How To Answer Back:
The PAP are banging on the crucial Malay votes to help swing the election should the Chinese votes split at 50/50. They are targeting the older malay generation who are more inclined to vote for the PAP. Here are a few tips on how to answer back should your parents or grandparents give you the usual PAP spin :
1. When they tell you “we used to be backward, no modern facilites, kampong houses, jamban (toilet) no pump, etc. so without the PAP we won’t be like this now.”
You answer: Its the job of any elected government to make a country progress including providing housing, roads, water system, sewage system. Thats why we pay taxes like GST, Income tax etc. Singapore is not the only country on the planet that became modernised in the last 50 years.
2. When they tell you: “Look at the countries around Singapore and how much troubles they are in”.
You answer: If our neighbour has a fever and we have a toothache, as much as we empathise with the neighbour being sick with fever, we have our own toothache to deal with. Other people’s problems are theirs, not ours. And there is a Kaypoh Road in River Valley.
3. When they tell you: ”We must be thankful to the PAP because compared to the neighbouring countries, we are better off”.
You answer: Stop making comparisons like that. If really they need to compare, then compare Singapore by GDP i.e. against developed nations in Europe and compare our welfare, health and retirement policies. Its easy to compare against a less developed economy. That’s bullying. Its like a guy driving a fast car and laughing at the man on the trishaw. But try comparing Singapore to that of developed nations and we will see the shortcomings.
4. When they bring up THE Name of the Dead: Tell them that nobody asked LKY to join politics. He wanted to be the Prime Minister, ran for elections and he got the job. LKY did not work for free. He was paid a salary, like any other civil servant. The salary came from tax-payers money. And he also said untrue things about Malays/Muslims in his Hard Truth book. (The book hasn’t been re-edited inspite of the backlash from the Malay/Muslim community).
5. When they say: “If you don’t vote the PAP, they will know & you will be in trouble”.
You answer: The vote is secret. No one will know who voted for whom. And by the way, the whole country knows majority of residents in Aljunied, Hougang & Punggol East didn’t vote for the PAP. They are still alive and kicking.
6. When they tell you: “Look how many mosques the PAP has built.”
You answer: In Singapore there used to be more than 100 mosques built by the community (read ex-Mufti Isa Semait’s biography) which has been around for many years. Sadly such heritage sites are now gone. In place are MUIS-administered mosques with a 99 year lease. Also ask them about Waqaf land being taken away, sold for peanuts resold to developers for gazzilions of dollars.”
7. When they tell you only the PAP has Malay interest at heart.
You answer: Yaacob Ibrahim
Source: Rilek Brader
