by Andrew Loh
On 28 February, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was reported by Channel Newsasia as having said:
“If there is a stall that sells chilli crab, if it is well known, no matter where the chill crab stall is located, people will flock to the chilli crab stall to eat, right or wrong? So you got a good candidate, you got a good party, people will vote for that.”
SM Goh was defending the redrawn electoral boundaries which were released recently.
Perhaps SM Goh should ask Mr Sitoh YihPin to start selling chili crabs instead of abalone porridge and S$2 shark’s fin soup which Mr Sitoh was (in)famously doing in his bid to woo voters in Potong Pasir.
In both previous elections in 2001 and 2006, Mr Sitoh was on the losing end. In 2006, his vote share dropped, even after SM Goh himself tried to sell “chili crabs” – all S$80 million worth of it – to Potong Pasir residents on Mr Sitoh’s behalf.
It would seem that even dishing out chili crabs, abalone porridge and shark’s fin soup is not a sure-fire winning strategy for the PAP.
The upcoming General Election will be Mr Sitoh’s third attempt at winning the Single-member Constituency (SMC), which he is reported to be keen on doing. (See here.)
Contrary to what SM Goh said, it is not only what you are selling (or which party you belong to) that will convince voters to run over to your side, but perhaps more importantly where your sincerity lies.
And with regards to this, what took place after the last elections does not put Mr Sitoh in a good light. Voters in Potong Pasir may not have forgotten – or forgiven – him for abandoning the ward after he lost the elections.
Just three months after the elections in 2006, Mr Sitoh disclaimed any responsibility to repair or replace six street lamps in Potong Pasir which had been vandalised. (See here.) The lights had been installed by Mr Sitoh who had leased the land (on which the six lights were located) from the Singapore Land Authority in order to do so. He did not want to fix the lights because he said “the lease for the land would run out on Oct 31 [2006].”
Mr Sitoh, however, quickly defended his stand. “But if I am running the town council,” the Straits Times reported him as saying, “I would apply to take over this piece of land and build a brightly lit covered walkway immediately. I will not wait.”
Mr Chiam See Tong, the incumbent MP in Potong Pasir, Mr Chiam said that “fixing the lights with town council funds would be illegal as the area in question is not under the council’s control.”
“This is his baby,” Mr Chiam said, referring to Mr Sitoh. “He did it to show voters that he is such a caring person. But now what has happened? It just shows he was doing it for the election, no more, no less.”
It was only in May 2008, some one and a half years later, that the matter was resolved – and Mr Sitoh had nothing to do with it. Mr Chiam applied and received approval from the authorities to build a covered walkway to connect the MRT station to the town centre in Potong Pasir Avenue 2, the site of the damaged lights. (See report here.)
It was very shrewd of Mr Chiam. Besides resolving the street lamp issue, and in the process gaining the moral high ground over Mr Sitoh (who was shown up as insincere and petty), the covered linkway – with lights - was also a fulfillment of a promise Mr Chiam had made to Potong Pasir residents during the elections.
The local media reported that Mr Sitoh had also terminated his programmes, which he had been conducting ostensibly in the interest of Potong Pasir residents, after his electoral defeat. More than a year after GE 2006, Channel Newsasia reported Mr Sitoh had still “been keeping a low profile since his loss to Mr Chiam See Tong.”
In June 2007, the Today newspaper reported:
When contacted, Mr Sitoh said he had “no immediate plans” to resume his activities, including meet-the-people sessions, in Potong Pasir. According to grassroots leaders, residents have probably seen the last of the famous $2 shark’s fin soup and abalone porridge dished out at community events in the past.
Mr Sitoh’s right-hand man Chua Kian Meng said no community outreach events have been held since the elections. “So far, there’s been nothing. There’s also nothing planned,” he said.
But Mr Sitoh is back – again. He wants to contest the upcoming General Election.
“If I can decide my political destiny,” he told the Straits Times in January this year, “I want to stay and fight for a third time, even though I know it’s very challenging and difficult.”
