Ms Lee Li Lian, Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong and Mr Leon Perera from the Workers’ Party have been elected as Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP), the Elections Department (ELD) announced on Wednesday (Sep 16).
In a statement, ELD said three candidates who received the highest votes among the unelected candidates from Opposition parties will be declared elected as NCMPs, as six opposition MPs were elected to Parliament in the Sep 11 General Election.
Ms Lee, who contested in Punggol East SMC and Mr Dennis Tan, who contested in Fengshan SMC, received the two highest percentages of votes among unelected opposition candidates.
Ms Lee received 48.23 per cent of the vote against the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Charles Chong, while Mr Tan garnered 42.50 per cent of vote against PAP’s Cheryl Chan.
WP’s East Coast GRC team – comprising former NCMP Gerald Giam, Mr Daniel Goh, Mr Mohamed Fairoz and Mr Leon Perera – who ran against PAP’s team anchored by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say, gained 39.27 per cent of the votes. The group informed the Returning Officer on Wednesday of their decision to nominate Mr Leon Perera as NCMP, said ELD.
DANIEL GOH TO TAKE PLACE OF MS LEE AS NCMP IF PARLIAMENT RESOLVES TO FILL SEAT: WP
Ms Lee, who was elected MP for Punggol East following a by-election in 2013, had told the media after the results were announced that she is not inclined to take up a NCMP seat in Parliament if offered.
In a statement released shortly after the ELD announcement, the Workers’ Party said its Central Executive Council (CEC) concurred with Ms Lee’s decision not to accept the NCMP position.
The CEC said should Parliament resolve to fill the vacated NCMP seat left by Ms Lee, that Associate Professor Daniel Goh would fill that seat.
PARLIAMENT NOT OBLIGED TO DECLARE THAT SEAT BE FILLED
According to the law, if an eligible NCMP decides not to take up the position, the seat may not automatically be transferred to the next eligible opposition candidate.
In response to media queries, Parliament is not obliged to declare that seat be filled by the next succeeding candidate.
The ELD said: “The Attorney General is of the view that if any NCMP declared to be elected under Section 52 of the Parliamentary Elections Act fails to take and subscribe before Parliament the Oath of Allegiance under Article 61 of the Constitution at the first or second sitting of Parliament during its first session after the General Election, then Parliament may at its discretion declare that seat vacant. Parliament is not thereafter obliged to declare that seat be filled by the next succeeding candidate.”
I spoke with some students today and really blood boil. What is wrong with youngsters these days, don’t know how to think?
They really believe all of the government’s bullsh*t! This is what I managed to pick out from my conversations with them:
Me: “absolute power corrupts absolutely”
A: “don’t worry PAPs track record is flawless, they won’t do anything wrong one.I put my trust in them”
Me: “why are the opposition bad?”
B: ” look at their track record? Look at ahptc? If they cannot prove themselves how to win?”
Me : ” what do you think of the 2 sides?”
Students ” PAP= very good. Opposition will ruin the country made up of useless people destroy the stability ”
Really is naive and myopic. Wait until they grow up and see people go through bread and butter issues as a result of gov policy then they will know the pain.
A former lifeguard at Sentosa allegedly poured liquor into a partygoer’s mouth and then raped her at the beach when she was unconscious, said a witness at the High Court on Tuesday (Sep 15).
A friend of the victim who had accompanied her to a beach party at Wave House, both of whom cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, took the witness stand on Tuesday.
According to the witness, she had drinks with the victim and the accused, Pram Nair, 26, on the night of May 5, 2012. Nair was a lifeguard at Sentosa then.
The witness claimed that Nair poured liquor from a Cointreau bottle directly into the victim’s mouth for 20 seconds, and that he suggested doing so because the victim was 20 years old.
In the opening of the prosecution’s case last month, Deputy Public Prosecutor Bhajanvir Singh said the victim was introduced to Nair at the party.
At one point, Nair, who is represented by lawyer Peter Ong, allegedly took the intoxicated victim to the beach and raped her, he said.
Prior to the alleged incident, the witness said she had tried looking for the victim to leave the party and found Nair supporting her as she looked “really drunk”. Nair then told her to grab the victim’s bag but the witness could not find them when she returned.
