It's heating up in Punggol, Tampines, Tampines Changkat and Jalan Kayu
Also, on foreign interference and identity politics
Hi everyone,
We’re on Day 6 of the hustings, meaning we are more than halfway through the campaign.
It’s been busy – there were nine rallies on Saturday night – and so much has been said.
We just saw the PAP’s lunchtime Fullerton rally, an election mainstay to reach out to the CBD crowd. Today, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told voters to pick the best team, pushing the message that a weakened government will undermine Singapore’s position in an increasingly volatile world.
Messages like this have emerged over the last few days, ahead of Polling Day on May 3. We look at some key issues so far:
On foreign interference and identity politics
The news: On Saturday, PM Wong held a press conference on a matter of “national importance”. He called on all political parties to reject identity politics, and keep race and religion out of the political space.
One day before, the authorities had blocked access to Facebook posts by three foreigners trying to interfere in the election. The foreigners had expressed various degrees of support for Malay opposition candidates.
PM Wong had foreshadowed this move on Thursday, when he warned of external forces pulling society apart or using domestic politics to divide Singaporeans.
At a rally that night, WP chief Pritam Singh said the party categorically rejected the involvement of any foreign element in domestic politics. “Singapore is our business. Nobody else’s.”
The take: No political party has been singled out.
Important background information to have: Self-styled religious teacher Noor Deros, a Singaporean, claimed to have spoken to all the WP’s Malay candidates. Last week, he said the party had taken seriously his concerns about the Malay/Muslim community.
He has also criticised Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli for not defending the rights and aspirations of his community.
WP has said that Noor was at a meeting the party had with other religious leaders. It did not make any promises, commitments or agreements to anyone in exchange for political support.
These comments form the backdrop to the PAP-WP clash in Tampines GRC. The PAP’s team is led by Masagos, who will go up against the WP's Faisal Manap.
The Gaza conflict, and the WP’s position that Singapore should recognise the state of Palestine now, is also in the background. The PAP government has voted for a two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state “at an appropriate time”.
The WP has openly rejected campaigning on race and religion.
Singh has said that the WP “cannot be a successful political party” if it plays the race and religion card. WP candidate Alia Mattar has also said the Gaza issue cuts across race and religion.
Senior PAP figures have come out to state – in English and Malay – that national unity is of foremost importance.
Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said at two rallies over the weekend that even as emotions run high, concern over the conflict in Gaza should not turn into conflict between Singaporeans.
The election has taken on a complex and deeply sensitive tone.
The Eastern microwave is on
The news: Punggol and Tampines GRCs and the single seats of Jalan Kayu and Tampines Changkat have become the hottest constituencies of the election. All are being contested by the WP.
In contrast, East Coast and West Coast GRCs, which saw the closest margins in the last election, seem to have cooled off in comparison – though the contests are still expected to be close.
The take: These four constituencies have gained attention for different reasons.
Punggol has heated up after unexpected Nomination Day deployments brought DPM Gan Kim Yong and WP’s Harpreet Singh into a head-on contest.
The PAP team held its rally on Saturday, with SM Teo Chee Hean – the incumbent anchor minister of the original Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC – beefing up the line-up. The WP team is slated to hold its Punggol rally today.
Tampines has generated the buzz we looked at above. Both the PAP and WP are campaigning for the GRC and Tampines Changkat SMC as a combined slate, and have rallied as such.
In Jalan Kayu, labour chief Ng Chee Meng is facing a straight fight with WP newcomer Andre Low.
Low was first on the attack, with a fiery maiden rally speech that hit out at his opponent’s endorsement of the Income-Allianz deal months before it was blocked. WP chief Pritam Singh also called the labour movement a “guaranteed trampoline” for losing PAP candidates.
At his own rally yesterday, Mr Ng responded. There were no guarantees, as he had to be re-elected as labour chief in 2023, he said.
He also said the labour movement had thought the deal was reasonable, and would allow for a stronger Income that could further its social mission.
The age-old dilemma
The news: Over the weekend, senior PAP leaders emphasised to voters that there is a cost to voting opposition.
At Sunday’s rally, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong pressed the point of needing a good team to form the government, saying: “Good government is about good people, good ministers, MPs – a team. And to do that, to have a good team, you must first vote them in, right?
“We have ministers and MPs and potential office-holders all over Singapore and (in) all the GRCs, including the hotly contested ones.”
It’s not just about office holders.
On Saturday, DPM Heng Swee Keat said the PAP’s backbench MPs had often pressed him on education policies when he was education minister. Yio Chu Kang candidate Yip Hon Weng also pointed out that he spoke up more in the last term of Parliament than any opposition MP.
The WP had earlier urged voters to compare its 26 candidates to the PAP’s backbenchers, and later said that the government will still have enough leeway to deal with the issues of the day if all its candidates make it to Parliament.
On losing potential office-holders, WP’s Singh said people have other ways to serve the nation. He pointed to Mr George Yeo’s post-politics career as an example.
He also said there is a “serious problem” in the robustness of the PAP’s processes, and in Singapore’s political system, if the PAP needs to win more than two-thirds of the seats to govern properly.
Marsiling-Yew Tee SDP candidate Ariffin Sha has also argued that “a PAP that wins by 80 per cent is very different from a PAP that wins by 60 per cent”, as it would push the ruling party to work harder.
The take: Zooming out, we’ve seen a clash of two opposing messages – neither of which is new.
The PAP’s message is that it needs a strong mandate and a strong Cabinet to take the country forward in uncertain times, just like it did during the Covid-19 pandemic. This means not losing ministers or potential ministers in the election.
There is precedent for the PAP’s argument. The WP took Aljunied GRC in 2011 and Sengkang GRC in 2020 – each time resulting in a minister losing his seat.
The opposition has brought back the argument that more checks and balances are needed in Parliament.
In making this point, the WP and PSP have pointed to times in Parliament where they say they have held the Government to account, including on the NRIC and SimplyGo issues.
One specific race exemplifies this nation-wide contention – Punggol.
DPM Gan is in some ways the face of the argument that the PAP cannot afford to lose crucial members, with PM Wong referring to him as his “right-hand man”.
The results on May 3 will give us an inkling of how much water each argument holds with the electorate.
There will be no Second Reading or Community section this week, though we hope to squeeze another issue in before Polling Day.
If not, we’ll see you for a mega-issue of Unpacked then!