The Workers’ Party Organising Secretary, Yaw Shin Leong, revealed on his blog that he voted for the PAP candidate, Dr Teo Ho Pin, in the last General Elections.
In his blog post, “A vote for the other side”, Yaw said:
Actually during GE06 itself, there were also some in WP who raised their eye brows when I shared with them that I will be voting for Teo Ho Pin. On polling day, one urged me that since the incumbent will win anyway I should perhaps ‘spoil my vote’ instead. However as a citizen of our constitutional state, I take my voting duty very seriously and will never waste my precious vote, unless the political circumstances really warrant it.
The interesting question perhaps would be, if a WP candidate is to offer himself/ herself for election in the constituency I reside, will I vote for this WP candidate? Partisan considerations will certainly weigh heavily in my considerations. Having said that, ultimately this WP candidate has to convince me that he/ she has what it take to better serve the interests of our country and the constituents to win my vote.
Please share your views on Yaw’s revelation.
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Harrison,
I think most people, WP included, knew that voters voted for YSL team not because they were perceived as capable and/or competent enough to take over the PM and his team. The intention of that contest was to give residents a chance to represent the whole nation to show how much the public support and approve Lee as PM.
With respect to your “not up to the competition in any sense” view, I don’t think it is the only yardstick voters use to decide their vote. Voters also consider this:
If the candidate is less CAPABLE than the PAP candidate but COMPETENT, then the voters should consider supporting the opposition candidate.
That is why opposition still contest. They believe they are competent enough that they can win the votes from some people and help the party grow in the process. The actual vote they received serve to justify or invalid their view that they are competent enough.
Regards.
Yaw Shin Leong,
I want you to know that I voted for you and your gang in GE2006 in AMK
NOT because you guys were any better than the PAP candidates. In fact, you
were NOBODY in my eyes. I voted for you guys because of solidarity for the
common cause against those who are making our lives more and more difficult
and our livelihood less and less certain. I voted for you because of HOPE!
If I had known before hand your line of reasoning for what you have done and that
you have deliberately voted for the PAP candidate and informing Mr Ho well before
hand that you and your mother would vote for him, because of your now
publicized rationale, I would NOT have voted for you.
Though everyone has individual right to choose who he/she wish to cast the vote
for but you are a politician, and as a politician, you are a public figure. Therefore,
your overall political platform and projections to the public override your
individual choice. If you chose not to be in congruence with your overall political
platform and deliberately went against what you had told the public to do, then you
had deceived and betrayed us, the voters who had supported you in GE 2006.
You told us not to vote for the PAP but you yourself voted for the PAP and yet
got the cheek to publicize it as though you are hell of a great wise man of the
century. You think we who have voted for you are morons?
From your revelation, I can’t help but think that you could be a spy planted into
the WP. Your loyalty to WP and to the cause of the opposition in Singapore is
called into a big question. Therefore, how do you expect us to trust you any more?
Aggrieved Voter.
Yaw should not stand again the next GE, he will lose his deposit, and drag the whole WP team down.
He should resign from WP and joined his favourite MP’s party. We want real change that we all can believe in. That is a gahmen with PAP as minority and majority opposition as alliance coalition. To achieve that requires total support and loyalty of all oppositon parties. I myself do not want to see a WP majority in parliment becoz they are too PAP like in nature. I dislike a PAP clone. I hope to see a united SDP,New WP,RP and so on. If WP ‘s YSL can dash the our hope for change then it said so much of his own believe and loyalty to the oppostion to form the gahmen in the future. He just blew his career away as a politician. Guess he can go help his MP ‘s town council for a job.
I, for one, would like to know how the other members of WP voted in the last GE.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a feeling that many oppositionists vote for PAP.
Why would you vote for a party that consistently scores own goals?
Patriot,
I agree with your view that YSL should join back the PAP. He seems to be one of
those who believes “All men are equal but some are more equal” and says to the
voters “Do what I tell you to do but don’t do what I do”.
I would be very afraid of him, who if given a chance to be in a position of power
will tell the public to do one thing but behind the back he does completely the
opposite.
Such a double-mouth or double-dealing person are crafty politicians but cannot be trusted even by their own wives and children. As it is, we already have one too
many of such people sitting up in the ivory towers. Singapore could do less
with such calibre of people even if they are extremely brilliant. In fact, the more
brilliant they are, the more we should be afraid of because on the whole
Singapore will suffer under those kinds of brains.
According to de Bono Hats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats), we need opposition in the parliament as Black Hats if nothing else. If not, since PAP self censors (regardless of the fact they claimed they don’t), a truly good discussion about Policies affecting everyone cannot be achieved.
