PAP East Coast team did not let worries of WP opponents closing in distract them: Lim Swee Say
The People's Action Party's Lim Swee Say leads the East Coast GRC team to thank residents at Blk 216 Bedok North St 1 on Sept 12, 2015. Photo: Valerie Koh/TODAY
SINGAPORE — Over the course of campaigning, supporters had sent text messages expressing concern, and the People’s Action Party (PAP) East Coast GRC team had been told the “gap was narrowing” between them and their Workers’ Party rivals, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say.
“But.. we believe we know the ground much better than anyone else because we’ve been walking the ground on a very regular basis. So we did not (get) distracted by all these other factors,” said Mr Lim, who was making the rounds at the market and food centre at Block 216 Bedok North Street 1 with his four-man team today (Sept 12), thanking supporters in the ward.
The ruling party’s slate of candidates — consisting Mr Lim, Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State Maliki Osman and Ms Jessica Tan — beat their WP opponents by clinching 60.73 per cent of the votes. This was an improvement from 2011, when they were the worst performing PAP GRC team that won with 54.83 per cent of the vote.
Reflecting on his team’s victory, Mr Lim said: “This result reflects that the way we went about doing deep engagement is something that residents like to see.”
“So what we’ve committed to do, as we move forward over the next five years, is to further strengthen this deep engagement. And at the same time, broaden our outreach. Because in East Coast, our housing types are very varied, (ranging) from HDB (Housing and Development Board flats) to condominiums to landed (property),” he added.
Asked about the engagement areas, Mr Lim said this would would change from time to time. In recent years, residents were interested in topics such as MediShield Life, the Pioneer Generation Package and transportation.
“We have to keep updating the kind of issues that we discuss with them. A lot depends on the new government policies that will be coming out (and) what kind of new issues that are of growing interest to the community,” said Mr Lim.
He added: “So you have to keep focusing on serving the residents, caring for residents, and let the outcome of votes take care of itself.”
In the wake of their defeat in East Coast GRC, the WP team made their rounds around the ward onboard a lorry, and thanked their supporters. They were joined by Fengshan SMC’s candidate Dennis Tan, who secured 42.48 per cent of the vote share.
Speaking over a loud hailer, Dr Goh told residents: “Thank you for your support and warmth for the Workers’ Party. We will continue to be your voice in Parliament... We will be back.”
