A look at the upcoming GE2015

As Singapore's political scene heats up in preparation for the upcoming general elections, newly introduced candidates from various parties come under public scrutiny.

First up was Ms Kevryn Lim, a member of the National Solidarity Party (NSP). A Masters holder in Professional Communication from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, she was compared to and touted as Nicole Seah v2.0.

However, she invited much criticism over her seemingly inappropriate choice of attire during the opposition horse-trading talks.

Since then, Kevryn Lim seems to have disappeared from the public eye. Whether she has been let go by the NSP or been placed in interim cold storage has yet to be affirmed.

Aside from the small episode above, it does seem that the opposition has been taking a concerted effort in vetting their candidature namelist.

Next up is PAP's team to contest Aljunied in a bid to recover lost grounds from GE2011. For now, it seems that the party in white has randomly and haphazardly (did they even try?) cobbled together a miserable team to rival Workers' Party's A-team. 

It is no doubt that this decision has aroused rife speculations on online forums (Hardwarezone, Sammyboy) that PAP has given up hope of getting Aljunied back although it remains to be seen if the current slate of candidate (Mr Victor Lye, Mr Chua Eng Leong, Ms Chan Hui Yeh, Mr K Muralidharan Pillai and Mr Shamsul Kamar). With the exception of Victor Lye who has been getting his share of the limelight (for the wrong reasons, actually), the other 4 are practically unheard of. 

The PAP lineup to contest Workers' Party's A-team has yet to be revealed although the likelihood of any PAP heavyweights joining the "suicide squad" is as close as Singapore winning the world cup. There have been rumours though, that the resignation of the transport minister Lui Tuck Yew has got to do with infighting within the PAP upper echelons (that he was actually being fielded to Aljunied to be the anchor minister) - which pretty much sums up his hasty decision to leave.

There have been many high profile resignations in the civil service over the past few weeks as well, apparently timed to coincide with the upcoming General Elections. The most watched of them being current Chief of Defence - Lieutenant General Ng Chee Meng's announcement of retirement just before National Day (31 July 2015) which prompted much buzz on the Internet that he was joining politics. No other details have been furnished and he is expected to step down officially as Chief of Defence Force on Aug 18 and we will have to wait and see if he is indeed joining the white team.

I do believe that he would join either DPM Teo Chee Hean, or DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam in their constituencies since these wards are considered to be "safe wards".

Melvin Yong, a Senior Police Officer was also introduced today at Pek Kio market. He is poised to take over the outgoing Minister Lui Tuck Yew as the incumbent candidate for Moulmein. It is only elections that we see ministers cracking wry common man jokes which are not in the least funny - "Mr Lui played on his surname and Mr Yong's Chinese name, Yi Cai, when making the introduction. He said: "Last time, it was 'Lui lai liao, (Hokkien for 'Money is coming'), now it's 'Cai lai liao'." Cai is Mandarin for fortune."

Some have noted though, that he had joined PAP's walkabout in Moulmein despite it being his official last day as the Assistant Commissioner of Police's in the force - which begs the question, did he breach the code of conduct for civil servants to not have any political affiliations.

Then there is Chee Hong Tat, formerly principal private secretary (PPS) to then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Picture from - The Online Citizen

His letter to the Straits Times 6 years ago, writing in his official capacity was to defend the government’s bilingual policy. In the letter, he wrote "It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin," His brash remarks have drawn widespread condemnation online. It is even more ironic that Chee Hong Tat chose to speak in Hokkien when first introduced as a PAP candidate contesting in the Bishan-Toa Payoh ward.

In short, PAP's antics for these high-flying (newly) former civil servants to appear friendlier, less out-of-touch with the general public comes across to me as superficial and feeble attempts at trying desperately to connect and score some last minute brownie points with the electorate.