Channel NewsAsia: WP's Low Thia Khiang calls for review of ministers' salaries

SINGAPORE VOTES 2006


Low Thia Khiang

SINGAPORE : Workers' Party Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang has called for a review of ministers' salaries.

Speaking at a WP rally in Ang Mo Kio GRC on Thursday, Mr Low said if Singaporeans pay their ministers high salaries, they should expect better results from them.

He suggested that ministers' salaries be pegged to the income of the lowest 20 percent of Singaporean households with a multiplier effect.

Mr Low said this would give the ministers more incentives to raise the average income of the poor.

He said this would also remind the ministers of their responsibilities to workers and make them strongly committed to raising their standards of living. - CNA/de

Channel NewsAsia: WP questions timing of PAP's upgrading plans in East Coast GRC

SINGAPORE VOTES 2006

By Farah Abdul Rahim

SINGAPORE : The Workers' Party on Thursday questioned Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar's comment that 97 percent of East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) had been upgraded.

Professor Jayakumar, who is heading the People's Action Party (PAP) team there, had said this on Wednesday in response to WP's earlier remarks in the day that the PAP had neglected East Coast Group GRC over the years.

On Thursday, while on a walkabout in the GRC, the WP also questioned PAP's claim that there had been an upgrading project almost every year for the past 13 years.

The WP team said residents had also told them they were being asked to consider lift upgrading in some areas in Bedok and Fengshan.

The team questioned the timing of the upgrading.

Perry Tong, WP Candidate, East Coast GRC, said, "My question would be why is upgrading only offered now during election period? Does it mean that only if they are returned to power, lifts will be upgraded? If not, how long will residents have to wait for? The PAP has been here for 15-18 years, it's been a walkover, I think, and they had all this time to do all the upgrading.

"My query now is the 97 percent claim by Professor Jayakumar. Does it include the new intended upgrading facilities, over and above that, many blocks have been 'so called' removed from electoral boundaries of East Coast GRC, including a good 40 blocks in Kaki Bukit, which have also not had upgrading. If we were to throw this in under original East Coast GRC, I am not so sure Professor Jayakumar can lay claim to the 97 percent." - CNA/ms

Straits Times: Bad eggs in Workers' Party? It's for voters to decide: Sylvia

ELECTION 06

WP chairman reiterates that there is no question of dropping Gomez from Aljunied GRC

BY PEH SHING HUEI, KEN KWEK

THE Workers' Party (WP) yesterday dismissed charges that there were "bad eggs" in the party, with chairman Sylvia Lim saying it was for voters to

decide if its leaders and candidates were people of integrity - not the People's Action Party (PAP).

Responding to sharp criticism from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng over the James Gomez issue, she said the

party remained focused on the election and was proceeding with the hustings with a clear conscience.

Maintaining the position that the WP has taken since the issue first emerged, she said Singaporeans would be able to decide if the incident

involving Mr Gomez's application for a minority certificate 'is actually as important as the PAP makes it out to be'.

Mr Gomez himself refused to comment on being called a liar by both Mr Lee and Mr Wong.

Speaking after a walkabout at a hawker centre in Bedok Reservoir in Aljunied GRC, Ms Lim reiterated that there was no question of dropping Mr

Gomez from the five-member team contesting there. He had apologised for his mistake, she said.

"He thought he had submitted the form but it turns out that he hadn't. And as far as the party is concerned, we have not made any public

allegations against the Elections Department or anything of that nature. It is actually the PAP that is drumming this up."

Mr Gomez claimed on April 26 he submitted his minority form to the department two days earlier, but had not received any confirmation.

He asked the department to check and said there were "implications". But a security camera recording showed he had not handed in his form and had

instead put it in his briefcase.

At separate PAP rallies on Tuesday night, Mr Lee and Mr Wong accused Mr Gomez of being a "liar" who was out to set up the Elections Department

and smear the Government's reputation.

Mr Lee also criticised the leadership of WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and Ms Lim, questioning their integrity and honesty. He was

disappointed with them for "shielding" Mr Gomez despite his actions.

On the PAP questioning the character of the WP leadership, Ms Lim said with a laugh that it was "quite normal for the PAP to do this".

"I think we have to disappoint MM Lee...I mean it is up to the voters to decide whether they think we are people of integrity or not. As far as

we are concerned, our consciences are clear."

As for Mr Gomez being a "bad egg", she added: "MM can say what he wants. As far as the party is concerned, all of us are making a very important

contribution towards getting this election going for the people. And I would say that there are no bad eggs, it's just the WP as one entity."

Prior to Mr Lee and Mr Wong's remarks on Tuesday, Mr Inderjit Singh, a candidate on the PAP team contesting Ang Mo Kio GRC, also released a

statement questioning Mr Gomez's character.

Mr Singh said Mr Gomez told him his application was a "wayang" (theatre in Malay), meant to mislead the media into thinking he was standing in

Ang Mo Kio GRC, which would need an Indian to be the minority candidate.

Ms Lim said she was surprised by Mr Singh's statement.