And his weapons of choice this time round? A “personal touch”, according to this Channel Newsasia report in 2009, although Mr Sitoh fails to elaborate; and the usual PAP carrot – lift upgrading. (See here.) And perhaps another weapon in his bag of tricks: his Residents’ Committee, of which he is adviser. Mr Sitoh said of them:
“[Our] Residents’ Committees have won three star awards from the People’s Association recently … so this is evidence our volunteers are still putting in effort, it’s just that we are not visible.”
All well and good, I suppose. One has to hand it to the man for sticking it out, especially having lost twice before. Mr Sitoh, however, should understand one basic thing – that voters are not easily fooled. You can dish out chili crabs, abalone porridge, or shark’s fin soup, but voters know if you are sincere ultimately. Abandoning the ward – and your responsibility – immediately after you find out the election results are not in your favour is sheer stupidity, especially for a politician.
So, Mr Goh, no it’s not about chili crabs or even about the credibility of your party per se. After all, you yourself could not pull in the votes for Mr Sitoh the last time, even though – in the words of Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim, you “must be aware that [you are] one of the 3 most well-known chilli crab stall operators”. Indeed, some have said your antics in Potong Pasir (and Hougang) dug the knife deeper into the backs of the PAP’s candidates contesting the two SMCs. No coincidence too that both opposition candidates in the two wards saw an increase in their percentage of votes, in spite of your multi-million dollar chili crabs to entice the voters.
You can hawk your chili crabs all you want but at the end of the day, it comes down to the personal credibility and sense of responsibility of your individual candidate which, in this case, is Mr Sitoh Yihpin.
As for voters in Potong Pasir, perhaps they have a much more exquisite palette.
Maybe they just want some honesty and sincerity from their would-be chili crab stall proprietor MP.
Video: Potong Pasir walkway opening
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
Once again you have done it, Andrew! Fabulous expose of the 2 PAP monkeys GCT and Seetoh Yi Ping.
Both will not hesitate to use money and foods S’poreans love to entice voters to their side. What baloney. Do they think voters here are unthinking duds?
I doubt PAP will put STYP in Potong Pasir again unless of course they know it’s a hopeless lost cause there.
But then with a female SDA candidate there (Lina Chiam) maybe they will put one of their chabohs there to try their luck?
Anyway Andrew, once again, well done and keep up the good work.You have a good heart and it shows in your op-ed pieces. Good luck and God bless!
For goodness sake … SM GOh contest in Potong Pasir lah! Talk so much for what ..SM (Sure Mati).
“If there is a stall that sells chilli crab, if it is well known, no matter where the chill crab stall is located, people will flock to the chilli crab stall to eat, right or wrong?”
What if there are not one but a few well known chilli crab stalls in that area, and some are located at more convenient locations than others…
In SM Goh’s mind, he probably never considered if we are willing to squeeze into sardine packed trains to eat the chilli crab…
Very enjoyable piece of commentary. You got it spot on. It is all about having the heart to serve and truly bonding with the ground. Facilities and amenities are great to have, but I prefer to believe that it is the sincerity (or the lack of it) of the politician which people utimately remember.
As for the food, not everyone appreciates chilli crabs. Some can’t afford to eat it very often, others may prefer something simpler, like soya beancurd. Dangerous to generalise.
Remember his carrots promised to Hougang and Potong Pasir constituents during the last election and what exactly has he done ?
Now looking back in hindsight, we now know it was a total lie to con the people. And coming from Senior Minister, isn’t it deceitful of him ?
I think the PAP should go the whole hog and bring out all it has to offer – chili crabs, chikus, shark’s fin soup, abalone porridge, even mee siam mai hum.
They won’t matter because Singaporeans have become so poor that they can no longer afford any of these.
In fact, the proprietors of these food stalls have become multi-million elites – at the expense of the very people they’re trying to sell these foods to.
Vote them out, I say. Just vote them out.
the problem with the chilli crab theory? If you try to sell chilli crab in an area that only likes hokkien mee, you are bound to lose, and big time.
