PM: Why apology was important
Govt wants to connect emotionally with people, he says
By Lynn Lee & Lydia Lim
THE Prime Minister believes it is important for the Government to connect emotionally with people and that is why he said sorry on Tuesday, during a lunchtime rally at UOB Plaza.
Mr Lee Hsien Loong explained the thinking behind his apology yesterday, saying: 'We considered carefully and I thought this was a suitable message to Singaporeans at this stage of the campaign, to focus minds on key issues.
'So one set of issues is the policies - education, housing, health care - but the other set of issues is the politics of it, and also the emotional connection, which is very important, between the Government and the people.'
'Admitting our mistake is the first step towards correcting it,' he added.
He was speaking to reporters after greeting morning commuters at Ang Mo Kio MRT station and bus interchange.
Foreign Minister George Yeo said he believed Mr Lee's apology had helped to shift the ground in the People's Action Party's favour in fiercely contested Aljunied GRC.
'PM's apology has helped a lot. For many people, it is important they feel the Government is listening,' he said.
Mr Lee apologised for mistakes made by the Government in the last five years and pledged that he and his team would learn from their mistakes and tackle the problems vexing Singaporeans.
He acknowledged that the Government did not ramp up its HDB building programme fast enough, contributing to high prices. It also did not expand the MRT network fast enough to cope with an influx of foreign workers.
Mr Lee's own sense is that the apology went down well, he said yesterday. His Tuesday audience received it well and he hoped other Singaporeans would feel the same way.
Last night, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan also focused on the ruling party's relationship with the people, saying that was ultimately what this election was about.
Speaking at a rally in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, he said: 'We're facing a tough election, aren't we? There are people who are angry, there are people who are even stirring hatred. There are people who are scared. Why? Despite all our success, despite everything that we've achieved as Singapore and Singaporeans, there is an unsettled mood among our people.'
Political observers were divided on whether the Prime Minister's apology achieved its intended effect.
Independent consultant Azhar Ghani said it was a tactical move to calm voters and get them to refocus on the issues, which the PAP typically seeks to do in the second half of each election campaign.
Former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin disagreed, saying Mr Lee was 'leading from the front, and this shows that he has the strength of character to admit his government's shortcomings'.
The Prime Minister also held his first live chat on Facebook yesterday evening as part of the party's push to reach out to and engage young voters.
Mr Yeo, meanwhile, uploaded to Facebook a 2 1/2-minute video in which he promised to speak up for young Singaporeans in Parliament and Cabinet.
Yesterday, Mr Lee was also asked if he had chosen to focus on middle-income and young Singaporeans in his latest speeches because they were swing voters. He said the PAP had to reach out to all sectors of society.
Beyond the policies to benefit specific groups, he said: 'It's also important for us to signal that we recognise people's concerns, that we understand what they are anxious about and we have a sense of what they're thinking and what they would like Singapore to be, and we empathise with them.'
'From time to time,' he added, 'it's useful for us, instead of just making a general broadcast to all Singaporeans, to focus the message and talk about certain target groups, and I think we have not talked quite enough about the middle class in this campaign, we have not talked enough about young people, and that's why I decided to focus on them on Monday and Tuesday.'
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