PAP Minister without portfolio and deputy chairman of its
People’s Association (PA) wants to adopt a more ‘holistic’ approach
to ‘engage’ Singaporeans.
Speaking at a community event yesterday, Mr Lim laid down a new
road map for the PAP grassroots organizations to extend their reach
and influence to more Singaporeans, describing the process as being
’same same but different’.
“As we organise these activities, the focus now will
have to go beyond just getting the residents to come together to
interact, but more importantly, to find ways to sustain this
interaction so that overtime, there’ll be greater emotional
connection in our community,” he added.
He also shared how the CCs and RCs had tried to rope in young
Singaporeans to be their grassroots volunteers by unlikely tie-ups
such as a joint project between the Clementi Citizens’ Consultative
Committee and the online gaming community in Singapore.
Though the PA is supposedly a statutory board funded by
taxpayers’ monies, it is actually a PAP organization which enables
it to mobilize grassroots resources and support to serve its
partisan interests.
All the board members of the PA are PAP ministers and MPs
including its Chairman PM Lee and Dr Janil Puthucheary, an
ex-Malaysian who was granted citizenship only 2 years ago.
The grassroots organizations are also used by the PAP to
establish a foothold in non-PAP wards. For example, though the PAP
lost Aljunied GRC in the 2011 election, its 5 losing candidates
have been appointed ‘grassroots advisers’ there.
Unable to attract more young Singaporeans into its fold, the PA
has been mass-recruiting new citizens and PRs of late. According to
a report in the state media last year, more than 20 percent of
grassroots leaders are new citizens and PRs, one of whom is the
infamous YPAP leader from India Sinha Shekhar who boasted about
subletting his HDB flat for rental income while living in a
condominium on the YPAP Facebook.
The PAP is unlikely to face a serious challenge to its political
hegemony so long the PA remains under its control. As PAP supreme
leader declared proudly not too long ago:
“All CCCs, CCs and RCs are part of the
PAP.”