Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Boring Watchdog WP

WP is not doing that great so far. Yeah sure it is still popular, but put it next to another opposition party like RP, you can see how different it is. WP started the campaign sluggishly with the flimsy mantra that they should be voted in so that PAP can work harder. Yes, yes, yes. With the lost of a GRC, PAP is shaking and worried about their little Risk board of Singapore slowly being carved out into WP blue areas. Let me repeat that mantra - so if we vote WP in, the PAP would work harder.?!

So that means the WP MP does not need to work hard and just sits around slapping the PAP once in a while. In that case, why vote WP in? Why not vote RP's secretary-general, KJ, who actually brought the government to court over the $4 billion loan to the IMF. Did WP bring the PAP government to court over anything? In fact, WP did not file any motions in parliament at all since they fought tooth and claw into it after 2011. Actually, maybe voters who are different from WP and PAP politically, like those who support SDP, should think of supporting RP. Dr CSJ was the one who shouted at then PM Goh over loans to Indonesia remember? It is like deja vu except that KJ is smarter and by the book, and looked better as a result. RP and SDP are closer than we think, just like PAP and WP are closer than we think in terms of their rather conservative ideology.If KJ decides to canvass for the LGBT vote these last few days, then he is after the SDP voters too.

WP is a great party, but they lost the drive for this By-E. They were energised in 2011 but in these few days, did not really follow up in the rallies on transport or housing, recent fuckups by the PAP. Or revisit their manifesto winners like healthcare. WP looked like it either ran out of ideas or steam, or both! Despite saying they would not bring it up until after the government issued a report, WP brought up the AIM issue during its second rally and that was the most creative rally point they had, which should be kept for later. Or more wet markets in Punggol East. What about something bold like WP kindergartens to rival that of PCF?

WP's mantra of voting them in to make PAP work harder is as boring and flat as the PAP's shitty fear-mongering during GE. PAP would threaten - vote us in or else investors would run away, vote us in or else property prices in the area would dive, vote us in or else upgrading would take forever to come.

WP is also coasting along, even claiming credit for everything so far as their reasoning is that if they were not in parliament, PAP would not have done anything to improve our lives. Err OK some merit but... And if we want more improvements, we should vote more WP MPs in. OK well. But not too many since they are not ready to take over the government yet. WTF! First world parliament my ass. Remember their MPs who plagiarised? Remember them telling the other parties that they choped Punggol East?

Still, WP has 2-3 more days to go and they might pick up the ball they dropped. Like I said, they are a great party but so far, they are just sadly stumbling along and if not careful, waste the chance of getting this SMC.

16 comments:

  1. Wrong observations Prata!!!

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  2. I'm actually quite disappointed that WP did not chastise their supporters for boo-ing that SDA dude on nomination day. It's fairly obvious that WP supporters are behind the death threats and vandalism directed at RP as well. Neither did they tell their legions to lay off the SDP when they wanted to contest. Seems to me like cynical tacit approval of shitty actions that benefit their campaign.

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    1. SDP = bunch of disgruntled lot? Dysfunctional personality waiting to argue till the cow comes home

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  3. aiya, it's always easy to say how the party shd do this or that without walking in their shoes, afterall the chief has 20 over years of experience as a lone ranger in dealing with people that play game very unfairly and have absolute control of all powers in nation. He sure know better. No party is perfect, even if the opp is not performing well yet, in relative sense it is still much better than having one party of many yesmen that only agree and never ask any question.

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  4. LTK: " To register and helm a political party is not difficult. But to dig one’s heels into the ground and persevere is not that easy." Ask a man who see it all after 30 year(infighting, different ideology , break out form another party) Instead of moving forward and gain people trusts. Fighting among our selves(opp)Not easy after so many years only six opp members in parliament.

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  5. I thought WP sure win until they started their rallies. Not because got SDA and RP as competition, but because there is no continuity in their campaigning since GE. No new ideas. The 'vote us in to make them work hard' is a bad slogan, almost like a call to protest vote. I don't want any lousy opposition in parliament, I want a good one like how WP showed it could be in 2011. Not now.

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    1. No new ideas? LOL pap got plenty of new ideas to milk from us. More pain and tricks coming after by-election just wait and see.

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    2. Exactly!!! What stupid comment is this?!!! Tell me what new ideas pap give so far?! Even the recent goodies where not originally from them!!!

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    3. Your demands are pretty high. What do you expect 6 opposition members in Parliament to do? Why don't you say this if and when the opposition has some 40 members in Parliament? Even with that number they cannot change things but at least they can make a lot of noise to lead public opinions against the government.

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  6. The AIM story. Sylvia Lim wanted to politicise it to score points since PAP mis-Aimed. But she mis-Fired as she went back on her word that she would not bring it up now. Broken promises by PAP and now WP. Only Reform Party is the obvious choice - no broken promises.

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    1. what a joke. no broken promise when they are not in parliament yet?

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  7. Hi Prata Bob

    If you believe that you can make the difference, then come and join the Workers' Party and make the difference. Show it the way. Don't be a mere armchair critic. Stop making excuses. With a person of your caliber and rhetorics, join the party and make the difference !

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  8. "KJ who actually brought the government to court over the $4 billion loan to the IMF"

    frankly speaking, other than you and some on the internet, how many care? not even CSJ. certainly not the voters of Punggol East.

    Here's a better analysis from the comments on http://atans1.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/wp-supporters-analysis-of-the-punggol-east-by-election/ :

    I take the opposite tack of you – instead of Low being a liability in this BE, I think he has acted splendidly. Put it another way : on a scale of 1 to 10, I rank Low 8, LHL 6 and CSJ 4 in terms of strategic manouevers and tactical execution.

