‘One Ward two MP’ idea flawed, says WP
candidate
Opposition candidates do not hold role of
grassroots adviser: Png
By ANDREA Ong
THE argument that Hougang residents could be served by two MPs
if they vote for the People Action Party (PAP) is flawed, said the
Workers’ Party’s (WP) by-election candidate yesterday.
“The two MP system was probably accidentally designed by the
PAP,” said Mr Png Eng Huat, 50, referring to past instances when
the PAP’s losing candidates in opposition wards stayed on in the
constituencies as grassroots advisers.
But the system would not work for opposition candidates who
do not hold the role of adviser. Mr Png told The Straits Times: “It
only works with an opposition MP and a PAP grassroots adviser. The
reverse, unfortunately, doesn’t work.”
He was responding to Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean’s
suggestion last Friday that if Hougang residents voted for the PAP,
they would get “best of both worlds” as theywould still be served
by WP chief Low Thia Khiang, who was MP for the ward for 20
years.
On Sunday, the PAP’s candidate Desmond Choo said he expected
the WP to continue being active in Hougang regardless of the
by-election results “if WP is serious about serving the
residents”.
Mr Choo, who lost to former MP Yaw Shin Leong in last year’s
general election, is glassroots adviser in Hougang.
The by-election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Mr
Yaw when he was sacked from the WP for not coming clean on
allegations of extramarital affairs.
In the 21 years that the WP has been in the ward, it has
been running schemes with several voluntary welfare organisation
including a food rations scheme for the poor which Mr Png
supervised from 2006 to last year.
But yesterday, Mr Png suggested that the schemes were not
comparable to the PAP grassroots machinery. Despite this, he said,
if he lost and “if Mr Choo is okay with it,” he hopes to continue
doing welfare work there.
Ahead of Nomination Day tomorrow, his opponent Mr Choo has
highlighted his track record of schemes which have helped
residents, such as transport vouchers, a job placement centre and a
new legal clinic to be launched today.
On his own plans, Mr Png said he did not want to waste
resources by duplicating such schemes, adding: “I’m not in a
contest to bring in that many programmes here, to see who will
win…I may as well look after other needs so we complement.”
The businessman also stressed his view that local issues
cannot be divorced from the national. For instance, he said, while
town council manages the estate, the building of new markets or
housing is set by national policies.
Responding to Mr Choo ‘s comments on Sunday that an MP’s
basic job is to take concrete steps in looking after residents’
needs on the ground, Mr Png said the WP has already been doing
this. “Definitely, we have taken care of Hougang to the best of our
abilities.”
Over the past three months, he has knocked on the doors of
almost all the Housing Board flats in Hougang, recording residents’
feedback in his “little black book”, he said. All the concerns –
from cleanliness to spalling concrete – are in the process of being
solved, he added.
On Mr Choo’s claim that he is the underdog in the ward, Mr
Png countered that at the national level, the WP is “definitely the
underdog” with only five seats in Parliament, compared to 81 held
by the PAP.
Meanwhile last night, six former Singapore People’s Party
members led by former civil servant Benjamin Pwee also issued a
statement urging Hougang voters to “vote with the national
political agenda in mind” and signal to the ruling party that
“business cannot be as usual anymore”.
prime.news, The Straits Times, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Pg A8
