the same cloth, and they are "angry" and want to right the wrongs they perceived in this country's system. The problem with their angst, is that it is a different type of anger felt by Singaporeans. They are not in sync. They need to change and ally with Singaporeans' sense of anger rather than their own, and Singaporeans are not dumb to note that PAP did deliver and has done much good for the past 45 years.
6. Prof Paul Tambyah did what all those above did not do in just one speech - humble, light-mannered yet serious, hit at the right issues, and his credentials to back up SDP did a lot but it came a bit too late, and not much effort was made to publicise it, and most folks I spoke to, are very impressed by this speech. I am curious why he endorse SDP to date as he would have known CSJ and his past antics.
To do an image transformation takes time. Most of these credible candidates joined SDP at the last minute as SDP offered them a platform to stand as candidates for this election. It is really a marriage of convenience if you are to look at it. For example, even James Gomez is likely booted out of WP, and he joined SDP. James Gomez only appeared during elections time, and this does not help. Look at SDP's indigenous candidates in Sembawang and they fared badly. SDP confrontational model will not cut to bring itself votes at this juncture of Singapore's political life. So much damage has been done and I am surprised they are still at it. If they continue with this approach, I dare say Tan Jee Say and those recently joined, will probably leave this party. Will they be able co-opt this group? At some point there will be a clash if CSJ and his gang do not want to change. You can't adopt 2 styles and try to co-exist. It is schizophrenic. Better leave earlier and start your own party, and that would be my advice, or join another. But there are not many choices. It is either WP or NSP. The rest are not up to mark. It is far easier to create a new image than to rework the extensive damage that has already been done to SDP's brand"
"This team did pretty well actually especially the ability to garner votes from the upper and higher middle classes. To expect them to win after 9 days of compaigning in this ward is too much to ask.
The feedback in this thread is good as I read thru, and I just write my thoughts, but some of them are already mentioned.
1. A lot of damage has been done to SDP branding by the poor tactics of CSJ over the years. He is totally out of sync with Singaporeans. If he continues to follow this track, nothing will come out of it. First of all, PAP-led government, for all its faults, is not the totalitarian machine it is made out to be. Hence civil disobedience does not work when generally, many Singaporeans feel PAP has done a "good job" in governing. Nobody can dispute this fact at all.
2. No groundwork done by SDP at all in this constituency unlike WP's thorough preparations in the East and North East spanning over 10-15 years. All their candidates just drop into the wards without much of a groundwork. Again, you can't fool Singaporeans.
3. Candidates' credentials are good but on bread-and-butter issues, they could not appeal to the heartlanders at all. The results really show. They are candidates on a liberal bent. There is a need to appeal to Chinese-speaking masses.
4. Agreed with most forumers here that their public-speaking capabilities can be improved. Dr Ang sounds like a joker, and does not appear to be a serious politician. Tan Jee Say could improve further by appearing more like a stateman politician. He really sounds too serious as though he has an axe too grind. Michelle is pleasant but in one clip, she laughed far too much in the speech. Vincent W, is cut out to be like CSJ.
5. Fighting for gay rights - although SDP said they will not pursue one, nobody believes that is the case with Vincent W. He has openly stepped forward to be in a gay rights forum. This will be a black mark against him, and he has to work harder to change this image. Vincent W and CSJ are cut from the same cloth, and they are "angry" and want to right the wrongs they perceived in this country's system. The problem with their angst, is that it is a different type of anger felt by Singaporeans. They are not in sync. They need to change and ally with Singaporeans' sense of anger rather than their own, and Singaporeans are not dumb to note that PAP did deliver and has done much good for the past 45 years.
6. Prof Paul Tambyah did what all those above did not do in just one speech - humble, light-mannered yet serious, hit at the right issues, and his credentials to back up SDP did a lot but it came a bit too late, and not much effort was made to publicise it, and most folks I spoke to, are very impressed by this speech. I am curious why he endorse SDP to date as he would have known CSJ and his past antics.
To do an image transformation takes time. Most of these credible candidates joined SDP at the last minute as SDP offered them a platform to stand as candidates for this election. It is really a marriage of convenience if you are to look at it. For example, even James Gomez is likely booted out of WP, and he joined SDP. James Gomez only appeared during elections time, and this does not help. Look at SDP's indigenous candidates in Sembawang and they fared badly. SDP confrontational model will not cut to bring itself votes at this juncture of Singapore's political life. So much damage has been done and I am surprised they are still at it. If they continue with this approach, I dare say Tan Jee Say and those recently joined, will probably leave this party. Will they be able co-opt this group? At some point there will be a clash if CSJ and his gang do not want to change. You can't adopt 2 styles and try to co-exist. It is schizophrenic. Better leave earlier and start your own party, and that would be my advice, or join another. But there are not many choices. It is either WP or NSP. The rest are not up to mark. It is far easier to create a new image than to rework the extensive damage that has already been done to SDP's brand"
