Dear Ramseth,
I coined this term during the heat of GE2006 just to make a fundamental point that when we go into battle or war, we should support each other and trust each other in the firing lines.
I felt that PAP is trying to break our unity by using the divide and rule tactic. They have used it before during the GE2001 to break the rank of SDP. Thus, at that critical moment, especially for our ardent supporters, I need to make a very clear, precise and indisputable stand that we will stand together and no one could break our ranks.
In ancient wars, if you notice, no matter how big the army of any waring states was, it is possible to decimate the whole army just by using this little psychological warfare of breaking the ranks within the army. Thus there was one important martial law that anyone who tries to talk or spread messages that will affect confidence and morale of the troops will be court martial and killed immediately.
It is more of the psychological considerations that I have decided to make such strong statement. Luckily for PAP, it get the message in clear sense and decided to back off the next day.
I am pretty annoyed by PAP's past tactic by focusing on individual's little mistakes. Election should be about policy debates and allowing voters to make informed choices. Turning it into mudslinging contests will hinder the progress of this Nation's political development.
Of course, as a ruling party, it is not possible to please everyone. Sometimes it even pisses off everyone. But it is the job of the ruling party to explain in clear terms about the policies and the trade offs it is expected for us.
"Leave no man behind" is a simple slogan but it takes more than lips service to achieve this simple aim. So far, I think PAP has really failed in this aspect. In terms of basic needs like a roof over our heads, PAP has reversed the good that it has done in the past few decades.
HDB is what makes PAP today but will also be something that will make it falls.
Goh Meng Seng
This line is an army-at-war line. Leave no man behind, meaning don't run for your own life and leave our own men as casualties behind, carry them even if that handicaps and slows you down, even endangering you.
In Singapore politics, this line was first used by Captain Goh Meng Seng with reference to the James Gomez missing form saga and BG George Yeo calling for WP to drop off Gomez. Army officer versus army officer, army language is no surprise, even with BG LHL now using it.