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Chitchat Durian Trips and Facebook and the effectiveness of the PAP

scroobal

Alfrescian
Loyal
Forummer "Satyr" mentioned this in another thread.

Are we getting value from this government if much time is spent mollycoddling the elderly for their votes by going on such trips. I am not sure who started this to secure the votes but it is done even by some opposition parties and in a big way. Low and Chiam did it as well. It seems to be growing bigger and bigger. 20 buses led by a cabinet minister with banners. And its not just the road trips. Many of the MPs have been going on overseas trips with residents and grassroots leaders to places such as China. Some of it is paid by PA. Seriously how many hours are there in a day with quality in public duties suffering.

Then we have the PAP and their love for the Facebook. The sacking of MP David Ong was first posted by the PM on the FB. He also seemed to be conducting much of his public awareness business on FB. His wife is doing the same. Shanmugam is probably the most prolific from the early years with video clips and parliamentary progress reported on FB. I am aware they have minders who administer their account but one can tell that many of the posts are indeed from them or drafted by them.

If the Old Man spent time on durian trips and FB, I am sure he would not have been effective, the place would be crawling with rats, the trains breaking down, major canals would not have been constructed to alleviate floods, dengue and food poisoning would be making the news more frequently. He would also have died a lot of earlier.
 

gatehousethetinkertailor

Alfrescian
Loyal
It is interesting that the preferred platform is Facebook, no doubt driven by the active number of FB users and the ease at which the brigade can be deployed to fend off naysayers.

In other jurisdictions, it is Twitter. Revolution by hashtag and Governance by hashtag. You could deploy the brigade to act as trolls but the word limit makes it much harder to have decisive disruptive impact.

If the populace move on to Twitter (which appears unlikely), it will be a much harder battle to win hearts and minds.
 

scroobal

Alfrescian
Loyal
Great point. Did not notice the difference in paradigm until your post. The way Shanumgam report gaffes of the opposition in Parliament in FB can only work in FB. There is no context and you can slant it as well as remove adverse comments against not giving the full and true picture.

On a non-politcal angle, got snowbound at Heathrow and the only decent and timely updates was thru Twitter.

It is interesting that the preferred platform is Facebook, no doubt driven by the active number of FB users and the ease at which the brigade can be deployed to fend off naysayers.

In other jurisdictions, it is Twitter. Revolution by hashtag and Governance by hashtag. You could deploy the brigade to act as trolls but the word limit makes it much harder to have decisive disruptive impact.

If the populace move on to Twitter (which appears unlikely), it will be a much harder battle to win hearts and minds.
 

3_M

Alfrescian
Loyal
A very sizable portion of our voters are apolitical and tend to vote along the line of personality and familiarity rather than on current affairs and policies. The way to win their hearts is not through policy debate but building rapport. Durian trip is a very effective way to reach out to this group of voters.

Traditionally , this group of apolitical voters has always been pap supporters due to oppositions lack of grassroots outreach and pap is very wary of letting opposition gain a foothold here. This can be seen right after WP won aj grc, pap immediately transferred all essential facilities in the town to be placed under the purview of PA so as to cripple WP ability to reach out to this group of voters.

Durian trips though might seem like a waste of time and irrelevant to the more politically engaged opposition voters, but it absolutely essential because it enable WP to erode directly into pap support base. I personally think if not for those durian trips, WP might might not retained aj grc during GE 15.
 

scroobal

Alfrescian
Loyal
Agree on the apolitical lot. It has to be something of interest. I don't think anyone is arguing that it is not effective. The fact that a cabinet minister is leading 20 buses into Johor says it all. The point is that both sides are doing it and it has more or less has be be neutralised as an advantage by now. I also understand that no party can now withdraw the durian trips without facing an adverse outcome.

My guess is that the PAP has also run out of ideas and have scummed to durian trips. The country suffers when already overpaid ministers and MPs spend their time on municipal matters rather than on the national agenda.

The second point would be that capable individuals who do not need the money will move away from Politics if they have to spend time on such activities and municipal matters than engage in the national agenda. Frankly TC should remain with HDB and not with the MPs. Again PAP killing the country with this sort of pettiness to cripple the opposition.

Fully aware that PAP plays dirty. Also aware that opposition parties are at great disadvantage because of it. This sorry state falls squarely on the PAP as they are in control and should not turn residents into basket cases.

