I'm afraid we have to look at this problem from three aspects. Personal level, the party and the State. From small to large, and which party is considering from small issues, from personal and party interests, and which party embarks from major issues, more concerned of the interests of the State, willing to sacrifice at the expense of personal and party interests. In this comparison, we will discover that the facts, the reports and the understanding of the people are different.
If Workers' Party merely consider personal and party interests, they could emulate Jackie Chan's and Clinton's veiled rhetoric, using common man-made mistakes as excuse to delay and retain the parliamentary seat. After all, Shin Leong's problem is of moral standard which is not a crime. Moral problem will not affect his parliamentary seat.
However, the workers' Party decided otherwise. Workers' Party put the party above individuals and the country above the party. Therefore, first to be sacrificed is individual member, sacked Yaw Shin Leong, let him lose his parliamentary seat. Second, Workers' Party itself has to face the music. They have to apologize for this event, then, request for a by-election and face the challenge of a new member being elected by Hougang voters again. They did not hurt Singapore or caused disgrace to parliament because of the bad behaviour of their member. All in all, the Workers' Party had done their best to control the damage to personal and their party level.
Because Workers' Party understands that if individual does not perform well, it will affect the political party itself. And if political parties are not up to the mark, the State will not be able to do well. This is the problem. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant. The flaw of individual member is like the upper beam. If the upper beam is not straight, the index of political parties and the country as a whole will have problems. Political parties must perform well, then the country will do well. Therefore, the Workers' Party must ensure that the lower beam is firm and strong in order to get the upper beam right. Seeking an upright direction.
No wonder, the tone of the People's Action Party is now different. When Yaw Shin Leong's event occurs, they said Workers' Party is irresponsible. Not long ago, the Prime Minister also accused the Workers' Party for not explaining things clearly on his Facebook. However, on nomination today, Khaw Boon Wan speaks a very different tone. Is there a communication problem between the Party Chairman and the Secretary-General.
Today's version is:
Khaw Boon Wan said Yaw Shin Leong chose to walk away after the scandal, is "a very irresponsible act" and "This shows he is also arrogant because he took the support of his voters for granted. "(OMy.SG May 16)
February's version:
Khaw Boon Wan issued a brief statement last night on the sacking of Yaw Shin Leong and questioned the integrity of the Workers' Party and their way of dealing with the incident. (Morning post, February 16)
It seems, even the People's Action Party has agreed with the way the Workers' Party handled the incident. While agreeing, the People's Action Party may not be able to practice the high standard of the Workers' Party.
On the contrary, was the People's Action Party able to practice the principle of, "If the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant". My personal opinion, People's Action Party advocate elite ruling, high salaries to keep the ministers uncorrupted, setting high salaries for ministers. It is actually the pursuit of the highest level of utilitarianism. No wonder we have the highest paid Ministers and Prime Minister in the world. Since political leaders love money so much, then, how could they blame the people for loving money! They criticized Yaw Shin Leong for walking away. Although People's Action Party did not walk away, but they have brought worse moral value to the people.
For a political party to use all sorts of manipulations, from utilizing public facilities for party gains; redrawing of electoral boundaries and implementing GRC system for elections; maximizing the use of Government and public facilities to achieve private benefits and interests for the party. All these undemocratic acts set as bad examples for the people to achieve their goals through unfair means. For the purpose of protecting their own interests, they made use of administrative means and legal loopholes to monopolize Singapore politics. This encourages political hegemony, one-party dominance, just like the big companies using their own advantages to annex small businesses. Sometimes, even to the extent of helping large enterprises to oppress small enterprises.
Of course, the extension of the personal interests of the political parties, will also directly affect our economy, society and all other areas. Therefore, problems are created by the disparity of income between the rich and the poor, housing, transportation, education and so on. Boastful talk about efficiency in the past seems to be so-so now. MRT is a live example. I do not know if it is because they are underpaid or the increment of salaries is not high enough.
Whatever the People's Action Party did, is it done for the individuals or for their political party? Has People's Action Party put national interests first? No wonder people are saying that once Singapore is in trouble, the whites will be the first to fly off because they are rich and powerful. It is very easy for them to fly off.
The People's Action Party's candidate for Hougang may be a man of integrity, but the people behind him may not be, as discussed and illustrated above.
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