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Tag: SPP

  • SPP’s Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss To Contest In Mounbatten SMC

    SPP’s Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss To Contest In Mounbatten SMC

    Singapore People’s Party member Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss confirmed on Tuesday (Aug 4) that she will be contesting in the Mountbatten SMC in the upcoming General Election.

    The former National Solidarity Party member had contested in the same ward in the 2011 General Election, when she lost to People’s Action Party candidate Lim Biow Chuan. She garnered 41.4 per cent of the vote and he, 58.6 per cent.

    Ms Chong-Aruldoss, a lawyer at Archilex Law Corporation, first alluded to her interest in Mountbatten SMC in a Facebook post on Jul 24, where she said: “As I promised four years ago, I’ll be back at the polls in GE 2015. I promise to work even harder to win the hearts and minds of Mountbatten. Stay tuned.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • A Reality Check For All Opposition Parties

    A Reality Check For All Opposition Parties

    I might be flamed by fellow opposition supporters for saying this, but I feel it’s better if we opposition supporters voice out our concerns BEFORE the upcoming GE.

    Firstly, not all opposition parties have the same status. The strongest opposition party at the moment is the WP which has 7 parliamentary seats and 2 non-constituency members of parliament. The WP is stable, has good leadership, party discipline, a strong brand name, strong grassroots network and has managed to attract a critical mass of skilled professionals. These factors explain why the WP has a better image and thus a better chance of winning than the other opposition parties. As was seen in the Punggol East by-election, in a multi-cornered fight, the WP candidate will attract a much larger share of votes than the minor opposition parties.

    Next in the ranking of the opposition parties, is the SDP. Why? Because this is a party with a history, alternative policies and a clear ideology. SDP’s grassroots potential is underused but not lacking, as it seems to be able to attract social activists and other liberals. Say what you may about the SDP but at least it does not give the image that it is an unstable party that lacks people. The party website is well designed and is kept up to date. SDP’s decision to pull out of the Punggol by-election and avoid being a spoiler earned it goodwill from opposition supporters and thus the SDP’s image was not tarnished by a great defeat. The SDP may have committed some blunders such as implying that they were unwilling to run a town council, but they have corrected that mistake! They realized that they have to turn their attention to municipal matters too. And thus, earlier this year, they published a paper detailing their plans on running a town council. The SDP is not perfect, but if your constituency is not contested by WP, it’s your best bet if you want an opposition win.

    Why did I not list the SPP which has 1 NCMP as the second pick for opposition supporters? Last GE, we saw a nationwide 6.5% vote swing AWAY from the PAP. Thus, every constituency that was also contested by the opposition in 2006 saw a larger percentage of the votes gained by the opposition in 2011. All constituencies save for one – Potong Pasir. SPP instead saw their votes in Potong Pasir drop by 6%, leading to their narrow loss of a safe seat to the PAP’s Sitoh Yi Pin!

    This is largely due to the choice of SPP to field Lina Chiam who was intended to be Chiam See Tong’s successor. This is widely perceived to be the reason why SPP lost. Mrs Chiam was not eloquent enough at her rallies. Nor did she attack the PAP candidate sufficiently. Most importantly, she did not manage to convince the swing voters that she had a good chance of winning against the PAP candidate. That was why there were 242 spoiled votes. If just half these votes had gone to SPP, she would have won!

    I’m not against SPP but I’m just saying that SPP has to deal with these REAL perceptions if they intend to field Mrs Chiam in Potong Pasir again. A party only stands a decent chance if it can generate hype among its supporters. Supporters and swing voters have to be convinced that the party can win. Remember, Sitoh Yi Pin has been the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir for 4 years now and he has a huge advantage over Mrs Chiam. It is no longer 50-50 as was the case in 2011. Even other opposition parties like the DPP are doubting Mrs Chiam’s ability to win again. That is why these opportunists want to cause a multi-cornered fight in Potong Pasir.

