Publication: The New Paper, p 2-3 Date: 27 April 201 1 Headline: MORNING OF BIG DRAMA

i Reoorts bv: LOW ~h inb~ ing , Bryna Sim, Yeoh Wee Teck, AmandaYong, Elysa Chen, Koh Hui Theng, Q tqm-UP - , apers h,, i

P 8 Housbg Minister Mah Bow R

- has rebulted that suggestion,

Lediati Tan, Lim Say Heng, - 4 Maureen Koh. Chai Huna Yin. I Desmond No,~ileniit ~ i i o h .

A Chong ~hinjen, Najib ~iddik, Tan Mae Lynn, Benson Ang, Zul Othman, Juliana June Rasul, Tay Shi'an, Gan Ling Kai, Sazali Abdul Aziz

... Photos bv:

saying lowering land prices is ak YOUNG NTUC executvu st .c lhiy to raldlng the nation's reserves, SteueTan, 37, pulled an 1 lth-haul: sur jh? by dmpping out of the race 1 #pllj4' yesterday ani..citing personal reasons. He was re~laced in the - am pines GRC 6 by Mr Baey BUSINESSMAN Zena Guovan. 58. Yam Keng, who was oiiglnally - turned up alone at fm an sch& a slated for Tanjong Pagar GRC. dressed In a yellow baju Melayu

The olher surpnsewds the and a songkok Intmduction of a brand new Asked why he was dressed this candidate at Tanione Pagar- wav. he said: 'I have convetted to 1 mcrispIRFIs:

(From facing page) Mr Chiam See Tong (front passenger

Dr Chia Shi Lu, ad&r&m lsl&." Singapore General Hospital. The Reporters pressed him on what 1990 President's Scholarts a his plans were. Mr Zeng, who was COnSuhnt with the Orthopaedic said to be eyeing Mountbatten Surgery Department at SGH. SMC, just smiled and said:

'Patience, w n c , ate, later.'@ PM -- Just as it seemed he would PRIME Mlnister Lee Hsien Loong iubmit his application, he suddenly will face a contest in Ang Mo Klo lared up as repotters surmunde ' GRC. him: "You want to know the

Candidates loaned by Me answer? This is the answer!" ,a

I seat) and his ~ i n g a p o r i Peoole's P a m team-mates

I cenbeat Deyi Secondary School this momina in a

I Volkswagen ~ e e t l c (Left) Prime Minister Lee Hsien

I Loong and wife Ho Ching take a short break before making their wav to the nomination Singapore People's P& (SPP) to Then he tore up the einrelop '

the Reform Parly(RP) had their which contained his application

Oeyi Secondary School. disaualified." thevotes. delivered the benefits." The boom huntd to bust with the Asian hancial Another hot issue that emerged out of the boom-

uisis in July.In 2001, the election was held soon after ingeconomy is the iduxof foreign labour. the Sept 11 terrorist attack in the US. Amid an air of Singapore employs about 1.1 million foreigners, economic uncertainty that followed the attack, the one-thirdofthe countrv's total worldorce.

The loan arrangement was not without its critics.

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng last week questioned the loan, wondering if opposition parbes knew whatthey sMod for.

But SPPchairman Sin KekTong defended it, saying it was the only way opposition parties can challenge the PAP.

But how did he h o w Mat whw '- he hadn't even submitted ~ I S application?

Mr Zeng replied: "If I put in th money,the $16,000 isdown the drain. (l'd rather) go to the casinc

He kept repealing, "I've beed set up, I've been set up", but ' wouldn't elaborate except to say: "Just read the papers."

When The New Paper asked why he hadturned up if he didn' intend to flle his nomination, he

'IG 3n1Amfi m

PAP won with75.3 peicent ofthevotes. In 2006, the election was again held dudng a

boom. This timePAPgot 66.6 per cent ofthevotes. Mr Eugene Tan, assistant professor of law at SMU,

said: "The conventional wisdom is that voters tend to be less risk-averse and more willing to 'experiment' with their ballots when the ewnomy is doing well. There may be sometntth to it.

