Workers’ Party hangs on to Aljunied, pledges to do better
SINGAPORE — One of the first signs of what was to come in the battle for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) — the last result of the night, coming at 3.11am — emerged at Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School four and a half hours earlier.
Workers’ Party incumbent Chen Show Mao and Mr K Muralidharan Pillai of the People’s Action Party had gone to the counting centre there for the second time, and when the PAP man came out, he told reporters: “We’re in for a long night.”
So it proved. In the closest result of the night, and after a recount initiated by the PAP’s Aljunied team — the only one in this General Election and one fewer than in 2011 — the WP held on to its prized GRC by just over 2,600 votes.
The contest brought out the gamut of emotions from the candidates, especially the WP team. They were all smiles when they began visiting the counting centres after polls closed at 8pm; by the end of the night, WP chairman Sylvia Lim’s eyes were puffy and red.
Around 9.30pm, at the Damai Secondary School counting centre, WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang gave little away with his “okay” in reply to reporters’ queries.
Among the PAP team as they visited the counting centres, Mr Victor Lye smiled at the media and said: “We’re always hopeful.”
Then it became clear it was going to go down to the wire. And close to midnight, the sample results were announced: 52 per cent for the WP, 48 per cent for the PAP.
Talk of a recount swirled around Hougang Stadium, the assembly centre for WP supporters, where the crowd started to build up by 8pm. Party members were visibly edgy, having just heard news of the loss of Punggol East SMC.
At around 2am, the first of their Aljunied candidates arrived. Mr Pritam Singh was followed shortly by Mr Chen and, within minutes after him, the rest of the team.
Mr Low kept a firm if not tense smile as he watched the broadcast of the results for other constituencies. And when the Aljunied result was confirmed — a win for his team with 50.95 per cent of the votes — they finally broke into wide smiles.
After addressing supporters, Mr Low spoke to media and gave his take on the slide of 3.8 percentage points from GE2011.
Asked what the results said about residents’ trust in the WP team, he replied: “I think residents trust us to manage the town and we’ll continue to do so. We would want to do better if we can, and we certainly will try to do better to serve the residents.”
Ms Lim thanked voters for re-electing them: “You’ve given us your mandate to represent you; we’ll do our best to live up to the trust you’ve placed in us.”
To the voters who did not support them, she said: “We respect your votes. We pledge to work with everyone and hope to earn to earn your support in the coming term.”
Mr Chen, who spoke in Mandarin, assured supporters that the WP will do its best to give residents a “confident future and one that can be more positive”.
He added: “We’ll reflect on the election outcome and hope that in the near future, we can win a more absolute trust from you.”
From the PAP team, over at Toa Payoh Stadium, Mr Murali said: “For the people of Aljunied, thank you very much for giving us the opportunity, for considering our case.”
Added Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, who had been redeployed from Ang Mo Kio GRC to help wrest back Aljunied: “It’s time for us to reflect and review.”
Later, Mr Lye posted on Facebook: “The voters of Aljunied have decided. I wish to thank all our volunteers who have walked the distance with me. I appreciate your unwavering support as we rebuilt the ground in 2012.
“We have kept faith with our people. Our hearts are in the right place. We are mindful of the 49 per cent who voted for us, and will stay connected. Our ground work continues. Have a good rest, and we look forward to another day.”
