Here's how it was written up on Sunday Times, 25th Sept 2011:
"Mr Choo, 33, who was the People’s Action Party’s candidate in Hougang in the May General Election, was criticised for being sexist when he made his maiden rally speech. During that speech, he recounted a meeting with an elderly Hougang resident who told him that choosing an MP is like choosing a wife.
‘If your wife is unable to cook, there’s no point. You must choose a wife who is able to look after you and do things for you,’ Mr Choo had said in recounting what the elderly man told him."
For his extremist perspective, Desmond Choo was nominated for the sexism Alamak Award by the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware). It was not the kind of landslide victory he was looking forward to.
Yaw had a different problem, he liked women too much. The Workers' Party (WP) wasn't interested in the lurid rumour mongering, they didn't want to go there. The man didn't show up for the disciplinary meeting, he was booted out. Unlike U.S. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr who didn't know when to quit when he went after Bill Clinton, he had to tell the whole wide world what the president did with a cigar.
PM Lee thinks different, he wants WP to give a "full and proper account" of Yaw's personal indiscretions. Probably will provide more distraction from the embarrassing revelations at the COI hearings. But the kind of folk addicted to such tabloid sleaze will probably start asking why Lee Kuan Yew married in secret while studying at Cambridge. His wife even put the ring on a chain, instead of on the fourth finger of her left hand.
Nah, this by-election is not about one guy's marriage. As a matter of fact, husband and wife are reported to be travelling in Vietnam. For all we know, they are on their second honeymoon. This Hougang event may well turn out to be a referendum, a report card on how the citizens feel about the transport meltdown, housing affordability, foreigner divide, and income gap. One year has come and gone, millions in bonuses have been paid out to the ministers, and yet "much work remains ahead to translate good policies and programmes into actions on the ground, and to deliver the results that we all look forward to" (PM's own words).
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As much as the PM would want this By-Election to be focused on Hougang and nothing else in Singapore, I cannot see how the still un-satisfactory real-life condition will not figure in the Hougang voters' minds.
ReplyDeleteAm sure that pending hearing on 16th May (so coincidental ?) will end up with no further resolution of that very important question about how constitutional was that belief that the PM of the day can decide on a By-Election needs. Unless, our good brave woman and her lawyer put up their hands.
The court better give a definitive resolution come what may as it shouldn't trivialize the constitution and the civil rights of voters.
DeleteToo late guys. The Judicial Review Application has been withdrawn by M.Ravi. So the constitutional issue will not be resolved because PM still believes: "the Constitution does not require me to call a by-election within any fixed timeframe".
DeleteI guess it will have to be left to parliament, but then with 93% PAP, the conclusion is obvious.
QUOTE
ReplyDeleteTo those who can hear me I say, "Do not despair."
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed,
the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.
The hate of men will pass and dictators die;
and the power they took from the people will return to the people
and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
UNQUOTE
Source:
"The Great Dictator"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvPIWzQcUY
We should also focus on Choo Wee Khiang, Desmond Choo's uncle, who was corrupted.
ReplyDeleteThe very reasons why DC kept insisting he is his own man - that he is very much unlike his uncle!! And why he would prefer Yaw case to be a closed chapter, because he knows nobody is infallible. He seems cognizant to that, whether his Party agrees, is another.
DeletePAP's tagline 'always here for you' seems to pale in comparison to WP's "been here for you for 20yrs", don't you think?
ReplyDeleteDesmond's deeds are so strongly highlighted by the press esp that free porridge on sundays, but how come they don't report Png has been giving food every Mon-Sat? All those good deeds quietly delivered by WP seems not to matter at all...amusing.
Would one change one's mind to vote for PAP where even our own PM has shamelessly told us right in our faces that they will put us last on the queue if we don't vote for PAP ?
ReplyDeleteAnd now they unashamedly goes begging Hougang constituents to temporarily forgive & forget what PAP has not done for the good of Hougang during the last few decades ?
Just wonder whether our PAP leaders are shameful of their own hypocrisy if they now goes to shake the hands of the residents begging for their precious votes ?
Desmond Choo is right. What use is marrying a woman who cannot perform her duties as a wife?
ReplyDeleteNo Hougang residents want to go to bed with Demond Choo
ReplyDeleteResidents are smart enough to know that nobody is infallible.
ReplyDeleteThey are not electing a holy-saint, but someone capable of executing programs and extend help to them where needed.
The ideal scenario out of yaw-gate would have been "He came out to admit it, apologize for his mistake, tender his resignation and moved on'.
However, he probably felt that a rapid but clear cut approach快刀斩乱麻will still get same results, but at the very least he could protect his loved ones and other parties instead of turning it into a negative circus.
Everybody knows what the mainstream press would have behaved given he is an opposition member. I think it is the sad example, political climate and society's expectations that have driven him to such erratic moves. Imagine, if the society was less judgmental, more forgiving, and not expecting perfection every time, his behavior would have been very different.
After sidelining, bullying, punishing, denying and threatening Hougang residents for 20 years, they still think that. this time around. the votes will go to them just because of a flimsy promise of giving Hougang residents what they should rightly deserve in the first place, as citizens who pay taxes and perform NS like everybody else, is wishful thinking.
ReplyDelete