PAP says that questioning the candidates is reasonable

SevenEleven SG

MR BENJAMIN Chow ('About Chen: Time will tell'; last Thursday) asked Mr Chen Show Mao why he wanted to participate in local politics now, after being abroad for so long.

This is a reasonable question from any voter. But Mr Low Thia Khiang's reply brushed aside the question ('About Chen: WP rebuts Forum writer'; last Friday).

In our search for candidates, the People's Action Party (PAP) has also considered people with good academic and work credentials who have been working overseas for many years.

We advise them to come back and re-establish their roots first - get a job, set up a home, bring back their children, volunteer on the ground, get to know the issues first, and only then talk about candidacy.

Even then, they should expect questions from the public about their commitment to Singapore and their motivations to stand as a candidate.

Two of our PAP candidates, Dr Janil Puthucheary and Ms Foo Mee Har, were asked the same question posed to Mr Chen. They answered directly to allow voters to judge their motives and sincerity.

They and their families have made Singapore their home for the last 10 and 21 years respectively, working and living here. In that period, Ms Foo added that she was posted overseas for 41/2 years. Their spouses and children are Singaporeans and they have sons who will do national service.

From available information, Mr Chen has spent 40 of his 50 years out of Singapore. His entire career has been as a corporate lawyer in the United States and China. His wife and children do not live in Singapore.

He now turns up and asks Singaporeans to elect him as a Member of Parliament. Surely, voters have a right to know from the Workers' Party if such a candidate can identify with the aspirations of Singaporeans and has a stake in our future?

These questions should not be brushed aside and deserve a direct answer.

Dr Ng Eng Hen
Organising Secretary (Special Duties)
People's Action Party

Clivebenss SG

Apr 19, 2011 - Straits Times

THE People's Action Party (PAP) has called on the Workers' Party (WP) to tell voters if its candidate Chen Show Mao can identify with the aspirations of Singaporeans, in what analysts see as the first salvo fired by the ruling party at what has been billed as the WP's 'star catch' ahead of the general election.

The PAP's organising secretary, Dr Ng Eng Hen, has written to The Straits Times Forum Page to criticise the WP for not answering directly why Mr Chen, 50, is choosing to enter politics now, after having spent some 40 years of his life overseas.

Dr Ng contrasted the WP's lack of clarity to the PAP's own approach of getting its candidates to answer openly.

FireIce SG

so we make fun of TPL oso ok mah! rite?

isn't the govt encouraging ppl to go overseas for a "global perspective"?
and of cos, must rber to come back
just like he did!
so wats the prob ha?

Frogleg888 SG

Look like they feel threatened by WP's star Chen.They need to gun him down first!

ditzy SG

2 years active service + 10 years reservist = 10 years of saving kids lives.

Clivebenss SG

Look like they feel threatened by WP's star Chen.They need to gun him down first!

none in PAP's newbies look good with him around.

Clivebenss SG

Apr 19, 2011 - Straits Times

Personal attacks on WP's Chen will 'backfire': Analysts

THE People's Action Party is unlikely to go 'full guns blazing' or step up personal attack on Workers' Party candidate Chen Show Mao, said two political analysts on Tuesday.

Mr Chen, 50, a China-based lawyer whose academic credentials include topping the A-levels examination as well as degrees from Harvard and Stanford, has been billed as the WP's 'star catch' for the coming elections.

Political watcher Derek da Cunha cautioned that if the PAP went overboard with 'negative campaigning', many voters might recoil.

'It may backfire, particularly if the other side has not done anything wrong. If the electorate perceives they have not done anything wrong, then the PAP attacks come across as being gratuitous,' he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar at the Singapore Management University.

Concurring, SMU assistant professor of law Eugene Tan, said: 'I doubt it. They (the PAP) have made a point, and I think they should move on, especially in view of the concerns that some of their candidates had become citizens recently.'

They were commenting on a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page on Tuesday, in which PAP's organising secretary Ng Eng Hen criticised the WP for not answering a letter-writer's question on why Mr Chen is choosing to enter politics now, after having spent some 40 years of his life overseas.

At the seminar, both analysts presented their pre-election analysis of the coming polls, which will be held on May 7.

Clivebenss SG

GE: WP defends Chen Show Mao's commitment
By Wayne Chan | Posted: 19 April 2011 2154 hrs

SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party said its candidate Chen Show Mao has enough in terms of commitment and local connection, having attended schools here and done National Service as an Infantry Officer.

WP Chairman Sylvia Lim was responding to a forum letter from Education Minister and PAP Organising Secretary, Dr Ng Eng Hen - questioning Mr Chen's commitment and motivations.

She added that Mr Chen's parents have been here since 1972, and he has kept in touch with Singapore, coming back four to five times a year.

She said: "For example, he's serving on the SMU Law School advisory board. So since 2007, four years ago till now, he's been in touch with WP, our activities and also coming back and learning more about how he can contribute.

"He's also made known to the public that his wife and children will be moving back permanently to Singapore with him and that he intends to carry on his political work in Singapore regardless of the outcome of the GE."

Ms Lim also responded to the PAP's Ms Indranee Rajah's criticism on the WP's vision of a first world parliament.

"She mentioned that we said that our vision of a first world parliament is not modelled after any particular country and she finds it astonishing. But I am surprised that she finds it astonishing. The PAP itself has always claimed itself to be a first world government and I do not believe they claim to model themselves after any particular government of a developed country."

"In fact, they like to claim that they would be a model for others to follow. So similarly for (the) Workers' Party, our vision of a first world parliament, we've explained in detail, is one where we have (a) opposition party performing a robust check function in the house itself.

"And it doesn't have to be similar to any other country's parliament, so long as it works for Singapore and it is effective for accountability. I think that's the most important thing."

Ms Lim added that the Workers' Party has always said it puts national interest before the party's.

"I mean Ms Rajah mentions that she doesn't think it's possible for any opposition party to act other than in their own party's interest. But let's not forget that the People's Action Party was once an opposition before, so is she saying that at that time, the PAP also did not act in the national interest?"

When asked about the timing of the letters from the PAP, she said: "I think they are looking towards the campaign and perhaps how Singaporeans might support the Workers' Party or otherwise. So they would want to shape public opinion in their own fashion.

"But I think it's important for Singaporeans to look at the facts and look at our candidates in terms of what they have been doing and how they've been connected to Singapore and look at the reality rather than the rhetoric."

-CNA

Fcukpap SG

i will look into the fact of our current gender policy and cast my most beautiful vote

Leomanz SG

lucky they never comeout a law 2 say ...... U B FINE $xxx IF U VOTE 4 OPP

charlize SG

I think they are jealous the opposition got such better candidates than their own new candidates.

No prizes for guessing which new candidates of theirs are so sub standard.

ditzy SG

You mean the type who just got their pink ic 2 years ago, and equates saving 10 years worth of kids lives = 2 years of NS + 10 years of reservist?