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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Don't take Potong Pasir for granted, SPP
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE reply by the Singapore People's Party (SPP) last Thursday ('SPP: Potong Pasir voters not short-changed') understates the sacrifices made by Potong Pasir residents in voting in an opposition Member of Parliament.
Remarks elsewhere by the party that Potong Pasir's veteran MP Chiam See Tong may relinquish his long-held seat in Potong Pasir to contest in a group representation constituency (GRC) is even more disheartening.
The ease with which the SPP appears to discard our loyalty fills me with sadness and anger.
We have supported Mr Chiam since 1984, believing Singaporeans need an opposition voice in Parliament.
The SPP is wrong to take a narrower view that Potong Pasir residents voted for Mr Chiam because Potong Pasir Town Council has done a wonderful job.
To be frank, Potong Pasir has aged more quickly since voting in an opposition MP and the constituency is in need of major upgrading.
The SPP should remember that, in the 2006 General Election, 55.82 per cent of Potong Pasir residents ignored a People's Action Party (PAP) carrot of an $80 million upgrading package and voted for Mr Chiam.
Can Potong Pasir Town Council offer the same package? If the SPP is not in a position to do so, how can the party conclude that Potong Pasir constituents have not been short-changed?
The SPP should not take the ardent support of some 50 per cent of Potong Pasir residents for granted.
There is no guarantee that voters will give the same level of support to a new SPP candidate.
For the same reasons, I hope the other opposition MP, Mr Low Thia Khiang, is not considering the same move as Mr Chiam, in abandoning Hougang constituents to try his luck in a GRC.
It is wrong to abandon supporters who chose to forgo the PAP's offer of attractive upgrading packages.
As party leaders, Mr Chiam and Mr Low should remain loyal to their residents in their single-seat constituencies and field better candidates to contest in GRCs.
Thomas Teo
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE reply by the Singapore People's Party (SPP) last Thursday ('SPP: Potong Pasir voters not short-changed') understates the sacrifices made by Potong Pasir residents in voting in an opposition Member of Parliament.
Remarks elsewhere by the party that Potong Pasir's veteran MP Chiam See Tong may relinquish his long-held seat in Potong Pasir to contest in a group representation constituency (GRC) is even more disheartening.
The ease with which the SPP appears to discard our loyalty fills me with sadness and anger.
We have supported Mr Chiam since 1984, believing Singaporeans need an opposition voice in Parliament.
The SPP is wrong to take a narrower view that Potong Pasir residents voted for Mr Chiam because Potong Pasir Town Council has done a wonderful job.
To be frank, Potong Pasir has aged more quickly since voting in an opposition MP and the constituency is in need of major upgrading.
The SPP should remember that, in the 2006 General Election, 55.82 per cent of Potong Pasir residents ignored a People's Action Party (PAP) carrot of an $80 million upgrading package and voted for Mr Chiam.
Can Potong Pasir Town Council offer the same package? If the SPP is not in a position to do so, how can the party conclude that Potong Pasir constituents have not been short-changed?
The SPP should not take the ardent support of some 50 per cent of Potong Pasir residents for granted.
There is no guarantee that voters will give the same level of support to a new SPP candidate.
For the same reasons, I hope the other opposition MP, Mr Low Thia Khiang, is not considering the same move as Mr Chiam, in abandoning Hougang constituents to try his luck in a GRC.
It is wrong to abandon supporters who chose to forgo the PAP's offer of attractive upgrading packages.
As party leaders, Mr Chiam and Mr Low should remain loyal to their residents in their single-seat constituencies and field better candidates to contest in GRCs.
Thomas Teo
