Low Thia Kiang solicits support from Hougang residents for his new protege Png Eng Huat
Posted by temasektimes on March 22, 2012
A year ago, WP Chief Low Thia Kiang was busy introducing his protege Yaw Shin Leong to Hougang residents to solicit support for him ahead of the General Election. Never would he fathom that he would be repeating the same thing again eight months after the election.
In the last few weeks, Mr Low has been bringing his new protege Png Eng Huat around in Hougang to solicit support for him. Mr Png was roped into the Hougang Constituency Committee a month ago and is widely expected to be fielded as WP candidate in the coming by-election.
The seat of Hougang was left vacant after its ex-MP Yaw Shin Leong was sacked from WP for his failure to address swirling rumors over his alleged extra-marital affairs with multiple married women, including a neighbor from China.
After his sordid affairs were exposed by the media, Mr Yaw ‘disappeared’ suddenly without even bidding farewell to his supporters, leaving many Hougang residents disappointed and angry.
In an interview with Hougang residents conducted by inSing news, many said ‘trust’ will be a main factor.
24-year-old Mohammad Shafiq said:
“The new MP needs to win people’s trust, because now we won’t trust anyone easily anymore.”
Another added she is disappointed with the Workers Party after Mr Yaw ‘vanished’ into thin air without accounting to the residents.
“I voted for him and he simply went off without saying a word.”
In the absence of Yaw and WP, the PAP grassroots adviser for Hougang Desmond Choo is serving its resident whole-heartedly by conducting weekly ‘tea sessions’ at Hougang Community Club.
Accord to media reports, Mr Choo has been visiting Hougang at least three to four times a week as support for him appears to grow ahead of the Hougang by-election.
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Eng Hou said
Lightning shouldn’t strike at the same place twice! I suppose Png should be better than Yaw. If not, everyone will start to doubt Low Thia Kiang’s judgement. Low has been doing a lot of damage control work lately. Winning back the seat shouldn’t be a great problem, which is why PAP is not so keen about this by-election.
Ron Lim said
Yes it is a steep uphill climb for the WP to regain trust. Yaw did a lot of damage by just quitting without even explaining himself. And of course it was the WP that shot themselves in the foot by sacking him so abruptly. It does not speak well of the WP stability if it can resort to hire and fire style.
Politics and personal lifestyle have to be separate. If it is a criminal offence, then it is clear-cut. For marital issues, gender issues, etc. there is time to redeem the situation. A politician is not a religious leader.
Ron Lim said
I do not hold the view that PAP is worried about losing Hougang. They lost the seat in 2011. Winning it back is great but if Yaw had not quit, it would not have been the PAP anyway.
So, the PAP is letting this Hougang wound fester a bit more, to make the voters get more fedup with the WP for creating the mess and not managing it well. Meanwhile they are probably printing posters, flyers and getting all the banner ready. It will be election on the minimum campaign time. For every WP broadcast lorry, there will be five PAP lorries going around the place. It will be fun. And I want to attend the rallies too (both WP and PAP). We might as well make it a fun party while it lasts.
Sky said
The ball game and dynamics are different from the last GE. This time, WP is the underdogs. In this generation, divorce is not un-common (although the it may still be abit hard for the older gen to accept). Having an affair is something most frown upon, but it is not against the law. All these remains allegations as Yaw did not come forward to clarify, so nobody knows the truth except himself. Yes, WP has good intentions and holds very high standards for its members, resulting in the sacking of Yaw for the allegations. While this course of action is a bold move & should be appaluded, most members of public may not recognise this. However, most of the public may not be able to accept this.Could there be a better outcome should a alternative approach be taken? It can be seen that desmond choo is working very hard on the ground including giving away free porridge to the seniors. It is a uphill battle for WP, which alot of people may not see it this way. If wp give anything less than 120% of their efforts to serve the residents, then we may see a huge swing.
Concerned by use of community club said
On what basis is Mr. Desmond Choo using public facilities like the community club to do “tea sessions”?
Can labels like “community club advisor” or “grassroots advisor” be used as a convenient excuse by Mr. Choo to be able to do anything under the sun at public facilities?
Would they allow Worker’s Party to similarly use community club facilities for “tea sessions”?
Tan said
No of coz! Not even the toilet when it’s GE time? Forgotten?
candy girlz said
To Temasek Times, Can you send somebody down on wednesday night to Hougang Ave 5, Blk 310, at 7pm, because WP will be there meeting the residents of Hougang. As they promise that they won’t let us down. because now everything is pointing that PAP is good people and WP is bad people, just because WP never said anything, that don’t mean they don’t do anything,