Knocking on people’s doors are all in a day’s work for an electoral candidate. And it has been done so much that it can evolve into an art form, as People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate Eric Chua shared on his Facebook page.
“My experience visiting door-to-door the last two weeks have taught me the artistry of knocking on doors. There is a knock for every type of door and every situation.”
Here are six ways of knocking on doors, according to Chua.
My experience visiting door-to-door the last 2 weeks have taught me the artistry of knocking on doors. There is a knock…
Growing up in Pasir Panjang meant that he knows a thing or two about the difficulties of rowing a sampan in rough waters, Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong shared in a Facebook post yesterday (July 7).
The 79-year-old may have retired from politics last month, but he could not resist sharing some of his insights this election season as he urged Singaporeans to “never rock the boat”.
Goh recalled the days when he fought in the 2001 general election as Prime Minister and confronted critical issues such as lives, jobs and an uncertain future.
This was in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, when the global economy and the future looked bleak and uncertain, he recounted.
“I had to steer our tiny Singapore Sampan through many choppy waters – economic recessions, financial crises, terrorist threats and Sars. We did so safely because Singaporeans rowed together with me. I will never forget the unity and support from fellow Singaporeans in times of crisis.”
Goh also highlighted several similarities between his past experience and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s current situation.
SINGAPORE: Nine more locations were added to a list of public places visited by COVID-19 cases during their infectious period, said the Ministry of Health in its daily update on Tuesday (Jul 7).
The new locations include a restaurant, supermarkets and shopping malls, and were visited by the confirmed cases between Jun 24 and Jul 5.
The new locations and their respective addresses are as follows:
Jurong Lake Gardens Gym ActiveSG (30 Yuan Ching Road)
Ban Kah Hiang Trading (107 Jalan Bukit Merah)
Tampines Mall (4 Tampines Central 5)
Cheng Hoo Thian Restaurant OSL (34 Whampoa West)
Great World City (1 Kim Seng Promenade)
Cold Storage
Meidi-ya Supermarket
Food Junction
Mustafa Centre (145 Syed Alwi Road)
Jurong Point (1 Jurong West Central 2)
FairPrice Hub (1 Joo Koon Circle)
JEM (50 Jurong Gateway Road)
Canton Paradise
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
Here is the full list of locations:
(Table: MOH)
Those who had been identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would have been notified by MOH.
As a precautionary measure, those who had been at those locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit, the health ministry added.
“They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory infection (such as cough, sore throat and runny nose), as well as fever and loss of taste or smell, and inform the doctor of their exposure history.
“There is no need to avoid places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been,” MOH said.
The National Environment Agency will also engage the management of affected premises to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfection.
Singapore reported 157 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in Singapore to 45,140.
Twenty of the new cases reported on Tuesday were community infections, including five children aged between two and 15. Three were imported cases and the remaining 134 cases were work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories.
He might have retired, but Chiam See Tong’s heart is still very much in Singapore’s politics.
While out campaigning with the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) team in Toa Payoh on Tuesday (July 7), his wife Lina Chiam gave the public an update on how he’s doing.
“Mr Chiam is doing ok, he is at home watching the TV every morning, [keeping up on] the candidates contesting in the constituencies,” she said.
She will also tell him about the day’s happenings when she returns home from canvassing.
“Everywhere I go, the people ask for Mr Chiam. They asked how he is, they also asked me to look after him well.”
The 71-year-old said she’s very heartened by people’s concern for her husband, and shared that he teared up when she relayed their well wishes to him.
SINGAPORE: Residents do not feel “valued” by the Government and are “really hurt”, said Red Dot United’s chairperson Michelle Lee on Tuesday (Jul 7).
Together with Ms Lee, Red Dot United’s secretary-general Ravi Philemon, Ms Liyana Dhamirah, Mr Nicholas Tang and Mr Alec Tok Kim Yam, form the team contesting in Jurong GRC this General Election.
They are coming up against a People’s Action Party (PAP) team led by Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs Tan Wu Meng, Ms Rahayu Mahzam, and new candidates Mr Shawn Huang and Mr Xie Yao Quan.
Ms Lee said: “I think Singaporeans really feel very sad. They really feel like, ‘does our Government value us?’