"We're surprised that Inderjit came out to say these things. It just shows that whatever transpired, you can't really have casual conversation

with the PAP."

Mr Gomez declined to comment on being called a liar by Mr Lee and Mr Wong.

As for Mr Singh's statement and whether he did say the episode at the Elections Department was a "wayang", he said: "I don't want to say anything

about it any more. I just want to repeat: I want to remain calm and focused.

"There are three more days of active campaigning and rallies. I feel very obliged to hit the street and get on with the campaign."

Yesterday, Ms Lim offered two reasons why she believed the PAP has been hammering away at the Elections Department incident.

One was that it hoped that WP leaders would be dragged down by the incident. But the party was "not going to fall into their trap".

The other was that the PAP was trying to distract voters because of their "lack of a track record in the last five years and (from) the fact that

Singaporeans' lives have not really improved since the last election".

"So Singaporeans should be aware of this and hold the PAP to account on their track record, which is what the election should be about."

kenkwek@sph.com.sg

Channel NewsAsia: Workers' Party unfazed by James Gomez incident

SINGAPORE VOTES 2006

By Augustine Anthuvan



SINGAPORE : The Secretary-General of the Workers' Party has said he does not feel anything significant or negative towards the WP over the James Gomez incident.

Mr Low Thia Khiang was asked during a WP walkabout in Nee Soon East if the incident has hurt the image of the opposition party - which has made accountability a key campaign platform.

Mr Low is a WP candidate for Hougang.

Mr Low says: "I don't feel anything significant or negative towards the Workers' Party over the incident. I think people do understand and people do.

"Singaporeans are intelligent enough, sophisticated enough to look at the thing. I mean the footage, the apologies, my explanation and decide for themselves." - CNA/de

Sunday Times: PAP's upgrading strategy divisive: WP

ELECTION '06
PARTY POLITICAL BROADCASTS


WORKERS' PARTY CHAIRMAN SYLVIA LIM

Dear Fellow Singaporeans,

The Workers' Party has fielded 15 new candidates for this election.

Sunday Times: 'Give me chance to run town council'

ELECTION '06


NEE SOON EAST CANDIDATE Dr Poh appeals to the rally crowd to give him a chance, promising to speak up for residents if he wins.
PHOTO: EDWIN KOO

WORKERS' Party candidate in Nee Soon East Poh Lee Guan said he was ready to run a town council and urged voters to give him a chance.

Sunday Times: Low Thia Khiang: It's an innocent mistake

ELECTION '06

AT A Workers' Party rally in Nee Soon East last night, party chief Low Thia Khiang accused the People's Action Party of making a "mountain out of a molehill" over his colleague James Gomez's missing form episode.

The Sunday Times interviewed him briefly after that:

Q Why has it taken your party so long to come out and talk about this issue?

A Because to us it is not really an issue. I suppose it is something administrative, and we want to move on from there.

Q Do you think it has affected your team's chances?

A I don't think so.

Q Did you investigate what happened?

A I've spoken to Gomez, of course, to understand what it is about, how it happened and I'm satisfied. He's not actually trying to be funny or doing it on purpose.

Q Second time it has happened to James Gomez?* (In Mandarin)

A Different issue altogether.

Q This honesty issue - how will you deal with it? (In Mandarin)

A It's not an honesty issue. This is something that happened during a busy period and it was an innocent mistake. It's not an issue about honesty.

*In 2001, Mr Gomez was in the WP's Aljunied GRC team that was disqualified as it did not complete its statutory declaration forms.

Sunday Times: WP chief Sylvia Lim defends Aljunied slate

ELECTION '06

Sue-Ann Chia

WORKERS' Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim last night responded to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's comparisons of the five WP candidates in Aljunied GRC

Sunday Times: Govt must account to voters, says Low

ELECTION '06

WP chief says plans for HDB lifts and public transport short-sighted

Nicholas Fang


WORKERS' PARTY candidates (from left) Lian Chin Way, Mohammed Rahizan Yaacob, Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang facing voters at the Yishun rally yesterday - issues ranging from public transport to a national unemployment insurance plan were raised.
PHOTO: EDWIN KOO

WORKERS' PARTY chief Low Thia Khiang last night questioned why so much money was now being spent to upgrade lifts in HDB flats and make public transport more disabled-friendly.

If these facilities had been better designed at the start, the funds now being spent could have been saved, he said, asking who should be held accountable for the waste.

Speaking at a rally in at an open field at Yishun Avenue 11, he emphasised the need for the Government to be accountable to voters for the things it has done over the past few years.

On the issue of lift upgrading in HDB flats and how it is good for residents, he said: "My question is, who was responsible for building flats without lifts stopping at every level in the first place?"

He also said that when the MRT system was first built, there had been calls for it to be made user-friendly for the disabled and the aged but these calls were ignored.

"Now, so much money is being spent to put in...fixtures like lifts and ramps. Who is accountable for such short-sightedness in planning?"

If voters were unhappy about such issues, voting an opposition contesting the General Election gives them another option, said Mr Low.

