Veteran MPs had no hesitation when asked to stand in Opposition ward

SINGAPORE — When People’s Action Party secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong personally asked veteran Members of Parliament (MP) Yeo Guat Kwang and Charles Chong to leave their seats and contest in Opposition-held wards, neither of them hesitated for one moment, he said during a press conference to announce his party’s manifesto.

Mr Lee said they had replied: “‘Where the party needs me, I will serve. I’m delighted you asked me.’”

Mr Lee then responded that they made him proud to be a PAP member. “‘Where we send you, we will back you up fully’,” he said to them.

Sometime soon, “we will hold a rally in the opposition wards somewhere, and I will go and visit them”, added Mr Lee.

Acknowledging that it’s not easy to stand in opposition wards, Mr Lee said: “You need courage, you need perseverance, you need a thick skin, you need a stout heart. You must be prepared to fight, to push and push and push again.”

Both of them will be up against the Workers’ Party (WP), with Mr Chong contesting in Punggol East SMC, while Mr Yeo will be contesting in Aljunied GRC.

“They know the ground well … they have the spirit to take the fight to the opposition,” said Mr Lee.

Mr Chong was one of five other party members who spoke during the press conference, including former Chief of Defence Force Ng Chee Meng and sitting Member of Parliament Tin Pei Ling.

In a feisty speech, Mr Chong hit out at other political parties, targeting the WP, in particular.

The WP recently announced that their campaign theme this election is “Empower Your Future”.

“We have been told that the vote for the opposition will be a vote to empower future Singaporeans. But if we empower the wrong people, there will be no future for Singaporeans,” Mr Chong said.

Adding that the opposition party is also telling Singaporeans that the General Election (GE) is an opportunity for the people to express their views on the performance of the Government, Mr Chong said “we also need to tell Singaporeans that they should, in GE2015, also express their views on the performance of the opposition”.

Pointing out that the party has been upfront about what they stand for, transparent about their plans in constituencies and honest about themselves, Mr Chong said they have taken “decisive action to right any wrongs”, when they have fallen short of standards. “Do these standards of behaviour apply to all the other political parties in Singapore? Unfortunately not.”

He added: “Take away the backbiting, the infighting, the sniping, and the one-upmanship, and you may be left with parties who are evasive, who twist words and facts, who deliberately misunderstand clear statements, and who are less honest with the people who have elected them.”