On AWOL and monkeys: PM Lee's recent attack on WP
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WP's A team in Aljunied has gone AWOL: PM
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Home
Nov 12, 2007
Author: Peh Shing Huei
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday took to task the Workers' Party (WP) candidates at Aljunied GRC for disappearing after last year's General Elections.
'Our (People's Action Party) five men are working hard, but the opposition's five have scattered like monkeys when the tree fell,' he said in Mandarin, using a Chinese proverb.
'One of them has ran to Sweden, the other has left the WP. They called it their A team, I say it is A for AWOL,' he added to much laughter at a dialogue at the annual PAP convention.
Mr Lee, who is secretary-general of the PAP, was responding to veteran party member Png Wee Chor, who made an impassioned plea that the PAP bolster its strength at Aljunied GRC ahead of the next polls.
The 68-year-old wanted to know how the party leaders were going to counter the WP's declaration last Sunday that it aims to win a GRC in the next elections, and its argument that failure would mean the end of the opposition here.
In last year's General Election, the WP team that fought in Aljunied GRC scored the highest number of votes among opposition parties in a Group Representation Constituency.
Led by party chairman Sylvia Lim, they took 43.9 per cent of the valid votes, losing to the PAP team led by Foreign Minister George Yeo.
But after the polls, the WP's Mr James Gomez left to work in Sweden and Mr Goh Meng Seng resigned from the party.
Another team member, Mr Tan Wui-Hua, is also working overseas now. The fifth person was businessman Mohammed Rahizan Yaacob.
While Mr Png - one of three dialogue participants who referred to the Aljunied battle - was full of praise for Mr Yeo, he added that the Minister was too busy and hardly had time to meet the residents.
Can the party send to Aljunied a Teochew-speaking heavyweight minister who is preparing to retire?' he asked in Chinese, to laughter.
Mr Lee, who replied in Mandarin, said that even when Mr Yeo travels, he makes time to see the residents, at times meeting them the day he returns home.
He urged Singaporeans to take their vote seriously. 'Think carefully if you want to vote some opposition into the Parliament so you can have some excitement,' he said.
'If they go Awol after that, it won't be easy to solve everyone's problems. Election is a serious matter... and your vote would decide Singapore's fate. Don't treat it as a joke.'
Also looking ahead was Ms Tan Bee Lan, a branch secretary in Aljunied. She wanted the party to keep the same team to battle the WP again.
She said the last contest was 'unchallenging' and the WP avoided local issues. Instead, it canvassed for sympathy over the Gomez issue.
Mr Gomez had claimed during campaigning that he had submitted his minority candidate form, but video footage released later showed he had not.
The PAP focused its firepower on him, turning the issue into a major electoral talking point.
Party chairman Lim Boon Heng said he knows the PAP MPs' work rate in Aljunied is 'above average' compared to other MPs.
'So I think the results will show that people know the MPs care for them. So I'm not too concerned about the next election at Aljunied. Maybe for those of you who think you're safe, you should work harder,' he added.
[email protected]
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited
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BETTER KIASU THAN 'YA YA'
'If you read the articles in...the travel magazines or even in the serious newspapers in America, in Britain, The Economist had a piece recently about how we are doing and how we are tackling the income gap. I think they know Singapore is changing and keeping abreast of the times. So it's not bad. But I think it's also not bad to be kiasu because if you are 'ya ya' , you will get into serious trouble.'
- PM LEE, assuring a PAP activist that Singapore's image is sound with those who matter and that it is better to be kiasu ('afraid to lose' in Hokkien) than to be 'ya ya' ('arrogant' in Singlish)
DO MORE FOR ELDERLY AT WORK
'The acceptance of the elderly in the workforce and their ability to stay on the job and enjoy their work is an area where more can be done...What the young and old want in the workplace are really the same - reward and recognition.'
- MP JESSICA TAN (East Coast GRC), 41, on how employers need to handle young and old employees, to keep both groups happy
LIKE SELLING ICE TO ESKIMOS
'What we need at the end of the day is clarity and not just facts and figures. There is also a need to have a good sales pitch that will be able to convince us that paying for an annuity is the way to go. A sales pitch that will convince even the Eskimos to buy ice.'
