PM Lawrence Wong urged voters to consider three things as the nation heads into the last stretch of campaigning. - ST
SINGAPORE: Think about Singapore’s future in a changing world and choose the right candidates this election, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday (April 30), the second-last day of the hustings.
He urged voters to consider three things, as the nation heads into the last stretch of campaigning.
“First, this election is about your future – for you, your families, your children – in a very changed world where we are facing serious and growing challenges,” said PM Wong, who was at a Tampines walkabout with PAP’s slates for Tampines GRC and Tampines Changkat SMC.
These challenges will have an impact on issues that matter deeply to Singaporeans, like cost of living, incomes, jobs and livelihoods; and whether Singapore can even make a good living in this new world, he added.
His second point, reiterating his message from the past week of campaigning, was that the election is about choosing candidates who are honest, trustworthy and of good character who can serve in the constituencies and represent residents in Parliament.
Some of these candidates will form the leadership to govern Singapore and help to steer the country through the many storms it is facing and to take the nation to greater heights, said PM Wong.
“Thirdly, this election is about our ideals, what we want Singapore to be, the society that we envisage for ourselves, especially a harmonious, multiracial and multi-religious society,” he said.
This was reminded to all in the middle of the campaign, he noted. On April 25, the authorities had moved to block three foreigners on social media for attempting to influence the election.
A day later, PM Wong called on the leaders of all political parties to clarify their stance on two fundamental principles: that identity politics has no place in Singapore, and that religion and politics should not mix.
“I’m glad everyone agrees that we should reject the mixing of race and religion into politics, and so I call on all Singaporeans to uphold these ideals of a multiracial and multi-religious society and to uphold our harmony,” he said on April 30.
Such issues are always sensitive, and can get people riled up, said PM Wong.
But Singapore has come a long way in building a strong, multiracial and cohesive society, as well as in forging a strong and enduring Singaporean identity, he said.
“I am confident that Singaporeans will understand what the issues are and what’s at stake, but in the end, Singaporeans will decide and we respect the wishes of Singaporeans in the election outcomes.”
The secretary-general of the PAP was making a visit to Tampines a day after he had visited Punggol and Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong had visited Aljunied and Tampines.
When asked by reporters why they were making these visits, PM Wong said the party takes the election seriously.
“We make sure that we present the best possible case to residents, and we go where we are needed, particularly the senior leaders… Wherever we are needed, we will be there to support our teams,” he said.
“It shows that we take the national election seriously, but we also take the local, the constituency seriously, and we want to provide the assurance to all residents, including the residents here in Tampines, that they will have a good, strong team with the full capabilities of the PAP behind them to serve them and to make sure we improve their lives.”
PM Wong also spoke on the transformation of Tampines over the decades, with national infrastructure upgrades as well as local initiatives.
“This is what previous PAP teams have done, and I’m confident that this PAP team will continue to do the same, and there is so much more potential to continue making Tampines better,” he said.
“We know there are concerns, we know there are needs. We know there are improvements that can be made. We are doing it at the national level, but I’m sure we can also do more at the local level,” he added.
PM Wong also noted that resources for upgrading programmes are allocated to all constituencies, whether they are PAP or opposition-held.
But local representatives in the constituency can make an additional difference, he said.
Government-allocated resources are the minimum, and depending on the quality of the team, they can go well beyond the minimum with projects taken on with residents, he added.
Speaking to the media after PM Wong, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said the team plans to make Tampines a model town together with the inputs of residents.
If elected, he will appoint incumbent MP Baey Yam Keng to chair the Tampines Town Council, said Masagos, who is leading the PAP’s Tampines GRC slate that also includes Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon and new faces Charlene Chen and David Neo.
They are facing a multi-cornered fight with line-ups from the WP, National Solidarity Party and People’s Power Party. - The Straits Times/ANN
