Workers’ Party (WP) Secretary General Low Thia Khiang has fired a salvo at the PAP’s Aljunied team led by George Yeo, asking them to clarify what will happen to plans for Aljunied GRC if the PAP was not elected into the constituency.
“First, they have to make it clear what they won’t carry out, so voters can have a clear mind when they go to the voting station.”
Low, who is leading the WP’s strongest slate of candidates to contest in Aljunied GRC, was responding to media queries after a walkabout in Geylang Bahru this morning with the WP’s Moulmein-Kallang GRC team.
Yesterday, Yeo had asked the WP to make clear its future plans for Aljunied. In return, Low questioned what exactly the PAP’s plans were for the area.
In January this year, Yeo had announced plans for Hougang under the HDB’s ‘Remaking our Heartland’ programme, which was to be launched within the next three years.
“Is that the government’s plan or the PAP’s plan?” questioned Low. “Please make it clear.”
He also asked the PAP how much it would be putting into Hougang this time round. “It should be more, I expect?” questioned Low. In 2006, the PAP dangled a S$100 million carrot for upgrading Hougang if its candidate was elected but was unsuccessful in its bid. Low won with 62.7% of the votes, the highest winning margin since he was first elected in 1991.
At their election rally in Hougang yesterday night, the WP strongly criticised the PAP’s use of public funds to discriminate against non-PAP wards. WP Chairman Sylvia Lim had asked the rally crowd, “by voting people in this way, is the PAP a first world government as it claims to be?”
Responding to a reporter’s question about how voters would respond to the WP’s ‘First World Parliament’ slogan, Low said, “I think people understand that a First World Parliament is not an abstract concept, and they can see how it translates into good governance and safeguarding their interests.”
Low and the WP’s Moulmein-Kallang team comprising Mohd Rahizan bin Yaacob, Frieda Chan Sio Phing, L. Somasundaram and Toh Hong Boon were meeting residents in the mature estate of Geylang Bahru this morning.
Ms Chan said that the team intended to take a more flexible approach, so that residents feel they can approach any of them for help. Saying this was a common issue brought up during their house visits, she said the team felt there was a need to be closer to residents.
Mohd Rahizan, who is leading the team, brought up the issue of the one-room rental flats in the estate, and said it was important to keep them dignified for the residents.
Although Low was clearly the most recognized figure of the group, with members of the public often approaching him to openly affirm their support for the WP, the rest of the team were also well-received by residents. Residents also came up to offer suggestions to the candidates on what they could do to win the newly-formed GRC.
the RBK, 1 May 2011
sure, cite just one example & as if that exonerate PUB from being reactive? why money was immediately spent only Orchard Rd when PUB prefers to monitor situations elsewhere for years?
negligence or professional oversight is unfortunate? what more can anyone do? no wonder S’pore is regressing. all the govt agencies that fall short of standards only know how to taunt others, no chef worth his salt will speak this way.
now you even imply that govt agencies need to be molly-coddled by NGOs for free? which govt agency hired dudes better have those dudes replaced. talk about raiding reserves…
what a joke!
SPOREAN depends on YOU.
Share with your friends the lyrics of the links is so heart warming
http://www.youtube.com/user/project2O11#p/a/u/0/p1tzIRkIFs0
@mice is nice
that one example is with specific reference to the Bukit Timah relief canal overflow… I am glad you agree that they were being pro-active… surely they have also pro-actively built plenty of canals and widened existing waterways to prevent flooding… 7000km of canals and drains have been built (http://www.pub.gov.sg/general/drainageworks/Pages/default.aspx); surely that is proactive effort…
and the talk of non-government groups was a polite way of suggesting that if the opposition parties are not happy with the Min of Env’s explanations and measures, they can also form explorative and investigative panels to look into the issue and suggest alternatives… also, note that when the topic of the flooding was brought up in parliament, the opposition MPs seem to have been satisfied by the explanations provided by the minister; why only bring up the issue now when they could have pressed the topic in parliament…
but coming back to my original point where this sidetrack started from, my original question, posted on 29 April, is still why the opposition parties, other than Mr Chiam’s SPP, belief they are not ready to form government and why the electorate should vote for these parties if they are not ready to form government, cause it is certainly possible that, with almost all seats contested, the PAP could be voted out… can there be a “First World Parliament” if there is no “First World Opposition” ready to form government if the chance arises?…
the RBK, 1 May 2011
i agree that the numbers (7000km of drains & canals) do look impressive. but again, numbers alone do not tell the whole story. just as there could have been clogged drains, insufficiently deep canals. also, it hard to dismiss the possibility that the building of canals & drains were based on historical records of rainfall & floods.
i may not know the methods which the specifications of canals & drains were derived, but if the Japanese over confidence in the Tsunami walls were an indication, it may be a clue as to why there will still be floods come the next 100 years.
surely no one in Parliament dares to speak another word if the ol’ Lee waves his hand & tells everyone to move on. not even the heavyweights like SM Goh dare to be even seen to contradict.