Chiam is already a well-known credible home-grown chillie crab seller in Potong Pasir, Sitoh is trying to squeeze his stall there and used muscle to ensure other people chillie crab stall is pushed out. Evil.
People of PP, no doubt u r always not on the list on upgradings, however.. U r paying the lowest conservative charges in Sg ..
Although Chiam is old .. But in no way did he suka suka lose ur money in finance tsunami ..
So .. Do u wan some1 from Papppy come in, upgrade ur stuff and raise your charges up and tell u this is life ? Think carefully pls
GCT came about to recently say that meritocracy alone is not enough but must include community service.
Now how many of the PAP candidates were picked from their RCs to contest in PAP colours during elections.
If I am not wrong, there are none.
Its always some yes man from some dept or company.
Today, even GCT is losing his credibility. Young boys are questioning him till he can’t answer.
I am just waiting to see what’s going to happen in this GE.
CB Lau Goh always TCSS.
If he is so gd, y hide behind the GRC.
Phui, may all his relatives blossom with cancer till termination.
No cursing of terminal illness on people thanks – mod
in an SMCrab, if the crab is well known, even if it is a minority race, like a Sri Lankan Crab, it will still be voted in.
therefore the Crab does not need to hide behind GRCs, in little cubby holes here and there, protected by the majority races.
some crabs, like the Palmer Crab, however, are not so well-known, and is now famous for being speechless when asked on Talking Pointless, if his future winning of an SMC makes GRCs pointless.
lucky he didn’t answer – anything he could logically have said would lead to a very bad relationship with his boss’ Son, who currently holds the reins of power.
Woody Goh think he is some kind of sage, dishing out silly analogies. All these SM’s and MM should all shut up and retire.
If PAP is really sincere about serving people in potong pasir, they should make sure they win it back by sending in a heavy weight minister, what is widely believe is people tendency is to vote a minister, that’s why GRC all helm by minister. Dont send in a newbie. A heavy weight minister such as our minister in charge of housing Mah Bow Tan is suitable to go back there to reclaim what is lost to the PAP. PAP can market him to the voters as someone who has matured from a rookie then in 1984 when he lost to Chaim to a high calibre heavy weight minister now who gave Singaporeans affordable housing and upgrading, including those houses in potong pasir. So, any minister dare to take up the challenge and potentially can become the hero for the party by taking back potong pasir? Wong kan Seng? Shamugam? Vivian? Goh CT? Yacob?
“So you got a good candidate, you got a good party, people will vote for that.”
So don’t need to have GRC, people will vote for minorities too.
Here’s the question that should have been posed :
Current policy makers have maintained that opposition candidates appear only when elections are round the corner. I supposed this argument was intended to bring out the sincerity element. Look at this candidate, who has a much more better machinery (media, grassroots etc) behind him. Wasn’t what he did (not do), to continue engaging the residents, a direct slap on their faces ?
Perhaps, he could make his position clearer through CNA too ….
Here it goes again. Cheap politiking by the PAP trying to bribe voters with abalone porridge again. If Sitoh is really that capable he doesn’t need the backup of GCT. He should be able to sail on his own wind. But it looks like he is all hot air but no wind.
People of Potong Pasir, don’t be fooled by the PAP tactics. And remember that the upgrading S$millions are yours and tax payers money…NOT…PAP’s. They have no right to use it to preserve themselves. It shows their insincerity to serve the people. It is just all about staying in power to hang on to their mega pay checks while you get pittance. Open your eyes and ears for the sake of true democracy. All Singaporeans will salute you if you get Mrs Chiam elected.
Remember this when you vote. Whatever happens Mrs Chiam is a better candidate who will truly serve you like her husband did for so many decades.
PAP is nothing if not the people giving them 100% support all these years. Has PAP gov been kind to the people all these years? It is time to evaluate what is good for the country and vote the morally right and kind leaders to lead this country. Good leaders lead by example and those who wants a lot of money should leave office and start up your own business. Politics is to serve people not serve their own pockets and interests. I am daft and my vote is for the good leaders that currently is missing from the incumbent party.
