A lot for us to think about: Minister Lim Swee Say

Minister Lim Swee Say says the General Election results has given the ruling People's Action Party "a lot to think about".

The team led by the Labour chief and PAP minister without portfolio won East Coast GRC but by a narrow margin of just 9.7 per cent from a strong challenge by the Workers' Party, led by Eric Tan.

In 2006, the PAP beat the WP by a more healthy 63.9 per cent of votes in the same ward.

Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore after the results were announced at the Bedok Stadium, Minister Lim said the drop of about 10 percentage points was a big concern.

While he was new to the ward after moving out of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, he said, "Firstly at GRC level, it's time for us to do a reflection in terms of what are the areas we have failed to meet the needs, satisfy the needs of our residents."

"Secondly this drop in the support rates, I think it’s not just in any particular GRC but fairly widespread across the board. So in other words the national level," he said.

Calling for a fundamental mindset shift in thinking, he admitted, "I think the PAP government, there’s also a lot for us to think about. Is it because we’ve not been doing the right things for Singapore for Singaporeans or is it because we’ve been doing the right things but we’ve not done it in the right way?"

"These are the things we have to think through and find a way forward. I am confident we will be able to find a way forward between the PAP government and the people because the PAP is a government that is deeply concerned about the future of Singapore," he added.

Calling for a "way to move forward together", he said he hopes that in time to come, "not only will we do more of the right things in Singapore for Singaporeans but more importantly to do it the right way so that Singaporeans will feel this strong sense of alignment."

He also recognised the PAP needs to pay a lot more to the process of policy-making.

"The way we make policies, the consultation, the way we reach out to the public, the way we get feedback from them, in terms of our policies, what kind of pain it causes to them" needs to be addressed, he said.

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