By Teo Wan Gek, The Straits Times, 13 May 2012
The People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for Hougang yesterday pledged to be an 'independent and objective voice' for residents in Parliament if elected - even if it might mean differing from the Government.
Continuing the 'I'm my own man' theme he had adopted when introduced last Thursday, Mr Desmond Choo said he would speak out on issues as long as it was for the residents' benefit.
'I have my own independent way of thinking,' he told reporters after launching a fall prevention programme for the elderly at Hougang Community Club.
'As long as policies are in line with the long-term benefit of residents and Singaporeans, then definitely I can agree with them,' he said.
'But if there are areas where I think the Government can do better, then let's speak out for this, let's make sure that we lobby hard for it.'
The 34-year-old gave the example of how he is lobbying for a new market to be built in Hougang Avenue 3, to replace the one torn down five years ago.
The National Development Ministry had then explained that the space was needed for residential and commercial developments, but the move upset many Hougang residents.
Mr Choo acknowledged that it was right to plan for the long term, but added that with more residential developments coming up, more amenities were needed.
'Yes, you had your reasons for tearing down the market, but... they need the market; the commercial developments - whatever reasons you had before may not apply now,' he said.
'I've seen for myself what kind of needs they have; I think we should fight for them.'
Both Mr Choo and Workers' Party (WP) candidate Png Eng Huat have indicated that they will focus on local issues during the by-election, which was called after the seat of Hougang was left vacant following the WP's expulsion of former MP Yaw Shin Leong.
Yesterday, Mr Choo, who is the ward's grassroots adviser, was out and about Hougang attending community events.
The PAP's bigwigs have weighed in on the polls, especially to stress that the contest was a local and not national election.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean had also suggested that Hougang residents would effectively get two MPs if they voted for the PAP, since they would still be served by WP chief Low Thia Khiang, who was Hougang's MP for two decades.
Agreeing, Mr Choo said the WP, with five MPs in the House, would still be able to provide the opposition voice in Parliament.
'If a party is sincerely for the people, then no matter what the result of the by-election is... to prove its sincerity to the residents, it should continue to serve them,' he said of the WP.
Local or national, PAP will have to engage in Hougang
WP may have caused by-election, but PAP will have to address whatever issues arise
By Zuraidah Ibrahim, The Straits Times, 13 May 2012
'We should always draw voters back to local issues,' an election candidate declared.
Party workers slaved away to focus minds on municipal matters, with manifestos promising multi- million dollar masterplans to spruce up neighbourhood amenities.
But Aljunied GRC voters refused to be strait-jacketed into thinking local. Instead, they embraced the Workers' Party (WP) vision for a stronger opposition presence in national politics. And so that fateful day in May 2011, Foreign Minister George Yeo and his running mates became the first People's Action Party (PAP) team to lose a GRC.
Here we are in another month of May, on the cusp of another election and again the PAP is keen to frame it as a local battle.
This is not surprising. Hougang has been an impregnable WP fortress since the day it was claimed by Mr Low Thia Khiang in 1991. Some voters may be disillusioned by his protege Yaw Shin Leong's self-destructive conduct, which precipitated this by-election. But any swing against the WP is unlikely to bridge the cavernous 29.6-point gap that separated it from the PAP's Desmond Choo last year.
Hougang is not Potong Pasir, which fell to the PAP last year after 27 years under Mr Chiam See Tong. In the two elections before 2011, Mr Chiam's winning margin had been less than 12 points. In 2001, the PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin lost by under 800 votes. It took him 10 years to reverse that result. In contrast, the PAP's Hougang candidate Desmond Choo needs to change the minds of around 3,400 voters who rejected him just a year ago.
So, the PAP is in realistic, damage-limitation mode. It needs to prepare the ground for its first by-election defeat in 30 years, persuading Singaporeans that the result has no bearing on its standing.
Another reason for the 'local' strategy is probably the PAP's acknowledgment that some national policies have yet to find a firm consensus. This was also why its Aljunied GRC team as well as Mr Sitoh tried to focus voters' attention on their municipal track records.
This was quite a change from previous elections, when the PAP treated its national brand as its trump card. Voters in marginal seats challenged by viable opposition candidates were always told to look at the big picture: only the PAP could deliver at the national level.
But as last year showed, that association with the government of the day is not necessarily an advantage. It is still true that no other party is currently capable of governing Singapore, which is why six in 10 Singaporeans still vote PAP. But it is also true that more Singaporeans than before want to register their unhappiness with government policies, and believe in the need for a stronger opposition.
Since the 2011 election - and in some areas, before - the Government has been fixing various policies that were not sensitive enough to the hardships and insecurities faced by Singaporeans. But even the most optimistic PAP strategist would be loath to claim that the reforms have already registered with the ground. Hence the strategy to fight Hougang as a local election.
But the reality is that the PAP does not have carte blanche in setting the election agenda. It can say that May 26 is nothing more than a choice of an MP and town council chairman, but the opposition and the voters need not agree.
Similarly, Aljunied GRC voters were not enticed by the PAP team's folksy 'Kuay Teow Hot and Nice' slogan, which stood for 'kampung spirit', 'upgrading' and so on. Instead, the WP's menu of a 'First World Parliament' was judged to be more appetising.
Cleverly, Mr Low has not announced his strategy for Hougang 2012. But there is little chance of him accepting the PAP's agenda. The WP will continue to play to Singaporeans' desire for a meaningful opposition in Parliament. If it expects its margin to fall because of a backlash against former MP Yaw, the WP may not want to make too much of the poll either. But if it senses that its candidate Png Eng Huat can maintain its solid record, it may position the by-election as a referendum on the PAP Government's performance over the past year.
After admitting to missteps in its planning and provision of transport and housing, has the Government been responsive enough? Has it won over Singaporeans to its strategies for more inclusive growth?
These may be unfair questions to pose to Hougang voters. They make up just 1 per cent of the voting population and their choice will be an amalgam of many factors. The 2016 General Election, not this 2012 by-election, is the right time and place for an assessment on the PAP's performance.
But the lesson from Aljunied is that the PAP may have to fight on a terrain that is not of its own choosing. If the WP goes on the offensive on national issues, the ruling party will have to answer. No matter how much it feels that the by-election is a distraction brought about by the WP's own internal problems, it has no choice but to address whatever issues come its way.
Of course, whether national or local, the candidates' electability also matters. The latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine has some classic advice on this score. The lead article 'How to Run a Campaign' is by Quintus Tullius Cicero, who lived two millennia ago. In 64BC, he wrote an electioneering handbook for his brother Marcus.
Many of the tips sound extremely modern, perhaps because they address the immutable facts of democratic politics. 'The most important part of your campaign is to bring hope to people and a feeling of goodwill toward you,' Cicero wrote. 'People not only want commitments from a candidate but they want them delivered in an engaged and generous manner.'
Whether local or national issues dominate, Mr Png and Mr Choo may need to take a leaf out of Cicero's handbook and connect with Hougang's 23,368 voters.
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