Sylvia Lim: WP will contest in Tampines GRC in the next General Election
Posted by temasektimes on May 6, 2012
The next General Election may be still some time away, but the Workers Party (WP) has already begun to ‘book’ the constituencies it intends to contest, including those previously contested by other parties.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, WP Chairman and Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim revealed WP’s plans to contest in Tampines GRC in the next election.
Besides Tampines GRC, WP will also contest in the GRCs it contested previously.
“These GRCs are located in eastern and north-eastern parts of Singapore and will enable the party to better utilize its limited resources.”
(林瑞莲解释，这些选区集中在我国的东部及东北部，锁定它们能让该党更善用有限的资源。)
Tampines GRC was contested by the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in 2011 where it garnered 42 percent of the votes.
When contacted by the media NSP Chairman Sebastian Teo reiterated that NSP will not give up any constituencies which it had contested.
He also revealed that NSP has yet to decide if it would contest in the coming Hougang by-election.
With its capture of Aljunied GRC, the Workers Party is now undoubtedly the strongest ‘opposition’ party in Singapore though it hardly ‘opposes’ the ruling party. However, the increasing arrogance displayed by some of its leaders and its reluctance to work with other parties have peeved off some opposition supporters.
When asked by the media about the Workers Party’s views on the Budget which have been expressed earlier by other parties, Sylvia Lim retorted callously:
“But we are in Parliament, they are not. We will make use of the platform we have.”
THE TEMASEK TIMES 
NSmen said
Whenever I read a posting about Worker’s Party, I always get the feeling that Temasek Times has an axe to grind with them. Why so prejudice against WP?
milo said
That’s true. On the surface, TT seems to be run by some anti-government editors. But everybody knows the greatest threat to PAP rule is Workers’ Party. And PAP will do anything it can to kick them out, including espionage, infiltration and deception.
miroslav said
Yes, too many things have happened to WP after they secured a GRC in the last election. The WP rising superstar Yaw Shin Leong suddenly got expelled for having extramarital affair with fellow party mate. Chen Show Mao and Pritnam Singh were suddenly accused of plagiarizing in their speeches. You think it’s all a coincidence?
Guys, it’s espionage, infiltration and deception at work!
Look at what happened to Chiam See Tong’s SDP after his party secured 3 seats in parliament in the 80s! The next election saw him being kicked out of the party and his party losing all its seats!
Workers’ Party 万岁！
FH said
Dislike this article!
Zam said
Fuck You.
I hope WP will the GE 2016 and become the ruling party.
Helmi said
I hope the Workers’ Party win 70% of the votes in the next GE.
Old Singaporean said
That will make me a very happy native Singaporean. 70% and pappigs lose their deposits.
Damien Toh said
Why used the world “callously”? It was just a reply to a question. Is there a need to use bombastic words like that to make WP look bad? I think TR may well take heed to tone down the way they present their article or else they will simply lose creditability.
haha said
Open season has begun. So probably 3 cornered fight in Hougang BE between WP, PAP & NSP. This would be PAP wet dream come true giving them a very slim chance to win with about 33% of votes. Presidential election voting pattern again.
Strongman92 said
I just feel that temasek times is out to smear the name of WP, Judging from the tone of their posts regarding WP.
Bai Hu said
Hello. I got the same feeling too. Very biased reporting about the WP.
Old Singaporean said
I would say TT sounds very bitchy, keeps bitching WP. What’s with tt??
bankingonconscience said
Temasek Times, you obviously have something very personal against Worker’s Party.
Singaporean First said
Temesek Times,
WP is doing their best and I believe they have their good reasons and they have already won a GRC to change the whole landscape. Please cooperate with them and don’t put negative news against them. Check things out before you post. I believe there more reasons to this reason of contesting the tampines GRC. You can see during last election WP deploy the smartest move while NSP was too stupid to dilute their forces. Hence WP captured AJunied and change the political history of Singapore.
Please help unite the Opposition and be sensitive.. If Temesek Times keep continue this kind of report., I shall STOP READING your blog.
Singaporean First who supports all oppositions especially WP and SDP.
PINOY said
@ Singaporean First u shared my thoughts…
Opposition!! For God sake please be UNITED!!!
teerible ivan said
Stupid!! to tell yr opponent about your card.
Max35 said
WP seems to be afraid of losing Hougang to PAP. I see this as nothing more than inciting NSP to contest in the by-elections and hopefully, dilute the PAP’s share of votes. Also, its pretty clear to me that in the event that NSP wins Hougang, WP would have an easier time winning it back from them in 2016 than it is to win it back from PAP.
