Oppositions United

Strength in unity, I'm happy that the Opposition finally understood this notion. I'm already seeing a very interesting elections coming up ^^/

The "time bombs" thing is really an overkill, so typical of the ruling party. Any little thing that comes up against them and they try to shoot it down. And the thing is, the manifesto is not directed at them, it's something which WP felt should be done. But the good thing out of this round of attacks is that WP got more coverage, the more the newspaper talks about the "time bombs" issue, the more people would be curious to find out what the heck is going on. So from a publication which no one really bothered (sad truth, many of my friends don't even know about it, and I would not too if not for Goh's blog) to something everyone is talking about. So will they have to reprint?

Publicity is publicity, there's nothing called over-exposure. The problem with the opposition is that most things that they did are under the media's radar (their intent or someone else's, it's anyone's guess), so no one really knows what exactly did they do. With the help of the WWW, they managed to peek a little into the radar range, but the reach is really not that much. Now, with the help of our dear ruling party, they managed to get onto mainstream media! For days in a row some more, that's great news!

So my chances of getting to exercise my right as a citizen to vote is getting larger and larger. Of course, there's no guarantee that I would vote for the opposition, I would vote for the worthy candidate, may he be from the opposition or the ruling party. The best man wins, regardless of his allegiance.

United we oppose

SDA chairman says WP manifesto only reflects the PAP's old stand on issues

Friday • January 27, 2006

Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@newstoday.com.sg

The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) has joined in the public spat between the Workers' Party (WP) and the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).

Though various ministers have criticised the WP manifesto, the SDA's chairman and Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong claimed that his fellow opposition politicians were only advocating issues that PAP itself had fought for in the past.

"The PAP … knows that what the WP advocates presently are things good for the workers which the PAP has fought for in the past," said Mr Chiam.

Quoting parts of PAP's founding manifesto, Mr Chiam went on to cite examples where PAP "subsequently reneged on promises it made to the workers".

"The PAP promised that it will 'resist any attempts to pass on to workers, by way of wage cuts, the burden of any economic recession'. (But) in the 1990s recession, the PAP cut the workers' wages by reducing employers' CPF contributions.

"Workers sacrificed millions of dollars to put Singapore's economy back on its feet. Yet, up till today, the CPF cut has not been restored," he said.

He added: "The PAP's past manifesto also said that 'it should be the duty of the state to provide for the sick, for those who for one reason or another are unable to work, the young and the aged or those disabled through industrial injuries'.

"That promise made by the PAP went further than the proposal of the WP's intention to give more subsidies. Yet today, PAP ministers are calling the WP's relatively mild proposal to give more subsidies a 'time bomb' and a 'poison'."

Likening the PAP's criticism to that of "a school master rebuking a primary school pupil", he added that the SDA is "astonished at the patronising and condescending way the PAP ministers publicly admonished the WP".

Explaining why he stood up for WP, Mr Chiam — who would be contesting his eighth election — said: "One of the most important factors is to show Singaporeans that the Opposition is working together."

"The unity of the Opposition is what the people want. With the way the PAP ministers attacked one Opposition party, it's only right that we speak up on their behalf at this very critical time."

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