‘Why did PAP’s Tg Pagar team spend so much on GE campaign?’
The Singapore People's Party (SPP) has questioned how the People's Action Party (PAP) Tanjong Pagar GRC team racked up S$164,000 in expenses during the recent GE campaign.
This even though the team led by former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew enjoyed a walkover in the ward after a no-contest.
The SPP contrasted this with the S$30,000 amount it spent on its election expenses for all three constituencies it contested -- Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Potong Pasir SMC and Hong Kah North SMC.
In an email interview with Yahoo! Singapore, assistant secretary-general Benjamin Pwee said that half of the money spent went to brochures, posters and banners, while the rest went into rally and incidental expenses such as site rental, infrastructure and lorry rentals.
"We chose to devote our resources to walking the ground and talking to residents personally instead of relying on the more impersonal posters and banners," said Pwee.
"We also considered sending out 'voter education cards' as the PAP is wont to do before elections, but felt that it would be an abuse of the elections register to do so, hence we also saved on that expense," he added.
Pwee also mentioned that the S$30,000 used for the party's election expenses came entirely out of the candidates' own pockets, "with the more economically able members chipping in more".
He acknowledged the presence of funds raised from donations from the public, as well as from the sale of merchandise, but said that the team decided to direct the proceeds obtained from these avenues to the overall growth of the SPP.
On Tuesday, Today had reported that the Tanjong Pagar team -- consisting of former MM Lee, MP-elects Lily Neo, Indranee Rajah, new entrant Chan Chun Sing and last-minute addition Chia Shi-Lu -- had spent S$164,000 over the GE campaign because they had expected competition for the constituency.
Among the expenses included were printed sample voter cards for education as well as reprinted banners and posters following the last-minute deployment of Baey Yam Keng to the Tampines GRC team. Baey's place in the team was taken over by Dr Chia Shi-Lu.
When asked about the vast difference in amounts of resources spent and available to the Tanjong Pagar and SPP teams, Pwee expressed his hope that politics in Singapore does not gravitate toward a situation where the wealthier parties and individual politicians are able to secure the most votes.
"We hope and trust that... Singaporeans are discerning and vote for the party that will best listen and represent their voices, not the one that has the most funds to charter buses and provide free meals at rallies," he said.
