PAP, WP send last-minute letters to Aljunied, Punggol East residents
SINGAPORE — Residents in Aljunied and Punggol East have received a last-minute flurry of flyers and newsletters from the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) candidates contesting in the constituencies as well as from their own town council.
In the case of the PAP’s Aljunied team, they made a “final plea” for voters to bring the ruling party back to the Group Representation Constituency.
The letter from the five-member team of Mr Victor Lye, Mr K Muralidharan Pillai, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mr Shamsul Kamar Mohd Razali and Mr Chua Eng Leong listed the reasons that residents should vote for them.
It stated, for example, that the party has been serving the constituency for many years. “We have remained in Aljunied despite encountering challenges. We have not abandoned you,” the letter said.
In a separate letter addressed to residents of Bedok Reservoir Road, Mr Lye said there “have been no significant improvement” in the estate and that standards of cleanliness have dropped as well.
There is a limit to what the PAP team can do, however, without being elected, he added. “We have been homeless, but still serving you for the past four years. It is time to bring us home. Vote for our PAP team to serve you better in Aljunied,” said Mr Lye.
Meanwhile, the Workers’ Party-run (WP) Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) distributed a newsletter, including a “second open letter”, to residents yesterday, on the last day of the hustings.
The letter, which was written by AHPETC chairperson Sylvia Lim, covered issues such as related-party transactions with the town council as well as its financial position.
Ms Lim said there was “never any conflict of interest” between the WP or its elected Members of Parliament and the town council’s former managing agent, FM Solutions and Services (FMSS). She also said the accusations that the couple who owned FMSS could “freely sign payments” to themselves were “not true”.
The AHPETC newsletter also listed upgrading projects on playground and fitness stations, as well as ongoing repair and redecoration work.
At Punggol East, PAP candidate Charles Chong sent a letter, dated Sept 8, that detailed how he would help residents with regard to the town council’s issues, and claimed that S$22.5 million which was transferred to AHPETC is “now unaccounted for”.
“I would like Punggol East to get out of this mess,” he wrote. “If elected, Punggol East will be extracted from the uncertainty facing it in AHPETC. I will sort out the town council’s accounts and I will improve on estate maintenance and enhancement projects.”
This drew a sharp retort from AHPETC vice-chairman Png Eng Huat, who called it a “malicious attempt at discrediting the Workers’ Party” in a statement on the AHPETC website. The AHPETC also included a link to an earlier release showing how the transfer was clearly accounted for.
Yesterday, Mr Chong also issued a statement on an earlier comment that Punggol East Town Council had a S$1 million surplus when it was handed over to the WP.
Mr Chong said that during his interview with Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao, he was “clearly” referring to the accounts of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, not Punggol East Town Council, which did not exist. The Punggol East single-seat ward was managed by Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council before the WP won it in a by-election in 2013.
The PAP has earlier in the campaign sent newsletters to residents of the WP’s wards. Former Cabinet minister Lim Boon Heng, who is advising the PAP’s Aljunied team, had written to voters about electing the “multiskilled” team to get the town council “back to health”.
He said the WP team had “inherited a strong institution” from the PAP. “But, instead of building on it, they punctured a hole in its finances and led you into this tight spot,” he charged. Amanda Lee
