ESM: SGs to listen to both PM and Alternativ Before Voting! Be Careful of Civil War!

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/esm-vo...-want-20150910

ESM: Voters savvy about what they want
ROYSTON SIM and JERMYN CHOW

WHILE voters wanted a Group Representation Constituency to go to the opposition in 2011, they are concerned about the future this time round and weighing their options very carefully, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, ESM Goh gave his observations on the 2015 General Election. "People are very savvy as to what they want for the country," he said.

He urged voters to listen to both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the opposition, before thinking through carefully and deciding what is in their best interests.

ESM Goh is part of a five-member team from the People's Action Party (PAP) contesting Marine Parade GRC against the Workers' Party (WP). The PAP slate also includes anchor minister Tan Chuan-Jin as well as backbenchers Fatimah Lateef, Seah Kian Peng and Edwin Tong.

ESM Goh said that his priority during his time as prime minister was to build consensus.

He gave the analogy of voters as a piece of fabric, tugged in different directions. The sooner people can be brought together after the general election, the sooner the country can be taken forward, he said.

There can be a diversity of views but it is not good if the country does not unite, he said, citing Sri Lanka, which was split by a long-running and bloody civil war.

=> Wah seh! Need to be so dramatic or not? Do the FAP treat SGs as violent terrorists as they are daft? Civil war will only happen if the incumbent refuses to respect the electorate's wish and call in the army if the electorate so chooses to vote them out!

The next task for PM Lee after the elections is to form a new government, ESM Goh said.

A "very strong team" is needed, as every minister has strengths and weaknesses, he added. The exception, he said, was founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who "was all strength and no weakness".

=> Wa lau weh! And we think that such godification happens only in dictatorships like NK! And coming from a supposedly elderly of wisdom!

Mr Tan, Minister for Social and Family Development, offered four considerations to voters during the press conference.

"One, how do we keep Singapore relevant? Two, is it important to have strong leadership? Three, what kind of system do we want? Four, what kind of nation do we want to be?" he said.

=> Indeed, the way FAP has run the country for the last decade, SGs are but a second thought and irrelevant to them. And the so-called 'strong leadership' is used to suppress critics and bring in foreigners to replace SGs like nobody's business. Time to put the country back to right footing i.e. this country does not belong to one Familee; this country is NOT a corporation; this country is a society that is made up of different kinds of people, and does not exist for the sole benefit of a connected group of elites or natural aristocrats!

Asked for their response to the WP saying they can manage Marine Parade Town Council, Mr Tan said he would leave it to residents to decide for themselves.

=> The TC is but a political tool of the FAP to entrench its own rule and incur unnecessary additional layer costs. Municipal duties should be taken care of by HDB, NEA and other statutory boards like in the past! There is so much obfuscation in the system now that each organization pushes its responsibility that the FAP needs to form another stat board to oversee all of them with yet more costs. And this is how bloated the FAP has become. Time to trim its fat!

Mr Seah, the vice-chairman of Marine Parade Town Council, said voters should look at the parties' track record.

As to why the PAP did not have an election rally in Marine Parade, Mr Tan said they decided against it as it was not effective in engaging residents directly. He noted that several PAP GRC teams did not stage rallies as well, such as Jurong GRC and West Coast GRC.

=> Just admit that few people would attend the FAP's rallies. There is really nothing wrong with it since this is the natural outcome if the people feel they cannot connect with the FAP anymore.

ESM Goh said he supported Mr Tan's reasons for not having a rally.

He cited how his team picked up the sense that private estate residents wanted more upgrading programmes, and would look into this. These are things that are not picked up at rallies, he added.
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