Reaction to CNA forum: Thumbs up for Workers’ Party and SDP
It was described as an "unedited", "uncut", "no holds barred" forum that would, for the first time in more than 20 years, pit four opposition parties' representatives against two People's Action Party (PAP) members.
But according to public reaction, some parties were clearly unprepared for their big moment on television, while others took the chance to shine.
Present at the debate entitled "A Political Forum on Singapore's Future" that was aired on Channel News Asia on Saturday night were:
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh Josephine Teo. Both are from the PAP.
Lina Chiam, second vice-chairperson of the Singapore People's Party (SPP).
Gerald Giam, assistant webmaster of the Workers' Party (WP).
Mohamed Nazem Suki, assistant secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).
Vincent Wijeysingha, assistant treasurer of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
The hour-long debate, which focused on Singapore's long-term and immediate challenges, touched on topics such as the rising cost of living, housing costs and influx of foreign workers, as well as what each party had to offer. It was moderated by TV presented Melissa Hyak.
Based on the people Yahoo! Singapore spoke to, and judging by the reaction online on platforms such as Twitter, the Workers' Party and Singapore Democratic Party emerged with the most credit.
Undergraduate Chew Rushan, 23, said she was "impressed" by Wijeysingha -- the son of former long-time Raffles Institution principal, Eugene -- who spoke "very clearly".
"After the forum, I even went to check out more about Dr Vincent Wijeysingha and what he does," she said.
Undergraduate Terence Lee, 24, also enjoyed the debate between Wijeysingha and Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
"They went at each other, they raised good points and counterpoints," he said.
The two participants crossed swords over topics such as whether basic services should be free of GST and if the standard of living is as good as the government says it is.
For instance, the minister said Singapore's median income is "much higher than anywhere else in Asia, apart from Japan" and the lower-end incomes and quality of life is "far higher than anywhere else in Asia".
"Just do a walking around test and you'll know what I mean," he said.
"No, I don't know what you mean," retorted Wijeysingha. "We walk around every week and I'm not sure whether our neighbourhoods are as you say they area... We see quite a different picture to the picture you've been painting."
WP's Giam, a former foreign services officer, also appeared to have won over some members of the public.
Retiree Steven Lye, who is in his 70s, said Giam fared the best of all the candidates.
"He was calm, very balanced and also very articulate and persuasive," he said, clearly impressed.
Lye added, "Nazem represented the ordinary folks well on housing and transport issues" while Wijeysingha had a "firm grasp of the issues and made his points well". Chiam, however, was "too hesitant and not very persuasive".
During the course of the debate, Chiam required the moderator to repeat a question to her several times before she responded. Others also felt the first-time candidate and wife of Potong Pasir incumbent Chiam See Tong failed to impress.
Microblogging platform Twitter lit up with people using the hashtag #sgCNAforum to discuss how each candidate performed.
Wakkaismusing tweeted, "am a tad disappointed with Lina Chiam… I fear for Potong Pasir."
Another seewhySEF went further by tweeting, "No wonder they said it's unedited. They wanted to humiliate certain individuals."
In an earlier interview with Today newspaper, Chiam said it was her first time in such a forum and she was "a bit nervous" initially.
Totallyguan also tweeted, "PAP needs a breakdown of their 'pretty' stats (statistics), SDA and SPP should have better speakers who do their homework and CNA should reduce PAP's two rep (representatives) to one."
Summarising the debate, thinkalexissg tweeted, "PAP won hands down... but pretty good Gerald & Vincent."
However, those looking for a robust debate were left a little disappointed.
Political observer and law lecturer Eugene Tan, who watched the forum, told Yahoo! Singapore, the reliance on a prepared text took away the cut-and-thrust of the debate and the arguments from the PAP were "as expected, not new," adding that the PAP participants were "not ruffled in any significant way".
The quality of the opposition participants "varied significantly," said Tan.
The party that stood out for him was WP. When it come to the debate on cost of living and foreign worker policy, Tan felt the party fared best among the opposition parties.
He said, by articulating their arguments in a dispassionate way, "they left a relatively good impression of being fair and balanced".
Others, however, were "active on criticism" but did not have clear or concrete suggestions.
Sociologist Tan Ern Ser said the debate was "a good start" and "a reality check".
"A forum like this requires them (politicians) to go across party lines to reach a wider audience, some of whom may be skeptical, cynical, and many are partisan," he said.
While he did not want to pin-point any party, Tan noted some participants were more well-prepared: "For instance, it is one thing to say that cost of living is high -- we all know that -- but it is quite another to come up with viable solutions."
He added, he did not hear anything new in the debate on cost of living or foreign workers.
"Apart from talking about numbers and threats from having foreigners, we should discuss how we could enhance Singaporean' sense of security in an increasingly more risky world," he suggested.
In the end, these were the main points the different parties made to the watching audience.
PAP
A team that is fair, proven, experienced and knows how to deal with crisis
New leadership
SDA
A government focused on public interest and not commercial interest
Less foreign workers
SDP
Turn public services (eg education, healthcare, housing) into non-profit services
Cost of government (ministerial salary) to be reduced significantly
Abolish GST for basic goods
Singaporeans first policy
Introduce minimum wage
SPP
Build more universities to encourage learning; encourage lifelong learning
Get schools to hold more talks for youth as platform for critical thinking; increase political awareness
Increase number of hospital beds
Take care of aged, marginalised citizens such as single mothers
WP
An alternative government to ensure political checks and balances in government
If you missed the forum, you can view it here.