“Because they don’t feel it. And I think it’s very hurtful, right, it’s like when you’re a child and you feel like your parent doesn’t love you. I think that really hurts.”
Speaking during party’s evening walkabout on Tuesday evening, Ms Lee said she was glad the residents of Jurong GRC have an “alternative” to consider at the upcoming polls.
If not for her party, there would be “a large number that just would not have their voices heard at all”, she added.
“That’s why (this) has great meaning for us,” she said.
Ravi Philemon, secretary-general of Red Dot United, during a walkabout at Toh Guan Road on Jul 7, 2020. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
Ms Lee and Mr Philemon, who both founded Red Dot United, also addressed Mr Tharman’s Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday afternoon.
“Nice-sounding promises” on what can be done – such as allowing people to get payouts from their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts much earlier, or having the Government pay for health care costs – tend to come up during elections, the Senior Minister said during the broadcast.
However, many such measures end up hurting the people they are trying to help, he added.
Mr Tharman also said that for a lot of the schemes for later years – such as CPF Life, MediShield Life and CareShield Life – the Government and the people have to take collective responsibility at the end of the day.
The basic rationale of schemes such as the CPF system or MediShield Life is one of collective responsibility, he said.
“We cannot leave each other to fend for ourselves,” Mr Tharman said.
“We cannot say that everyone decides for himself and somehow things are going to end up rosy. Some people will take care of themselves very well.
“The rich will end up somehow being able to take care of themselves and doing better. And the poor will end up in tougher straits and more difficult circumstances. We have to take collective responsibility for each other.”
Liyana Dhamirah of Red Dot United during a walkabout at Toh Guan Road on Jul 7, 2020. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
Ms Lee said that the collective responsibility falls under the “Government’s ambit”.
“It is the Government that must take collective responsibility for every single person. But as individuals, as Singaporeans, please don’t lump us together. We are people, we matter,” she added.
“They have to recognise that they are disempowering us by taking away choices from us, and it leads to us being more anxious, and more unhappy.”
Mr Philemon said: “Our big message is that Singaporeans must be given more choices, the policies which inhibit Singaporeans from being more self reliant must be made more flexible, because only when policies are made more flexible and Singaporeans are given more choices, can we really be the captains of our own lives.”
Ms Lee called for handouts to be legislated and a “sort of responsibility” of the Government.
“So that they see it is their duty, and not as they feel moved by the times, or how much money is in their kitty, they give what they feel like giving,” she added.
SINGAPORE – The place where people are getting infected with Covid-19 has changed since the phase two reopening on June 19.
Workplace infections have risen from 22 per cent before phase two, to 36 per cent now.
Prior to that, 71 per cent of linked community cases were infected at home. This has dropped to 41 per cent between June 19 and July 5.
At a multi-ministry task force press conference on Tuesday (July 7), National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said of workplace transmissions: “That’s one area where all of us can do our part to reduce transmission further.”
He urged people who can work from home to continue to do so and for employers to allow this “to further reduce transmission”.
He said: “Anecdotally, I hear some people saying that their bosses are now asking them to go back to work. Well, that should not be the case.
“Employers should still have their staff work from home. They should only come back to the office to work if there’s a clear and demonstrable need to do so because employees need to use some specialised equipment or machinery at work.”
SINGAPORE: Opposition parties have to be clear of their role, which is to make sure that “policies are robustly debated”, said the National Solidarity Party’s secretary-general Spencer Ng on Tuesday (Jul 7).
He was responding to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s lunchtime online Fullerton rally on Monday, where he said the opposition had “nothing to say” about getting Singapore out of the COVID-19 downturn, growing the economy or creating new jobs.
“We are not the Government … if we are in Parliament, we would definitely question if the Job Support Scheme is enough, especially when it is only for three months,” Mr Ng told CNA on the sidelines of NSP’s house visits at Canberra Link.
“NSP members have experience in managing businesses. We use our own resources to start businesses to help others – we know how much help people on the ground need.”
In comparison, the People’s Action Party (PAP) introduces schemes “on a very short-term basis”, he noted.
“They may lack the foresight on how to help locals get through this pandemic.”
When asked how NSP plans to lead the country out of COVID-19, Mr Ng replied that the party has always been very focussed on building up and investing in local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“It’s listed in our manifesto since our party formation … we want to build them strong enough so that they can withstand crises.”
