OPPOSITION SUPPORTER: I AM DISAPPOINTED IN BOTH THE WP AND PAP

Dear Editor,

I refer to the piece, http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/paps-mega-bucks-cunning-linguis... and would like to give my 2 cents worth as a resident of Aljunied at 103 Bedok Reservoir.

I wish to say that while I am generally an opposition supporter but I am also largely disappointed with the WP and PAP whose sole objective is only to play political games with each other at the expense of residents who are caught in a tug of war. The WP and its supporters who never fail to cry foul are not looking objectively at their own failings either. I can still understand if this was the case with the various government agencies and civil servants victimizing AHPETC but a Supreme Court Judge who is a neutral party is now calling 1 of my MPs a liar, a charge she dare not refute because she knows it is all true, period!

I had initially thought the PAP would do some soul searching and perhaps, repentance too with the loss of my constituency but this has proven not to be the case. I remembered Victor Lie proclaiming to a crowd of PAP conventioneers in 2012 that "the people must perceive they mean something to the PAP and the party must respond by sending in figures that are of "value" to wrest back the ward. But what have we witnessed instead? Dr Koh Poh Koon, Desmond Choo and Ong Ye Kung being transferred to safe wards, leaving unknown newbies to do battle with the incumbents. I feel this will become the turning point for the PAP of Aljunied in that they have lost this ward forever.

Not that the WP can feel comforted it has been doing a great job. On the contrary, they campaigned for a "first world parliament" but ended up mirroring the PAP instead, both in terms of their conservatism and line up. They have fielded graduates who have remained virtually silent on issues of accountability and transparency that matters most to the people. The initial hype leading to GE 2011 of Chen Show Mao has now proven to amount to nothing as he fades into becoming another yes man for party whip LTK and Sylvia. Chen has not spoken much and issues of his estate remains vexing, with no responses to email queries and maintainance/cleanliness remains a constant problem. Sure, Pritam and Sylvia did speak a little at first but were later cowed into submission with Pritam publicly admitting timidity when the ruling PAP clamped down on them. It did not take much effort for the PAP to do so as the WP was literally caught with their pants down.

All eyes are now on the SDP and SFP, equiped with well rounded people who are not afraid to speak up, have clear plans on estate management and running the economy as well. I can only hope that the people of Sembawang, Holland Bt Timah and Bt Panjang will give them a chance to enter parliament and take Khaw Boon Wan and Vivian to task for arrogance and lapses in their ministries. As for us at Aljunied, we have paid the ultimate price for 'democracy' which is as good as having no voice in parliament with the WP voting in harmony with PAP on most issues.

Chris Han
A.S.S. Contributor