    SPP can still win back Potong Pasir if they field someone younger, whose appeal to the voters is stronger. If they wish to revive Mr Chiam’s legacy while renewing SPP, then why not field Mr Chiam’s daughter? As Nicole Seah proved in the last GE, it is possible for a young, eloquent and inspiring female politician to generate sufficient hype to shift the vote towards her party, even against a strong incumbent from the ruling party.

    SPP has been gifted with the entry of strong opposition personalities like Ravi Philemon and Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss, who is poised to give the PAP a tough fight at Mountbatten SMC once again. So why not build on that to renew the party’s overall image? I hope SPP can see the bigger picture and try to attract back swing voters.

    All the other opposition parties are not main contenders. NSP received a lot of bad publicity after GE2011 because they went through a change of 5 secretary generals in such a short time and furthermore lost almost all their top candidates in the last GE to other political parties. Singfirst and PPP are new parties with no history and swing voters usually stick to established parties when they vote. RP and SDA have been discredited by their secretary generals losing their deposits in the Punggol by-election. These parties will be entering the upcoming GE with voters perceiving them to have a low chance of winning. They have a lot of hard work ahead of them. It will be an uphill task for them to win a seat in parliament.

    Harold

     

    Source: www.tremeritus.com

  • Lina Chiam: SPP Will Stand In Potong Pasir No Matter

    Lina Chiam: SPP Will Stand In Potong Pasir No Matter

    In a media interview today (28 July), NCMP Lina Chiam said that she will continue to contest in Potong Pasir SMC and that her party “will not budge” even if there’s a 3-cornered fight in Potong Pasir.

    “The SPP will not budge and I’ll still be standing in Potong Pasir even if it’s a three-cornered fight. Because I promised the people of Potong Pasir that I’ll return and I shall return,” Mrs Chiam said.

    “I’ll be continuing to do what is needed for the residents of Potong Pasir regarding feedback, whatever improvements that they want to that still needed to be done. I’ll be continuing to do the work that was left by Mr Chiam.”

    Mrs Chiam lost to PAP MP Sitoh Yih Pin by just 114 votes in GE 2011.

    Financial counsellor Leong Sze Hian told TRE that Mrs Chiam has been attending to residents every week even though she isn’t their elected MP. Mr Leong himself is helping Mrs Chiam in Potong Pasir by giving free financial counselling to the residents.

    “I’ve been helping Mrs Chiam for a few years already. She herself has also made it a point to meet the residents every week even though she is not their MP,” Mr Leong told TRE earlier in response to NTUC Chief Chan Chun Sing’s recent remarks about opposition politicians may be contesting in elections not for the residents but only for winning elections (‘Chan to oppo parties: Your heart must be pure‘).

    “In fact, we see residents from all over Singapore. We don’t turn them away just because they are not from Potong Pasir,” Mr Leong added.

    DPP Pwee ‘optimistic’ about Potong Pasir

    The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has earlier indicated that they also want to contest in Potong Pasir. In fact, DPP’s secretary-general, Mr Benjamin Pwee, is optimistic regardless of how many people will be contesting.

    “If we have one very strong opposition candidate that can stand up against the PAP, it will ultimately be a two-man fight and not a three-cornered fight. But definitely we feel that it would be wonderful to have a very strong alternative candidate that can stand in Potong Pasir against Sitoh Yih Pin and win Potong Pasir back from the PAP,” said Mr Pwee.

    However, quite a number of netizens are not enthusiastic to see a three-cornered fight in Potong Pasir (‘DPP slammed for provoking multi-cornered fights‘). Many are quick to condemn the actions of DPP with one saying on TRE:

    “Guaranteed to lose terok terok if you enter into a 3-cornered fight. Don’t tiew nian ok.”

    Another said:

    “Fly-by-night parties that ‘wake’ up during GEs gunning for multi-cornered fights better understand their own strength before they jump. Opposition supporters will vote for only credible and viable candidates, not the more vocal or those with dubious track record.”

    Yet another wrote a heartfelt open letter to Mr Pwee (‘A heartfelt open letter to DPP’s Benjamin Pwee‘):

    Dear Mr Pwee :

    I will be nice to you.

