I've been to five rallies so far and had planned for a sixth tomorrow but I have work early on Wednesday morning so I think I'll be sensible and just watch livestreams...
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Highlights
Friendly politics
Speaking at a rally in Yusof Ishak Secondary School a couple of days before the Workers' Party filled the same venue, Gan Kim Yong, the deputy prime minister surprisingly chucked into Punggol GRC, promised more development in Punggol like—what else?—covered walkways. "You will need a lot more covered linkways along your pathways," he said, "and I will talk to my good friend, Minister for Finance and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, to see whether we can get more money to build some of these necessary infrastructure for our residents."
The intention of the message was no doubt to convince voters of the benefit of having Punggol managed by a team from the (expected) ruling party, but Gan's comment didn't come off so well among Singaporeans who questioned why People's Action Party politicians dangle such promises before voters when the construction of public amenities like covered walkways are paid for by taxpayers' money. The WP jumped on this point at their rally last night, of course, characterising this sort of "speak to my good friend" behaviour as a sign of a troubling political culture.
Not this old playbook again
Lee Hsien Loong jumped on the opposition during his rally speech on Sunday night, calling them out for being slow to reject foreign interference and doing it only after the PAP had taken action:
After the PAP government stood up and put its position out clearly, and acted to block the foreign sites, all the other parties straight away, within days, say, "I also agree, I also agree, I also agree." Day before yesterday, where were you? You didn't notice, you didn't know or buat bodoh?
During his Chinese speech, Lee brought up Tang Liang Hong, a WP candidate who'd stood in the 1997 general election. The PAP had branded him an anti-Christian Chinese chauvinist then; in response, Tang filed reports against some PAP members, accusing them of spreading falsehoods and inciting hatred among religious groups against him. After the election, Tang was hit with lawsuits that claimed he'd defamed PAP politicians with his police reports.
This is the sort of bullying, dirty politics that we'd hope to have left behind us, but I guess it's easy to fall back on old habits. Donald Low, economist and commentator, described it as "the most depressing moment of the election campaign in Sg so far":
Until yesterday, I had hoped (rather optimistically) that after this GE, the PAP would embrace a kinder, more conciliatory approach to politics. In discussions with friends, I’d even suggested a state-led reconciliation process that would acknowledge the wrongs done to past victims of political persecution. This would not only make Sg exceptional globally in an age of polarisation, but also fortify us against future shocks. Above all, it could define Lawrence’s prime ministership in a way the second PM, Goh Chok Tong, had initially wanted his tenure to be defined by a “kinder, gentler Singapore.” (That aspiration ended decisively after the divisive GE of 1997. Besides Tang Liang Hong, the Workers Party’s JB Jeyaretnam also faced 11 lawsuits from 9 PAP ministers after the GE.)
SM Lee’s remarks are all the more depressing in light of the PAP’s initial inaction to offensive online comments by one of their most influential supporters as well as years of implicit (if not explicit) endorsement of the polarising views of a foreigner (a Polish who calls himself critical spectator).
Ng Chee Meng appeals to Jalan Kayu
He was never going to be able to escape commenting on the now-blocked NTUC Income-Allianz deal. During his rally speech on Sunday night, Ng insisted that the sale had been proposed in "good faith". "We thought in the labour movement that it was a reasonable deal," he said. But the government ultimately blocked it, even passing new legislation to amend the Insurance Act.
"NTUC couldn’t have known (that) the law would be changed. But we sincerely respected the Government’s view and accept it," Ng said. A review of the saga is apparently underway at NTUC Enterprise.
Backing Ng up, Lee Hsien Loong claimed that, if it'd been left up to the WP, the NTUC Income-Allianz would have gone through. Why? Because, he said, the party had abstained from voting for or against the amendment bill to block the sale. I guess this was some sort of "say people say yourself" rebuttal to the opposition's swipes?
Now, wait a minute, Pritam Singh said, the WP had agreed with blocking the deal but had other reasons for abstaining from the vote. Speaking in Parliament back then, He Ting Ru from Sengkang GRC had stated that the party did not want to reject the bill, but...
...we believe that the downsides to whether this Bill will be seen to be rushed and retrospective legislation-making, and this assault on legal and regulatory certainty that changing legislation in the middle of a major live transaction means that we would need to register our abstention on this Bill.
Rally reflections: PAP at UOB Plaza
I dropped by the PAP lunchtime rally yesterday but will admit I didn't stay the whole time because there were things I had to get done before meeting friends for dinner and the WP rally in Punggol.
It was a decent crowd with, as expected, many office workers on their lunch break; some were munching on Subway sandwiches or takeaways from McDonald's as they listened to the speeches. I think the biggest fans were right up near the front of the stage; that's where the loudest cheers originated, while people standing further back seemed to be mostly listening.
Indranee Rajah refuted opposition characterisations of the PAP as lacking in specificities and substance—I suggest you look at their manifesto and judge for yourself. There was also lots of talk about what the PAP has done for the people, how the party has journeyed with Singaporeans for many years, and how Singaporeans should entrust our future to their capable hands for at least another five years. Lawrence Wong didn't follow in his predecessor's footsteps to attack the opposition on grounds of foreign interference and racial/religious sensitivities, so there's that, at least.
Rally Reflections: WP at Yusof Ishak Secondary School
How many people go to WP rallies, cheer and shout, then end up voting PAP on Polling Day? It's hard to say, but the turnout and enthusiasm at WP rallies are often misleading—many attendees (such as myself) don't even live in constituencies where the WP is running, and only a portion of voters in the places where they're running will end up choosing Hammer over Lightning. This is something my friends and I keep reminding one another of, because we all remember the angst of GE2015 when we'd all hoped for more change, only for there to be a 10% swing in the PAP's favour. But, as one friend also keeps reminding us, "Lee Kuan Yew can only die once." It'll get harder and harder for the PAP to count on a sweeping sense of gratitude and nostalgia.
I enjoyed the series of speeches at the WP rally today. As usual, speakers touched on different aspects of the party's manifesto, drumming their core messages into everyone's heads. There were a number of sick burns, too—references to Gan Kim Yong's parachuting into Punggol and Janil Putucheary's lack of National Service experience among them. I thought Pritam Singh was especially savage—something the crowd very much enjoyed. But my favourite of night had to be Sylvia Lim's speech on the importance of women in politics, especially in the opposition.
Being an opposition politician is already a high-risk, high-stakes activity, Lim observed, but being a female opposition politician is even more challenging. You're expected to confront power, but "not too aggressively". Lim said she'd been called many names and been attacked by ministers over all her years in politics. But she's still standing: as chairperson of the WP, she's outlasted four male PAP chairmen and observed that the PAP hasn't yet had a female chair. Looking at the women among WP's candidates this GE, Lim said, "Mama Bear here is proud." Yaaaaassss you tell 'em, Sylvia! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
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