"At the end of the day, it's about having a choice, just as you know that competition in a market gives consumers a better choice.

"I ask you to vote for the WP. We will ask hard questions in Parliament."

A total of 11 speakers spoke at the rally, including WP chairman Sylvia Lim, Mr Gopal Krishnan, Mr Abdul Rahim, Mr Yaw Shin Leong, Mr Lian Chin Way, Dr Poh Lee Guan and Mr James Gomez.

First-time candidate Brandon Siow suggested introducing a national unemployment insurance plan.

Such a plan, which he said in the party manifesto, would provide retrenched workers with a regular payout from an insurance company while they were looking for another job.

Mr Siow, who is contesting in the East Coast GRC, said: "Today in Singapore, there is no such thing as job stability. Many of us are paid daily on contract and are lucky to be employed.

"Singaporeans are not lazy. We want to work, we want money to feed our families and pay our bills. But what happens when we can't pay our bills?

"A national unemployment insurance plan means we will still have money to pay bills and feed our families," he said.

He added that the plan could be funded from Central Provident Fund deductions or co-funded by employees and employers.

Mr Low wrapped up the 2 1/2 hour rally by saying that no government was above making mistakes and hence needed to be balanced and checked by a credible opposition.

Sunday Times: PM: Come clean; Gomez: I'm sorry

ELECTION 06

Workers' Party candidate finally admits he did not submit minority candidate form to Elections Dept

Sim Chi Yin


PHOTO: EDWIN KOO
'Please accept my sincere apologies if my actions on April 26 caused any distress or confusion to the staff of the Elections Department.'
- MR GOMEZ, at the Workers' Party rally last night (above)

MR JAMES Gomez admitted last night that he had not submitted his minority candidate form and apologised to the Elections Department for suggesting that he had done so.

He gave the statement after the People's Action Party (PAP) repeatedly asked him and his party to come clean on the matter.

At a rally in Nee Soon East, the Workers' Party candidate for Aljunied GRC read out a prepared speech, saying that he failed to hand in his form on Monday because he was distracted by his busy schedule leading up to Nomination Day.

"Please accept my sincere apologies if my actions on April 26 caused any distress or confusion to the staff of the Elections Department," he said.

His party secretary-general Low Thia Khiang had invited him on stage at the rally in Yishun Avenue 11 to "set the record straight".

Mr Low said: "I have spoken to James Gomez and found out what happened. They (the PAP) are making a mountain out of a molehill."

He added that if the PAP thought he would be intimidated by its big guns and "duck the issue", they had made the wrong judgment.

The statements from the WP last night came after PAP leaders had spent the past two days urging Mr Gomez and his party chiefs to tell the full story.

At the heart of the controversy was an assertion by Mr Gomez on Wednesday to the Elections Department that he had submitted his minority race candidate form and that he had not received any confirmation. He asked the department to check and warned of "consequences".

When told later that a security camera recording showed he had not handed in his form and had instead put it in his briefcase, he said he would get back to the department if there was further information.

Then on Nomination Day, he brushed off reporters, saying he did not discuss "election administration over the media".

The Elections Department then released the recording and a transcript of his conversation to leave no doubt about the integrity of the electoral process. But Mr Gomez maintained he had not "reviewed any of these items".

Yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the PAP team in Aljunied GRC asked Mr Gomez to take the issue seriously and urged Mr Low to view it with the "utmost seriousness".

"(The) best thing is just to come clean and tell Singaporeans what happened...was it a mistake, was it not a mistake?" said Mr Lee, speaking after a walkabout in Anchorvale Link.

"I think it's a serious matter for the Workers' Party. It's not just a Gomez matter, but a matter which the WP has to take seriously."

The PAP's first assistant secretary general Wong Kan Seng, who in his role as Deputy Prime Minister oversees the Elections Department, also stressed that the issue went beyond Mr Gomez.

"It concerns the sort of political party that the WP is, and the standards of accountability and transparency that it upholds," he said at the PAP's headquarters in Bedok yesterday afternoon.

He added that Mr Low had said, when introducing his party's candidates, that they all meet the criteria of credibility, capability and character.

But he wanted to know what WP would do now that the issue had been raised and seriou s questions were being asked.

"Singaporeans deserve answers to these important questions, from a party that aspires to become a First World opposition."

If it were a PAP candidate involved, Mr Wong said, the party would have immediately investigated, gotten to the bottom of things and directed the candidate to immediately and publicly clear the air.

And if the explanation was not satisfactory, it would withdraw the candidate and apologise immediately.

At the WP rally last night, the crowd broke in applause when Mr Low read Mr Gomez's apology in Mandarin. The WP chief said he had spoken with Mr Gomez and found out it was an oversight.

"The Workers' Party is fair. We are prepared to apologise. We are not unreasonable people."

Speaking to The Sunday Times later, Mr Low said the party did not apologise earlier because it did not think it was an issue. It was "an innocent mistake" and Mr Gomez's honesty was not in doubt, he added.

simcy@sph.com.sg