PASUKAN Parti Rakyat Singapura (SPP) yang akan bertanding di GRC Bishan-Toa Payoh ingin meneruskan ‘kerja baik’ yang menjadi legasi kepimpinan veteran pembangkang, Encik Chiam See Tong, dalam pilihan raya ini.
Calon yang akan bertanding bagi GRC Bishan-Toa Payoh ialah Encik Benjamin Pwee, 47 tahun; Encik Hamim Aliyas, peniaga, 50 tahun; Encik Law Kim Hwee, 55 tahun, mantan pengurus pemasaran; Encik Abdillah Zamzuri, 31 tahun, seorang pemilik syarikat latihan dan akademi sukan; Encik Bryan Long, 37 tahun, seorang usahatekwan.
Encik Pwee dan Encik Hamim dari Parti Progresif Demokratik (DPP) tetapi meletak jawatan bagi bertanding di bawah SPP.
“Bagi pengundi Bishan-Toa Payoh, saya memperjuangkan Chiam See Tong bagi mempertahankan prinsip konstruktif dan kolaboratif dalam pemerintah bagi masa depan rakyat,” kata Encik Hamim yang bertanding di GRC yang sama bersama Encik Chiam pada pilihan raya 2011.
Dalam ucapan selepas disahkan menjadi calon, Encik Abdillah, seorang calon baru SPP, berteriak secara seloroh:
“Bishan-Toa Payoh Amacam! Saya muda dan saya akan pastikan mereka yang muda akan mempunyai masa hadapan yang baik.”
Dalam pilihan raya 2011, pasukan SPP diketuai Encik Chiam kalah di GRC Bishan-Toa Payoh, dengan undian sebanyak 43.1 peratus.
Pasukan itu dikalahkan oleh Parti Tindakan Rakyat (PAP) yang diketuai mantan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Encik Wong Kan Seng yang memenangi undian sebanyak 56.94 peratus.
She hopes to keep food costs in the area under control, enhance social mobility and preserve a part of Mountbatten’s heritage – that is Ms Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss’ plan if she is elected.
Unveiling what she called her “Mountbatten Manifesto” on Monday evening (Aug 31), the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) candidate in the Single Member Constituency (SMC) spelled out a five-point plan.
“Residents know that Mountbatten is famous for its local food. I pledge to work with local stallholders and local government agencies to ensure that rental prices are kept affordable so that the community can continue to enjoy their favourite food at affordable prices,” she said at a press conference.
She pledged to try to improve transport connectivity within the constituency, as well as set up a Mountbatten Social Mobility Bursary for children of the disadvantaged. “I want to demonstrate how Singaporeans can work together as a community,” she said on her plans to raise S$100,000. “Where those who are better off will be able to help those who are not so better off.”
Also on her mind is Dakota Crescent, an estate built in the 1950s, which is slated for redevelopment by the end of 2016. Residents are likely to be “very disappointed” if it disappears, she said. “I want to explore feasible ways to conserve at least a representational amount of the flats so that the community and Singaporeans may have a physical reminder of where we came from.”
In Parliament, she hopes to increase accountability and transparency by raising questions. But her priority will be to run the town council professionally and help Mountbatten residents, she said.
In the 2011 General Election, Ms Chong-Aruldoss contested the ward under the National Solidarity Party’s banner, losing to People’s Action Party candidate Lim Biow Chuan with 41.4 per cent of the vote.
Asked if the ground was different now, she said: “I have not stopped working for this coming GE. So the difference between now and before is five years of work.”
Ms Chong-Aruldoss left the NSP, where she was secretary general, earlier this year after she lost her bid to be voted party president.
Veteran opposition leader Chiam See Tong will not contest the coming general election.
The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) announced their slate of candidates for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC on Sunday (Aug 30) morning.
Mr Chiam, 80, the SPP’s secretary-general, was excluded from the line-up in the constituency he contested in 2011 and will not stand due his age and health, according to his wife Mrs Lina Chiam.
However, Mr Chiam, who was Potong Pasir MP for 27 years, was present to give his backing to the joint team – comprising of DPP secretary-general Benjamin Pwee, 47, DPP chairman Hamim Aliyas, 55, former marketing manager Law Kim Hwee, 55, training company manager Abdillah Zamzuri, 31, and tech entrepreneur Bryan Long, 37 – that will contest under the SPP banner.
Mr Chiam said: “As you’ve seen for yourself we have a strong team here, a very good line-up. They are professionals with good experience.”
Mr Pwee and Mr Hamim, who both contested Bishan-Toa Payoh with Mr Chiam in 2011, both quit their posts in the DPP to join SPP as election rules state that candidates for a GRC team must either come from one party or consist solely of independents.
Mr Pwee will co-lead the team with Mr Long, who is making his GE debut like his fellow SPP teammates, Mr Abdillah and Mr Law.
Despite his exclusion, Mr Chiam nixed suggestions that he was retiring from politics by saying: “I’ve got a long way to go.”
At the last election, Mr Chiam’s SPP team garnered 43.1 per cent of Bishan-Toa Payoh’s votes against the People’s Action Party (PAP) team led by Dr Ng Eng Hen.
The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have finally unveiled the final five members of their joint team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, more than three weeks after the two parties agreed to partner up to contest the constituency.
They are DPP chief Benjamin Pwee, 47, and chairman Hamim Aliyas, 55, who have both resigned from the party and joined the SPP to enable them to be fielded. Their teammates are SPP members Law Kim Hwee, 55, a former marketing manager, training company manager Abdillah Zamzuri, 31, and tech entrepreneur Bryan Long, 37.
