[SINGAPORE] The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is the one playing “dangerous tactical games” by fielding Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong in Punggol GRC, said Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh on Thursday (May 1).
In the WP’s final rally, held in its stronghold of Hougang, Singh countered Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s earlier warning against voting tactically, saying that the PAP had made its own tactical moves.
At an Apr 27 rally in Jalan Kayu, SM Lee had told voters: “Just vote according to your heart. You think PAP is good, vote for it. You think we are bad, vote against us. Don’t play games. It’s very dangerous.”
But the reasonable conclusion, said Singh on Thursday, is that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong moved DPM Gan to Punggol as a tactical move to stop the WP from winning.
If DPM Gan were indispensable, the prime minister would not have risked him, he added. “PM Wong must have been confident that he has enough talent, even without DPM Gan.”
And if PM Wong was not confident of having enough key members in his Cabinet, he would not have allowed four “super heavyweight” ministers to retire, said Singh, referring to Heng Swee Keat, Teo Chee Hean, Ng Eng Hen and Maliki Osman.
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“If DPM Gan is not re-elected, Singaporeans need not feel guilty,” he concluded. “After all, you did not put him at risk. The PAP did.”
Singh also addressed the PAP’s repeated message that having more opposition MPs will weaken the government’s ability to negotiate internationally.
Foreign leaders will act professionally and deal with whomever is appointed for negotiations, said Singh. Even if DPM Gan is not re-elected, he can assist with tariff talks if appointed as Singapore’s official negotiator or special envoy to the US.
Bringing strength
Having more opposition MPs will instead strengthen Singapore, said WP candidates, both at their final rally and earlier in the day.
Party chair Sylvia Lim noted that in the 2011 General Election, founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had similarly argued that the PAP’s team in Aljunied was too important to lose, as it comprised then foreign minister George Yeo and future minister Ong Ye Kung.
That year, the WP fielded a team with two unknowns – and won. Said Lim: “But since the PAP lost Aljunied, has Singapore been weakened? Life goes on.”
As for the argument that opposition MPs will weaken Singapore in an uncertain time, Sengkang GRC incumbent He Ting Ru noted that her team won there in the 2020 General Election, despite the election being held during the pandemic.
Since then, the Sengkang MPs’ work in Parliament “speaks for itself”, said He. “Even with a pandemic raging, we stood up before the government to scrutinise their policy. Where the policies put before us (boosted) Singapore forward, we supported them.”
WP renewal
Earlier that day, Singh said that renewal within his party is important for the future of Singapore’s democracy, in an argument for why voters should bring WP newcomers into Parliament.
At a walkabout with the WP’s Punggol GRC team, Singh told reporters that the party seeks to bring in candidates who are better than the current leadership.
This is especially if WP is to be a “permanent part” of the political landscape, he said. “I hope Singaporeans understand – if we want a more balanced Parliament, we also need to think actively about renewal in the WP too.”
There are “excellent individuals” on every WP team this election, he added. “You can see the future of the WP taking root, taking shape.”
The party has fielded four newcomers in Punggol: Harpreet Singh – often dubbed a “star catch” for the opposition – as well as Jackson Au, Alexis Dang and Siti Alia Mattar.
‘A deep bench’
As for the difficulty of replacing DPM Gan, Harpreet Singh said at the walkabout that the PAP has to “look within its ranks”, adding: “If the future of this country turns on one person being elected, it tells you something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.”
Continuing a football analogy used by the PAP, party chief Singh said that the PAP “has a deep bench” of substitutes. “They’ve got a bench of another 10 reserves easily. But for the WP, it’s a lot more difficult.”
“So, in fact, it is the PAP who has got a depth of talent,” he said. “And I am sure they will be able to continue looking after Singaporeans in the future, and at the same time be assured that there is a rational, responsible opposition in the shape of the WP.”
On the ground
On Tuesday, DPM Gan had said that if elected, his team will form a new town council chaired by Minister of State Sun Xueling. This will replace Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, which was dissolved after the corresponding Group Representation Constituency was split up for the 2025 General Election.
But Harpreet Singh noted that DPM Gan is “going to be busy”, given how the minister is chairing the national task force for economic resilience.
In contrast, Harpreet Singh reiterated a pledge given in an earlier rally: “If elected, I will be practically full-time on the ground.”
If the WP takes over, it will not pretend that it knows the estate better than Punggol residents, he added. Rather, residents will “drive the agenda”, with the party conducting town halls and setting up other platforms for feedback.
Party chief Singh assured residents that both national projects such as the Punggol Digital District and local upgrading would continue if the WP takes over.
He pointed to how upgrading works and national-level projects such as new MRT stations continued even after WP was first elected in Aljunied GRC in 2011.
To residents going to voting booths on May 3, Harpreet Singh’s message was: “Remember, as you go, you are voting not just for your municipal concerns about who is going to represent you in Punggol.
“Thousands upon thousands of Singaporeans’ hopes are on your shoulders for a better, more open Singapore.”
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