Just count how many SAF/SPF scholars/EDF managers there are.
if u guys expect pap to remain the same and roll over to die in 2016, then i sell whatever u guys are smoking. according to my spy(my mom), this year annual CNY dinner not the same as previous years, where everyone must wait very long for the bigshot mp to arrive and wait patiently till end of his/her speech before food is served. by then, the bigshot mp would have left and the RC chairman will handle the rest.
this year, no waiting and no long winded speech. mp came early, just said some simple CNY greeting and sit down to eat with everyone else. then he and his lackeys go ard EVERY tables to give greeting and have photo taken. in the word of my mom, the mp machiam behave like a bride groom in a wedding banquet. and within the hour, everyone in the table received the photo taken with the mp FOC.(previous years take with rc chairman must pay first b4 develop for u). btw, even the ticket for the CNY dinner greatly reduce, according to my mom, it only $15 per person.(compare to the $40 for WP that my mom attend last attend yrs ago, now dunno how much)
no worrys, my mom not going to the white side lah. she went because her rc friend who stay in a pap grc pay for her, free makan plus can chat with old friend, somemore got lucky draw, why not? as much as pap remain stick in the m&d, some of the younger pap mp knew exactly what happening on the ground and are changing their usual ways to retain support. there are still 3 full years before the next GE, the pap are still very much still at the upper hand and there is every thing to play for.
PS. my mom is an old hand at this type of grassroot dinner event. she been to this type of makan events for many years and many locations. she attended rc dinner conducted by lky tp grc(most expensive $50 in the 90s), jaya bedok grc, woodlands area rc, clementi rc and of course WP LTK hougang CNY dinner (strangely she never go to the losers conducted cny dinner) and she very impressed by the changes happening this year. even she know pap will work very hard to retain voters support.