During the Prime Minister’s rally on Monday, he said: “They (the opposition) prattle on about the minimum wage or universal basic income”.
“These are fashionable peacetime slogans, not serious wartime plans.”
“Do you really want to vote for parties who, in a crisis, come up with nothing better than old recycled manifestos?” Mr Lee asked.
On Tuesday, while Mr Ng admitted that NSP’s manifestos may not be complete as it does not have “all the figures” and access to public funds, he believes that it is the candidates’ experience that can help Singaporeans through this difficult period.
Mr Ng leads the NSP’s Sembawang team which comprises Mr Ivan Yeo Tiong Boon, Mr Sebastian Teo, Mr Yadzeth Haris and Mr Sathin Ravindran.
They are up against Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, Mr Lim Wee Kiak, Mr Vikram Nair, Ms Poh Li San and Ms Mariam Jaafar from the PAP.
The National Solidarity Party’s (NSP) candidate for Sembawang GRC, Mr Yadzeth Hairis giving out masks to commuters at Sembawang MRT on Jul 7, 2020. (Photo: Goh Chiew Tong)
With another day of campaigning to go before Cooling-Off day on Thursday, Mr Ng said that it has definitely been a challenge to reach out to residents.
“Usually for opposition parties, we have to gather our own resources which most of the time, is limited,” he said.
In this regard, he said that NSP candidates would make very good town council managers. “We are very concerned over every penny, how much value we can extract from every penny,” he added.
The police said that there was no offence in Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat’s comments concerning race, in a statement released today (July 7).
In response to media queries, the police confirmed that reports had been filed against Heng, who is contesting in East Coast GRC this general election.
Heng’s remarks, “in the context they were made, do not evidence any intent to wound anyone’s racial feelings or promote enmity between different races”, read the police statement.
Photos of alleged police reports filed against him circulated on social media yesterday.
This came one day after two police reports were filed against Workers’ Party’s Raeesah Khan over comments concerning race and religion that she made online in 2018.
On March 28 last year, Heng was asked if Singaporeans were ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister during a student’s forum at the Nanyang Technological University.
SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Workers’ Party (WP) delivered their constituency political broadcasts for the new Sengkang GRC on Tuesday (Jul 7).
Formed earlier this year, the new constituency has more than 120,000 voters and encompasses the Compassvale, Rivervale and Anchorvale areas.
Both contesting teams in their speeches took pains to appeal to the younger families that make up many of the area’s residents. The four-member PAP team’s speeches were broadcast first.
PAP: “SENGKANG TOGETHER” MOVEMENT TO CO-DEVELOP TOWN, FACILITIES FOR YOUNG AND OLD
Speaking first in English and Mandarin, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Ng Chee Meng said that with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting many folks, many had shared with him their worries and anxieties “about job loss, income loss, and the responsibilities of taking care of parents and your own children”.
“We hear your anxieties,” he said, noting that the team had set up a job centre in Sengkang for those who need help.
“We hear also your desire to build Sengkang into a better home for ourselves. If we are elected, the first thing we’ll do is to form the ‘Sengkang Together’ movement to co-develop our Sengkang town together,” he said.
As part of this, the team will set up the Sengkang Town Council to serve municipal needs, he said.
Expanding on the movement, Mr Amrin Amin, who is Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health, said it would involve seeking residents’ views and working with them to look after the needy and vulnerable, and young families and the elderly alike.
Amrin Amin of the People’s Action Party team contesting Sengkang GRC speaking at the constituency political broadcast on Jul 7, 2020.
“I’m a father to a young daughter. I understand the challenges faced by young families,” added Mr Amrin, who spoke in English and Malay.
Dr Lam Pin Min, too, acknowledged that it was “especially difficult for young families, many of whom are in the sandwich class”.
Lam Pin Min of the People’s Action Party team contesting Sengkang GRC speaking at the constituency political broadcast on Jul 7, 2020.
“Our job is to help ease your burden, as much as possible. Our job is to continue making improvements to make life better,” said Dr Lam, who is Senior Minister of State for Health and Transport.