Hence, while I accept that his stance is correct, he doesn’t seemed to have done enough thinking to really achieve his stated goal of “better serve the interests of our country”. He is really just being myopic and thinking solely about his own estate/GRC.
Purely from the candidates professional credential aspect, obviously one party would have a much greater edge compared to the rest of the parties. If we want the country to be run like a company measured by KPI, by all means support these highly capable people who make billions of dollars for their companies. But don’t expect them to voice up for you in the parliament, because whatever you hear, is what they want you to hear, and not what you want them to say.
Now, if you don’t eat your own dog food, how can you expect others to do so and tell you how it taste like?
RH:
1. Due to my pc being sabotaged as usual by the ISD above my flat, I had lost my entire Comment and had to recompose it as posted above. In recomposing, I had forgotten some points, which I now feel compelled to add, since the Comments are still incoming fast and furious, by no means ending.
2. I had described SG under the LIEgime as an Abomination and an Aberration. This is to emphasise that Mr YAW would have been right to vote for the PAP if SG were a normal democratic city state. In a normal state, you vote for the best MP for your constituency, then leave him and all the other elected MPs of the majority party to then elect THEIR preferred leaders who would then form the Cabinet. Thus, in a normal state, it makes perfect sense to vote purely for the best MP who would do the best job for your constituency, and then let him vote for HIS leader and Cabinet.
3. BUT SG IS AN ABOMINATION AND AN ABERRATION! So this normal process does NOT apply!
4. For example, SG is too small an islet, so the lines between State and constituencies are blurred, even missing! Most rules, taxes, levies, etc, imposed on constituencies by their TCs are in actual fact, imposed by the LIEgime. There is very little, only token, local govt as opposed to national govt. When you approach your MP for help on any matter, most times, they can do nothing but refer you, with a nice letter if at that, to a national agency. Further, the entire TC concept was devised to PUNISH constituencies that voted in Opposition. NOT because local govt is more efficient than state govt! LIE KY himself made this clear, that ‘if you vote in an Opposition MP, then you must suffer for it by having your entire constituency blacklisted and deprived of monies, services, infrastructure [even MRT stations and bus stops], etc, which PAP constituencies enjoy’.
5. SG is so tiny it can be easily and efficiently ruled and managed by just a Mayor, no need for a Cabinet or govt at all! It is much smaller in population and size than most cities in the world, which only have mayors. So given that our MM or ‘Mayor Minister’ has the entire taxation and law-making powers of a big govt, not just a mayoral dept, he can literally do wonders, from taxing you to conscripting you for the army. Thus, powers and advantages no other mayors have.
6. To put this another way, suppose the mayors of Shanghai, London, New York, etc, also have the same lawmaking and taxation powers that LIE KY LHL have — they would do wonders, too. No brainer.
7. Thus, TCs are also part of the Abomination and Aberration. They are exactly like Parliament, a rubber stamp, for show only. This is why in this A and A, voting for the best TC manager is NOT the issue. Neither is voting for the best MP to speak up for you in Parliament since that, too, is an A and A.
8. Now, we begin to see more clearly the real issues. In this A and A, your vote is not to choose the best TC manager or the best speaker for your interests in Parliament since both TC and P are rubber stamps. So what does the vote become? Just an expression of defiance. A Referendum on the LIEgime, except that, in most elections and even our first and only Referendum around 1962 [on joining Malaysia in 1963], that Referendum was rigged, too, with all 3 Options for joining Malaysia and none against!
9. Thus, politics, especially Opposition politics, are also A and A here. No wonder CST and LTK are so cowed that their only strategy is Stealth Politics, to go so low under the LIE KY LHL PAP radar that they are ignored so that, hopefully, the majority hatred and resentment of the electorate for the LIEgime will keep returning them again and again to their S$13,500pm part time job [since Parliament meets less than ~50 days a year].
10. We all, voters, critics, bloggers, Opposition politicians, must recognise all these so that we can play the LIEgime game more intelligently. They have rigged all the rules of the game but it is possible, by their leave, to get into Parliament by stealth, by avoiding any politicking at all, in this A and A.
11. Thus, we all Commenters and enraged onliners need to see Mr YAW betrayal in these lights. Not a very pretty picture but these are the dynamics that have been created and in place for decades. Only by understanding them, biding our time for the inevitable Death or Dissolution of the Most Hated Man in SG can we hope to gain some leeway at all. These are election basics that Mr YAW and others like him must know, otherwise they will keep making mistakes, thinking that they are living in a normal democracy, with normal rules, and can thus vote normally.
Looks like there are some fans of Animal Farm by George Orwell here.
RH,
I agreed totally with your comments. We dont need a cabinet just a mayor is more than enough. Even the president is extra here.
