GE: WP cries foul over last-minute leaflet sent by PAP
By Ng Jing Yng, TODAY | Posted: 06 May 2011 0645 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party (WP) is crying foul over a leaflet sent by the People's Action Party's (PAP) Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) team to the residents on Thursday.
With minutes to go before midnight - just in time before Cooling Off Day kicked in - the WP posted a statement to rebut the allegations in the leaflet that the party was against home upgrading.
The WP statement added: "This is misleading and mischievous. It was distributed just before the close of the campaign period, leaving little time for WP to respond and set the record straight."
The newsletter, which was seen by Today, cited a blog post - dated Oct 20, 2009 - by WP East Coast GRC candidate Gerald Giam under a headline "WP's Housing Policy - it will reduce the value of your homes!"
Mr Giam had said in his post: "HDB flats should remain no-frills public housing. There is no need to provide posh condo look-alikes." The leaflet also cited a media report last month, which quoted Mr Giam saying that the high prices of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats were due to the past PAP's assets enhancement policy in the past 20 years.
It said: "Their solution will crash housing prices - it will reduce the prices of your flats." It also described the WP's position as "simple". "It has a negative policy: Throw criticisms but it has no solutions!"
The leaflet was signed off by PAP Nee Soon GRC candidates K Shanmugam, Lee Bee Wah, Lim Wee Kiak, Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and Patrick Tay.
When contacted late Thursday night, Dr Lim said the leaflet was only printed on Wednesday, after hearing the Opposition's take on issues. Hence, copies of it were distributed on Thursday, he added.
He said that the team had planned to send out materials consistently over the nine-day campaigning period.
When asked if it was a deliberate attempt to leave little time for WP to respond, Dr Lim said no. He added that his team had to "wait for the other party to rebut" what the PAP had raised earlier against its housing policies.
In its statement, the WP provided a point-by-point rebuttal. Citing the example of upgrading in Hougang, the WP also explained that it was never against upgrading plans.
Urging voters to read its manifesto, the WP explained that its stand was that public housing cannot be expected to have condo-like facilities or it will make home prices unaffordable. - TODAY