“Through our ‘Sengkang Together’ movement, we will help young families like yours. We have built childcare centres, schools and playgrounds, we’ve ensured that each family and child has good opportunities to progress in life. We will do the same for the needy and the underprivileged.”
Senior citizens would also be looked after, with more senior care and fitness centres, and more wellness programmes. “We want you to age gracefully and with dignity,” he added.
Similarly, lawyer and new candidate Raymond Lye said the team would pay “special attention to seniors” with more senior activity centres, barrier-free access routes, and residents’ corners.
Raymond Lye of the People’s Action Party team contesting Sengkang GRC speaking at the constituency political broadcast on Jul 7, 2020.
Noting there were “exciting times ahead” for Sengkang with many new developments, Mr Lye said the team would improve connectivity and integration within Sengkang, and build “more and better communal facilities” like playgrounds, fitness corners, covered linkways and drop-off porches.
He also noted two hubs being built – Anchorvale Village which will come with a hawker centre and neighbourhood centre, and Buangkok integrated hub with a mall and community club – as well as the soon-to-be-completed Rivervale Community Club, revamping of malls, a new water theme park and a new community sports hub.
Wrapping up, Mr Ng said his team had the experience and commitment to “make all these things happen” for residents, “not just talk about it, but make it real”.
“Because at the heart of it all, our priority is you and your family,” he said.
WP: GOOD JOBS FOR SINGAPOREANS, A MORE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SYSTEM
Speaking in English, the WP’s Jamus Lim addressed the PAP’s campaign focus on providing jobs for Singaporeans.
What is important is not just jobs, “but good jobs, jobs that Singaporeans actually want to take on”, said Dr Lim, an associate professor of economics.
“Too many” of the promised jobs, he said, “fail to meet up to our expectations, either because they require us to compete in a race to the bottom, or because they call for us to have skills that the educational system did not provide to us.
“We understand how it feels like to have jobs that are not only insufficient to meet our needs, but insecure at the same time,” Dr Lim added, noting that his team members – who are aged 26 to 44 – are from the “sandwich” generation.
“If elected, we will call for a re-examination of our nation’s economic model to finally raise the productivity of our workers that has so far eluded us, and finally enable us to work not just hard, but also smart.“
He Ting Ru of the Workers’ Party team contesting Sengkang GRC speaking at the constituency political broadcast on Jul 7, 2020.
Ms He Ting Ru, who is head of legal and communications at a multinational company, highlighted the role of caregivers in the economy. She cited how her mother gave up her career at the age of 25 to raise two daughters, and served as primary caregiver to Ms He’s grandmother.
“It is regrettable that the hard work that she has done all her life is not recognised by traditional GDP (gross domestic product) measures,” said Ms He.
Singapore must enact the right policies to recognise such unpaid labour, and ensure the unpaid workers “have adequate social safety nets, especially in their golden years”, she said.
Ms He, a mother of two boys, noted that the WP team consists of parents with children under the age of four. Equity research analyst Louis Chua spoke in Mandarin, and founder of a non-profit organisation Raeesah Khan spoke in Malay.
Louis Chua of the Workers’ Party team contesting Sengkang GRC speaking at the constituency political broadcast on Jul 7, 2020.
Raeesah Khan of the Workers’ Party team contesting Sengkang GRC speaking at the constituency political broadcast on Jul 7, 2020.
The WP believes that “all children” must be given the chance to fulfil their potential, Ms He said, and it would do so by reducing class sizes, developing a more inclusive education system, increasing funding to less popular schools, and having universities and professions “widen access to students from all backgrounds”, said Ms He.
On municipal matters, Dr Lim highlighted that there was a “limited” number of neighbourhood shops across Sengkang, unlike in older estates. The issue goes beyond convenience, he said.
“Such spaces are social places, so their absence tears apart the connection to the places that we call home. If we are elected, we will work hard and push for more spaces for neighbourhood shops,” he said.
The WP does not simply “want more of the same”, like more covered walkways and lift upgrading, Dr Lim added.
“We also want to tackle issues that truly matter to the people in Sengkang – relieving bottlenecks in childcare centres, dedicated paths for bicycles and personal mobility devices, and more neighbourhood spaces.”
The team would do so with a new town council, whose system would draw on the WP’s experience from managing other wards which he said “are just as good if not better than those run by the PAP”.