WITNESS FOUND VICTIM “PASSED OUT” ON BEACH
The witness called the victim on her mobile phone multiple times but no one answered. When someone did pick up one time, no one said anything on the other end, she said. She called again, and this time Nair picked up and told her they were at the beach and she need not go look for them.
But the witness still headed to the beach and found the victim “passed out” there. She was wearing only a tank top and could not respond to anything the witness was saying. She also claimed that Nair was rummaging through his bag near where the victim was found and threw her a pair of shorts to put on the victim.
The witness said the victim was not very coherent by then and claimed that the victim had asked her to call her boyfriend or another man called Jeremy.
When the victim started foaming at her mouth, the witness said she called for an ambulance.
WITNESS “UPSET” THAT ACCUSED SHOWED NO INTEREST IN HER: DEFENCE
During the defence’s cross examination of the witness, Mr Ong challenged her statement and claimed that the witness had been the one who suggested that the liquor be poured directly into the victim’s mouth for 20 seconds.
He then disputed the duration of that particular incident, saying that the liquor was only poured for one to two seconds.
Mr Ong also questioned the witness’s conclusion that the victim was raped by Nair when the witness did not see him doing anything. He also suggested that the witness was upset that Nair had not shown interest in her and hence accused him of raping the victim.
The witness on Tuesday disagreed to the above challenges made by the lawyer.
The trial continues on Wednesday and if convicted, Nair ccould be jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.
Editor’s note: Mothership.sg called for young Singaporeans to step up and provide their voice in written form for GE2015. The aim of such an endeavour is to provide our readers a means to view GE2015 through the lens of young Singaporeans, warts, sparkles and all.
The election results have been shocking, to say the least, in the Workers’ Party (WP) not gaining more seats and even losing an incumbent MP in Lee Li Lian of Punggol East SMC. And it happened in what many claimed to to be a watershed election, a turning point and change of the status quo after 2011.
Here are some possible reasons why the WP didn’t do as well as expected.
1. Their performance in Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) and how it was harped upon by everyone and their mothers.
Photo by Pandora Wong for Mothership.sg
The WP probably felt besieged as People’s Action Party (PAP) politicians went on the offensive with the WP’s management of AHPETC. Sylvia Lim, chairwoman of WP and sitter of a self-proclaimed “hot seat”, hit the nail on the head when she said:
“Voters everywhere by now should be convinced that any Opposition town council will be well-scrutinised to ensure proper management.”
Low Thia Khiang, secretary-general of WP, was forced to (in a very showy manner), show that Punggol East SMC’s accounts were in a deficit before it was passed over to the WP after the 2013 by-election.
This was then rebutted by PAP candidate for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Zainal Sapari, when he said Punggol East SMC was in “good financial health when the whole set of accounts handed over to AHPETC is read together”. According to him, although there was a deficit in the accumulated routine fund of $282,009, the same set of accounts also showed an amount of $303,372 claimable as reimbursement from the CIPC fund, which PRPGTC had already secured for Punggol East SMC, which would result in a actual net surplus of $21,363.
Even the most benign or indifferent voters would have second thoughts on WP’s ability to manage town councils with that major back and forth on AHPETC between the WP and PAP, as well as AHPETC’s ongoing case against the Ministry of National Development (MND). The MND had brought an application to court to appoint independent accountants to AHPETC. Although their application was rejected by the High Court, MND has appealed before the Court of Appeal and the judgement has been reserved (ie. the result is yet unknown).
2. The (largely) false perception of WP’s lacklustre performance in Parliament debates.
The late Lee Kuan Yew said of Chen Show Mao in his book:
“Chen, however, has not turned out to be so brilliant. In Parliament, he makes good prepared speeches, with a written script, but in the follow-up, he is all over the place. It simply does not gel for him. The weight of public expectation of the man, given his rather impressive résumé, has probably added to the disappointment.”
Criticism of that level, from Singapore’s founding Prime Minister (PM) would eat at any self-respecting man’s self-esteem.
Nonetheless, even Chen Show Mao has spoken at 45 out 108 parliament sittings attended, with a 93.9% attendance rate. This is in comparison with the perennial absentee PAP MP Raymond Lim, who stepped down from being Transport Minister in 2011 and retired from politics in 2015. He spoke up for 0 out of 82 parliament sittings attended, with a 71.3% attendance rate.
