‘Rookie’ PAP candidate humble about chances

The People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for Hougang single-member constituency (SMC), Desmond Choo says that talking about his chances on winning the opposition-held ward is a distraction from the main issue -- serving the residents.

Speaking to an estimated crowd of 1,000 in his first election rally on Saturday evening, the 33-year-old NTUC deputy director — who described himself as a "rookie politician" — said that the facts showed that his chances are not that high.

"I want to have a frank conversation with you today. Let us examine the facts. I am standing for election in a ward that was held by the opposition for 20 years.

"I'm standing for election after 3 months in an opposition stronghold no less, what do you think of my chances?" he asked the crowd.

Despite downplaying his chances as Polling Day approaches, Choo is working extra hard as he prepares to take on Workers' Party's (WP) Yaw Shin Leong, 34. Yaw, a businessman, will be replacing incumbent MP and WP chief Low Thia Khiang, who will be leading the party's 'A-team' in contesting Aljunied group representation constituency (GRC).

Hougang SMC has been an opposition stronghold since the 1991 polls. In the last two elections, WP's Low emerged victorious despite a strong challenge posed by PAP's Eric Low, increasing his winning percentage from 54.98 per cent in 2001 to 62.74 per cent in 2006.

However, Choo stressed that the issue of whether he is able to secure a win can be distracting from the main issue of engaging residents and understanding their needs.

"Talking about chances or probability of winning distracts us from the most important thing. It is not about who has the higher percentage.

"It is not about who has the biggest crowd in a rally. It's not even about who has the loudest cheers. It is about serving the residents. It is about serving the residents of Hougang," said Choo, who delivered his speech in Teochew, Mandarin and English.

"Serving the people must go beyond just speaking for them. It is about compassion, service is about action. Service is about delivering the best future to the people we care the most."

The PAP candidate also unveiled his plans for the constituency which touched on healthcare, transport, education and social assistance programmes for the under-privileged and elderly.

Among others, he also promised to create a job-placement centre to assist those seeking employment within three months.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was one of the invited guests at the rally, also gave his personal endorsement to Choo, saying that he is "sincere" and would "work very hard" to improve the lives of residents.

"The PAP is sincere about wanting to look after the residents of Hougang. To help them improve their lives, to work together with them to improve Hougang.

"That is why we have carefully selected Desmond Choo to come to Hougang to offer you his services so that he can work together with you, learn from you what your problems are, what your issues are, " said Mr Teo.

Measures in place to cope with rising costs

Switching between Mandarin and English, Mr Teo also acknowledged and addressed the rising costs of living concerns.

"I could have spoken about a first world parliament," he said, taking a jibe at the Workers' Party election slogan.

"So let's talk about the things that really matter. We know that inflation is a big problem, but we are not able to directly control the prices of food and oil because most of it is imported.

"Even in countries that grow their own food, produce their own oil, when they tried and subsidised these, they end up with a big problem."

Instead, DPM Teo said that solutions such as rebates, subsidies and top-ups are in place to help Singaporeans cope directly with the rising costs of living. "We know that it is still a worry but we hope that these measures will help to lighten your burden," he said.

He added that the rebates on the utilities and the service and conservancy charges will help 800,000 families this year.

Citing the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme as an example, Mr Teo said that a 55-year-old worker who earns S$1,000 a month last year will be able to earn S$2,100 of Workfare but some will be contributed to his CPF and some in cash.

Due to the high economic growth last year, there will also be an added bonus of 50 per cent which means such a worker will get more than S$3,000, he added.

"So in many ways, we are helping Singaporeans to help themselves. We know that this will not solve all the problems; we know that this cannot remove all your burdens. But we hope that in these ways, we can help you with some of them."

Besides Mr Teo, a total of ten speakers, including former Member of Parliament (MP) Yatiman Yusof and former PAP candidate for Hougang Eric Low also delivered their speeches in support of Choo.

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