SPP openly stated they are not ready to form a govt, without a track record, the alternative parties cannot claim to have any experience in running any ministry. why vote for the alternative parties? that depends on where you stand, & from your stand point, come to your own decision.
if some PAP members are voted out, would they stop serving the people of S’pore just because they do not gain financially? would those who truly serve with their hearts not be called back on a case-by-case basis to serve? our ruling elites are far from 1st World, with them setting the tone, can the Parliament be 1st World? does it look anywhere near 1st world with an obsession with shallow GDP goals as its core focus?
with PAP dominating the House for that long, they do not wield any influence on how Parliament should progress or conduct itself? PAP has been constantly voted in & they have shown to be less than 1st World. attacking critics who went against the (or their) grain.
PAP sn’t 1st World, voting majority of them out isn’t going to veer that goal off track.
& yes, PUB has been building that many kilometers of drains & canals, so maybe there is a flaw somewhere that renders even newer canals & drains less effective than they should be. surely you’ll be embarrassed if you got your feet & footwear wet when it pours when your foreign friends sing songs on how modern, neat & efficient S’pore is? not sure how you feel if “a few” luxury cars get stalled on the middle of the road.
if standards are not raised, they fall behind (cos other nations are catching up). one can only defend the current status quo for so long.
@mice is nice
RE canal issue: which is why it would be more productive, if people are still unhappy about it, if the opposition parties could form their own explorative studies… as it is, unless there are studies that refute the effectiveness of the PUB/Min of Env measures, how can anyone say if the measures taken now and in the past are good enough or not… the opposition has not been effective in taking these pro-active measures to check the PAP… if they do more in that respect, it would be good for the country as a whole, rather than wait for crisis to happen and then complain after the fact of the crisis that the PAP has done a bad job, when alternatives that could avert the crisis were not offered when the original decisions were made…
if nobody dares to speak up when MM waves to move on, what is going to change now after this election, when the MM is already returned to parliament and thus will still be present in upcoming parliamentary debates?
my mistake, so Mr Chiam has said that they are ready only in the next elections after this one… I had read his statement that they will “be ready by the next general elections” to mean this coming one… so, even though the opposition parties are running in almost all the seats, which means there is a possibility that the PAP could be unseated, nobody amongst the opposition is ready to form government… and I had thought at least there was one opposition party…
as for track record and experience, if they could learn from opposition parties elsewhere, say in UK, they could form a shadow cabinet, where members of the opposition party have their own committees in charge of forming policies in various areas, such as finance, defence, education, etc… each of these committees will be headed by a possible or potential office holder as a shadow minister… thus they can gain experience to form policies, and their policies can then be sold to the general population as alternatives to the government’s policies… this is how they can gain experience and have a track record… people have been asking for the opposition to do this for the longest time, but as yet no opposition party has attempted this, and yet there is always this claim that they are not ready and don’t have the experience and track record…
the RBK, 2 May 2011
well & good if officialdom is open to contributions like those you mention, but as with an Asian society like S’pore, it does make officialdom look bad- loose face.
i am not sure where you get the idea that alternative parties have that much leeway to contribute anything. would permits to conduct such surverys be granted at all? its the alternative parties’ activities viewed with disdain? like major law & order issue? i must say that PAP has been so effective in curtailing any activities of alternative parties that PAP is the only choice through & through. so logically they get the blame if things go wrong as well. PAP doesn’t want people to have a choice.
with more alternative parties in Parliament, their presence alone will be a signal. things may need time to evolve, but however slow, its better than not changing to keep abreast with times. each additional alternative party member voted into Parliament is backed by the people. maybe MM will learn to carry himself with proper decorum in Parliament if that happens?
your suggestion that alternative parties can learn from a foreign counterpart is a good idea, but as far as foreign affairs go, few foreign country would aid an opposition party in such a way. doing so would deem meddling with the internal affairs (politics) of S’pore. does S’pore welcome alternative parties of Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand to learn the ropes? this is bad diplomacy, worse than WkiLeaks. how does one view the relation between Iran & Syria?
another hurdle for alternative parties not do so could be the lack of funds & having enough people to send to gain experience. only govts have the financial muscle & legitimacy to do so. unless S’pore becomes another Kosovo, Libya, etc, then its slightly more politically “correct” to send aides to help form alternative govts. S’pore is far from that brink, thankfully not. learning & gaining experience itself isn’t track record per se. learnig to avoid mistakes of this current govt will suffice for a start.
btw, i am not aware that people have been egging alternative parties to go overseas to learn form other govts.
NO JOKE VOTERS.Tell your friends through emails aunts and Uncles.
Please put your VOTE to parties to represent us if not ,
PM Lee long term for you and his famiLEE is a NECLEAR Plant.
In the TODAY paper dated 5 April page 12
” A FUTURE IN NUCLEAR-POWER OFFSHORE PARKS?By: Dr Kua Harn Wei
PM LEE long term plan for your GRAVE yard beside us a NECLEAR Power.
We want parties power to VETO our interest.