ELSON: It’s refreshing to hear the private thoughts of PAP ministers and MPs outside of the feel-good balderdash that they preach in front of the cameras.
We are reminded that at the heart of the PAP machine is still the elitist “natural aristocracy” mindset, which has persisted for at least 16 years if not more than that.
In parliament, the Workers’ Party’s Jamus Lim was calling for the establishment of an official poverty line, so that the government can offer more appropriate and adequate aid to poor Singaporeans.
Jamus was cussed at for being a “f*cking populist” by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, who has since said that those mutterings into a hot mic were his private thoughts.
To think that Tan was once Minister for Social and Family Development.
Is it wrong for MPs to ask for more assistance for the poor?
Maybe in an echo chamber reeking of elitism.
PSP NCMP Leong Mun Wai has probably gotten under the skin of a lot of PAP ministers and MPs.
They might even see him as a rottweiler – a dog that once it latches on will not give up its bite.
From more affordable housing solutions, to job security when competing with immigrant labour, Mr Leong has consistently championed the need for protection of Singapore workers, and needy Singaporeans.
He gets called an “illiterate” from a “lousy school” by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
The same Dr Vivian who happily resides in a state-owned colonial bungalow occupying a huge plot of land, while most Singaporeans struggle to afford a pigeonhole HDB flat.
The same Dr Vivian who so condescendingly replied to a parliamentary question on whether S$60 more a month in welfare assistance can be given to needy Singaporeans with the now infamous line:
“Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurants?”
That was back in 2007.
At least the PAP is a consistent party – its leaders still mock those who exhibit some sense of compassion for the needy.
You have to wonder what else the PAP leaders say in private, when they talk about “Our Lives, Our Jobs, Our Future”.