SMGoh, please get down from your high horse. You can easily afford to eat three meals of chili crabs a day with the millions you are paid with our money. Thanks to the PAP most of your fellow citizens cannot afford chili crabs. Only elites whom the PAP cares for. So get real!
If Sitoh can contest in a SMC then we do not see the need for GRCs except tp keep PAP in power.
To Michael:
Woody GCT, SYPT and most of the PAP leaders are not only monkeys….they are con artists if not crooks!
Paying Prataman, MM, SM, PM and Ministers $10-$15k PER DAY from public funds is akin to overcharging us 10X if not more…..and they have the cheek to prosecute Dr Susan Lim for overcharging?
What is with this Sitoh guy? Whose relative is he? If I am not mistaken, PAP has been fielding him repeatedly over the last few elections. He lost miserably even with all the resources (taxpayer’s money) promised to the voters.
I love my chilli crab. I have’nt eaten it for at least a year now. Why??? I find that things are simply too expensive nowadays and I am worried about my future with the huge influx of foreigners so I refrain from the luxuries that I used to enjoy. I fear that if the ruling party is not challenged, we will have an increase in GST to fund their election year budget and increase in their salaries. For my beloved Chilli crab, I will vote wisely!
SMGoh, where is the Swiss standard of living you promised us?
All we get is the Swiss cost of living.
Pray tell us why we should vote for PAP in spite of the following?
- costly ministers
- costly food
- costly education
- costly HDB flats
- costly cars (it is not a luxury for many, it is a necessity for our work)
- arrogant leaders (remember we are lesser mortals; spurs that stick)
- leaders losing touch with the ground
- badly managed FT policy
- leaders with authority but no accountability (remember Mas Selamat)
- no transparency with the state money (GIC, Temasek)
The list can go on, but I am kind today.
If PAP is truly sincere about serving potong pasir residents, it should make sure it has highest chance of winning Chiam by asking one heavy weight minister to contest in this ward. After all, the ministers have always been touted by the media and party to be very capable, with the ground, can take the country forward, etc. So, since Mah Bow Tan has matured from a rookie then in 1984 when he lost to Chiam, to a heavy weight minister now in charge of housing, he should consider going back to reclaim the lost ground for his party. It would be great for him to showcase his affordable housing and selective upgrading track record to potong pasir voters. Besides him, any other minister can also take up this challenge to wrestle the ward from opposition and become the hero for PAP. Even SM Goh himself can lead the charge by standing in single member ward, to regain the respect people have for him.
Let me salute and pay tribute to the gutsy and wise voters of Potong Pasir SMC who have stood up and sacrificed ‘all S$80 million worth of it’ and similarly those of Hougang SMC too.
Once again the Hypocrite GohChokeTongue shows Singaporeans he can only spout crap from his mouth, in this instance it is Chili Crap.
I agree with our SM GCT’s analogy. In that case all wards should be revert back to SMC.
Thinks he buy his 1st class honour in economic!!! This is what called good chilli crabs from his big mouth!!!
Any good business man know good location is paramount to success for any business.
What is all the crabs???
The SM is getting senile, i frankly cannot understand his chiili crab analogy – how can voters cross over boundary to vote for an opposition candidate once they have re-drawn the boundary? I have early-stage dementia, still its clear to me he has lost his marbles.
Sitoh certainly is a certainty to get the boot, even if lina and all the pap’s moles are giving chiam a hard time. That chap basically went missing in action, and only last year started putting up posters wishing people happy deepavali, sometimes you wonder what kind of strategy the pap really has, these high flying million-dollars men and women must think folks in potong pasir have short memories.
“If there is a stall that sells chilli crab, if it is well known, no matter where the chill crab stall is located, people will flock to the chilli crab stall to eat, right or wrong? So you got a good candidate, you got a good party, people will vote for that.”
Obviously this mantra doesn’t apply to the PAP, if not, why the re-drawing of electoral boundaries? And if PAP is so confident about IT’S own famous chili crab, why all the one-off pre-election Budget goodies? Obviously, PAP doesn’t believe in how good its own chili crab stall is….
