Hougang has become a slum: PAP’s Eric Low

People's Action Party's (PAP) former candidate Eric Low has fired his first salvo at the Workers' Party (WP) in the battle for the single-member constituency (SMC) of Hougang.

Low was one of the ten guest speakers at the rally on Saturday evening in support of the party's candidate Desmond Choo, 33, who will be contesting in the ward. Choo who will be going up against WP's candidate, 34-year-old businessman Yaw Shin Leong.

Rebutting WP's chief Low Thia Khiang statements that the ward is not a slum, Low said that it is the contrary.

"My answer to Mr Low Thia Khiang tonight, yes, it (Hougang) has become a slum. The word slum means downgrading," he said to slight cheers from the 1000-strong crowd.

Low also made a comparison of the HDB flats of Block 1 and 2 to the ones in Block 20 and 21, saying that if residents could not see the difference, then "we are blind".

"Let me share with you that for the last 20 years, your home, residents of Hougang, has been downgraded because of the poor maintenance and upkeep.

"I have been here for the last 12 years and I know it, because you complain to me that certain rubbish stay for days before they are cleared outside your house. Is that not true?" he questioned.

Adding that he had also received complains that the car parks in the constituency are poor maintained, Low advised residents in the ward to "make wise move" come Polling Day, saying that "the time has come for the change".

He also sent warning message to voters of Aljunied GRC, "Before you vote, please take a walk in Hougang SMC and you will see the difference between what you are having now — maintained by the PAP town council — and then you may want to vote wisely."

In the last two elections, PAP's Low, 62, has suffered electoral defeats at the hands of WP's Low Thia Khiang.

In January this year, he revealed his decision not stand in the coming general election, citing age as the main factor. Low added that a younger candidate would be better able to serve residents and has more time oversee longer-term projects in the constituency.

In addition, two other guest speakers, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and former Member of Parliament (MP) Yatiman Yusof also took aim at the WP.

At the starting point of his speech, DPM Teo took a swipe at WP Low's analogy of his party being a co-driver, saying that the idea "does not work".

"So you know that if you have two drivers quarreling with each other to drive the same bus or the same lorry, sooner rather than later, you're going to have a big problem.

"And a big road accident and a crash, (it) doesn't work," he said.

On the other hand, former Tampines GRC MP Yatiman Yusof — who stepped down after the last general election in 2006 — questioned WP's vision of a First World Parliament is applicable in Singapore's context.

"When you talk about First-Class World Parliament, I'm a bit puzzled. Does this concept something that is uniquely applicable, usable and beneficial to Singaporeans? We are not sure yet," he said

Yatiman reasoned that the idea is not applicable due to Singapore's unique position as a "global city" and its policy of multi-culturalism, adding that the country is susceptible to the changing trends all around the world.

"And for a very unique country, we need a very unique system which the PAP had evolved over the past, more than 40 years. This is the system that had ensured Singapore to grow and grow, to prosper and prosper.

Echoing Eric Low's views that for twenty years Hougang had been "relegated, downgraded", Yatiman also called on voters to scrutinize WP's vision.

"It is not easy to copy a first-class or first-world parliament system. When the Workers' Party talked about this, I'm not sure what they are talking about.

"But what I'm very sure is that in their mind, they have Australia, United States, Europe, UK and many other developed countries that practiced parliamentary democracy," he said.

"But I want to tell you why there is no single brand, single-type of democracy, parliamentary democracy that can be practiced, that can be copied and applied successfully."

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