Showdown in Aljunied
PAP team confident of its track record; WP team notes previous support
By Li Xueying & Teo Wan Gek
PAP candidates for Aljunied GRC (from left) Cynthia Phua, Zainul Abidin Rasheed, George Yeo, Lim Hwee Hua and Ong Ye Kung filing their papers in the Nomination Centre at Deyi Secondary. Mr Ong, the only rookie in the team, is a potential member of the fourth-generation leadership. Mr Yeo says his team will focus on spreading the word about its plans for the GRC. In 2006, Aljunied was the site of the fiercest GRC battle, with the PAP snaring 56.1 per cent of votes against the WP.
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THEIR eyes met across the school hall. They strode up to each other. And they shook hands warmly.
If there was any tension, no one showed it when Mr George Yeo and Mr Low Thia Khiang and their respective teammates - five in white, five in blue - greeted one another in the nomination hall at Deyi Secondary while filing their papers.
Instead, they exchanged smiles and pleasantries. Mr Low asked Mrs Lim
Hwee Hua if she was now a grandmother (she is); Mr Chen Show Mao reminisced about Harvard days with Mr Yeo - both studied there in the 1980s though they did not know each other then.
'It was a friendly exchange. No politics,' said Mr Yeo with a laugh as he recounted the encounter later in an interview with The Straits Times.
But politics will be the name of the game over the coming days in Aljunied GRC, which looks set to be the hottest battleground once more this elections.
In 2006, it was the site of the fiercest GRC battle, with the People's Action Party (PAP) snaring 56.1 per cent of votes against the Workers' Party (WP).
Now, Mr Low is raising the stakes.
For the first time since he was elected as an MP 20 years ago, the respected Teochew-speaking opposition leader is leaving his Hougang stronghold and leading the WP charge to claim the group representation constituency.
If 2006 saw the fielding of the so- called WP 'A' team, 2011 will witness the batting of its 'A-star' team - a term used by some PAP activists yesterday - as ripples of excitement and apprehension accompanied the news that Mr Low was throwing his hat into the GRC ring.
One called it the 'worst-case scenario'. Others bandied around terms such as the 'AA' team and the 'Big Three' team.
The 'Big Three' are Mr Low, party chairman Sylvia Lim who led the team in 2006, and Mr Chen, a top corporate lawyer and Rhodes scholar. Mr Pritam Singh, a postgraduate law student, and Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap, a freelance counsellor, round out the quintet.
'Worthy opponents,' Mr Yeo called them.
But his incumbent PAP team has its own heavyweights. Mr Yeo himself is Foreign Minister - well regarded here and abroad not just in diplomatic circles but also as a public intellectual. Mrs Lim is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. The affable Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed is slated to be Speaker of Parliament if elected. The newbie, Mr Ong Ye Kung, is no ordinary rookie - the assistant secretary-general in NTUC is a potential member of the fourth-generation leadership. The fifth, Madam Cynthia Phua, has made her mark as town council chairman.
The two teams are fighting for the votes of 145,141 residents. The majority are known quantities to both camps, but 20,000 voters from Kaki Bukit, formerly part of Marine Parade GRC, are now in the GRC.
By choosing Aljunied as the basket in which to place almost all of its eggs, the WP is counting on old ties.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Low noted that the GRC had given the WP 'strong support' in 2006. Adding that Ms Sylvia Lim had also been working the ground since, Mr Low said: 'We have some depth in the constituency.'
But the ground of 2006 may not be the ground of 2011, argued the PAP team.
The WP may have made the error of thinking that it 'only needs to work hard and get a few more percentage points' beyond the 43.1 per cent that it scored in 2006, said Mr Zainul.
'But I don't think they realise that in the last five years, we have been doing a lot more outreach to our residents, and we have been able to deliver all the programmes that we promised.
'So I'm confident of doing better than in 2006.'
One factor that swung some votes to the WP then was the James Gomez saga. Said Mr Yeo emphatically: 'It became a distraction, and we should not have a repeat of that.'
With that out of the picture, the unknown ingredient in the mix is the exact tension between voters' desire to reward a proven PAP team for its track record and hard work on the ground, and the yearning for a creditable slate of opposition candidates in Parliament.
In 2006, WP deployed the strategy of turning Aljunied GRC into a proxy for the national battle between the ruling party and the opposition to some success.
Indications are that it intends to do so again this time, by elevating the contest to almost a referendum on the trajectory of Singapore's political system.
