GRCs are meant to longbang new birds into parliament
Been pretty sick the past couple of days/weeks, and thought that I was getting delirious when I saw this article.-----------------------------------------------
27 June 2006
Straits Times
GRCs make it easier to find top talent: SM
Without good chance of winning at polls, they might not be willing to risk careers for politics
By Li Xueying
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong yesterday gave a new take on the role of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) in Singapore politics. Their role is not just to ensure minorities are adequately represented in Parliament, he said. They also contribute to Singapore's political stability, by 'helping us to recruit younger and capable candidates with the potential to become ministers'.
'Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join po
litics,' Mr Goh said at an event marking the appointment of members to the South East Community Development Council (CDC).
'Why should they when they are on the way up in the civil service, the SAF, and in the professions or the corporate world?'
But he was quick to add that GRCs themselves do not guarantee victory.
'A minister wins only because he has won the people's trust and the Government has delivered good results for the people. If a minister performed poorly, it could result in his losing the GRC to an opposing team with a strong leader,' he said, in what appears to be an oblique reference to comments made against GRCs in the general election held this May.
Since GRCs were introduced in 1988, critics and the opposition have attacked them, saying they allow rookie People's Action Party (PAP) candidates to get into Parliament on the coat tails of heavyweight candidates in their team.
Also, they do not lend themselves to a level playing field, they add, as the opposition struggles to find the specified minority-race candidates.
Mr Goh carried four new faces into Parliament in the six-man Marine Parade GRC team, which was unchallenged at the 2006 polls.
Altogether, the PAP had 24 new faces. One was Mr Teo Ser Luck, former general manager of courier company DHL and now Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports).
He acknowledges that for a rookie politician, being part of a team ensures that 'you have a bigger chance of winning'.
'If you're fighting individually, you go through a steep learning curve and you may not have enough time,' he added.
East Coast GRC MP Lee Yi Shyan, who left his job as chief executive officer of IE Singapore and is today Minister of State (Trade and Industry), concurred 'If the system can remove as many impediments as possible, then the political system will be able to get more people to join.'
But both told The Straits Times they would have entered politics even if they had been fielded in a single-seat ward. Said Mr Lee with a laugh 'You could say that I'm more confident of myself!'
[truncated]
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Basically, what out dear SM has done, is admitting what the general public has known for years, what the PAP have publically denied time and again, on the REAL purpose of GRCs. After years of complains by oppositions duly shot down time and again, I wonder what made out SM came out and say this, especially now when there is no pressure from the opposition. In fact, SM Goh has been making quite a few comments that are unlike what you normally hear from PAP members, such as encouraging Potong Pasir and Hougang to apply for the funds that were promised to the opposition held wards by the PAP candidates, or his initial comments on the James Gomez affair. Miscommunication within the party? hmm....
It would be wishful thinking, but I was wondering, could it be that even SM Goh have had enough of the unfairness and opaqueness of our 'first class government'? He did herald an era of change that was a departure from the way of governing of MM Lee, was well-liked by most if not all singaporeans, maybe he had felt that there is a *gasp* need for the public to know?
Another logical reason I can think of, is that the PAP has simply gotten to the point that they are simply too arrogant to think that they can do anything wrong, and is not afraid to do or admit anything because they feel that it is not wrong for them to do so. It doesn't matter what the international community says, its 'our domestic issues' as they're bound to say. Local opinion matters even lesser as since when are we ever heard in the first place? Just sue whoever that has become abit too noisy for their liking, sure win anyway. (wonder if they'll admit to that anytime soon, we all know that already anyway so there's nothing to hide here)
The only voice they hear is their own, and surely, that is not healthy for the state of affairs to be??
posted by Nutcracker @ 10:00 pm
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