What went wrong for the People’s Action Party, in the eyes of party insiders

SINGAPORE — As the sample counts for General Election 2020 were announced on the night of July 10 and a national slide against the People’s Action Party (PAP) became evident, the ruling party’s branch in Teck Ghee — where its secretary-general, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, had contested and won since 1984 — was a scene of sombre despondency.

With supporters kept home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was also none of the fist-pumping and flag-waving celebrations of 2015, when PAP secured 69.9 per cent of the popular vote.

Instead, the media stationed outside the branch office could see — through the windows — about a dozen white-clad party activists and PM Lee’s wife Ho Ching silently glued to a small television screen watching the results, though their face masks hid their expressions.

PM Lee and the rest of his Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) teammates were in a separate room, which was out of the media’s sight.

As the candidates and activists waited for the final results, the smell of durians bought from a nearby fruit seller wafted out from the branch. One activist offered them to the media waiting outside, saying that there was plenty of the thorny fruit still unopened inside.

With PAP ultimately garnering 61.2 per cent of the national vote — which was 1.1 percentage points ahead of its poorest performance in GE2011 — several party activists across the country expressed their frustration over their party’s poor results.

With PAP ultimately garnering 61.2 per cent of the national vote — which was 1.1 percentage points ahead of its poorest performance in GE2011 — several party activists across the country expressed their frustration over their party’s poor results.

The result missed the 65 per cent mark that the party was aiming for, party insiders told TODAY. It was also hoping not to lose more parliamentary seats to the opposition — but it did, after its main political rival, the Workers’ Party (WP), won the newly formed four-member Sengkang GRC.

In the wee hours of the morning following Polling Day, a panel of PAP bigwigs, including PM Lee and PM-designate Heng Swee Keat, addressed the media, with PM Lee saying that the party had received a “clear mandate” even though it was not as strong a mandate as he had hoped.

The results showed “a clear desire for a diversity of voices in Parliament”, particularly among younger voters, and also reflected the pain and uncertainty felt by Singaporeans, including income loss, jobs-related anxieties, and the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Mr Lee.

Other PAP leaders, including party treasurer K Shanmugam and central executive committee member Tan Chuan-Jin, also weighed in over the past week on the work that needs to be done to win back voters.

While PAP’s performance fell short of the party’s expectations, the party insiders noted that its overall vote share was in line with its electoral showings in the past three to four decades.

Since the 1984 GE, PAP has garnered around 60 to 66 per cent of the popular vote, with the exception of GE2001 (75.3 per cent) and GE2015 (69.9 per cent). The two outliers saw exceptionally strong performances by PAP, owing to voters’ flight to safety post-9/11 in the 2001 polls and the “Lee Kuan Yew effect” in the 2015 elections.

Still, the party insiders felt that PAP could have done better in this GE, if not for a host of factors behind the scenes that contributed to the below-par showing.

While party discipline meant that they would typically keep their views within the party, the 11 PAP members whom TODAY interviewed — ranging from rank-and-file branch activists to retired Members of Parliament (MPs) and former political office-holders — shared their frank opinions, on condition of anonymity, on what they thought had gone wrong during the campaign.

One activist, who is in her mid-30s and has been involved with the party for over a decade, said: “The problem with my dear PAP is that many activists have given feedback over the years, but there is still a large inertia about changing its tactics, about embracing social media, and accepting that there are things within the party that need to be relooked.”

Another 25-year-old activist, who has been with PAP for eight years, said: “The old guard of the party refuse to listen to the youth. They love tried-and-tested plans, and they are technocrats scared of taking risks… It may take a generational change before they change their ways.”

Some said that despite efforts on the ground to forge a positive agenda, the election campaign had veered off PAP’s message of jobs and livelihoods, which meant that the party somewhat failed to convince middle-aged professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) worried about the poor economy.

Others noted how the opposition’s unified call for diverse voices was hard to counter, including WP’s oft-repeated “no blank cheque” mantra.

Several also took aim at a campaign strategy that backfired, including the decision to field new candidates and move political office-holders to new areas just days before campaigning started, which gave candidates little time to reach out to voters and gain recognition.

