Separating Pearls From Swine

“He now turns up and asks Singaporeans to elect him as a Member of Parliament. Surely, voters have a right to know... if such a candidate can identify with the aspirations of Singaporeans and has a stake in our future?” When he wrote that, Ng Eng Hen was not referring to the newcitizen doctor who thought lightly about his father's illegitimate incarceration or the corporate vamp who had her citizenship approved "within weeks, .. no,no, within days". (“Writer’s query on Chen reasonable, says PAP”, ST 19 April).

We'll let Ms Sylvia Lim set the record straight:

"The fact is that Show Mao’s roots are here. His parents have lived here since 1972. His only sibling and her family are here. He attended our schools, and voluntarily underwent National Service as an infantry officer before he became a citizen. Though he has been abroad due to the nature of his work, he has returned to Singapore typically 4 to 5 times a year, and made contributions to Singapore such as serving on the Advisory Board of the Singapore Management University Law School. He has also said that his wife and children will be joining him in Singapore permanently, and has committed to continuing political work here, regardless of the outcome of the elections.
By again raising the question of Show Mao being outside Singapore for a long time, is the PAP signaling to Singaporeans that the return of a successful Singaporean is not welcome? Or is his loyalty being questioned simply because he is with WP?"

Even George Yeo tried to run down the WP candidate, saying "I listened to him and asked myself, if I were away from Singapore for 30 years..." Yeo forgot that his paymaster has been in Singapore most of his life (except for those years in overseas universities which were counted as part of his career years in the SAF), and still the guy didn't know cockles are never served with mee siam. That's the difference in calibre between the party candidates. You can bet Tan Wah Piow or Chia Thye Poh knows more about the aspirations of Singaporeans than these PAP groupthinkers.

Reflecting on the 2006 episode with James Gomez, Yeo said "I think the PAP overplayed it, and overplayed it to Aljunied GRC's cost." Expect more of the same, some guys just never learn. It has to be the arrogance that is blinding them from  the damage they have wrought with cost of living, housing/transport issues, foreign workers, and general incompetence in governance. Not an enviable track record at all, at Aljunied or elsewhere.