A Singaporean In Australia

The newcomer described himself as a "son of Punggol" - having been born in the area and spending his childhood there. 

Right. Dr Poh Koh Koon, PAP candidate for By-Election Punggol East 2012, was once a poor man. It's about time for Singaporeans to realise if they are living in a HDB flat and born to a father who isn't a banker, CEO or director of some sort, they are poor and not 'middle class' as what they prefer to believe.

By telling the whole of Singapore how intelligent he was by opting to buy chopsticks than feeding his Missus and himself with their last $11.50, the humble beginnings and stuff, you could see Mr Dr was trying too hard. More importantly, he doesn't get it. It was interesting how LKY's PAP used to try very hard to convince Singaporeans how special and elite his party members was, now they changed their tune to persuade their members are just like an everyday Singaporean.

To be honest, LKY's strategy worked like a T. Till this date I still hear Singaporeans, including opposition supporting voters display their disdain towards 'less than credible' electoral candidates who aren't holding some fancy jobs in monkey suits drawing a fat salary at the end of the month. So it is surprising for me why the 'Son of Punggol' chose not to highlight his illustrious career and his long list of directorships somewhere else. He could have score many more votes if he tried looking serious and told his voters what he could do for them at least and as a bonus, make them as rich as he is today and bring them out of 'poverty'. No need to. Perhaps, he knew he would win the By-Election even if he flashed his Dora the Explorer boxers on national television.

When we have a multi-party contest, we know what will happen. We know the math. Everyone does, including the opposition parties involved. Some Singaporeans, particularly Worker's Party's supporters, were furious at the involvement of other opposition parties. Come on fellow countrymen, let's not forget the fundamentals. If we believe in democracy, everyone deserves a shot to express their interest to represent you in parliament. If we believe in work-fairness and condemn job advertisements which state discriminatory requirements such as "Only Chinese need apply", are we being hypocrites when we screamed, "Only Workers' Party need apply?" When the PAP was an opposition party itself in the earlier days, did they back out when they didn't get an 1-on-1 fight? 

Yes, the PAP would win this time again. Remember, nobody put a gun on voters' head to vote for them. We may argue that the PAP play dirty with their usual MSM weapon by their side but with alternative media easily available these days, there is no excuse. Let's just accept their the people want the PAP. Dirt, warts and all.