    The task at hand is to free Singapore from the curse of the great white sharks, or at least put up an effective check on their excesses. I do not know what your objectives are, but surely I do think that they are noble and that you have very good alternative plans for the people, and that you would be an effective voice in Parliament if you and your colleagues get voted in.

    However, please be realistic at this moment in time. We are at a very crucial point in history – make or break. The stake is monumental : the taking back of Singapore from the sharks and returning it to Singaporeans.

    It is not about catching rats, or building a walkway, or fighting dengue or making buses more reliable and less crowded (which not even the WP has the ability yet). Not the local neighbourhood issues. It is not about which party can serve which HDB blocks better. WE are all past there.

    We are now tackling gigantic national issues which have plagued Singaporeans at all levels –

    • the non-stop intake of immigrants
    • the ever squeezing of transportation
    • diminishing apartment sizes (corridors shrunk to < 1.2m)
    • the fixation on extracting more and more money from the people
    • turning our PMETs into taxi drivers and security guards
    • refusal to let us claim our CPF at 55
    • Etc

    Only by going 1-to-1 against the PAP do we have any hope of increasing Opposition seats in Parliament. Please work out a plan with the other parties, in a coordinated attack plan.

    Despite an absence from the electoral scene for some 14 years, this is not the first time the DPP has entered into multi-cornered fights. In 1997, a 4-cornered fight in Chua Chu Kang SMC saw DPP’s Tan Soo Phuan lose his deposit with a mere 1.9% of the valid votes. This set a new record for the lowest share of popular votes until 2013 when SDA had less than 1% of the votes.

    Will 2015 prove to be déjà vu for DPP?

    More promises of facilities for Potong Pasir from PAP MP Sitoh if elected

    Meanwhile, PAP MP Sitoh Yih Pin said more facilities are in the pipeline if he is re-elected in Potong Pasir.

    “Our responsibility and focus and our attention must be to the residents and the voters there. While we have done a lot in the last four-and-a-half years, both in terms of hardware and software, a lot more needs to be done in the next five years,” said Mr Sitoh.

    “So when the election comes, I hope our voters can give me another opportunity to complete the journey we have started.”

    In 2006 before the GE that year, Mr Sitoh was gunning for Potong Pasir. At the time, Mr Chiam was the incumbent MP and he was trying to unseat Mr Chiam then.

    He also promised a lot of things as reported by ST on 5 Feb 2006 [Link]:

    PAP’s Sitoh has 10-year facelift plan for Potong Pasir

    THE People’s Action Party (PAP) man in Potong Pasir, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, provided clear indications that he will contest the next election there when he spoke yesterday of his 10-year plan for the opposition-held ward.

    WOULD YOU LIKE MORE?

    Speaking before he helped serve abalone porridge to some 4,000 residents attending a Chinese New Year celebration he hosts annually, he said that he wants to see the constituency transformed. Through what he termed his ‘five-plus-five-year’ plan – till 2011 and 2016 – he hopes to have lifts upgraded and stopping on every floor as this will benefit the ageing population in HDB estates there.

    And the Kallang River, which runs through the ward, will be given a facelift so canoeists and watersports enthusiasts can use it, while joggers and others can have activities along its banks.

    Fuller details will be made known over the next two months, he said.

    Mr Sitoh, who is adviser to grassroots organisations in the constituency, contested the 2001 election but lost to long-serving Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance by just 751 votes.

    He has remained active there since, meeting residents and organising activities, including offering shark’s fin soup for $1 during National Day celebrations, free haircuts for senior citizens and organising $88 one-night trips to Port Dickson in Malaysia.

    Although there have been rumours recently that these would be suspended if Mr Sitoh loses to Mr Chiam again, the 42-year-old accountant said that such talk was unfounded.

    ‘The ice-cream auntie told me people think that maybe next year, there won’t be abalone porridge any more,’ Mr Sitoh told residents, speaking in both English and Mandarin.

    ‘But that’s not true. We will continue to do these as long as you support us and our programmes.’

    Since winning Potong Pasir in 2011, it’s not known if he still continues to dish out abalone porridge to the residents there.