Said Mr Chen yesterday: 'We've told Singapore before that in our view, winning a GRC is an important goal in the development of Singapore's political system. We are saying that again today with our actions: All of us, as WP members, are taking a small step forward in the hope that we'll be able to help Singapore take a big step forward.'
Mr Yeo is aware that some voters may be 'torn'. 'I have heard such comments, on my Facebook,' he mused to The Straits Times yesterday.
But the PAP team argues that ultimately, voters should choose those who can look after them best.
Said Mr Yeo: 'I think people who live here, they worry about their homes, jobs, environment, upgrading of their units.'
Thus, it is remaining focused on spreading the word about its plans - as encapsulated in its Living in Aljunied 10 - to improve residents' living environment. Said Mr Yeo: 'We will have to work harder to make sure that it doesn't get lost. We should always draw the voters back to local issues.'
One way is to continue to leave national issues to leaders such as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 'Tentative plans' are afoot for them to speak at rallies in the GRC. This way, the slate can focus on local issues.
In an appeal to voters, Mr Yeo said: 'It is an adversarial system, so in the end you have to decide, who do I trust to better look after my well-being?
'If everyone votes that way, we will have a pretty healthy democracy. If people don't vote in their own self-interest, then it will create unintended outcomes.'
Going by a Straits Times straw poll of 50 residents, what is clear is that the battle would be an interesting one to watch.
Nearly half - 22 - are unsure of which team they would ultimately pick. Thirteen said they would give the PAP their vote. Ten would support the WP. Five did not want to reveal their choices.
The PAP supporters are happy with the party's work, and feel that stability is more important than an opposition voice in Parliament. As Mr Sim Guan Soon, 55, a businessman, said: 'I will vote based on history and what the PAP has done here.'
But Mr Tan Kay Guan, 62, a taxi driver, wants the WP because 'discussion and debate will be better and there'll be more accountability'.
Calling it a 'good fight', Mr Yeo framed the battle thus: 'It's a clear choice being put to voters here. And we stand fully ready to justify what we have done, and we believe we have acquitted ourselves well.
'On that basis we say, okay, you make a decision for the future.'
[email protected]
[email protected]
PAP team confident of its track record; WP team notes previous support
By Li Xueying & Teo Wan Gek
PAP candidates for Aljunied GRC (from left) Cynthia Phua, Zainul Abidin Rasheed, George Yeo, Lim Hwee Hua and Ong Ye Kung filing their papers in the Nomination Centre at Deyi Secondary. Mr Ong, the only rookie in the team, is a potential member of the fourth-generation leadership. Mr Yeo says his team will focus on spreading the word about its plans for the GRC. In 2006, Aljunied was the site of the fiercest GRC battle, with the PAP snaring 56.1 per cent of votes against the WP.
View more photos
THEIR eyes met across the school hall. They strode up to each other. And they shook hands warmly.
If there was any tension, no one showed it when Mr George Yeo and Mr Low Thia Khiang and their respective teammates - five in white, five in blue - greeted one another in the nomination hall at Deyi Secondary while filing their papers.
Instead, they exchanged smiles and pleasantries. Mr Low asked Mrs Lim
Hwee Hua if she was now a grandmother (she is); Mr Chen Show Mao reminisced about Harvard days with Mr Yeo - both studied there in the 1980s though they did not know each other then.
'It was a friendly exchange. No politics,' said Mr Yeo with a laugh as he recounted the encounter later in an interview with The Straits Times.
But politics will be the name of the game over the coming days in Aljunied GRC, which looks set to be the hottest battleground once more this elections.
In 2006, it was the site of the fiercest GRC battle, with the People's Action Party (PAP) snaring 56.1 per cent of votes against the Workers' Party (WP).
Now, Mr Low is raising the stakes.
For the first time since he was elected as an MP 20 years ago, the respected Teochew-speaking opposition leader is leaving his Hougang stronghold and leading the WP charge to claim the group representation constituency.
If 2006 saw the fielding of the so- called WP 'A' team, 2011 will witness the batting of its 'A-star' team - a term used by some PAP activists yesterday - as ripples of excitement and apprehension accompanied the news that Mr Low was throwing his hat into the GRC ring.
One called it the 'worst-case scenario'. Others bandied around terms such as the 'AA' team and the 'Big Three' team.