    First of all, we need to recognise that in the heat of a campaign, if you put every person’s words under a microscope, you’ll find meat that anyone can go after. Dr Koh had made many verbal blunders (“As professionals, we need 2 cars”, “my wife said you want to help but people don’t want your help”), KJ (“on MC today”), LTK and interestingly so far, none from Ah Lian. These are TACTICAL mis-steps – every candidate makes them. The Great Obama said something about “bitter people .. clinging on to their guns”, Michelle Obama (“for the first time, I’m proud of my country”).

    These tactical blunders happen, but most are minor and recoverable. Particularly if you look at the context they are uttered. In LTK’s case, I think he meant “all the PM has to say” to mean, “is this the best complain you PM can find about WP so far?”. In any case, I think very very few Punggol residents microscopically analyse a candidate’s every word and go off-tangent with one single badly worded utterance.

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  9. continued from above:

    The more important battle is strategic, not tactical per se. Here, you got to give LTK credit, where I think he is due. Even PAP MPs I speak to (off the record), applaud LTK as being politically very shrewd.

    At the start of the BE, look at how LTK handle the SDP jumping in saga. He did it, basically like how Obama handled Romney or McCain – let them self-destruct. LTK stuck to the politically correct script – everyone has the right to stand for elections – who can argue with “the sun rises from the east” type comments, right? Meanwhile, CSJ was detonating landmines publicly, day by day (cannot contact WP, publicly disclose confidential letters, we only good at making speeches in Parliament but not confident in handling Town Council) and then withdrawal. Similarly, it lets the ego of Desmond and KJ grow and over-shadow whatever credence SDA or RP used to have. Suddenly no more rallies, “paid volunteers” saga (for Desmond). AWOL, daily complaints of threats and police reports (for KJ) — let their wayang hog the limelight, let them self-destruct, no need to say a word.

    Behind the scene, LTK selected Ah Lian to take on smooth, professional Dr Koh. Arguably, a better choice, than say GG. Because Ah Lian is so down to earth, so real (right down to her missing 2 front teeth) that the contrast with Dr Koh became greater, especially when Dr Koh came across as stretching the truth ($10 left, only enough for chopsticks, switch from BMW to Toyota car when visit Punggol etc etc). This contrast seems to be hitting a cord. It was reported on-line that reporters tailing both candidates on house visits, observed that residents are warmer towards Ah Lian, posing for photos, sharing their stories, introduce their family, giving a drink. Word got to the PAP too.

    continue below

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  10. continued from above:

    LTK also straddled the “local issue” vs “national issue” beautifully. I’d say,to the extent of running circles around the PAP. What do I mean? For Aljunied, LTK bet 100% on national – PAP thot local issue usually matters more but was swept by the tide. So PAP tried to immunize itself right from the start with PUnggol BE – a wave of good news. But LTK attacked first on the local front – Riverdale, how come so many RCs but so little coffeeshops, transport, – ie. what has your PAP MP been doing all these years? So local concerns got paraded to the front, and Dr Koh tried playing the same game – I’m my own man. LTK used these local issues to get Ah Lian to connect to each resident on the ground-game front.

    Then in the closing stages of the campaign, LTK swings back to national issues in the public campaign. The more good news got trumpeted, the more it appears that if Aljunied had not fallen, PAP would not have reversed course. If Punggol BE had not happen, some of these good news would not get announced. So it plays into the need for opposition, theme. And LTK only drums up AIM in the last few days of the campaign. Why? I do not think many PUnggol residents know what is AIM, or even really care. But the hard core opposition supporters do care. So this is “red meat” for the base. In other words, focus first on the middle block, handle the risk that the base will defect to Desmond/KJ by giving them some red meat right at the end (and after giving time for Desmond/KL to implode). The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Hopefully, this then consolidates both the middle and base votes.

    The other advantage of trumpeting national issues at the late stage of the game, is that it baits the “big guns” of PAP to respond. And they usually respond clumsily and turn off voters by the way they over-react.

    Whether or not this is enough to win Punggol, I do not know. But I have heard that PAP is sweating. It was said that PAP carefully carved out Punggol SMC in 2011 and that in the prior elections (2006?), that Punggol SMC had 30+% vote swing to PAP. Unexpectedly, this got cut to 10% swing in GE2011. PAP had counted on multi-corner fights, particularly from newly released CSJ and SDP to spoil the party. That didn’t happen. LHL called the elections thinking there’s a good chance they’ll win. As the campaign progressed, and they too feel the “smell of Hougang”, they’re now not so sure.

    But as I said, as long as WP increases meaningfully from 41%, and PAP decreases meaningfully from 55% – WP does not need to win, for PAP to lose. A 5% swing away from the PAP (ie. 49% or 50% only) will be a dreaded signal that the electorate is still unhappy with PAP and this will keep them on their toes. A WP win is a jackpot.

    And oh, the other thing I like about this BE — it has also put WP under the fire too, to defend its record and hopefully, correct course where necessary. You didn’t hear WP being so defensive in Hougang BE. In other words, this time they got the message – there are some out there who’re unhappy at their low-key approach. Hopefully, this makes them a better party moving forward too. So Desmond is right and wrong – someone needs to keep a check on both PAP and WP. Unfortunately, its not Desmond — its we, the people. Through the messiness of the internet, online chatter, rallies etc. Both PAP and WP are hearing us. That’s good isn’t it ?

    by JG



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