The 'Stark' Choice in Aljunied

[HTOLAS]

The PAPzis have presented their impending loss in Aljunied as a potential catastrophe for their party and a disaster for Singapore. Let's see who we stand to lose when GY, et. al. lose.

• Let's start with Ong Ye Kung. He probably has potential but is untested, and could well end up like Lim Chee Onn, wasting a lot of our money as his tuition fees.
• Then there is Zainul Abidin Rashid. He is a really nice man - I've met hime and was impressed by his humility and grasp of things. We are told he is a potential Speaker of Parliament. Anyone who knows anything about legislatures will know that the speaker's role is not rocket science. If he's not available, Indranee could easily be promoted to that post. We've already got male Speakers, Chinese and Malay Speakers. It would be a good time for a capable Indian woman to take over.
• What about Lim Hwee Hua? Well, what about her? After she's really just taking up space in the PMO and trying to cut up bus routes so that we have to take three buses and two MRT trains to get to work.
• And now George Yong Boon Yeo, the biggie! He's capable and he is the least difficult to dislike minister among the PAPzis. And he is touted to have established good contacts with our partners and rivals. But is he indispensable? I think not. Goh Chok Tong, if he wins, could easily step into his shoes - think Kevin Rudd and Shimon Peres. You could also try out 'ki qiu' Chan who is already a done deal. Chia Shi Lu (another done deal) also looks personable enough. Even if no one could step into his shoes, bring him in as an NMP and give him the FM portfolio - I believe it is possible.

And of course, Yeo Guat Kwang who?

So, far from being a bad thing, when the PAP lose Aljunied, it will actually help them to slim down their massive bureaucracy and help to make some room in the PMO.

 

[dankos]

Cythia phua so despensible till u forget her. Lol. Yeo guy is at amk grc i think.

 

[HTOLAS]

There you are. And I'm quite keen on these matters.

 

[Equalisation]

Cythia phua so despensible till u forget her. Lol. Yeo guy is at amk grc i think.

Cynthia Phua ..... siapa itu ..... ?? Phua Chu Kang's cousin atau apa ??

 

[yellow_people]

Then there is Zainul Abidin Rashid. He is a really nice man - I've met hime and was impressed by his humility and grasp of things. We are told he is a potential Speaker of Parliament. Anyone who knows anything about legislatures will know that the speaker's role is not rocket science.

This is only true if you see it from a Chinese point of view and this is precisely where the nub of the problem lies. Zainul has worked the minority issues tirelessly since 2006. He is one of the rare few minority PAP MPs that actually made an attempt to understand his segment's issues and went about tackling them. Given the nature of racial politics, he was not successful in some of his endeavors, yet he was frank and had always followed up with his constituents. He is very much respected and loved by the Malay community in Aljunied. He has the support of the community's leaders as well as religious leaders.

He may not be of value as Speaker of the House, but he is of immense value to the minority community in Aljunied. He may be dispensable to the Chinese majority but certainly not to the minority community. Why do you think, the PAP took out 30,000 Chinese residents out of Aljunied and inject 20,000 Malays and Indians from Kaki Bukit to Aljunied?

Lets look at it this way - Many in SBF talk about and support WP, but how many threads are out there dedicated to SDA, which has significant Malay members? The majority is given them any odds of unseating the PAP either and appears are vaguely interested to begin with.



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[HTOLAS]

Bring ZAR as an NMP then.

 

[yellow_people]

Bring ZAR as an NMP then.

The same can be said about LTK, SL and CSM. Bring them in as NCMP. You can get SL and CSM at the very least as NCMP. They can kpkb in parliament all the same. LTK and SL in fact appear to agree with PAP quite a lot. Really can't see what alternative they are talking about except minute policy details.


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[HTOLAS]

It would be different. NMP ZAR is very likely to have the support of the party in power, the PAPzis, in his endeavours to cater to those who feel themselves to be minorities.