Busybody said
You are right Max. WP is well known for its “no comment” to reporters, especially when it comes to Election strategies and intention. however in this case, Sylvia Lim deliberately let go and confirm its intention to contest in Tampines NEXT GE which is many years away! Why?
As I understand it, the situation in Hougang doesn’t look good for WP. They just need a distraction and a scape goat to help them win.
inspir3d said
well whether you like it or not the WP are head and shoulders above any of the other opposition parties. Goh Meng Seng did a terrible job at NSP, and they will need to do significant restructuring and much more than the hype surrounding nicole seah to gain some seats in parliament. NSP should focus on attacking marine parade where it had the highest vote % (and where goh chok tong is likely to stand down and tin pei ling is a liability) and leave the eastern regions to the workers party where it can use aljunied as a springboard to attack the weak links in the PAP chain.
Mr K said
Yes I agree…..NSP may contest Marine Parade then,with Nicole to lead…..Tampines may go to WP after all these years of NSP battles,as it is MUCH CLOSER TO Aljunied GRC,YUPS all the EASTERN boundaries all much closer!!!And please contest in Jalan Besar-Moulmein area as it is definitely much obvious for Hazel and Tony then,that may suit em best!!!Leave CCK to Reform Party then and also Jurong too to SDP or whatsoever!!!!
js said
Temasek Times: Care to comment on where you got the quote? Seems like you just invented something out of nothing.
Mod’s reply:
Please google the answer for yourself in the future.
Straits Times 23 Feb 2012:
http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/The-Big-Story-1/Story/STIStory_769762.html
“The Workers’ Party declined to join the other opposition parties in giving its view of the Budget ahead of next week’s debate in Parliament.
Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim told reporters at her Meet-the-People Session on Monday: ‘But they are not in Parliament. We will make use of the platform we have.'”
sfng said
Temasek Times, according to Straits Times, Sylvia Lim TOLD reporters – “But they are not in Parliament. We will make use of the platform we have.”
You added negative adjectives by rephrasing it to RETORED CALLOUSLY.
It’s not a neutral statement isn’t it?
精忠报国 said
The person who love country ! Must obey our govt !
Old news paper said
Your govt asking u to go sell tissues, collect plates , cans, cardboard, patiently wait for MRT, kill by bus, pay sky rocket price for houses and cars but get miserable pay.. r u doing it? time to ponder dude..
reciprocity said
the person who makes this remarks is a shit-hole,and a dickhead
and a communist
jaded said
lousy article. TT is turning into an anti WP site.
Big fish has the final say said
There is a saying of big fish eats small fish.
Big fish should have the final say in whatever food they want to eat, small fish should just give in.
jeff said
I wonder who are the pple behind this smear campaign…dun telll me its the PAP, hor! If not why splitting the opposition, huh?
Old news paper said
we shall not be mooooooove…
Zhenzidan said
While I am very glad that WP had captured a GRC, I am sad that this victory seems to make them look down on other opposition parties instead of going tough in their parliamentary debates against the PAP.
A piece of advice for the WP: Pls do not get too swell-headed. You are voted in not because we like you but because we got fed-up with the PAP. And I am sad to say that so far, you all have not been lived up to expaectations in your performance in parliament.
I hope to see another opposition GRC voted in in 2016.
Anthony T said
i agreed with you
DIY said
@ Zhenzidan
Are you so sure? Democratically speaking; it is elected by the people and replaced by the people. In Aljunied GRC, the voters replaced PAP with WP. With the same notion, it is elected by GRC and will be replaced by the GRC of Aljunied.
So watch out WP and you will be replaced in GE2016.
You get my point!
Mod’s note:
The real opposition should contest in ALL seats in 2016 against the PAP-WP alliance and boot out both ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams from parliament. Remember: WP is NOT an opposition party, it is the PAP’s subsidiary party. A vote for WP = A vote for PAP! Please help spread the message of truth.
mosestan said
Now now now are you not being funded and supported by someone to create a wedge between oppositions to give the MIW the advantage. For the sake of name sake i am not surprise. The more you insinuate and encourage NSP to contest in Hougang, your intent is obvious.
beenthereseenit said
PAp is rolling Singapore downhill. If the opposition parties are really in it for Singapore and Singaporeans, then they must work hard to work together to oust the incompetent PAP. 3-cornered fights and bickering will only hand the constituencies to PAP on a platter!
milo said
I believe we shall see more intellectuals joining WP in the next election including PhDs, professors, former high-ranking civil servants, scholars, doctors, lawyers. The only way PAP can stop this is to continue to bring in the foreigners and converting them to new citizens so that it can continue to capture majority vote.
