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Jan 31, 2010
Mah blasts opposition
<!-- by line --> By Kor Kian Beng
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Mr Mah giving hongbao to the needy at a Chinese New Year light-up celebration at his Tampines East ward yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
<!-- story content : start --> NATIONAL Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Saturday criticised an election strategy of opposition parties, saying they should focus on how they can best serve the people rather than to make him the focus of their campaign. 'A general election (GE) is not about me, an individual minister or an individual MP. It's really about the residents themselves. 'I offer myself up for election because I believe that I can do the best and the most for them. But ultimately it's for the residents, the people to decide,' he said at an event where he handed out hongbao to the needy in Tampines. He was responding for the first time to a Straits Times report that the five-member group representation constituency (GRC) he helms as anchor minister was being eyed by several opposition parties as a potential battleground in the next GE, due by February 2012.
They are the National Solidarity Party, Workers' Party, Singapore Democratic Party and Reform Party. The key reason is Mr Mah. His ministry oversees public housing, an issue they hope to exploit by attacking the affordability of HDB flats, whose prices have been rising. The minister acknowledged some people may be adversely affected by the housing policies. But he pointed out: 'There's no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. 'While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies are for the well-being of the people and are good for the country.' Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had weighed in on the issue last week. He said at a housing conference that if Mr Mah was unable to defend his housing policy, 'he deserves to lose' at the next GE.
Read the full story in The Sunday Times.
Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Jan 31, 2010
Mah blasts opposition
<!-- by line --> By Kor Kian Beng
<!-- end left side bar -->
Mr Mah giving hongbao to the needy at a Chinese New Year light-up celebration at his Tampines East ward yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
<!-- story content : start --> NATIONAL Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Saturday criticised an election strategy of opposition parties, saying they should focus on how they can best serve the people rather than to make him the focus of their campaign. 'A general election (GE) is not about me, an individual minister or an individual MP. It's really about the residents themselves. 'I offer myself up for election because I believe that I can do the best and the most for them. But ultimately it's for the residents, the people to decide,' he said at an event where he handed out hongbao to the needy in Tampines. He was responding for the first time to a Straits Times report that the five-member group representation constituency (GRC) he helms as anchor minister was being eyed by several opposition parties as a potential battleground in the next GE, due by February 2012.
They are the National Solidarity Party, Workers' Party, Singapore Democratic Party and Reform Party. The key reason is Mr Mah. His ministry oversees public housing, an issue they hope to exploit by attacking the affordability of HDB flats, whose prices have been rising. The minister acknowledged some people may be adversely affected by the housing policies. But he pointed out: 'There's no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. 'While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies are for the well-being of the people and are good for the country.' Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had weighed in on the issue last week. He said at a housing conference that if Mr Mah was unable to defend his housing policy, 'he deserves to lose' at the next GE.
Read the full story in The Sunday Times.