As NMPs, LTK, SL and CSM would not be able to contribute to the cause of a credible opposition, which is critical for Singapore's political and economic development.

I don't know what your idea of being in opposition is but I think there is a wide spectrum of ways in which the opposition can engage the ruling party. The WPs choice so far is a cautious one, which I respect. And I also think that because they are cautious they have emerged as the party with the strongest support base and party discipline.

I'm glad there are other ways to confront the PAPzis too, as is practised by SDP. I'm not aware that the SDA has many minority candidates, but I had not chosen a party to support on the basis on the racial composition of its members. Truth be told, at this stage, I would support any opposition candidate, regardless of race, language or religion, and I might add, sexual orientation.

The same can be said about LTK, SL and CSM. Bring them in as NCMP. You can get SL and CSM at the very least as NCMP. They can kpkb in parliament all the same. LTK and SL in fact appear to agree with PAP quite a lot. Really can't see what alternative they are talking about except minute policy details.


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[jw5]

Bro HTOLAS

I've already come up with my manifesto and action plan.

1. Georgie to be replaced by Raymond. Let one of the paper generals go and take care of transport, which is obviously too low level for the incumbent.

2. LHH is ministar in the pm office and second ministar for finance and second ministar for transport. Need to replace meh?

3. Zainal will be greatly missed. But I recommend Indranee to be the new speaker (like you) and Alvin to be her deputy.

4. Ong Ye Kung was described as being a very good ground worker. This being the case, you or I could replace him.

5. Cynthia Phua is irreplaceable. Who else can replace Cynthia Phua, but .........................only Cynthia Phua?

 

[yellow_people]

It would be different. NMP ZAR is very likely to have the support of the party in power, the PAPzis, in his endeavours to cater to those who feel themselves to be minorities.

The minorities in Aljunied unfortunately do not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation. So unless the Chinese community in Aljunied overwhelmingly votes for WP, it is likely that George and company will be returned to office on 7th May.

With remarks such as yours, I hope the Malay is not once again blamed in this forum for not supporting WP in the aftermath.

As NMPs, LTK, SL and CSM would not be able to contribute to the cause of a credible opposition, which is critical for Singapore's political and economic development.

Opposition they may call themselves, but I would hardly call LTK and SL credible. They are more like the PAP wannabes. The sooner we get rid of these wannabe PAP opposition MPs, the quicker we can get with the business of political development in Singapore.

I don't know what your idea of being in opposition is but I think there is a wide spectrum of ways in which the opposition can engage the ruling party. The WPs choice so far is a cautious one, which I respect. And I also think that because they are cautious they have emerged as the party with the strongest support base and party discipline.

So cautious that when Visva Sadasivan, an NMP, raised a whole spectrum of issues affecting Singaporeans in his speech in parliament, prompting a rare rebuttal from LKY himself, LTK found himself parroting and supporting the PAP line of argument that the pledge should not be made an issue in parliament.

Is this the alternative voice WP is talking about that will bring about political and economic development as you put it?

So please ask LTK when can the pledge be raised, if not in parliament? At election rallies?

If you want cautions representation in parliament, I would suggest that NMPs and NCMPs should more then suffice. In fact NMPs like Sadasivan and even PAP backbenchers like Inderjit and Palmer have been more vocal in parliament than LTK or SL for that matter.



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[jw5]

Hey yellow_people,

At the end of the day, any voter whether ah beng/ah lian or minority will decide on who they want based on one factor: who can help make their lives better. If they feel that the pap has done a good job and will do even better, then they will vote pap. If not, then opposition.
The ordinary voter is not going to analyse the parties and the candidates in such great detail. You have an intense dislike for the current WP, so you would even vote pap over them, but most voters are not like that. Frankly, as a neutral and non member or supporter of any party, I've never seen WP championing specifically minority rights, but neither sidelining them either. They generally try to champion rights for everyone.