- PAP POLICY FORUM VICE-CHAIRMAN SATWANT SINGH, 43, on the need for leaders who know ground sentiments well so they can sell tough policies
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
'We will accept that there will always be income disparity, but... we must not let this reality drive a wedge between our people. We are not trying to make everyone economically equal but what we are trying to do is to make everyone feel equal. We cannot guarantee equality of conditions, but we must be able to guarantee equality of opportunity.'
- CENTRAL SINGAPORE DISTRICT MAYOR ZAINUDIN NORDIN, 44, on the need to ensure social mobility to tackle the widening income gap
SAY NO TO SHORT-SIGHTED IDEAS
'We must not easily fall prey to the short-sighted proposals made by the opposition, who push for either protectionism or welfarism. We are Singaporeans who have dignity and integrity.'
- YOUNG PAP (ULU PANDAN) MEMBER TIN PEI LING, 23, on the need to take a long-term view in solving the income gap -
Can the opposition shake off its Awol label?
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Prime News
November 17, 2007
Author: Peh Shing Huei
AT EVERY general election here, voters can be sure that a few familiar phrases would be used by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to describe the opposition.
'Johnny-come-lately' and 'pop out of nowhere' are among choice favourites.
Now, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has added one more: Awol, or 'absent without official leave'.
At a PAP convention last Sunday, Mr Lee, in response to a question, said that while the PAP's five MPs are working hard in Aljunied GRC, the Workers' Party's (WP) candidates from last year's election have 'scattered like monkeys when the tree fell'.
Mr Lee was speaking in Mandarin and using a Chinese proverb.
He then quipped about the Team A label of the WP's Aljunied candidates, saying A is for Awol.
Two of the five-men WP team are working abroad while another has left the party.
WP organising secretary Yaw Shin Leong, who led a team against PM Lee at Ang Mo Kio GRC at last year's polls, fired back on his blog.
He wrote: 'Is PAP's hegemony so threatened that Mr Lee must up the political ante at this stage? Must a dignified leader resort to monkey-like analogies of his political opponents?
'Singaporeans after all expect a decent level of decorum from our political leaders.'
The verbal sparring aside, the question of whether the opposition pops up only during elections remains. It is an age-old question. Will it ever succeed at trying to shake off this perception? Insight finds out.
HAS THE OPPOSITION GONE AWOL? INSIGHT
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited -
Has the opposition gone Awol?
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says the Workers' Party team at Aljunied GRC has been absent without official leave. PEH SHING HUEI finds out
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Insight, Pg S13
November 17, 2007
MR SEBASTIAN Teo believes Singapore politics suffers from a widely held fallacy - that the opposition emerges only when elections roll around.
'When I'm on the ground talking to people, what I hear is the complete opposite,' says the National Solidarity Party (NSP) president.
'The voters tell me that their PAP MPs only shake their hands once every five years!'
Be that as it may, there is a persistent perception in local politics that the opposition parties are rarely heard, much less seen, until the polls come a-knocking.
Is this traditional malaise of the opposition an urban myth or heartland reality?
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, as leader of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), believes it is the latter, opening the debate far earlier than usual.
At last Sunday's PAP convention, a member asked how the party intended to defend Aljunied given Workers' Party MP Low Thia Khiang's recent declaration that his party intended to gun for a GRC in the next polls. Aljunied GRC was the most closely fought constituency in last year's General Election.
In his response, Mr Lee said that the PAP MPs there were working hard and quipped that the WP team had gone Awol - absent without official leave.
It was a play on the term The Straits Times had given the WP Aljunied slate when the newspaper gave the label Team A to the five-man team led by party chairman Sylvia Lim.
'Our (PAP) five men are working hard, but the opposition's five have scattered like monkeys when the tree fell,' he said in Mandarin, using a Chinese proverb.
'One of them has run to Sweden, the other has left the WP. They called it their A team, I say it is A for Awol,' he added.
Ms Lim took issue with Mr Lee's choice of words.
'I don't think Awol is an appropriate term to use in the first place, as the WP has no official capacity in Aljunied GRC at the moment,' she tells Insight.
But is it true that the opposition is missing in action on the ground?
Where are they now?
A YEAR and a half after the heat of the election, many opposition candidates have indeed taken a breather.
The WP, which produced the strongest slate among the opposition parties, has seen at least seven of its most prominent young candidates leaving the frontline.
The Team A that garnered 43.9 per cent of the valid votes has lost three of its five men.
