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SINGAPORE: Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo has again hit out at the Workers' Party (WP) team contesting Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) for not specifying its local plans for residents.
Mr Yeo urged voters not to be made use of by the WP, and feel that they have to carry the whole burden for Singapore.
Mr Yeo added while the WP may feel that he's an easy target, he does not think he will be.
Mr Yeo said his years as a Member of Parliament (MP) has given him confidence.
"I must be (confident). For the Workers' Party to field its strongest team and put all its eggs in this basket, they must feel that I'm an easy target to them.
"But I don't think I'm such an easy target to them. Because I've been an MP here for so many years, I've developed bonds of personal relationship with many of my constituents.
"Good or bad, they know me, and they take me for what I am.
"There's no part of my background which is a mystery, there are no empty spaces which needs to be filled in and I believe many know that I and members of my team have done certain things and they're on the record.
"Someone asked me yesterday, so what mark would you give yourself?
"I (replied) 'oh no, I can't do that. How can you assess yourself'?
"He (asked me if I) would give (myself) a distinction, 8 over 10? I said 'no, no no, but I don't think I've failed and at the General Election, you put what you've done on the glass screen for all to see and it's for the people of Aljunied GRC to give me the mark and that mark, we'll know on 7th of May'".
Mr Yeo said the WP has created a dilemma for Aljunied residents.
"I have so many (people) telling me, both on Facebook and directly, that they feel torn that they like us, they support us but they do not want to see the Workers' Party not being in Parliament either," Mr Yeo said.
"But that's a deliberate position which the Workers' Party has forced on the voters of Aljunied GRC, which means that... (members of my team and I) have to work very hard to win over the voters of Aljunied GRC, that they should vote in their own enlightened self interest.
"Don't be made use of. You don't have to carry the burden of the whole of Singapore.
"You carry your own burden. The burden of your families, your daily livelihoods. The people of Aljunied GRC are beginning to ask, 'well ok, fine, there're national issues which are important but what does it mean for me?'
"And it's my job and those of my colleagues' to bring them back to what their interest, their hopes, their concerns, their worries (are), and also what this means for the country.
"There was a diner whom I shook hands with, upstairs in Hougang Mall, and he said, I don't live here but I wish you well.
"Then he looked at his two young children and (added), 'for their sake'. I was quite moved by that".
Mr Yeo said his advice to residents is to look at what both teams are offering.
"But for the people who live here, it's no laughing matter because it's your life and when we go around, we're very specific," Mr Yeo said.
"This is what we want to do for you. We have 10 major programmes.
"It's about specific things which we're going to do for them in the next five years.
"They know we've carried out our promises in the past, so they know we're going to carry out our promises for the future and we hope that on that basis, we'll win this election.
"I really hope that at some point in time, the Workers' Party will come back to the people of Aljunied GRC on the issues that matter the most to them.
"I'm not saying that national issues don't matter to them. But national issues are not the only issues which matter to them.
"They owe it to the people of Aljunied GRC for the Workers' Party to be specific and not just glide over and say 'oh well, I can't distinguish local from national issues so please don't ask me questions about it'.
"And I will ask them, 'you tell them (to the people who live here), that you're not sure and therefore you want their vote for an abstraction called a First World Parliament? And they should vote for you?'
"This is the argument that I will make. This is the argument that I'm making to the people who live here."
As for the kind of pressure he will face in the contest, Mr Yeo said the anxiety and support of residents have energised the team.
Mr Yeo said: "I'm encouraged by the support, the good wishes, even the positive anxiety of the residents I meet.
"They all know it's a hot spot. Last night there was a very big rally, it unsettled residents a little bit and many, whether it's in the social media, or personally when they meet me, come up and give me an extra firm handshake, a pat on the shoulder and say 'look, jia you (Chinese for do your best). It's going to be a tough contest but we support you.'
"It energises me and my team. It's still many days more and we've got to fight very hard and we're taking nothing for granted".
On the WP saying they want to act as the co-driver to "slap the driver when he drives off course or when he goes asleep", Mr Yeo said that is a description of a bad Parliament.
Mr Yeo said that will only put the driver in an impossible position and not be able to get to the final destination.
Mr Yeo pointed out that "once the decision is made, there must be clarity. You cannot, after making the decision, at every point along the journey to say 'look, look, I don't like it, I (am going to adjust) the steering wheel.
"That's dangerous and if I were a passenger, I would not want to be in such a car".
-CNA/wk
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