Btw, as an aside, there are many in this forum who thought that you are Malay and one guy even thought you were Jufrie.
You know how I always knew u are Indian? (well, other than the nickname and the avatar of course)
From school to army to work, I have had several Malay and Indian friends. Not one of my Malay friends or acquaintances has ever called me ah beng or called someone else ah beng, at least not in front of me. But many of my Indian friends have either called me ah beng or called someone else ah beng in my presence.

 

[yellow_people]

The ordinary voter is not going to analyse the parties and the candidates in such great detail.

I never said the average voter will understand let alone analyze the dynamics at play. In fact, I'll be very surprised if the average voter in Kaki Bukit knows who Chen Show Mao is. They, comprising mainly the Malay + Indian voters, who depend on the "cheque" the PAP govt hands out every month. I can tell you for a fact, they have already been told, which box to put the cross on. Some will rebel, but most will vote accordingly.

The logic is simple - at which point of starvation will you prefer the bag of rice, to your vote.

You have an intense dislike for the current WP, so you would even vote pap over them, but most voters are not like that.

As someone who voted WP since 1988 in Eunos GRC right up to SL's team in 2006, I have been extremely disappointed that LTK would rather agree with the PAP not once but on several occasions so that he can be given the space to pass under the PAP radar safely. Kinda reminds me of Boxer in Animal Farm. I'm sure you know what happened to Boxer in the end.

Frankly, as a neutral and non member or supporter of any party, I've never seen WP championing specifically minority rights, but neither sidelining them either. They generally try to champion rights for everyone.

If you said under JBJ's leadership, I would agree with you but certainly not LTK, I'm afraid.

From school to army to work, I have had several Malay and Indian friends. Not one of my Malay friends or acquaintances has ever called me ah beng or called someone else ah beng, at least not in front of me. But many of my Indian friends have either called me ah beng or called someone else ah beng in my presence.

Since you brought this up, let me share my experiences with you. The Chinese, in front of an Indian, will bad mouth the Malay as "lazy and stupid" and looking after "his own kind"... whilst in the presence of the Malay will call the Indian a "snake" and "cannot be trusted".

What does this say about the Chinese?


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[KuanTi01]

Cynthia Phua ..... siapa itu ..... ?? Phua Chu Kang's cousin atau apa ??

Some call her Cynthia Phua CB! She looks damn kuailan and cocky but of course the story is different when she is in front of the media. She is then all smiles. But her heart always beat very fast during the vote counting and she may even break into tears!

 

[LeMans2011]

NONE of the PAP MP is irreplaceable.
NONE of the Ministers are indispensable. Not even LKY. Period.

 

[allanlee]

Bro HTOLAS

I've already come up with my manifesto and action plan.

1. Georgie to be replaced by Raymond. Let one of the paper generals go and take care of transport, which is obviously too low level for the incumbent.

2. LHH is ministar in the pm office and second ministar for finance and second ministar for transport. Need to replace meh?
3. Zainal will be greatly missed. But I recommend Indranee to be the new speaker (like you) and Alvin to be her deputy.

4. Ong Ye Kung was described as being a very good ground worker. This being the case, you or I could replace him.

5. Cynthia Phua is irreplaceable. Who else can replace Cynthia Phua, but .........................only Cynthia Phua?

She has another role...... she is the one assigned to babysit Empress Ho Jinx so that she dun anyhow give away our CPF funds.

 

[HTOLAS]

Here's an anecdote on the newly crowned Dowager (after the gun carriage took away the dead one). A Temasek employee was assigned to escort her on her return from an overseas trip. When she met the Dowager at the airport, the Dowager simply thrust her handbag in the employee's direction and expected her to take it for her. Shocked and probably afraid for her job, she carried her handbag for the rest of the journey.

Watch the royal wedding and you'd realise that even Her Majesty carries her own handbag.

She has another role...... she is the one assigned to babysit Empress Ho Jinx so that she dun anyhow give away our CPF funds.