The PAP’s campaign for the 2011 election is a
castastrophe right from the very beginning, plagued by
incoherent messages to the voters, contradicting statements made by
leaders and an outright dissociation from the reality on
the ground amidst fast rising public disgruntlement at
opprobrium.
For the last one week, the PAP’s disjointed campaign was
dominated by two former prime ministers instead of the incumbent.
PAP ‘walkover’ MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Lee Kuan Yew used
his trade-mark ‘knuckle-duster’ style to intimidate Singaporeans
from voting for the opposition, in particular residents of
Aljunied GRC who were told to ‘repent for five years’ if they voted
for WP. Then Goh Chok Tong, who had earlier promised not to
comment on candidates from other constituencies shot his own foot
by making disparaging remarks about his former subordinate
and now SDP candidate for Holland-Bukit Timah Tan Jee Say.
The PAP has adopted the same modus operandi it employed so
successfully in previous elections by harping constantly on its
‘track record’, handing out goodies like ‘Grow and Share’ package
to woo voters and using the state media to smear and fix the
opposition.
It appeared to have panicked when it realized that the
same old tactics aren’t working on Singaporeans anymore,
especially the young who are widely read and have no affiliations
to the PAP.
The oft-repeated message of ‘good governance, political
stability and economic growth’ now sounds like a stale old
record repeating itself to a wall especially when life is
indeed getting tougher for ordinary Singaporeans facing increasing
competition from the relentless influx of foreigners.
The hundreds of dollars handed out to Singaporeans are too
little to help them cope with the rampant inflation while the usua
smear tactics which have worked so well in the past now backfired
one by one in the age of Facebook and Youtube.
Like an over-confident student who did not bother to
study hard for his exams only to realize in the last minute that
the format of the papers have changed and doing last-minute
revision now, the PAP is changing gear with only three days to go
to salvage a disastrous campaign so far.
The format of this election has indeed changed,
revolutionized by the new media which the PAP has failed to
incorporate into it campaign.
All of sudden, Lee Kuan Yew who had dominated the
headlines for the last few days has all but disappeared from public
view altogether with Goh Chok Tong whose infamous last
words were – “The majority of Singaporeans are not concerned by the
high ministerial pay.”
PAP leaders suddenly remember to engage Singaporeans instead of
talking down to them. George Yeo made a desperate appeal on
a Facebook video to young Singaporeans to support the PAP,
promising to “change and improve” when he said in 1995 that
ordinary Singaporeans have no right to discuss about policies with
the government.
[From Temasek Review]