Researcher James Gomez, 41, is working in Sweden; financial controller Tan Wui-Hua, 40, is based in the United Arab Emirates; and businessman Goh Meng Seng, 37, left the party late last year and is now with the NSP.
Only Ms Lim and vice-chairman Mohammed Rahizan Yaacob are still working the ground in Aljunied GRC.
Over at East Coast GRC, the second-best performing WP team has lost its firepower.
Lawyer Chia Ti Lik, 34, who led the team to pull in 36.1 per cent of the votes, quit the WP last year after disagreements with party leaders over Internet regulations.
While his team-mate, Mr Brandon Siow, 32, remains in the party's executive central council as webmaster, he took up a posting in Shanghai with Singapore Airlines not long after the elections.
The party's youth wing secretary, Ms Glenda Han, 31, is working in Hong Kong, while business manager Lian Chin Way, 37, is not involved in party work.
At the NSP, the fallout rate is just as high.
Only engineer Tan Lead Shake, 38, and business adviser Ong Hock Siong, 60, from among its five-man team in Tampines are still active. Team leader Arthero Lim, 52, is working in China.
Mr Edmund Ng, 34, has left the party and Mr Abdul Rahman Mohamad, 55, is working overseas.
The same is true for its Jalan Besar team, with three members of the quintet - including former opposition MP Cheo Chai Chen - taking a backseat.
Similarly, Mr Chiam See Tong' Singapore People's Party has been almost invisible at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC where it took on Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean's team last year.
That is not to say the opposition is nowhere to be seen. The WP still sells its Hammer newsletter weekly in places such as Hougang and Aljunied GRC. Members of the NSP - donning luminous orange tops, the party's new colour - are also seen across the island every weekend selling the party's newsletter, North Star News.
Presence counts
THE opposition offers a robust defence of why its members need to take a break from politics.
The main argument is that the PAP MPs have a well-oiled machinery to support their grassroots work and, on top of that, they receive a monthly sum of $13,200 for being elected. Opposition candidates find it far harder to juggle earning a living and doing political work.
WP organising secretary Yaw Shin Leong wrote on his blog: 'Unlike their paid counterparts, James Gomez and Tan Wui-Hua...have been working hard in Sweden and Dubai respectively.
'Both James and Wui-Hua are doing what is right - by bringing bread and butter first and foremost to their families.'
Ms Sylvia Lim says that it is the reality of an increasingly globalised world that many young people go overseas to earn a living. 'It would not be fair for us to stop people taking overseas stints, as each of us needs to earn a living and has to answer to the stakeholders in our lives,' she adds.
'What is important is that the party presence is maintained and potential candidates put in their fair share.'
Dr Terence Chong of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies says it is a 'thankless task' being in the opposition in Singapore.
'You have to worry about social stigma, your employers especially if you work in a GLC (government-linked company), and an uneven playing field. If you're a new PAP candidate, on the other hand, you're virtually guaranteed of a place in Parliament if you're in a GRC,' he says.
'Comparing PAP MPs and opposition candidates is like comparing apples and oranges.'
Aljunied GRC resident Mato Kotwani, 20, is not too perturbed that some of the WP candidates are not around.
'If they just gave up and left, it's not very responsible. But if they left to get on with their lives, I don't have an issue if they still want to come back and fight at the next election,' says the student.
'Even if they were in Singapore they wouldn't be able to do very much for the estate because they are not even MPs.'
Indeed, voters take it almost as a given that the opposition is not likely to maintain the same level of presence as the ruling party in the years between elections. How else does one account for the opposition's ability to attract votes even when members have hardly shown up before the polls?
But the value of working the ground should not be discounted at all, say observers. Visibility is important, they say.
Another reason candidates and their parties lie low also appears to be for self-preservation purposes, to avoid the ruling party unleashing its entire force on the opposition members, thoroughly discrediting a candidate well ahead of the polls.
In short, they have learnt the Chee Soon Juan lesson too well. The Singapore Democratic Party chief's high-profile sparrings with the Government saw him thoroughly demolished ahead of the General Election in 1997. -
As PM Lee said in a dialogue with PAP activists in Nanyang Polytechnic last month on the Gomez issue, time is needed to show up a person.
He said: 'James Gomez came from nowhere. He's not a good guy, but in nine days we don't have time to prove that.'
Mr Gomez had claimed during last year's GE that he had submitted his minority candidate form, but video footage released later showed he had not.