Julie Ong said
You need courage and conviction to be in politics. Otherwise you will just continue fighting for even greater multi-million dollars salary! Certainly a highly credentialed politician is an asset but the fundamental reason for being in politics must be right i.e. to serve the people and improve their lot in life. Therefore in my opinion you may be a clerk, mechanic, carpenter or whatever, but as long as you can communicate well and are truly interested in people you’ve got it. Certainly you also must have credible and sustainable solutions to the legion problems and challenges confronting Singapore. Any takers? The pay is good even if you sit in the backbench. Personal sacrifices obviously has to be made as you have to face up to the electorate and attend to their needs/demands. Must be quite trying sometimes.
So what say you? Candidate for General Election 2016? Why not?
Singapore needs you! Preferably you will be an opposition candidate because the PAP now thinks too much of its cleverness and will bulldoze their policies through even though it hurts the people bad. Also it seems to me that the government has run out of ideas. They are out of touch with the citizens. In fact they have never been in touch. The only thing they like to touch is the feel of money …. and more money for themselves .
Enough said. Just keep challenging/debating them. If they do not repent kick them out at GE2016.
sibei pissed off said
well, at least this means more perks for tampines residents
Derp said
Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim told reporters at her Meet-the-People Session on Monday: ‘But they are not in Parliament. We will make use of the platform we have.’
– Personally, I dun sense any arrogance in this statement as it is a tactical movement by Ms Lim to keep her cards and only reveal it to debate in parliament, while the other opp parties haf to release it to the press as they are unable to do so in parliament. What’s wrong with that? TT, I believe that u guyz do understand that good journalism means refraining from personal comments and judgements on the things reported, as the readers haf the right to believe what they read, i.e. unbiased reports. Otherwise, u are no diff from the mainstream medias…
TO HELL WITH TT said
Fuck you TT. why you idiots like to fucking slander WORKER’S PARTY?
qwerty said
the funniest thing is seeing all the wp fanatics get soooo butthurt when someone says something against their Chosen Party. Which, by the way, has done pretty much nothing substantial despite getting 15k/mth.
Smith said
Substantial? I’m pretty sure substantial is a pretty vague standards. Perhaps you’re expecting Obama who created millions of jobs?
No Can Do said
Damn shit article worse than PAPie shitty ST. What is TT trying 2do? Split opp ranks?
WP is undoubtedly the strongest opp party 2 take on PAP. All opp ppl shd stand behind and support WP if the ppl are to hope 4 a regime change which is long overdue, worse with PAPie ruling clique continuing to ignore ppl’s demands. Nicole shd step down and out from NSP 2 join WP as otherwise she wld be a splittist element in opp side. We need unity among opp ranks, not splittism.
Agree if TT continues to be anti WP and therefore anti-ppl, anti-Opp and pro-PAPies, it’s best all opp ppl boycott it.
Mr K said
You are saying that by 2016,besides Aljunied,GRCs which you want to contest are located in eastern and north-eastern parts of Singapore and will enable the party to better utilize its limited resources,saying that it could be 8!!!!!!!
Likely enough,it’s East Coast,that next target!!!!!Then,Tampines,Pasir Ris-Punggol and Nee Soon……..Likely too it’ll be Marine Parade as it’s much closer to Aljunied,but the NSP’s much keener!!!!Please leave Moulmein to NSP as Lavender and Jalan Besar WAS THE NSP GROUNDS,as well as Bishan-Toa Payoh to the SPP!!!!!!!!!!
Pasir Ris is definitely an excellent choice to keep SDA on the bay…..WP may be much dominating opps too,but would you risk it on AMK???Just leave it to the most daring challenger,the SDP…..
Mr K said
I dont think Tanjong Pagar would be cos so far 3 parties are much keener….The SDP,Reform and the NSP…….
But most likely the SDP as the SDP may have work on geographical corridor starting with Sembawang,Holland-BT and the fact is that Buona Vista is used to be part of it…..Perfect!!!!!!!!
I may bet that the SDP would take on the would be PM by 2020,Chan Chun Sing!!!!!
