HOUGANG BY-ELECTION
WP wins 62.1%
Party chief low
quick to challenge PM to show sincerity by approving
upgrading
Lydia Lim
Deputy Political Editor
The Workers' Party won its sixth straight election in Hougang
yesterday with 62.1 per cent of valid votes cast.
It was a strong showing by its candidate Png Eng Huat,
whose winning margin was just three percentage points lower
than the party's best of 64.8 per cent in last May's
general election.
WP chief Low Thia Khiang went on the offensive after the
results were announced at 10.30pm, challenging Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong to show his sincerity in building an inclusive society
by approving estate upgrading for Hougang.
The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council had put up Hougang town
for the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme and Home
Improvement Programme, he said, and the National Development
Ministry had yet to give its decision.An opposition ward for 21
years, the single-member constituency has been at the end of the
upgrading queue.
In a statement last night, the Prime Minister said the
People's Action Party had offered Hougang voters a chance for a
fresh start and he was disappointed that its man, Mr Desmond Choo,
did not win.
Adding that he respected the voters' choice, he said the
PAP would continue to be present in Hougang, and he was confident
it would win back the ward in future.
Hougang voters' loyalty to the WP was on show at several
coffeeshops, where supporters gathered to await the result
over food and drinks.
Hundreds thronged the coffeeshop at Block 322, Hougang
AvenueS, and filled the air with chants of "Huat ah (prosper) Low
Thia Khiang and WP".
The by-election was called because Mr Low's handpicked
successor, Mr Yaw Shin Leong, lost his seat in Parliament and left
Singapore after being expelled by the party amid allegations of
infidelity.
Though he won the backing of Hougang voters
yesterday, Mr Low was clearly angry at aspects of the campaign. He
accused the PAP of resuming election tactics it
had employed in decades past, such as "character
assassinations" and "distractions".
He also accused the mainstream media of once again
becoming a "political tool of the PAP" in the
by-election.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean responded to Mr Low's
comments, which were televised live from the WP headquarters
in Syed Alwi Road. He said he was surprised that Mr Low spoke
about character assassination.
"If there was any of that, I think it came from
contradictions within his own party. And if there is anything
that Mr Low wants to take up, he is free to take it up further,
through legal action , even, if he feels that it's necessary," Mr
Teo said.
During the campaign, Mr Teo raised questions about Mr
Png's integrity after the latter gave conflicting accounts of
whether his name was on the ballot when the WP selected a
Non-Constituency MP.
Mr Teo also responded to Mr Low's charge that the
Government had denied upgrading programmes to wards like Hougang
that supported the opposition.
"The upgrading project is going ahead, and we have always
said that Hougang residents will get their upgrading, and I
think that they will," said Mr Teo.
Political observers yesterday had mixed reactions to the
WP's winning margin in its stronghold.
Assistant Professor Reuben Wong of the National
University of Singapore said he had expected the gap to be
narrower. He said that Mr Desmond Choo started out as an underdog
but interventions by PAP leaders led to the WP taking back the
"underdog mantle".
Dr Derek da Cunha said the result showed that "it is
extremely difficult to shift the vote significantly in any
direction, especially when it comes to a contest between the PAP
and what is perceived to be a Workers' Party that is
moderate and, therefore, considered a very worthy opponent by the
electorate".
The Results
2012
2011
WP
13,447
(62.1%) 14,833
(64.8%)
PAP 8,210
(37.9%)
8,053 (35.2%)
Spoilt
votes
294
261
Total votes
21,951 23,147
The Sunday Times, May 27 2012