Shin Leong said Lin How Doong was “unvotable” due to his “performance” and “antics”. Interesting. Let’s see what were those.
In 1988, How Doong scored 47% againt Seet Ai Mee. Shin Leong (probably a primary school kid then) must have thought that almost half of Bukit Gombak residents then were morons.
In 1991, Lin How Doong upped and scored 52%. Lo and behold! An actual win! Against a minister-of-state no less. Shin Leong (probably a secondary school teenager then) must have thought that Bukit Gombak residents should get the IMH project instead of Buangkok Green.
Between 1991 and 1997, during How Doong’s term as MP, what went wrong with Bukit Gombak? The nice little clean and beautiful between Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak and Choa Chu Kang? What went wrong? I say nothing.
Saying “don’t talk cock” in Parliament? Worse things have been said by JBJ, whom Shin Leong and many other opposition aspirants still idolise.
Now, to Shin Leong, reflect upon yourself. How do your performance and antics compare with Lin How Doong?
Ya true, Netizen Ramseth, there is nothing wrong with Ling How Doong, what performance is Yaw talking about. LTK performance is so so only, just like Ling. In parliament opposition is minority, outnumber by pap.Whatever you propose, they dont accept. What performance you want to judge. You ask questions, the ministers ask you back, and you cant answer, what performance ?? pap played dirty by removing Bukit Gombak SMC, this shows pap is scare of LIng HOw Doong. Ling dare to criticise pap not like other MP who behave like a rat.
Those SMC where opposition obtained 40 + % were all absorbed into GRC. This showed their kiasuness. overall pap have 5 ks. Kiasu, Kiasi, Ke Khiang, Ke Poh and Kiam Siap.
Mr Gary Teoh,
One more K to add: Kilat-lari Mas Selamat !
Netizen Ramseth,
I agree with your observations.
What Ling How Doong now must do is to tell Yaw Shin Leong in the face:
DONT’ TALK COCK!
And all of us will clap and laugh ….. Hahahahaha ……
Precisely. We need people who dare to ask tough sensitive questions and pursue real answers in parliament. Not just giving token speeches with hints and then consider work as done.
Up to now, Inderjit Singh has done a far better job of questioning than anybody else.
We are not putting in opposition for opposition sake. Elected opposition members carry the responsibilty and hope of those who rooted for them. Failing to perform satisfactorily is as good as betraying the support rendered.
YSL must resign from WP…please dont hide behind LTK just like WKS hiding
behind PM ‘s back. It is no honest mistake to begin with just pure stupidity. We are
all waiting….please dont setup a COI just like MSK incident what a waste of time…be
a politician that has gut to say it out and the bravery to quit too.
C’mon guys! Let’s write him off and move on! Remember to cast him into the political dustbin of history.
I agreed he is “Finished” and “Outcast”. The same is going to happen to WP if they stick with him.
Lets move on with more urgent matters like the extra trains provided by smrt during lunch hour. The majority (50%)of the promised 720 trains are mostly for the lunch hour timing. What help does it get? The peak hour in the morning and evening are still very very packed. If SMRT is going to raise fares again because of extra trains it provided i say they can go eat “SHIT”!
Being brain washed ? If we won’t give the opposition a chance, nothing will ever change. We will have the same regime ruling over us for many year to come. It is time to drop all past views and single mindedly vote PAP out. One vote may not make a big difference but we must continue to spread the idea of voting the PAP out. After all, the gahment is not make up of one person it is the policies that make or break a country. Take for example,the policy of importing FW/FT which most of us are aware of. For starter, that policy must cease and also our defence policy as well. We are spending a big part of our GDP on defence.Scaling it down and putting the money saved on some form of social welfare for the unemployed will go down like a treat to many Singaporean. A society without humanity and integrity will not survive forever. The ruling regime had grown fat on the labour of Singaporean. Social engineering by importing FT/FW only worked for now as the FT/FW become “singaporised” they will come round to think like us especially if they had offspring. They are there for the money and as long as there is money they will stay. When the money run out, nothing will keep them there. The recession had opened up a few small cracks and a few FT/Fw eyes as well.It is not a paradise island but a slave camp. Some of these FW had gone home broke, worst then before they set foot on Paradise Island. Singaporean could one day be the target of radical group like the American. I just hoped that that day will never come to past.
Shin Leong is a total liability! He is such a disgrace to opposition. Vote for PAP in his own ward in 2006 and hope his ward can have upgrading? And yet contest in AMK to ask voter to vote for him?
Such a hypocrite and selfish people!
WP manifesto: Working towards a first world parliament with alternative voice? With this kind of person around, no way!