Election rules dictate that all candidates in a GRC team must either come from one party or consist of five independents. Both SPP and DPP had earlier agreed that they would contest under the SPP banner.
The confirmed line-up was introduced by SPP chairman and Non-constituency MP Lina Chiam following a walkabout at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 on Sunday (Aug 30) morning.
While the three SPP members are election first-timers, Mr Pwee and Mr Hamim were in 2011 part of an SPP team led by opposition veteran Chiam See Tong that scored 43.1 per cent of the vote against a PAP team led by Dr Ng Eng Hen.
Mr Chiam’s exclusion from the current line-up is a strong signal that he has retired from politics. But the veteran opposition leader, who held Potong Pasir SMC for 27 years, was also present to give the joint team his backing.
The signing of the agreement brings to a close a difficult, month-long negotiation that began at the joint opposition meeting to decide who would contest in which constituency. At several points in recent weeks, there had been rumours that the partnership was on the brink of collapse, especially due to disagreements on the make-up of the team.
Both sides had said on Saturday that they needed to take time to sort out a broad range of issues.
“It is a deliberated decision. We took time to make sure this isn’t something we hastily go in to just for elections. We went into it, we went through every single point. We had to know that logistics work, finance works, we want to know candidates, we want to talk about decision-making – if anything this demonstrates the maturity of the cooperation,” said Mr Long.
Added Mr Pwee on behalf of the DPP: “I think we respected the time and space that they need to make the decision. I think we didn’t want to push it and run the risk of this partnership breaking. At the end of the day, there could be nothing worse than if this partnership broke and we went into a three-cornered fight together.”
Unlike meeting residents in HDB Flats and Landed Property where a candidate can go knock on doors without prior permission, explicit permission is required to visit homes in condominiums.
Many, if not all, opposition parties face difficulties in meeting their constituents who live in condominiums.
Approval to visit must be obtained from the condo’s management under the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) – the managing body of a condo.
Rejection letters from MCSTs are commonplace as many managing bodies prefer not to have any form of political activities in their private estates.
In the case of Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) candidate for Mountbatten SMC, she had mailed out 23 requests to various condominiums in her constituency to ask for permission to visit voters residing there.
Letters of rejection
To date, she has only received 4 letters of rejection and has yet to hear from the rest.
Some letters of rejection are more fair, like the one from Sanctuary Green, which promised not to have any form of political activity – from any party, including the People’s Action Party (PAP) – on its premises.
Letter of Rejection from Sanctuary Green MCST
Others, however, have been a little less fair in their decisions.
What is of interest to me is not the letters of rejection and the unfairness but how the opposition candidates responded. Instead of the usual lamenting that many half-expected, they took it in their stride, rolled up their sleeves and got resourceful.
2 cases in point, Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss from the SPP and the Workers Party’s Yee Jenn Jong.
Picnics and BBQs
Jeannette Chong organised a Picnic at Wilkinson Interim Park to mingle with residents from the nearby Private Estates
The letters of rejection did nothing to deter Ms Chong-Aruldoss.
Last Saturday evening, she organised a picnic at Wilkinson Intermin Park. The Park’s location was a strategic one as it was just a stone’s throw away from many private estates. Through the picnic, she had the opportunity to meet many residents of private estates and along with the conversations, there was good food to go around too.
One resident of Mountbatten SMC remarked that it “felt like a block party!”
Jeannette explaining what the Picnic is all about
Jeannette also took full advantage of the fact that she resides in Mandarin Gardens, a condominium in Marine Parade GRC.
As her condominium falls under the Joo Chiat precinct, she organised a BBQ and hosted WP’s Yee Jenn Jong.
Mr Yee had contested in Joo Chiat SMC in the 2011 elections and lost by a hair’s breath – 355 votes – to the PAP’s candidate.
It was an opportunity for him to meet residents of Marine Parade GRC – from both inside and outside of Mandarin Gardens – over some juicy satay.
Sharing a light moment with a resident
It was very clear that there was a real sense of mutual respect and camaraderie between Ms Chong-Aruldoss and Mr Yee, or JJ as he is also called.
“Here’s a personal story about why I respect JJ so much,” Ms Ms Chong-Aruldoss said. “At GE2011, my elderly father was frail and not well but he insisted on casting his vote. So my brother had to devise a way to take him in his wheelchair to vote. My dad was greatly satisfied to have cast his vote (thanks to my brother), and I will always be proud of my dad for his determination. I respect JJ for inspiring my dad’s determination. JJ lost by 388 votes – but it would have been 389 if not for my dad’s vote. After the election, JJ visited the residents to thank them for their support. My dad was very touched by his sincerity. Proud to introduce this sincere, personable and caring man to my neighbours. Joo Chiat is also Mountbatten’s neighbour.”
Mr Yee is expected to contest in Marine Parade GRC in the upcoming elections, after Joo Chiat SMC was erased from the electoral map by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee in its report released last month.
Overall, it was two events where the opposition candidates managed to weave a way through to meet their constituents despite the roadblocks set by the various MCSTs.
Such events go to show that when there is a will, there is truly a way and these candidates are more than willing to go the extra mile for their constituents. Obstacles do not turn these candidates away. In fact, it strengthens their resolve and forces them to be more resourceful in thinking of creative ways to overcome the rejections.
A shot where candidates and volunteers of SPP and WP come together. Huat ah!
*The writer, Ariffin Sha, is a volunteer with Ms Chong-Aruldoss’ election campaign.
