While credit cannot be taken from WP for securing a GRC, I sense a creeping arrogance in LTK's (see here) and his supporters' post-election claims, language and tone.
Hopefully it is nothing more than temporary triumphalism and they are able to get down from cloud nine very quickly and be humble.
I will post three reports from the Singapore Prostitute Press from 19 years ago when the SDP under Chiam, was at the height of its arrogance because it had 4 seats in Parliament.
I hope it will be instructive to the WP and its supporters.
Report 1
Opposition leaders dismiss Chiam's 'arrogant' claim
147th Prostitute Press
21 December 1992
Marine Parade GRC by-election : The day after ---------------------------------------------
OPPOSITION leaders have dismissed as mistaken and arrogant Mr Chiam See Tong's claim that voters in Saturday's by-election endorsed his Singapore Democratic Party as the second force in a two-party political system.
"Chiam can draw whatever conclusion he likes. It doesn't follow that he is right," said Workers' Party chief J.B. Jeyaretnam yesterday.
"I don't think that the electorate is showing that it only wants two parties."
WP's unexpected pull-out from the Marine Parade GRC race cleared the way for Mr Chiam's party to capture the lion's share of the opposition vote.
SDP won 24.5 per cent of the valid votes. The Singapore Justice Party and the National Solidarity Party secured less than 1.5 per cent each.
Mr Jeyaretnam said that the WP, had it contested, would have received at least as many votes as the SDP. It would have boosted the total opposition vote and denied Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong his resounding 73 per cent share.
"Goh Chok Tong should thank God that he didn't have the WP to face in the by-election," he said. He added that while a PAP victory was not unexpected, the margin was a surprise.
In terms of the number of seats it contested in recent elections, WP is Singapore's largest opposition party. It has one member in Parliament, Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang, compared to three from SDP.
Secretary-general Jeyaretnam's participation in the by-election had appeared initially to be a foregone conclusion. But on Nomination Day, the fourth candidate on his team failed to show up on time, resulting in the party's shock pull-out.
"I was unhappy, and I'm still unhappy," Mr Jeyaretnam said. But noting that the SDP and the ruling party were "crowing" over the incident, he added: "They can get on the roof-tops and shout that the Workers' Party is finished. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating."
He said that he would do all that was humanly possible to make it 100 per cent certain that his party would fight the next round.
He also took umbrage at Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's rally remark that his
long-time opponent had "chickened out".
"Lee Kuan Yew, of all people, should know that J.B. Jeyaretnam doesn't chicken out. The public of Singapore also knows," he said, as he challenged Mr Lee to an electoral showdown in the next election.
In the NSP camp, secretary-general Ken Sunn accused Mr Chiam of arrogance and selfishness.
He said that SDP's refusal to acknowledge the other opposition parties was similar to the PAP's attitude to the opposition as a whole.
He warned that with such an attitude, the SDP, if it ever came to power, would then be in favour of a one-party state.
"Can we afford to let this kind of people run the country?" said Mr Sunn, who quit the SDP to help form NSP in 1987.
Defending the need for a multiplicity of opposition parties, he said that different parties represented different sections of society: "If you only want black and white, what about all the colours in between?"
On NSP's 1.4 per cent share of Saturday's valid votes, he said that his five-year-old party had nevertheless achieved its objective of raising public awareness of its existence. The next step was to convince voters to vote for it, he said.
He agreed with Mr Jeyaretnam's view that the WP could have raised the opposition's total vote. As 67,126 out of 73,986 eligible electors had cast valid votes, he noted, it meant that 6,860 people had either spoiled their votes or stayed away.
Many of these might have been WP supporters left in the cold. Although WP ha d endorsed NSP, this came too late to make an impact, he lamented.
Mr Sahid Sahooman, president of the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS), said that Mr Goh had performed well, thereby strengthening his position in the ruling party. Like other opposition leaders, Mr Sahid also believed that there was room for more than one strong opposition party.
"Mr Chiam can say what he likes. We are confident that we have support," he said.
PKMS deputy president Mohamed Awang added that WP's non-participation meant that SDP could not claim the by-election to be an accurate gauge of support for it.
Mr Ibrahim Ariff, president of the year-old Singapore National Front, also disagreed with Mr Chiam's interpretation, pointing out that SDP's performance was little better than the SJP's 22.8 per cent score in last year's general election.
All the opposition leaders interviewed also dismissed Mr Chiam's statement that the days of electoral pacts were over, and that it was now every party for itself. They said they would continue to work for opposition solidarity regardless of SDP's stand.