The 'Big Three' are Mr Low, party chairman Sylvia Lim who led the team in 2006, and Mr Chen, a top corporate lawyer and Rhodes scholar. Mr Pritam Singh, a postgraduate law student, and Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap, a freelance counsellor, round out the quintet.
'Worthy opponents,' Mr Yeo called them.
But his incumbent PAP team has its own heavyweights. Mr Yeo himself is Foreign Minister - well regarded here and abroad not just in diplomatic circles but also as a public intellectual. Mrs Lim is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. The affable Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed is slated to be Speaker of Parliament if elected. The newbie, Mr Ong Ye Kung, is no ordinary rookie - the assistant secretary-general in NTUC is a potential member of the fourth-generation leadership. The fifth, Madam Cynthia Phua, has made her mark as town council chairman.
The two teams are fighting for the votes of 145,141 residents. The majority are known quantities to both camps, but 20,000 voters from Kaki Bukit, formerly part of Marine Parade GRC, are now in the GRC.
By choosing Aljunied as the basket in which to place almost all of its eggs, the WP is counting on old ties.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Low noted that the GRC had given the WP 'strong support' in 2006. Adding that Ms Sylvia Lim had also been working the ground since, Mr Low said: 'We have some depth in the constituency.'
But the ground of 2006 may not be the ground of 2011, argued the PAP team.
The WP may have made the error of thinking that it 'only needs to work hard and get a few more percentage points' beyond the 43.1 per cent that it scored in 2006, said Mr Zainul.
'But I don't think they realise that in the last five years, we have been doing a lot more outreach to our residents, and we have been able to deliver all the programmes that we promised.
'So I'm confident of doing better than in 2006.'
One factor that swung some votes to the WP then was the James Gomez saga. Said Mr Yeo emphatically: 'It became a distraction, and we should not have a repeat of that.'
With that out of the picture, the unknown ingredient in the mix is the exact tension between voters' desire to reward a proven PAP team for its track record and hard work on the ground, and the yearning for a creditable slate of opposition candidates in Parliament.
In 2006, WP deployed the strategy of turning Aljunied GRC into a proxy for the national battle between the ruling party and the opposition to some success.
Indications are that it intends to do so again this time, by elevating the contest to almost a referendum on the trajectory of Singapore's political system.
Said Mr Chen yesterday: 'We've told Singapore before that in our view, winning a GRC is an important goal in the development of Singapore's political system. We are saying that again today with our actions: All of us, as WP members, are taking a small step forward in the hope that we'll be able to help Singapore take a big step forward.'
Mr Yeo is aware that some voters may be 'torn'. 'I have heard such comments, on my Facebook,' he mused to The Straits Times yesterday.
But the PAP team argues that ultimately, voters should choose those who can look after them best.
Said Mr Yeo: 'I think people who live here, they worry about their homes, jobs, environment, upgrading of their units.'
Thus, it is remaining focused on spreading the word about its plans - as encapsulated in its Living in Aljunied 10 - to improve residents' living environment. Said Mr Yeo: 'We will have to work harder to make sure that it doesn't get lost. We should always draw the voters back to local issues.'
One way is to continue to leave national issues to leaders such as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 'Tentative plans' are afoot for them to speak at rallies in the GRC. This way, the slate can focus on local issues.
In an appeal to voters, Mr Yeo said: 'It is an adversarial system, so in the end you have to decide, who do I trust to better look after my well-being?
'If everyone votes that way, we will have a pretty healthy democracy. If people don't vote in their own self-interest, then it will create unintended outcomes.'
Going by a Straits Times straw poll of 50 residents, what is clear is that the battle would be an interesting one to watch.
Nearly half - 22 - are unsure of which team they would ultimately pick. Thirteen said they would give the PAP their vote. Ten would support the WP. Five did not want to reveal their choices.
The PAP supporters are happy with the party's work, and feel that stability is more important than an opposition voice in Parliament. As Mr Sim Guan Soon, 55, a businessman, said: 'I will vote based on history and what the PAP has done here.'
But Mr Tan Kay Guan, 62, a taxi driver, wants the WP because 'discussion and debate will be better and there'll be more accountability'.
Calling it a 'good fight', Mr Yeo framed the battle thus: 'It's a clear choice being put to voters here. And we stand fully ready to justify what we have done, and we believe we have acquitted ourselves well.
'On that basis we say, okay, you make a decision for the future.'
[email protected]
[email protected]