Lol…Chilli Crab analogy…what’s next Asam Fish or Chicken Rice analogy next next GE??
How much ku ku bird a person must be to be able to accept another ku ku bird brain “sage” words of “wisdom”!
Nuts.
This wooden head can’t even tell the difference between crab and crap.
Chilli craps anyone?
“If there is a stall that sells chilli crab, if it is well known, no matter where the chill crab stall is located, people will flock to the chilli crab stall to eat, right or wrong? So you got a good candidate, you got a good party, people will vote for that.”
……………………
ok you say 1 hor…
take a good good look in YOUR ward in marine parade itself…
is any hdb dwellers behin in their mortgages? in tampenis so many fall behin in maitainin their hdb mortgages..and who run tampenis?
the marine parade hawkers are ALL makin ton$ of profit$? yes or no?
now if my geography is as good as climbin braddel height in which it come under your WING..ow come YOUR east coast beachfront is chasin away longterm campers? why eastcoast is aculpulco mey?
last but not least
ow much is a plate of charkwayteow charge in marine parade hawker centres?
let alone crabs….
yes yes we all know charkwayteow don’t come with free peanuts…includin starbuck bythecommunitycentre..butt it do COME with standard SEAHUMs….
chilly also included..no xtra charges…
p.s. if you are not sured which stall sell the best crabs…don’t talk…dont booast either….
All Singaporeans must thank the people of potong pasir and hougang for holding out against the PAP’s threat of withholding millions of upgrading money being from them. Thanks to them, Singaporeans are able to prevent a clean sweep by PAP and give the common folks a chance to air their voice.
WP Chairman Sylvia Lim’s superb rebuttal to Crappy Million-dollar PAP Politicians:
“…As regards his chilli crab stall analogy, SM Goh must be aware that he is one of the 3 most well-known chilli crab stall operators, besides Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, operating chain stalls all over Singapore in the form of the GRCs (Group Representation Constituencies).
WP admits that it is no match for the PAP in this chain-stall setting. The use of the analogy is therefore a red herring to confuse voters that the changes to the boundaries are fair and even “actually disadvantage the PAP more than the opposition candidates”.
The Workers’ Party believes that Singaporeans can judge for themselves…”
If chilli crab, abalone porridge, $2 sharks fin soup and even $80? million dollars don’t work maybe PAP will threaten the residents of Potong Pasir that the PAP government will turn Potong Pasir into a peanut farm!
Having to resort to using the good name of chilli crabs to win votes is surely one of the lowest tactics of all time.
Is there really a good chilli crab in the country?
As far as I know, the hands behind most of the wok are PRCS, washed by south Asians, served by a motley of foreigners. So tell me where is the authencity?
Moreover, chilli crab which used to thrill all level of our countrymen have now become a reserved dish for royalty.
And for some of you who are SMEs owners and who still can afford this ridiculously priced and no longer tasty dish, guess what,
You will be next in line to be denied this delicacy, if things go on as they are. While the foreigners and the corrupted elite feast on it, you may be waiting to clear their dishes and the vrab shells.
By then it’s too late when you congratulate now that you are the few lucky enough to climb mountains for this embarassingly inaccessible meal, denied to the very people who created it.
I agree with jc. GCT’s analogy can be used to argue against the GRC scheme too. If the chilli crab is so good, it does not matter whether it is Sri Lankan , Malaysian or Chinese, people will still eat it irrespective of where the crab comes from! Revert all to SMCs then! This was the same analogy offered by Indranee Rajah & the idle Michael Palmer in the recent forum and was shot down immediately by the opposition present. You could almost see their shameful and blushed faces after the opposition shot them down.Don’t just talk out of convenience, think before you speak!
Goh Chok Tong was really talking crap!!