     

    Source: www.tremeritus.com

  • Analysts: Multi-Cornered Fights Unlikely

    Analysts: Multi-Cornered Fights Unlikely

    Although several opposition parties have staked their claims to the same constituencies, the political analysts TODAY spoke to said multi-cornered fights are likely to prevail only in constituencies the Workers’ Party (WP) does not gun for. Multi-cornered fights, they said, hold “grave consequences” for other opposition parties that do not have a branding as strong as the WP’s.

    Singapore Management University law don, associate professor Eugene Tan, said the WP is in a “healthy bargaining position”, and unlikely to concede the places it staked a claim to.

    “In a case where there is nothing much to differentiate between the two or more opposition parties, voters may not know where or on whom to pool their votes. And this is where we are likely to see votes being split,” he said.

    WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang on Sunday (Jul 26) announced his party’s intention to contest in Marine Parade GRC and MacPherson SMC — the former being a ward contested by the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in the 2011 polls and the latter, a part of it until electoral boundaries were redrawn last Friday.

    The NSP has called for a meeting this Friday among opposition parties to hammer out deals and avoid multi-way fights.

    MULTI-CORNERED FIGHTS MORE LIKELY IN WEST, CENTRAL PARTS

    With the WP’s plans to expand eastwards, Assoc Prof Tan and former Nominated Member of Parliament Siew Kum Hong felt multi-cornered fights are more likely to happen in the western and central parts of Singapore. Said Mr Siew: “I think most other opposition parties will be hesitant to challenge the WP.”

    Added political analyst Derek da Cunha: “The other opposition parties have yet to concretely demonstrate that they are on the same level as the WP in terms of voter appeal.”

    The analysts also cited the Punggol East by-election in 2013 as an example of why opposition camps should avoid multi-cornered fights that involve the WP. Ms Lee Li Lian from the WP won the single seat with 54.52 per cent of votes, while the PAP’s Dr Koh Poh Koon garnered 43.73 per cent.

    The Reform Party’s Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Singapore Democratic Alliance’s Desmond Lim raked in 1.2 and 0.57 per cent, respectively, and both lost their election deposits.

    National University of Singapore (NUS) sociologist Tan Ern Ser said the prospect of multi-cornered fights means opposition parties have to work harder. “They would have to try hard to differentiate themselves from one another, such as with more well-thought-out criticism of the ruling party and better ideas, better programmes that resonate with voters. Maybe even better candidates.”

    NUS political science associate professor Bilveer Singh suggested that fighting in single-member constituencies would be “more economical” for opposition parties, especially “the new ones that have no ground record”.

    CROSSOVER OF CANDIDATES

    An issue that may muddy the parties’ claims to contest for various seats is the crossover of candidates between parties since the last GE.

    For instance, Ms Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, who contested for the Mountbatten seat in the last election as part of the NSP, has announced her intention to fight for the same seat again, now under the Singapore People’s Party umbrella. She left the NSP earlier this year.

    “Many a time, they move because of bad blood, unhappiness. So, that makes the ability to make concessions, to give and take, somewhat more challenging,” said SMU’s Assoc Prof Tan.

    “We do not know if the trust and confidence among the opposition parties is strong enough for them to come up with a deal, where everyone would feel they have not been shortchanged.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Could SPP Eye Mounbatten SMC In Upcoming General Elections?

    Could SPP Eye Mounbatten SMC In Upcoming General Elections?

    The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) today (Jun 20) held a walkabout in the Mountbatten neighbourhood along Singapore’s east coast.

    SPP member Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss also handed out a flyer in which she stated: “I want to serve you to the best of my ability; your concerns are my concerns. This is why I am walking the ground in Mountbatten SMC, and this is why I visited your home today.”

    Among the issues she said she wanted to hear residents’ thoughts on were housing, education, healthcare, employment and community facilities.

    Ms Chong-Aruldoss, a lawyer by trade, was the former Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP). She ran in the 2011 General Election in Mountbatten under the NSP banner, but was defeated by the People’s Action Party candidate Lim Biow Chuan after getting about 41 per cent of the votes. She joined the SPP this year.

    Singapore must hold its next parliamentary General Election by January 2017

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com