Dear Nelstar,
I know exactly what you mean, believe me. That's exactly what I
have written for Hammer issue last year.
As I have already declared, I am here to show that opposition party
like Workers' Party does have ideas and even Vision for Singapore.
And they could prove that they have substance, if only they are
given the opportunity to reach out to more people. 
That's politics anyway.
Here's my article:
http://www.wp.org.sg/news/hammer_online/05_critique_opp.htm
By Goh Meng Seng
Initially it seemed strange to write a "self-critique" in the
Hammer that is supposed to propagate our political ideas. However I
believe that any constructive and self-evolving political party
should have both the ability to "criticise" its "opponents" as well
as the courage to do a "self-critique" and "self-evaluation". It is
only by doing so, that the party will be "reborn" again with
greater strength to fight another battle and I believe that the
Workers' Party, under the new leadership of Mr. Low Thia Khiang, is
open enough and has the strength for self-reflection.
The first question I asked myself is this: "Is it a coincidence
that the PAP won 75% of the votes in the last election?" Many
critics of the PAP would jump into their war-gears and start
shooting all sorts of "explanations" - unfairness or the lack of
transparency in boundaries redrawing exercise, the expanding of the
GRC system, the $13,000 deposit, the short campaign period allowed,
and NSS handouts... the list goes on.
On the other hand, the PAP supporters and those who are sceptical
about opposition parties would point to the "fact" that many
opposition candidates only appear during election time and would
disappear after the election. Well, some of the PAP's new
candidates also appear not long before election time! The only
difference is that the PAP's new candidates could acquire their
political strength from the groundwork that their seniors had done
within the GRC framework.
Opposition politics in Singapore had for decades been based merely
on "Opposing". I am not saying that there is anything wrong with
"opposing" or giving constructive criticism of the PAP government.
However, this is not enough.
If we take the election process as a "Market of Free Choice", then
the candidates who participate in this "market" are the "salesmen"
and "saleswomen" who are trying to sell their parties' brand name.
What we have seen so far indicates that most of us have rather
"ineffective" sales persons as candidates. Why is it so? It seems
that opposition parties would lose their "identities" without the
PAP! Opposition politics has so far been defined as "opposing the
PAP". These sales people have only one thing in common: making all
sorts of criticisms against the PAP. Is this really "enough" to
convince a customer to choose your products and services? Any good
business person or sales person will tell you that such selling
techniques would never work in the long run. It is only through
"promoting" your own products and strengths that your sales can be
improved.
Except for Hougang and Potong Pasir, we have had successes in the
past that did not last long. Why is that so? It is basically
because these short and "sweet" successes had been built on the
opponents' (PAP's) mistakes or negligence in serving those
constituents and not built upon the strengths of the opposition
candidates. HDB upgrading and goodies might have lured the voters
to give the PAP back these wards, but why did such tactics not work
for Hougang and Potong Pasir?
We should stop blaming others and learn from our failures instead.
PAP's victory is by no means a "coincidence". Although those new
PAP candidates might not have done anything substantial for the
people prior to their involvement in politics, the PAP must have
done some things "RIGHT" for the people. After all, it is the
political party that voters have chosen to be the government. We
can argue that the PAP has all the advantages as a government and
can take control of all grassroots networks. As such, it has the
means to reach out to the people and control the playing field.
This may be true but this should not stop opposition parties from
counteracting.
The Workers' Party has reflected on its political direction and
aims. We are aware that merely "opposing" the ruling party is not
enough. We must also embrace the true spirit of SERVING the people.
Walking the ground is merely a basic and fundamental political
exercise we do weekly. There are other important and meaningful
areas of work such as standing up for the less privileged,
organizing various activities for the community, and co-ordinating
social and voluntary work for the needy, etc. These are some items
in our "report card" which we could show the voters in the next
election. It demonstrates that we are not merely an "opposition
party", but a political party that really cares for the welfare of
our people.
In the spirit of "Pro Singapore, Pro Singaporeans", we will strive
to be an opposition party that goes beyond "opposing politics". We
sincerely hope that we can garner the support of all like-minded
Singaporeans. We hope that they will lend us both financial as well
as moral support to work towards our vision of a better and caring
Singapore.
You do not need to be a party member in order to join us in serving
the people. You can volunteer your service by being a part of our
Hougang Youth Action Committee.
Goh Meng Seng is a member of the Workers' Party and the 2nd
Treasurer for the Hougang Youth Action Committee. He has an Honours
Degree in Economics from the National University of Singapore (NUS)
and runs his own business.