Of course, in addition to attending Parliament sitting and speaking up, the WP MPs are not toothless in Parliament debates either, as seen from Low Thia Khiang’s fiery exchanges with PM Lee Hsien Loong in Parliament. Those who look forward to more opposition in Parliament would probably savour the tense dialogue between the 2 party leaders on May 28, 2014.
PM Lee: Madam Speaker, I am very grateful for the extremely reasonable explanation from the member. I hope he takes an equally reasonable approach when he comes to election rallies because the Workers’ Party approach has been to be extremely reasonable, indeed low-profile in Parliament, but come election time to turn into tigers and heroes.
Low: Madam Speaker, I thank the Prime Minister for praising the Workers’ Party’s ability to fight in the elections. We have no intention to hide ourselves in Parliament. We seek the mandate for people to come to Parliament to check against the Government and we have done it honestly and sincerely, we have not turned this place into a theatre — that shows we are responsible and we will behave continuously as a rational and responsible party and members should.
I believe members will agree that the Workers’ Party has been rational. We have not come here with some wild policies or wild suggestions. We debate the policies, we came out with some suggestions but these are not bankrupting the government coffers or suggesting to use the reserves.
Elections — I think we are also rational, we don’t accuse the PAP of something that we cannot substantiate or I know we will get sued. So I think we are fair. And elections (are) elections and I thank the Prime Minister for noting that we can fight elections. I am sure the PAP can too. You are the Government and you have been the governing party for 50 years and you have got more, much people, talented people than the Workers’ Party! How can you say that we are tigers and we are something else in Parliament? I am sure the PAP can equally be tigers or lions.
Those few rare instances of excitement in Singapore’s Parliament are a tempting glimpse into what may occur with more seats to the Opposition in Parliament.
In 2011, Low Thia Khiang created a buzz when he left his stronghold of Hougang to attack Aljunied GRC with an ‘A’ team along with chairwoman Sylvia Lim and then star catch Chen Show Mao. This gamble paid off as they won Aljunied with 54.72% of the vote.
In this election, despite Sylvia Lim teasing that she may run in Fengshan SMC with her orh luak photo, all the incumbent MPs stayed to compete in their seats. Even though star candidates such as National University of Singapore (NUS) sociology associate professor Daniel Goh and business consultancy CEO Leon Perera ran in East Coast GRC, perhaps voters were unconvinced by how party bigwigs like Low and Sylvia Lim did not venture out to unchartered territories.
There was perhaps a slight commotion around the poison pen letter attack on Daniel Goh, but other than that, the remaining WP candidates did not face a baptism of fire.
Instead, the focus went back to AHPETC, along with many analogies on ships- gambling ships, cruise ships, the Titanic, sampans.
4. Perceived arrogance as the leading opposition party in Singapore.
Here’s The Workers’ Party chairperson Sylvia Lim addressing the media on their absence from the opposition horse-trading meeting on Thursday night. #GE2015
The WP might have been perceived as arrogant when they skipped the second round of horse-trading talks between the opposition parties, intended to avoid 3-cornered fights.
Low Thia Khiang then poured metaphorical salt into the wounds of the other opposition parties by saying that the multi-cornered fights in Punggol East SMC in both the 2011 GE and a by-election in 2013 were a “waste of resources”. He added: “I suppose we can better use … resources to focus on giving a choice to the people.”
Screenshot from video
ESM Goh also weighed in on WP’s supposed arrogance when he said: “They (Workers’ Party) are stronger than the NSP (National Solidarity Party), there’s no doubt about that. There’s a certain arrogance in them… Will that same arrogance be able to replace me in Marine Parade? Let them try.”
This perception of arrogance may have swayed voters from voting for WP as they fear that if WP has more MPs in Parliament, they would become more confrontational towards the PAP, disrupting the smooth running of the nation.
5. Voters can’t relate as well to the new candidates.
The die-hard supporters of WP seem to mostly be heartland uncles and aunties. For them, they can relate better to the Teochew and Hokkien-speaking Low and Png Eng Huat, rather than the “Oxbridge-educated” candidates like He Ting Ru and Leon Perera. One could say that the WP’s fielding of candidates with PAP-like credentials was to boost its reputation as a “credible, responsible opposition”.
Photo by Mindy Tan
However, that may have come at the price of not attracting certain segments of the population, particularly voters who perceive these credentials as a mark of elitism, similar to the PAP. WP candidates like academics (Associate Professor Daniel Goh) and lawyers (Dennis Tan, Terence Tan, He Ting Ru) cannot really be differentiated from the usual PAP crop of lawyers and doctors as of now.