Moving from a PAP estate to an opposition ward i happen to be living in Potong pasir for the past few years & “went through” the 2006 GE which Sitoh contested in.
again, being the typical apathetic singaporean – i cldnt care less abt politics. Until i moved into Potong pasir… things started to become clear.
the lift upgrading constantly ONE of the election goodies dangled to get voters on PAP’s side. Upgrading works which are also deemed necessary all tied up to bureaucratic red tape in explaining the delays and feet dragging… when it is clear that its because “you did not vote for me so i’ll make ur life miserable now..haha” etc
these issues become even more obvious when u face the slow aging lifts that do not stop on every floor and having to walk with babies & shopping in tow in heavy rain when a drop off shelter would have helped…
yes… bitching abt just some examples of life’s little luxuries right? Well it becomes so much more in your face when only 1 lift is upgraded to a newer one and the the other 2 (more than 20 year old lifts) are left as it is… the best part; while they are upgrading the one lift, they had “no budget” to open the lift to every floor..
so what, if we vote for Sitoh and he wins… they will go back to “redo” the 1 lift to open on every floor again?
talk abt wasting taxpayers money. No budget to upgrade lifts but got budget to lose millions in botched investments by Town Councils?
The glaring thing is tat although i like to be the ignorant fool, it is so much a fact of life that SG is run by PAP… this fact is drummed into our minds by the media.
SO forgive me for stating the obvious but if you think logically no matter if your MP happens to be Chiam See Tong or Low TK. Any major works in ur opposition ward still has to go through the myriad Govt agencies for approval etc… And who “runs” those Govt agencies may i ask?
one fine example: Got a leaking toilet that is investigated to be the HDB’s responsibility and need an approval for Govt subsidy? Although we know it will be rubber stamped cos everything is in order, but i was amazed that it must be approved & signed at the Community centre by Sitoh… in an Opposition’s ward!
Scratch head. Or maybe i just being oversensitive…
why like this? i mean i thank the govt for providing such subsidies for old flats but i mean is it necessary to put on such a show?
i thot PAP very magnanimous and forthright? Are such upgrading issues even considered a carrot for one to vote one way or the other?
Opp ward or NOT, Are we not ALL singaporeans on this tiny island? Chiam won his seats fair & square… he is also looking after the interests of his voters.
Best part, i pay similar conservancy, parking and other charges as any other HDB estate in a PAP ward… but overall our opp ward estates are clearly left to “mildly stagnate” vs PAP wards to make it clear to its residents they voted for the wrong person!!
But sorry Hor… i brought up with some of the same values that are oft repeated by the PAP; meritorcracy & fairness.
It is so obvious to me now that it is not fair at all… nowadays, im happy to wait for the older lifts (which somehow turned out to be more reliable than the new one which broke down 3 times in the past few months – no kidding!) and im happy to continue getting drenched in the rain for as long as i live in in Potong pasir..
it is my mark of respect for the opposition who has continuously won against such blatantly unfair behaviour.
Seems like the PAP has to come up with better candidates than the current ones running against the opposition wards..
I have nothing against residents in PP or HG who yearn for upgrading.
But one thing I’ve noticed about both towns is this: compared to most if not all of the towns that have been “upgraded”, PP and HG each retain a certain rustic charm and a unique serenity about the place that is a stark contrast to other towns which look more or less the same after upgrading. Call me outdated but I find the ‘throwback to the 1980s’ feel in both towns extremely attractive. So think hard and be careful what you wish for.
you all talk very big leh… move to pp and vote lo…if u really want ur voice to be heard. stop asking pple of pp to make a difference.
Yihpin,
Good try. However, I am sorry to say that I am unable to vote for you, because I am not a member of PP constituency.
Even if I were a member of that constituency, I would certainly vote against you. And do you, or would you want to, know why?
You and the party you are affiliated to are not fit or no longer fit to serve Singapore or Singaporeans.
unless the chilli crabs are free…
i can cook better chilli crabs than that
so fuxx off with your CRAP !!
because all you scheme is the people’s money,
into your swiss bank….
I can make better Pepper Crabs
Mr Chiam,
Since you no longer wish to contest in here.
We will also not support whoever take over you even it is your wife.
We have been suffering all this while for democracy while others get everything we get nothing.
Perhaps you would consider to stay if not you will lost our votes in Potong Pasir!
Yours Truly
Mr Tan
Wan Tho Avenue