"However, 1 would argue that voters are more consistent in their voting strategies than popularly believed.

"With economic cycles being shorter, the tenden- cy to take risk is less Wly. The thinking is, Let's keep the success going and not gamble for the unknown especially when the opposition is untried and untest- ed."

Coming out ofthe last recession, Singapore'secon- omy grew by a staggering 15 per cent last year but the economic boom has also brought some pain - a higher wst of living.

Last month, The New Paper conducted a poll of 1,200resident.s in the 12 SMCs.

Cost of living emerged as the top issue, with 31 per cent saying it was the one issue they would deEnitely raisewith candidates.

The Consumer Price Index has also gone up, rising by 5 per cent last month compared to a year ago, according to figures released by the Department of StatisticsonMonday.

While much of it was attributable to higher m s - ports costs -both petrol prices and higher wst for cars-food prices havealso gone up, by 2.bper cent.

The Government has rolled out a slew of aid schemes to help with rising costs but voters will ask not only if the schemes are enough but if the PAP's solutions are thebest.

Rising costs aside, will voters switch, considering that the Government brought good growth and a 'speedy recovery ftom the recessionin 20081

Mr Tan offered: "A voter who has benefited ew- nomically will not want to rock the boat, so to speak He will want to vote for the status quo since that has

~oreignlabourcon&buted to thebo~min~econo- my, which raised median monthly salaries for full-time local workers from 52,030 in 2M)O to 52,710 last year, said Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong in a recent i n t e~ew withThe StraitsTimes.

But expectations havealso risen. Notjust of materi- al goods but also, it amears, in the ~olitical arena.

-where once P& konopolisG candidates from top universities, the opposition parties have amacted ex-government scholars, Stanford graduates and even a former principal private secretary to a Cabinet minister.

Voters expect the best and the opposition parties have mined for standout candidates.

Only one GRC- Tanjong Pagar- uncontested SDAmisses filing deadline by 30 seconds PAP candidate for Tarnpines GRCin shock withdrawal, replaced by Baey Yam Keng

resignation, she is technically still in the Civil S e ~ c e , which disqualifies her as a candidate for the General Election."

The objection was overruled by the Returning Otli- cer. A further objection against Ms Sim was nlw over- ruled. But the teamwasn't done.

Dr Wijeysingha told the Elections Department at 1.30pm that it has an hour to investigate, failing which the election at this constituency may not take place on May 7.

He dubbed it a "scandal of significance". But min- utes later, after he was toldthere was no avenue for hitn to appeal, he said it was up to voters to decide on Polling Day.

Over at the nomination centre at Deyi Secondary School, Prime Minister Lee Hsien b o n g welcomed the

looked at th~s repbrter and shot . MR CHIAM S* Tong. Mp Of PObng back! mn why you Pasir until qarliament was dissolved, has confirmed his move With that' he walked

from aseat he has held since 1984. Together with his team fmm the

Singapore People's Party (SPP), he will contest the five-member Bishw-Toa Payoh GRC. The incumbentteam frum ffib PAP Is I led by DPM Wong WiSeng.

Hlswife, letitt%knur& Lina CMam, h b filed her papers to @didateswlll contest mume.

On Tuesday, one-time contestthe Potong Pasir seat. She presidentid aspirentAndrew Kuan, wlll face Mr the Sibh seat Yih for Pin, the who is - 57, &Id he was withdrawing his

time forthe PAP. --- candidacy for Joo Chiat SMC. Mr Ellysutra Sulalman, 38, @the was pulling out OfRadin M@MC, while pnvate atpol marman -" ' ~ ~ J s z * KanmDan i3i%%Ur. 45T~~ulledout

But Mr Tan count& 'me elections are not about who's got pedigree degrees -they're not about CVs. What a scholar opposition candidate does (for his party) is that it helps reduce the gap between the PAPand theopposition.