With the ruling party licking its wounds after GE2020, TODAY looks back at the landmark election through the eyes of the activists and senior party members, who gave insiders’ accounts of how certain narratives played out during the election and picked out what worked well for PAP, and what was left wanting.

Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/big-read/big-read-what-went-wrong-peoples-action-party-eyes-party-insiders

Still no news reports hmm

Leaked Audio 3: Chan Chun Sing said PAP couldn’t blatantly state they were going to let micro companies die as it was not politically prudent

FINAL GE2020 RESULTS:

Aljunied GRC: Workers’ Party (59.93%), People’s Action Party (40.07%)

Ang Mo Kio GRC: People’s Action Party (71.91%), Reform Party (28.09%)

Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC: People’s Action Party (67.26%), Singapore People’s Party (32.74%)

Bukit Batok SMC: People’s Action Party (54.80%), Singapore Democratic Party (45.20%)

Bukit Panjang SMC: People’s Action Party (53.74%), Singapore Democratic Party (46.26%)

Chua Chu Kang GRC: People’s Action Party (58.64%), Progress Singapore Party (41.36%)

East Coast GRC: People’s Action Party (53.41%), Workers’ Party (46.59%)

Holland-Bukit Timah GRC: People’s Action Party (66.36%), Singapore Democratic Party (33.64%)

Hong Kah North SMC: People’s Action Party (60.98%), Progress Singapore Party (39.02%)

Hougang SMC: Workers’ Party (61.19%), People’s Action Party (38.81%)

Jalan Besar GRC: People’s Action Party (65.37%), People’s Voice Party (34.63%)

Jurong GRC: People’s Action Party (74.62%), Red Dot United (25.38%)

Kebun Baru SMC: People’s Action Party (62.97%), Progress Singapore Party (37.03%)

MacPherson SMC: People’s Action Party (71.74%), People’s Power Party (28.26%)

Marine Parade GRC: People’s Action Party (57.76%), Workers’ Party (42.24%)

Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC: People’s Action Party (63.18%), Singapore Democratic Party (36.82%)

Marymount SMC: People’s Action Party (55.04%), Progress Singapore Party (44.96%)

Mountbatten SMC: People’s Action Party (73.84%), People’s Voice Party (26.16%)

Nee Soon GRC: People’s Action Party (61.90%), Progress Singapore Party (38.10%)

Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC: People’s Action Party (64.15%), Singapore Democratic Alliance (23.67%), People’s Voice Party (12.18%)

Pioneer SMC: People’s Action Party (61.98%), Progress Singapore Party (35.24%), Independent (2.78%)

Potong Pasir SMC: People’s Action Party (60.69%), Singapore People’s Party (39.31%)

Punggol West SMC: People’s Action Party (60.97%), Workers’ Party (39.03%)

Radin Mas SMC: People’s Action Party (74.03%), Reform Party (25.97%)

Sembawang GRC: People’s Action Party (67.29%), National Solidarity Party (32.71%)

Sengkang GRC: Workers’ Party (52.13%), People’s Action Party (47.87%)

Tampines GRC:  People’s Action Party (66.41%), National Solidarity Party (33.58%)

Tanjong Pagar GRC: People’s Action Party (63.13%), Progress Singapore Party (36.87%)

West Coast GRC: People’s Action Party (51.69%), Progress Singapore Party (48.31%)

Yio Chu Kang SMC: People’s Action Party (60.83%), Progress Singapore Party (39.17%)

Yuhua SMC: People’s Action Party (70.54%), Singapore Democratic Party (29.46%)

Oh please, this is a general election for crying out loud, not some beauty pageant! Who cares if she resembles Rosmah's evil twin sister?

Having said that, I must say Ng Ling Ling still looks good for a woman nearing 50. You can't expect her to defy father time and remain a SYT forever.........

Sengkang Town Council launches logo design competition:

Ivan Lim Shaw Chuan is truly a supreme lan jiao lang

Lam Par Min SONG BOH?????!!!!!!!!