It became a major electoral talking point when the PAP's big guns came out firing at him.
But law lecturer Eugene Tan from the Singapore Management University argues that lying low is not an option for the opposition.
'They cannot have their cake of anonymity and eat it,' he says.
'Their starting point has to be presence, presence, presence since the PAP has the monopoly of the political landscape.'
Mr Teo of the NSP says that it is 'ridiculous' to fear being attacked by the PAP. 'If we are not doing anything wrong, what is there to hide?'
Winning a GRC
THE nub of the problem for the opposition lies in what some have described as a perverse relationship between process and outcome.
First, no matter how hard they work, the likelihood of victory and being elected is low.
As WP chief Low Thia Khiang said before the last GE, be prepared to lose if you join the opposition.
Second, the harder they work, the steeper their climb may be, with the ruling party more likely to come down hard on them.
Hence, it is hard to incentivise talents - especially the top professionals - to plough the ground, knowing that their efforts are likely to come to nought.
Yet, without these top talents, the opposition would lack the most basic ingredient necessary for the GRC breakthrough - something which Mr Low had boldly declared recently as a WP target for the next GE.
It is an uphill climb which analysts believe the opposition must make if it is serious about putting a dent on the PAP's dominance.
'Commitment on the part of an underdog working in PAP territory has the potential to go down well with voters,' says Mr Tan.
'Otherwise, they cannot hope to make any significant impact if they show up just before an election. Elections are not won at the hustings; they are won through the work done between elections.'
In short, the opposition has no choice. If it wants to win a GRC, it has to attract talents who are willing to make sacrifices and work the ground years before the election.
Therein lies the challenge - finding the talent willing to do the work, not overnight, but over time.
Says Mr Tan: 'It's a long road, but that's the reality of taking on a political hegemon like the PAP.'
[email protected]
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NO PRESENCE? NO PROBLEM
'If they just gave up and left, it's not very responsible. But if they left to get on with their lives, I don't have an issue if they still want to come back and fight at the next election.'
- ALJUNIED GRC RESIDENT MATO KOTWANI, on the absence of opposition candidates after the elections
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PAP MPs who went 'Awol' - absent with official leave
IT IS common for opposition figures to go away in between polls. But the ruling party has also had MPs who leave the country for study or work.
MPs from the People's Action Party (PAP) often do so just for months, though.
MP Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) left in August for a fellowship at Yale University. She will stay for a semester and is likely to return in January.
She did not reply to Insight's e-mail.
Her parliamentary colleague, Ms Irene Ng, was also based overseas last year as she worked on the biography of the late member of the Old Guard, Mr S. Rajaratnam.
Says the Tampines GRC MP, who was with the University of Edinburgh: 'I timed the three-month fellowship so that I did not miss any Parliament sitting. I returned in October, before Parliament convened.
'I have a very strong and supportive team of grassroots leaders and we keep in touch regularly, through phone and e-mail messages. Requests from residents or problems raised were sent to me, and I replied to them promptly even while away.
'Residents knew I was still serving them during that period, given the close personal attention I gave to each request and problem sent my way.'
Two years ago, Parliamentary Secretary (National Development) Mohamad Maliki Osman spent spring in the United States as part of the Eisenhower Fellowship.
Former Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Umar Abdul Hamid also went away after being elected. The one-term MP pursued a master's degree from 1994 to 1995 at Harvard University in the United States.
A PAP MP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, tells Insight that it is 'not very nice' to go away for personal career advancement.
'It looks bad to get elected and then go off to pursue your own interests,' he says.
But political observers disagree.
Dr Terence Chong from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies says it is 'perfectly all right' for people to take sabbaticals.
Mr Eugene Tan from the Singapore Management University argues that such short-term absence is not a problem.
'Penny Low and Irene Ng have their fellow MPs in their GRCs to cover for them during the short absence. If anything, their absence may not even be noticed. Such is the luxury of PAP's political incumbency and well-oiled machinery.
'I feel that a short-term absence in itself is not an issue if the ward is properly looked after. But the PAP still has to be mindful that they retain their presence on the ground.'
None of the MPs can beat the record set by Dr Chiang Hai Ding, 69.
The former Ulu Pandan MP spent eight of his 14 years as a parliamentarian overseas because he was also a diplomat - serving, among other postings, as Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia for two years from 1971 and later ambassador to then-West Germany from 1978 to 1982.
