Focus on big picture, PM urges voters, as hustings hit halfway mark
PM Lee Hsien Loong and PAP Aljunied GRC candidates at a walkabout at Hougang Central. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY
SINGAPORE — As the hustings crossed the halfway mark yesterday, leaders of the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Workers’ Party (WP) took turns to remind voters of the big picture: PAP secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong urged voters to be dispassionate, vote in good conscience for a government that has right character and integrity. WP chief Low Thia Khiang, meanwhile, reiterated his call for sufficient opposition presence in Parliament so that the PAP government will “think twice” before implementing policy changes that will affect the lives of Singaporeans.
Speaking at a press conference held at the PAP headquarters, Mr Lee called for voters to judge each party’s candidates and plans “dispassionately”. He stressed that a government should be made up of people with the right character, integrity and who have demonstrated competence.
“It’s the people who make it work — people with the right character, people who have demonstrated competence, integrity, people who will carry out their duties responsibly, and then having done so take responsibility for the outcomes when things go right but also when things go wrong,” said Mr Lee. The competence must first be demonstrated at the town council level, he noted.
“To be the Government of the country, first you must demonstrate that you have that capability and you’ve got to run your town council well,” Mr Lee said. He stressed that this is an important issue, which is why there have been all these debates about AHPETC’s accounts, with the issue “extensively argued”.
Nevertheless, Mr Lee said, the ruling party will leave it to voters to make up their minds — having made its position and the facts clear, and with the WP having responded.
However, there was no truce over the AHPETC saga. Hours after the PAP’s press conference, the AHPETC issue was brought up again at the WP rally in Punggol East Single-Member Constituency (SMC) — despite the opposition party previously stating its intention to move on from it.
At the rally, Mr Low went on the offensive, calling on the PAP to explain the accounts of Punggol East Town Council before it came under the opposition party.
Holding up a copy of the audited accounts of Punggol East Town Council when it merged with the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council in April 2013, Mr Low alleged that the former had a S$280,000 deficit when the merger took place — contrary to the assertion by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and PAP Punggol East SMC candidate Charles Chong that the town council was running a surplus before it was handed over to the opposition following a by-election in 2013.
“Get this right, this is not a surplus ... I would now like the PAP to explain to Punggol East voters where that money has gone,” said Mr Low, who was visibly charged up. “The PAP candidates have twisted the truth to mislead the people ... they are too much.”
He added: “Are these the type of candidates that the Prime Minister wants us to consider?”
The financial positions of the Punggol East Town Council, Hougang Council and the Aljunied Town Council before they merged had previously come under the spotlight, as the AHPETC saga wore on.
On Friday, Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam pointed out that the Hougang Town Council’s annual report for the year ending March 31, 2011 showed that it had an operating deficit of S$91,800, and an accumulated deficit of S$8,700 for that financial year.
But WP leaders responded that when the merger took place on May 26, 2011 — after the previous General Election — Hougang Town Council’s accounts were in surplus of more than S$80,000.
Speaking before the WP rally last night, Mr Lee noted that the “ferocity of the response from the opposition party showed that “the facts have exposed a raw nerve”.
“When the dust has settled, I think it will become clear that sensitive questions still remain to be answered, important questions remain to be answered,” Mr Lee said, adding that voters are “clear-eyed” and know what the issue is about.
DPM THARMAN SLAMS ‘CHEAP’ SHOT
On Friday, Mr Low brought up how the PAP had said it had not considered raising the Goods and Services Tax before the 2006 election but did so in July the following year. He warned voters about returning to the “dark ages” of a system dominated by one party.
This drew a riposte from Mr Lee: “I think it’s a strange psychology to think that this is a government which is only dying to do bad things to people ... do we look like that? Here we are trying to do the best and needing support.”
Mr Lee, who is also the Prime Minister, said the Government does not raise taxes “just because we got a percentage at the elections — we’ll be mad to do that”.
Adjusting taxes are “very big decisions” that the Government mulls over carefully, he said. “What would make you need to raise GST? Profligate spending and irresponsible, unsustainable plans. That is what will hurt and require you to raise taxes, including the GST.”
At a PAP rally held in Bukit Panjang SMC, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam also shot back at the opposition, accusing it of “scaremongering” when talking about what the PAP will do after the election. “That is just cheap. We have been upfront,” Mr Tharman said, without mentioning specific parties.
Mr Tharman noted that the Government made clear in its Budget statement earlier this year that it has raised the revenue needed for public spending over the next five years.
At the hour-long press conference at the PAP headquarters, Mr Lee was flanked by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office S Iswaran, Mr Desmond Lee and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC candidate Halimah Yacob.
Mr Lee touched on several topics including the AHPETC saga, the party’s assessment of its campaign and its plans for the country. He stressed that Singapore has remained special because it has a clean system with honest people who will not be saying one thing and doing another or “putting their hands into the kitty”.
Echoing that point, Dr Ng said the party has maintained that system because it has stringent standards of selecting candidates. “If we find that they don’t do anything illegal but they are skirting too close to unethical boundaries, we call them up, we talk to them. If we are in any doubt that they are doing this because they are putting themselves in a position which can advantage themselves, we don’t field them.”
The party has done it before, dropping Members of Parliament and calling for fresh elections when they don’t measure up, “even when we take losses”, he said. “I would hope that all Singaporeans support this. You can’t have two standards for different parties, it will make us weaker, it will give to our children a much more difficult system.”
Mr Lee also highlighted the plans the PAP government have implemented in the past few years, such as more affordable housing and healthcare, as well as future major developments, which have been worked out through engagement with Singaporeans.
For the other parties, “some have plans, some have no plans. Some pretend not to want to form the government but they harbour ill-concealed ambitions to do so”. The PAP, on the other hand, has “put our intentions and our plans squarely in front of the public”, he said.
