SINGAPORE — The People’s Action Party (PAP) may not score highly in its “packaging”, nor does it wield the “emotional trump card”, but its candidates are sincere in wanting to serve residents, said the party’s organising secretary Chan Chun Sing on Thursday (May 5).

Speaking at the PAP’s final rally ahead of the Bukit Batok by-election on Saturday, Mr Chan recounted a recent conversation he had with an elderly furniture shop owner in the constituency, drawing parallels between the ruling party and the shop owner.

“Like him, we are a heritage brand,” said Mr Chan, who spoke in Mandarin.

“We may not be as good in packaging as the others, but we work with integrity, serve the residents to the best of our abilities. Wherever we have done wrong, we will continue to improve,” he added, without naming anyone.

Like the PAP, its candidate for Bukit Batok, lawyer Murali Pillai, is a man of substance, one who takes concrete actions to deliver on his plans, said Mr Chan, who is a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

While Mr Murali has continued to walk the ground in Aljunied GRC — where he was fielded as part of the unsuccessful PAP team at last year’s General Election — he has also served the Bukit Batok community for the past 16 years, stressed Mr Chan.

“He has a team that understands the ground (in Bukit Batok).”

Without naming the opposition, Mr Chan added: “On the other hand, you can compare who has come (to Bukit Batok) before, made all kinds of promises and (are) never to be seen again, until the next election.”

Mr Chan described Mr Murali as a foot soldier who stays away from the limelight.

“(Over the past nine days), the media has been asking, ‘Where is Murali?’ ... I tell you where Murali is: He has been walking around the blocks ... every level, he walks.”

Mr Murali is also not one who will take to social media to “boast” about having visited residents at all the blocks in Bukit Batok.

“The work of an MP is never done. We walk round and round to make sure each and every resident is cared for each day,” Mr Chan said.

Urging residents to vote a “constructive voice” into Parliament, he added: “It is not just about having another opposition (MP) for opposition’s sake …

“Today, even without going to Parliament, we have many voices. It is not just about the voice. It is about who can help Bukit Batok residents, who can take good care of (them) ... Just having a different voice is not good enough.”