He told The Straits Times in a 2001 interview that he left politics in 1984 because it was not fair to his parliamentary colleagues who had to help him take care of his ward.
He joked: 'One of them was Mr Phua Bah Lee, whom other MPs used to call 'Poor Phua Lee' because he was carrying a heavy load on my behalf at my constituency.'
SMS or E-mail your views
DO YOU think the opposition has disappeared? Should they work the ground as hard as the PAP MPs or even harder?
How can the opposition get top talents to join them?
E-mail [email protected] or send an SMS to 9827-7514. For SMS messages, type stpol, followed by a space and then your answers.
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited -
I also don't see the elected group around area
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Has the PAP gone AWOL?
http://hammersphere.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/has-the-pap-gone-awol/#more-159
Why PM Lee is wrong about The WorkersÂ’ Party
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/11/17/why-pm-lee-is-wrong-about-the-workers%e2%80%99-party/ -
PAP can say whatever they want...... but the PEOPLE will make up their own mind.
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people who feel genuinely threatened and scared will always go on the offensive and say silly things. I'd say our opposition parties are improving... or its a sign the pap quality is getting worse
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i mean... so what?
most pple may not be in sg but dat dun mean they dun love sg, or labelled as quitters or awol-ers.
let's not forget our minsters sent their sons n daughters to oversea too. r we going to trust our future minsters too? -
*&$^ lah..
the Gomez is as close to an MIW mole as it's going to get.. who knows? might actually be one... and now being milked for all he is worth
the further away he is from the WP, the better...
and mostly, i don't blame the MIW for resorting to saying such things.. politicians are basically a bunch of asswipes and both sides of the divide have their share of them...
that being said, remember.. always give politicians a hard time.. that's what they're there for.. to serve We The People... -
My bleedy MP is not overseas but he could be for all the "good" he does for us. Also, we don't get to see him unless it is election year and only the 1 or 2 months before election. So why take swipes at WP - clean your own backyard first Mr PM!
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as a citizen, are you doing your part by taking your MP to task?
Originally posted by adetet:My bleedy MP is not overseas but he could be for all the "good" he does for us. Also, we don't get to see him unless it is election year and only the 1 or 2 months before election. So why take swipes at WP - clean your own backyard first Mr PM! -
well better than those who are elected and then go awol and then pops back up just before the election..
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P4P going to pay them a million dollar salary if they stay behind to help in the constituency???
I think these Worker's Party candidate also needs to make money to pay for food and housing.
For P4P candidates, even if they lose, they can afford to stay and try to win votes, afterall P4P paying their salaries.
I think the PM is not very good at analysis, else we won't be making so many bad investments. -
He put on such a smug facial expression when he mentioned it. Great distaste...
I dun know if that is considered 'AWOL' but someone else 'deserted' from post.... -
How boastful.
Never expected PM to say such words. Take vote seriously?
Totally agree, we are sooo not serious last election therefore PAP wins..
PAP soo good at brainwashing. -
Words like that from the mouth of a PM really indicate that he is a person without depth. This PM has no substance, look at himself before he comments on anyone else. What is so happy about saying such thing when he is faced with gradual drop of winning percentage of votes in the last couple of elections. If the PAP win last year was a good one then he can talk so "loud".
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This PM is a liability to the country.
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lol. is it a must to make personal attacks?
if you're good, ppl will vote for you, if you're bad at your job, making personal attacks is of bad taste. shrugs -
Hmm...kenna shame already go overseas hide is quite normal wad...
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Just wonder how does lee hsien loong brain works.
Keep talking, keep using words which in turn create more and more bad publicity for himself. Is he stupid or ignorant? -
He's no intellectual for sure.
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Yes, he is not intellectual, lacks EQ, lacks a good heart, no wisdom that is why we don't hear him speaking words of wisdom. He owes his dad for where he is now.Originally posted by LazerLordz:He's no intellectual for sure. -
It looks pretty funny, that only one side seems to be gleeful; while in contrast the other side seems to be putting up some effort to go on with the show.
Where is the younger SGP PM - when an older China PM went for a morning exercise ?
Has our PM gone AWOL from the morning 5BX ?
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monkey see monkey doOriginally posted by qlqq9:Yes, he is not intellectual, lacks EQ, lacks a good heart, no wisdom that is why we don't hear him speaking words of wisdom. He owes his dad for where he is now.