PAP a formidable foe, but WP will work hard for Aljunied: Sylvia Lim

SINGAPORE — The People’s Action Party (PAP) is a “formidable” party with a “huge machinery and grassroots network” behind it, but the Workers’ Party (WP) Aljunied team will do its best to stay the course, said WP chairman Sylvia Lim.

Ms Lim was responding to remarks by former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng, who said earlier this week that the tide was turning in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in favour of the PAP, at the WP press conference introducing their third batch of candidates yesterday (Aug 28).

Mr Lim had also said the maintenance in Aljunied GRC is “patchy”.

Pointing out that it is up to Aljunied residents to decide if they agreed with Mr Lim’s comments, Ms Lim, who is set to defend her seat in the GRC in the coming polls, also said: “The PAP is always a formidable opponent, they are a ruling party with a huge machinery and grassroots network … we’ll work hard to retain our seats.”

She also pointed out that the annual Ministry of National Development Town Council Management Report has seen other town councils apart from Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council receive an “amber” rating for maintenance, which means they could do better.

In terms of cleanliness, for example, the town council received the “green” top rating.

Yesterday’s press conference saw the party introduce another four candidates, among them three new faces: Real-estate agent Ron Tan, 30; corporate lawyer He Ting Ru, 32; and businessman Adrian Sim, 43.

The fourth candidate introduced was Mr L Somasundaram, 52, the WP’s candidate for Moulmein-Kallang in the 2011 General Election.

Mr Somasundaram, a polytechnic lecturer, said he hopes to speak up on immigrant issues affecting PMETs here. “My journey (in politics) is in its early stages and I still have a long way to go,” he added.

To date, the WP has introduced 12 candidates, and will be announcing their manifesto today. It plans to field 28 candidates, including the seven incumbents in Aljunied GRC, Punggol East and Hougang.

Asked about where she thought the Opposition in Singapore stood now, Ms Lim acknowledged that some feel the Opposition can go further and stand as a shadow Cabinet, but this will take time.

“(Opposition parties) are still at the face of establishing ourselves as the check and balance vis-a-vis the ruling party at this point in time”, said Ms Lim. And while the WP has improved its showing in the polls with each successive election, Ms Lim felt that it would be “foolhardy” to predict outcomes.

The party’s electoral experience has been that the mood of voters can swing during nine days of campaigning — a single sentence uttered by a candidate can affect the whole campaign.