ANIMAL Farm said
This article is an attempt to cause diversion and multi-party fight in Hougang. Oppositions should stand united and work together for a regime change.
concerned sporean said
What chan chun sing PM? My toes laughing, he is like nanny to LKY.
Mr K said
Actually it may said that Chan Chun Sing may be the next PM-in-waiting in 2020 then……It is most likely…………
I think SDP may have enough guts to challenge him then…..Furthermore,Tanjong Pagar had been walkovered for so many years and then it may give the vocal lawyer and a surprise doctor candidate a chance to contest in…..SDP’s also in favour of the main grounds of Orchard Road(due to cosmopolitan strategy and flood issues),Shenton Way(economic issues)and Holland V(hybrid issues,involving the yuppies living there)….SDP may say that they will be fielding more than 15 candidates so I guess besides Sembawang,Bukit Timah,Bukit Panjang and Jurong East,Tanjong Pagar and Buona Vista(my future home)will be initially conquested……Way to go!!!!!
Can you tell me who will lead SDP Tanjong Pagar team????Sources likely to be Dr Vincent Wijeysingha and even Dr Chee Soon Juan…..But in my opinion it should be Dr James Gomez……What do you think????
Pee Joo Tiong said
The opposition parties must unite lke the Avengers so that tyhey can be like a powerful force to kick the PAP in their tailpipres in GE 2016!
Mr K said
In my absolute suggestion…I believe there’ll be 90 seats at stake…No walkovers guarenteed…….
Oppositions except for SDA and SF may go on to take on the certain areas as suggested….
Northeast-Workers’ Party-Aljunied,Pasir Ris-Punggol,Tampines GRCs,Hougang,Punggol East and Sengkang West….All of these were strategically located nearby Hougang and Aljunied…And so do Pasir Ris-Punggol too as it has been contested by WP in 1991 and 1997 respectively…Punggol East were also contested by WP too…
Southeast-Mixture of Workers’ Party and National Solidarity Party-Marine Parade GRC and Mountbatten(NSP)and East Coast GRC and Joo Chiat(WP)Should WP be covering the entire Eastern part too as its power base is in Hougang and also Aljunied areas….However NSP had did very well in Marine Parade last year….
Central-Mixture of National Solidarity Party,Singapore People’s Party and Singapore Democratic Party-Ang Mo Kio and Moulmein GRCs(NSP),Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and Potong Pasir(SPP)and Tanjong Pagar GRC(SDP)…A tossup of NSP and SPP for Whampoa,as it is closer to Toa Payoh….NSP may possibly targetted Tanjong Pagar too…..However the Buona Vista division has been nearby Holland area and it’s more possible to SDP as well….NSP meanwhile had contested AMK in 1988 and 1991 respectively while it had been working grounds in Jalan Besar for some years back….Furthermore,NSP’s HQ been under Lavender in Jalan Besar…SPP too is definitely focusing on PP and the nearest GRC of Bishan,as it has been doing quite well with Chiam’s last stand since 2011….SDP may also enter the fray in AMK too with possible big guns even some dogged chief to take on the PM himself as it might be his very last term sought….
Northwest-Singapore Democratic Party-Sembawang,Nee Soon and Holland-Bukit Timah GRCs and Bukit Panjang…SDP may target Nee Soon too as it is much closer to Sembawang GRC and ironically Nee Soon Central and South were contested in 1988 and 1991 respectively and so do Canberra and Chong Pang while the latters were under Sembawang back in 2006….
Southwest-Mixture of Reform Party and Singapore Democratic Party-Choa Chu Kang and West Coast GRCs,Pioneer,Radin Mas and Hong Kah North(Reform) and Jurong GRC and Yuhua(SDP)….Quite a tossup of Radin Mas between Reform and NSP and Reform may cover the Southwestern areas too and they may go on to Jurong areas within their vow on the Southwest and so do the West Coast areas….However SDP had contested Yuhua over the years and so do Jurong in 2001….
There is also some possibility that the three respective SMCs of Hougang,Potong Pasir and Joo Chiat might be absorbed into respective GRCs to give some time for the opps to stage some new strategies to move on forward….Hougang might come under Aljunied and some in AMK,as well as Potong Pasir with mostly around the Eastern sides and also Toa Payoh areas too,while Joo Chiat may come under most of the East Coast…..
Hopefully my predictions would come true…….Quite to a certain extent…….This is all about strategies coming up,opposition mutual harmony,co-operation and also willingness to fight for true voices for the people of Singapore…..Let’s make it all for the rightful future of our home!!!!