PM Lee: No strong alternatives by WP since being elected to Parliament
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took a swipe at the opposition Workers' Party's contributions in Parliament so far as he dropped in on Punggol East on Saturday morning.
"I don't see any strong views or alternatives being presented by the opposition, whether it's the NCMPs or the elected MPs," said the PM during a brief walkabout at Rivervale Plaza.
"We are doing things on a national level," he added, building on the same vein as several other People's Action Party speakers during a rally the previous night on Friday.
Then, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat and others reminded voters of the party's track record since the 2011 General Election, with major policies announced in housing, transport, education and healthcare.
PM Lee, in his first walkabout in Punggol East since by-elections were announced, said voters need to bear this in mind when they go to polls.
"Ultimately, choose the person who can serve you well in Punggol East and also broadly in Singapore," he said to reporters after a short 15-minute walkabout around Rivervale Plaza.
There are currently eight opposition voices in Parliament -- Png Eng Huat, the MP from Hougang as well as five from Aljunied GRC (Low Thia Kiang, Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Pritam Singh and Muhamad Faisal Manap .
Gerald Giam and Yee Jenn Jong are Non-constituency members of parliament, and do not have full voting rights.
PM Lee, who is also secretary-general of the PAP, said that its candidate Dr Koh Poh Koon has the potential to reach greater heights if he wins come Polling Day next Saturday.
"But I told him his first priority is to fight and win in PE, win the support and trust of residents," said PM Lee, who was accompanied by Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing and other party members.
"When he is ready, and when I judge he is ready... I will be appointing him to a suitable political office but we will decide what, later on."
Dr Koh did not accompany him for the walkabout as he was meeting residents elsewhere in the area, but both met earlier in the morning during a breakfast meeting at the PAP Punggol East education centre.
PM Lee also assured residents that the upgrading works at the much-troubled Rivervale Plaza, which has beset by construction delays after the main contractor went bust, will be done by the middle of the year.
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