Hopefully it is nothing more than temporary triumphalism and they are able to get down from cloud nine very quickly and be humble.
I will post three reports from the Singapore Prostitute Press from 19 years ago when the SDP under Chiam, was at the height of its arrogance because it had 4 seats in Parliament.
I hope it will be instructive to the WP and its supporters.
Report 1
Opposition leaders dismiss Chiam's 'arrogant' claim
147th Prostitute Press
21 December 1992
Marine Parade GRC by-election : The day after ---------------------------------------------
OPPOSITION leaders have dismissed as mistaken and arrogant Mr Chiam See Tong's claim that voters in Saturday's by-election endorsed his Singapore Democratic Party as the second force in a two-party political system.
"Chiam can draw whatever conclusion he likes. It doesn't follow that he is right," said Workers' Party chief J.B. Jeyaretnam yesterday.
"I don't think that the electorate is showing that it only wants two parties."
WP's unexpected pull-out from the Marine Parade GRC race cleared the way for Mr Chiam's party to capture the lion's share of the opposition vote.
SDP won 24.5 per cent of the valid votes. The Singapore Justice Party and the National Solidarity Party secured less than 1.5 per cent each.
Mr Jeyaretnam said that the WP, had it contested, would have received at least as many votes as the SDP. It would have boosted the total opposition vote and denied Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong his resounding 73 per cent share.
"Goh Chok Tong should thank God that he didn't have the WP to face in the by-election," he said. He added that while a PAP victory was not unexpected, the margin was a surprise.
In terms of the number of seats it contested in recent elections, WP is Singapore's largest opposition party. It has one member in Parliament, Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang, compared to three from SDP.
Secretary-general Jeyaretnam's participation in the by-election had appeared initially to be a foregone conclusion. But on Nomination Day, the fourth candidate on his team failed to show up on time, resulting in the party's shock pull-out.
"I was unhappy, and I'm still unhappy," Mr Jeyaretnam said. But noting that the SDP and the ruling party were "crowing" over the incident, he added: "They can get on the roof-tops and shout that the Workers' Party is finished. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating."
He said that he would do all that was humanly possible to make it 100 per cent certain that his party would fight the next round.
He also took umbrage at Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's rally remark that his
long-time opponent had "chickened out".
"Lee Kuan Yew, of all people, should know that J.B. Jeyaretnam doesn't chicken out. The public of Singapore also knows," he said, as he challenged Mr Lee to an electoral showdown in the next election.
In the NSP camp, secretary-general Ken Sunn accused Mr Chiam of arrogance and selfishness.
He said that SDP's refusal to acknowledge the other opposition parties was similar to the PAP's attitude to the opposition as a whole.
He warned that with such an attitude, the SDP, if it ever came to power, would then be in favour of a one-party state.
"Can we afford to let this kind of people run the country?" said Mr Sunn, who quit the SDP to help form NSP in 1987.
Defending the need for a multiplicity of opposition parties, he said that different parties represented different sections of society: "If you only want black and white, what about all the colours in between?"
On NSP's 1.4 per cent share of Saturday's valid votes, he said that his five-year-old party had nevertheless achieved its objective of raising public awareness of its existence. The next step was to convince voters to vote for it, he said.
He agreed with Mr Jeyaretnam's view that the WP could have raised the opposition's total vote. As 67,126 out of 73,986 eligible electors had cast valid votes, he noted, it meant that 6,860 people had either spoiled their votes or stayed away.
Many of these might have been WP supporters left in the cold. Although WP ha d endorsed NSP, this came too late to make an impact, he lamented.
Mr Sahid Sahooman, president of the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS), said that Mr Goh had performed well, thereby strengthening his position in the ruling party. Like other opposition leaders, Mr Sahid also believed that there was room for more than one strong opposition party.
"Mr Chiam can say what he likes. We are confident that we have support," he said.
PKMS deputy president Mohamed Awang added that WP's non-participation meant that SDP could not claim the by-election to be an accurate gauge of support for it.
Mr Ibrahim Ariff, president of the year-old Singapore National Front, also disagreed with Mr Chiam's interpretation, pointing out that SDP's performance was little better than the SJP's 22.8 per cent score in last year's general election.
All the opposition leaders interviewed also dismissed Mr Chiam's statement that the days of electoral pacts were over, and that it was now every party for itself. They said they would continue to work for opposition solidarity regardless of SDP's stand.
