Four years ago during the 2011 General Elections, the Workers’ Party’s last rally in Serangoon Stadium was massive – and this year’s rally saw a similar turn-out.
The only difference is that WP could now claim Aljunied GRC as their own “home ground” after the results in 2011, since they managed to win the constituency with over 50 per cent of the votes.
In their speeches for the night, the WP showcased a wide range of issues – ranging from the many obstacles the opposition town council has faced the last four years, to municipal and national issues.
Expressing gratitude and promising diligence
Almost all the speakers’ spoke of their sense of immense pride for Aljunied GRC and how the voters have “made history” by voting their party into Parliament.
“As I was preparing my speech for tonight, I couldn’t help but feel a rush of deep yet raw emotion, reflecting on our experience for the past 4 years, as your MPs in Aljunied GRC,” party chairman, Sylvia Lim, said.
“For the first time in Singapore’s history, a GRC fell to an opposition party,” she added, drawing loud cheers from the packed stadium in Serangoon.
Her Aljunied GRC colleague, Pritam Singh, said, “You make me so proud to be a Singaporean. I look forward to the future not with dread, but with keen anticipation, that we will become an even more united multiracial society that is marked by respect and tolerance.”
Candidate for Aljunied GRC Faisal Manap thanked the Aljunied residents for being his “inspiration and (his) teacher.”
Other than expressing gratitude, the candidates also pledged their continued hard work to “serve the residents” of their respective GRCs if they should get voted in again.
In her speech, Ms Lim once again spoke of AHPETC and admitted that the town council had some “financial issues” at first, but they have “worked hard” in the past term, and all of them have “put (their) minds and hearts to be good MPs” for the residents. As a result, the financial accounts of the town council have now turned positive and Ms Lim said the town council will do even better, going forward.
From upgrading works to new places of convenience, Ms Lim said that WP has “made improvements” despite the initial financial problems.
Moreover, Mr Singh also mentioned an article from TODAY that included interviews with several residents of Aljunied GRC that applauded WP for their “human touch” and the effort put into making the vicinity a better place to live in.
“The Town Council has completed repainting 1/3 of the blocks in the GRC, and we have proceeded with major works to re-roof flats and replace playgrounds and fitness corners,” Mr Singh said.
He also noted that the TODAY report quoted Aljunied residents saying that the MPs were “more visible on the ground than compared to the PAP MPs of the past.” Mr Singh said the “human touch” is what the residents “deserve” and can expect from WP.
“We work on your behalf, and we are privileged to be of service to you again,” he added.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap also expressed his thoughts about WP’s moral philosophy – that they hope to embody “humanist values” to make policies and be a “kind political party”.
The politics behind using community facilities
Another issue that was raised was how opposition wards seem to be treated differently by the government compared to other PAP wards.
Secretary-general of WP, Low Thia Khiang, speaking in Chinese, said, “After the last election, the first thing that they did was to immediately lease out certain community spaces under the previous Aljunied Town Council to the People’s Association. Examples of this include badminton courts and basketball courts.”
He said that if the Aljunied Town Council or a resident wants to use the spaces for activities, they will have to go through People’s Association and only when the PA or its grassroots organisations approve of the application will the National Environment Agency (NEA), for example, give the go-ahead.
“Some residents who wish to hold events in some HDB-owned community spaces also have to seek permission from the HDB,” Mr Low said. “They have complained to me about this before. The process of approval is very long and can take up to 2 months – because they also need to get permission from the PA. Even after I, as the MP, have written personal letters in attempts to get the events approved quicker, it still does not work.”
Ms Lim also added to the issue of unfair treatment in her rally speech.
“We had to form our own grassroots from scratch, there was no way the PA network would work with us,” she revealed.
“Residents were warned by PA representatives not to invite us to events held on those sites or they will not get future approval to use the sites. This led to some dinner organisers having to uninvite Chen Show Mao from a 7thmonth dinner at Paya Lebar. The organisers were so distraught they wrote a card apologizing to Show Mao. Why must residents be treated this way?”
Ms Lim also made another revelation of the unfair treatment from the government, particularly the People’s Association.
For example, she cited the display of bannerettes in the constituency during National Day.
These would be put up all around Singapore during the period.
From the logos on the bannerettes, it is evident that these banners were “put up by the PA, the CDC and often the Town Council of the area”.
When the WP took over Aljunied, they found out from past town council records that the PA would put up these banners with co-funding from the PAP-run Aljunied Town Council.
However, when the WP took over in 2011, the PA has refused their requests to similarly co-fund such display of bannerettes for National Day.
“According to the PA Act, one of PA’s objective is the fostering of community bonding and strengthening of social cohesion in the people of Singapore. Are they doing that in Aljunied GRC? Are they uniting or dividing?” Ms Lim asked.
She also revealed that not only did the WP had to build up its own grassroots from scratch, even the computer system (which got completely eradicated with their takeover from the previous town council) also needed to be created from scratch.
As for the town council’s financial matters, Ms Lim noted how the town council was subjected to a 10-month Auditor General’s scrutiny, a special two-day debate in Parliament on the issue, a High Court hearing, and with the case pending before the Court of Appeal.
Candidate for Hougang SMC, Mr Png Eng Huat, also highlighted how the Ministry of National development has withheld government grants to the WP town council, even though its accounts have been submitted.
Despite all these challenges, Ms Lim told residents that the WP has “fought back” and “overcome many challenges”.
“We are still here!” she said, to loud cheers from the crowd.
A vote for “stability”
Mr Low spoke of the importance of ensuring Singapore’s stability.
He used the analogy of transport – that it is precisely because one assumes that our transport system is “perfect” that one “takes it for granted”. Therefore, when the train breaks down, “the system did not prepare well enough to handle it smoothly”. Similarly, like a government system, it would always be a good thing to spend effort fostering other parties as a contingency if the ruling party does “break down” eventually.
Mr Singh equated a vote for WP to be “a vote for stability”.
He wishes for the 40 per cent of voters who are “not persuaded by the PAP” to have the “space and opportunity” to join in the prospects of Singapore and “co-creating a home in the image of all Singaporeans and not just in the image of a group of PAP leaders”.
He added that some PAP MPs had extremely little to say in Parliament, citing the examples of several PAP MPs who either did not speak up at all in Parliament the last four years, or who spoke only once or twice.
Mr Singh said that contrary to what the PAP would say, Singapore would “need more opposition MPs to make the PAP MPs attend Parliament.”
He urged for those who do not treasure and take Parliament sittings seriously to “give up” their seat to someone else who deserves it more.
Candidate for Aljunied GRC, Chen Show Mao, said the WP has an “obligation to tell (the current government) we feel you are going in the wrong direction, but we also feel that we have a responsibility to work with you to ensure safe passage for all the passengers.”
Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com
