By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid |
Posted: 12 February 2011 1624 hrs
SINGAPORE: The People's Action Party (PAP) is
assessing who among the current MPs should step down to make way
for new candidates in the next General Election, which must be held
by February next year.
PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng said this when asked to elaborate on
comments last month by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong that the party
was at the tail end of interviewing candidates.
Mr Lim, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office,
was speaking at the official opening of a new childcare centre at
the Jurong GRC on Saturday.
29-year-old Alex Yam, who has been a PAP member since 2002, was
among grassroots leaders accompanying Mr Lim during the
event.
When asked if he is likely to stand as a GE candidate, Mr Yam
expressed surprise and said he will leave the decision to the Prime
Minister.
Mr Lim gave little away, saying grassroots leaders are moved around
constituencies to help them gain exposure.
He also revealed that most of the potential election candidates are
young and some have limited exposure to grassroots
activities.
Mr Lim said that it is also no secret that PAP typically renews a
quarter to a third of its candidates at every election, adding that
the process of choosing candidates is still an ongoing one.
"When SM Goh mentioned that we are at the tail end....it means that
the leadership is now looking at the existing MPs, looking at the
people who are potential candidates and then assessing who should
step down and who should be brought in," said Mr Lim.
And as far as his Jurong GRC is concerned, Mr Lim said: "Ever since
Dr Ong Chit Chung passed away, we have to get ready....so we do
meet regularly from time to time to make sure that different things
are prepared....update things we do, improve on some of the
preparations and so on. So I think we are as ready as we can for
the election, and just waiting for Prime Minister to tell us
when."
Separately, Mr Lim also gave his comments on the PCF kindergarten
in Bedok that has threatened to impose fines on parents who are
late in picking up their children after class.
He said the 22 PCF Little Wings centres located in the western part
of Singapore have also seen such similar cases but it has not
become a big issue. So the centres are not yet exploring the idea
of imposing similar fines on parents.
"We should not be carried way with this issue about fines. It's
actually also about having communication with parents, for them to
understand the constraints of operating a centre," said Mr
Lim.
"So I think we prefer to continue to engage parents who are late
and find out the reasons, and where possible, we will strike up
some mutually acceptable solution," he added.
Mr Lim said the government can provide more support for working
parents. And he hopes the upcoming Budget can address this.
One possibility is to provide more subsidies in infant care, he
said.
Mr Lim said: "I think we can subsidise more in infant care, because
I think for parents, really, when the child comes and both parents
are working, who looks after the kid? And it is not always
convenient to have grandparents (look after the kids).
Some grandparents may also be working.....So, the setting up of
infant care centres is important, but infant care is
labour-intensive, it's expensive. So, I would be in favour of
increasing subsidies for infant care."
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will deliver the Budget on
18 February.
- CNA/ir