Photo by Sean Yeo for Mothership.sg
To their credit though, the WP has tried to assuage concerns that their new candidates may be elitist. Dennis Tan, candidate for Fengshan SMC and former Raffles Institution boy, in his rally speech, emphasised that WP MPs, along with the rank and file of the party, worked to stack chairs after community events. He said: “Being a product of a good school does not mean that one has to be an elitist. It all boils down to a person’s attitude towards other people.”
In a way, with the lack of differentiation between the similarly-credentialed WP and PAP candidates, some voters may just decide to go for “the real deal” in the PAP, who have the added advantage of mentors with experience in running town councils and the vast grassroots machinery of the PAP as support. Therefore, these swing voters may just choose to stick with the status quo in the PAP, rather than to take a risk with untested opposition MPs.
Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (or PMETs) may also have not been fully convinced by the new candidates fielded by WP. After all, they come in untested, without mentoring in running town councils or with the vast grassroots machinery of the PAP as support. Voters might think that credentials, after all, do not necessarily translate to competence.
“Let me reiterate, there is no place for hatred and racism here in Johor Darul Ta’zim. It was never welcomed, nor will I ever welcome haters and racists here in Johor. If anyone who want to practice hatred and racism in Johor Darul Ta’zim, the home of the Malays, Chinese and Indians- Bangsa Johor, please leave Johor immediately. That is an order!
“I have worked hard and struggled for my subjects, to ensure that they live in harmony and togetherness. Anyone found instigating others to hate and practice racism here in Johor, they will face the brunt of the law. Again, let me remind you, my ancestors, the state government, Bangsa Johor and I have worked hand-in-hand…together, to make Johor a better-place, to bring in foreign investors for the future of Johor. Anyone who create disharmony and spread hatred here by promoting racism, will have to deal with me personally. Take this a warning.
“This is not the stone age, do not be ungrateful, the Malays, Chinese and Indians, all played their part, Johor Darul Ta’zim is home to the Malays, Chinese and Indians, they are Bangsa Johor. As their ruler, its my responsibility to see my subjects live in harmony, and my subjects are always my priority.
“To the authorities, do not take soft approach against haters and racists, do not be bias, get to the root of the problem, and apprehend those who create racial disharmony problems here in Johor Darul Ta’zim,”
-Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’.
***
“Di Johor Darul Ta’zim, tiada tempat dan ruang untuk mereka yang membenci dan mengamalkan sikap perkauman. Mereka yang membenci dan mengamalkan perkauman tidak pernah saya terima di Johor Darul Ta’zim dan tidak mungkin saya menerima mereka. Mereka yang mengamal sikap ini, di nasihatkan supaya keluar dari Johor Darul Ta’zim serta-merta, kerana Johor adalah rumah kepada Bangsa Johor yang terdiri dari Orang Melayu, kaum Cina dan kaum India. Ini adalah satu perintah-jangan amalkan sikap perkauman dan membenci, atau lebih baik tinggalkan Johor.
“Saya telah bertungkus-lumus untuk kepentingan Bangsa Johor dan Negeri Johor, untuk memastikan semua hidup dalam harmoni dan Johor semakin maju. Nenek moyang saya, kerajaan negeri, Bangsa Johor dan saya telah berkerja keras untuk menyatu rakyat Johor dan membawa pelabur asing untuk memajukan negeri Johor. Mereka yang menghasut Bangsa Johor untuk membenci dan mengamal sikap perkauman akan berhadapan dengan tindakan tegas. Sebagai Sultan Johor, amanah saya ialah kepada rakyat saya dan negeri Johor. Rakyat saya adalah keutamaan saya. Mereka ini perlu berhadapan dengan saya, jika perkara membenci, menghasut dan isu perkauman diamalkan di Johor.
“Ini bukan zaman batu, Orang Melayu, kaum Cina dan India, semua telah memainkan peranan masing-masing. Johor adalah rumah kepada semua Bangsa Johor.
“Kepada pihak berkuasa, berkas mereka yang menghasut Bangsa Johor untuk membenci dan mempromosikan perkauman. Jangan pilih kasih, cari jalan penyelesaianya ke akar umbi,”