'W~th a bener-educated electorate, political par- ties hdve to Dresent candidateswith academic creden-

W ILL the opposition's big gamble pay OE from the Singapore Democratic Alliance, were late in Mr Low 'Ilia Khiang and Mr Chiam See Tong submittingpapers for the five-member GRC. are leading five-member GRC teams to con- Until late last night, the opposition team was still

test Aljunied and Bishan-ToaPayoh GRCs mpec!ively. scrambling for hmds to contest this election. (See re- Win, and thev win big but they are risking the seats port on Page 4.) oak that the voters will be codonable wth ''

In lhis Normnation Dav swxd. The New Paaoer they vacated after ~ k e n t was~dissolved. - MM k, addressing supporters at 12.30pm after Mr Low was MP for Hougang and Mr Chiam MP for nominations dosed, said: "I would have loved a contest looks at five Hot Wards &d'&es some of ;he

issues that may shape the way battles are fought there.

How will PAP's Dr Amy Khor, the incumbent, perform against Mr Sin Kek Tong of the Singapore People's Party at Hong Kah North SMC?

It's the Grst time since 1991 that .the PAP has fielded a woman candidate in a single-seatward.

The drama will continue until May 5 - May 6 is cooling off day - with parties organising walkabouts and rallies to generate support. But the parties will

Potong Pasir. Both men are leading their A-Teams to grab the

prized GRC seats. Mr Chiam's Singapore People's Party team includes former government scholars Benjamin Pwee and LeeYeong Wee.

Mr Low's Workers' Party team includes Rhodes scholar Chen Show Mao and party chairman Sylvia Lim.

For only the second time since GRCswere formed in 1988, the People's Action Party (PAP) was not retumed to power on Nomination Day.

Of the 27 wards on offer - 15 Group Representative Constituencies and 12 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) - only one GRC was returned uncontested

At noon, when nominations closed at S i r e Chinese Gids' School, Minister Mentor Lee Kusn Yew's Tanjong Pagar GRC team was returned unopposed.

The opposition team, a collection of candidates

inTanjongPap." For more than 2.2 &on other voters, it will mean

theywill have to go to the polls on May7. One thing is clear: There will be drama. The clash between Dr Vivian Bakhishnan, Minister

for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, whq leads the Singapore Dem- ocratic Party (SDP) team, extended to the nomination centre at Greenridge Secondary School.

Their teams are contesting the &-member Hol- land-Buldt Timah GRC.

While addressing supporters, the SDP team said it had raised an officid objection with the Rehuning Offi- cer. It had earlier complained that PAP's Ms Si Ann had listed herself as unemployed.

In the protest Letter, the SDP team said: "We note that Ms Sim Ann is listed in her nomination form as unemployed. As she is still serving out her notice of her

contest from the Reform Party team. PM Lee said: "This is a very imponant election and it

depends on your support for us to work together and for the PAP to win and work for Singapore to secure our future together." MR LOW Thia Khiang confirmed'his f r o m h o u n ~ n SMC. '

depatturefmmtheHougang seat Y w d a y , Mr Ooi Boon Ewe, he has held alnce 1991. 70, wuldn't get the r $ & . w

Mr Low of the Workers' Party number of p e Q p H ~-3 (WP) will lead the pafty's A-Team in nomination when he tumed up to, Aliuniedr-MC. WP has focused on @ntestSengkang WestSMC. -

LBrelyta take risks? So what is at stake forthis election? The Growth Dividend letters have been mailed, the

economy is buzzing and newspapers are filled with job ads screaming for applicants.

But are voters more likely to take risks when the electionis heldwhenthe economy's hot?

The electionin 1997was held in May at the height of the boom, with Singapore dubbed as one of the Tiger economies. PAP returned to power with 65 per cent of

also rally support online, with the Internet fast emerg- mzas an Innuentialforce in this(knera1 Election. 6allenglng housing policies, . And businessman Boon Suan

arguing that pnces can be lowered Ban, 60, had LLs application for by making land prices cheaper. MwntbaUen SMC rejected .

So how will the voter vote? And what role will social media play in swaying voters?

Stay tuned.

Source: The New Paper O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.