Post-GE2015: A crossroads for Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss

Singapore's 2015 General Election is done and dusted, and the ruling People's Action Party has returned to power on the back of a resounding victory. In this series of post-election interviews, Yahoo Singapore checks up on some of the candidates who took part in the polls. Featured here: Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss of the Singapore People's Party, who was interviewed Wednesday, 23 September.

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, 52, is clearly in a pensive mood. The lawyer spends much of the interview looking away from this reporter and into the distance, as if trying to compose her thoughts. She takes deep pauses between long, meandering answers. And she admits that the results of the General Election have caused a "disquiet" in her.

"It does not sit well with me," she says.

The two weeks since the General Election of 11 September have been a time of soul-searching for her. Taking on incumbent Lim Biow Chuan of the People's Action Party in Mounbatten SMC for the second time since 2011, Chong-Aruldoss garnered 28.14 per cent of the vote. This was far below the 41.4 per cent she won four years ago, and part of a nationwide swing towards the PAP that won them almost 70 per cent of the popular vote. 

Staying involved

For the last two weeks, Chong-Aruldoss has been keeping busy with a campaign postmortem, thank-you parades and thank-you events for her volunteers. Asked if she has had any time off since the campaign concluded, the mother of four says, "I don’t feel like I want to get away, not at all. I’m actually very actively trying to deal with it, and to reflect, ponder, introspect and to understand the cause and effects."

Despite her disappointment, Chong-Aruldoss is adamant that she will not be "going back to the woodwork". She says, "I’m not going to retire, tui xiu (Mandarin for retire), whatever you call it. I will find another meaningful way, there are many ways to play a meaningful role. I’ve come out, and I’m going to stay out. Whether (my plans) will materialize is another matter, but the desire is there lah."

Pressed on whether she intends to contest Mountbatten SMC again, Chong-Aruldoss had this to say, "I’ll say what I said four years ago: I will support whoever is a good candidate. It may not be me. It’s not about my personal ambition. Let’s keep the democracy flag running. I don’t rule out running again. To me, I’m not done yet. I definitely will remain involved."

Relationship with the Chiams

Amid criticisms that the party is too centred on former Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong, SPP chair Lina Chiam has said that she is looking for new blood to reinvigorate the party. Will Chong-Aruldoss be part of those leadership renewal plans? While she has a "good relationship" with Mrs Chiam, she says it is "premature" to comment on this.

"All Singapore’s politics, politicians, political parties, including the PAP, all have got to keep moving and changing, responding to circumstances. So we all need to develop from where we are. So I would say that I’m eager to be part of this forward movement, that’s all I can say," says Chong-Aruldoss.

Beyond her personal disappointment, Chong-Aruldoss is also worried about the significance of the election result, and what it means for the PAP's "super-majority". She notes, "This time, it was almost back to one (opposition MP), had Aljunied been lost. I just wonder what would have been the scenario lah. Let’s face it, it was only (won) by a very thin margin, so what does that mean? So I think that we are still in a political climate where we have a ruling party that is a very dominant one."

'Unlevel playing field'

During the hustings, Chong-Aruldoss stood out for her fiery, passionate oratory. And despite her subdued mood, the fire is never far beneath the surface. When asked about the alleged politicisation of grassroots organisations like the People's Association — a topic raised extensively by the Workers' Party during the elections — she notes that this is only one aspect of the "unlevel playing field" of Singapore politics.

A resident of the Joo Chiat division of Marine Parade GRC, Chong-Aruldoss recalls receiving a Whatsapp message before Nomination Day that read, “Charles Chong’s replacement (Edwin Tong) is coming to visit the condo, anybody wants to meet him?” The PAP's Charles Chong was the MP for Joo Chiat SMC, which was absorbed into Marine Parade for GE2015. Edwin Tong ran as part of the PAP team that contested Marine Parade.

She says, "So I was very puzzled. I was thinking, we haven’t had elections yet. It was only after a while that I realized that Edwin Tong has replaced Charles Chong as the grassroots advisor, and therefore the CC or whatever was asking my condominium whether Edwin Tong can come to visit.

That was how Edwin Tong was able to come into my condominium to visit my residents, but (Workers' Party candidate for Marine Parade) Yee Jenn Jong couldn’t, because oh, no political activities."

But Chong-Aruldoss remains optimistic about the state of opposition politics. Having sat in on the pre-election meeting of the respective opposition parties, she says, "To me, I saw a lot of goodwill, a lot of genuine sincerity to make decisions which are for the common good, as opposed to selfish interests.

A lot of the politicians out there are worthy people. I have a lot of respect for them. Some of them may be controversial, but to me, I see sincerity, and also a healthy dose of altruism as well. I don’t see opposition politicians as a bunch of no-hopers. I think that there is still a lot of mutual respect and goodwill."