A very sizable portion of our voters are apolitical and tend to vote along the line of personality and familiarity rather than on current affairs and policies. The way to win their hearts is not through policy debate but building rapport. Durian trip is a very effective way to reach out to this group of voters.

Traditionally , this group of apolitical voters has always been pap supporters due to oppositions lack of grassroots outreach and pap is very way of letting opposition gain a foothold here. This can be seen right after WP won aj grc, pap immediately transferred all essential facilities in the town to be placed under the purview of PA so as to cripple WP ability to reach out to this group of voters.

Durian trips though might seem like a waste of time and irrelevant to the more politically engaged opposition voters, but it absolutely essential because it enable WP to erode directly into pap support base. I personally think if not for those durian trips, WP might might not retained aj grc during GE 15.
 

aurvandil

Alfrescian
Loyal
The ones enjoying this the most are the PA staff. Unlike the grassroot leaders, their trips are fully funded complete with per diem allowances on top of their regular pay for overseas travel. Where else can you get a job that pays you extra on top on your already handsome salary to take regular overseas holidays? And if it is with full Ministers, you even get accorded VIP status and treatment !

But if you speak with any of them, most will tell you a tale of woe of how much they are "suffering" because they have to travel so often.

If the Old Man spent time on durian trips and FB, I am sure he would not have been effective, the place would be crawling with rats, the trains breaking down, major canals would not have been constructed to alleviate floods, dengue and food poisoning would be making the news more frequently. He would also have died a lot of earlier.
 

scroobal

Alfrescian
Loyal
Yes, agree. I think about a decade back, papers were put up to push their salaries and scale similar to what NTUC did and to match the civil service. They then began recruiting fresh grads even engineering grads for management positions. Lots of family connections. Everyone of them know exactly what they are there for.

The ones enjoying this the most are the PA staff. Unlike the grassroot leaders, their trips are fully funded complete with per diem allowances on top of their regular pay for overseas travel. Where else can you get a job that pays you extra on top on your already handsome salary to take regular overseas holidays? And if it is with full Ministers, you even get accorded VIP status and treatment !

But if you speak with any of them, most will tell you a tale of woe of how much they are "suffering" because they have to travel so often.
 

zhihau

Super Moderator
SuperMod
Asset
Yes, agree. I think about a decade back, papers were put up to push their salaries and scale similar to what NTUC did and to match the civil service. They then began recruiting fresh grads even engineering grads for management positions. Lots of family connections. Everyone of them know exactly what they are there for.

Dafug?! Where can I get the registration forms? :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 

Papsmearer

Alfrescian (InfP) - Comp
Generous Asset
Agree on the apolitical lot. It has to be something of interest. I don't think anyone is arguing that it is not effective. The fact that a cabinet minister is leading 20 buses into Johor says it all. The point is that both sides are doing it and it has more or less has be be neutralised as an advantage by now. I also understand that no party can now withdraw the durian trips without facing an adverse outcome.

My guess is that the PAP has also run out of ideas and have scummed to durian trips. The country suffers when already overpaid ministers and MPs spend their time on municipal matters rather than on the national agenda.

The second point would be that capable individuals who do not need the money will move away from Politics if they have to spend time on such activities and municipal matters than engage in the national agenda. Frankly TC should remain with HDB and not with the MPs. Again PAP killing the country with this sort of pettiness to cripple the opposition.

Fully aware that PAP plays dirty. Also aware that opposition parties are at great disadvantage because of it. This sorry state falls squarely on the PAP as they are in control and should not turn residents into basket cases.

I think you are not understanding the way it works here. Most of the SAF ex-scholar General ministers have no real job in their ministries. Let's face it, what does Tan CJ know about Social and Family development. he had spend his entire career in the army save the for the last 5 years when he retired in 2011. He is obviously a figure head at the Ministry. the real work is done by the professional civil servants that have been running the ministry thru all the political appointments. Also, when it comes to TC matters, the same can be said too. He has a staff at the constituency as well as fellow non Minister MPs that take care of the running of the TC and his office. Therefore, in effect, he has nothing to do, and as such is free to go on durian trips and whatever inane activities are planned for him.

The real ministers that actually do work are those that were trained in the field that their Ministries are in. Such as Shan in Law (by virtue of his law training) and Tharm when he was in Finance, by virtue of his ex job as Chief of MAS. Even Gay Loong cannot be said to be a real functioning PM by virtue of his army background and the fact that he has a plethora of ministers in his PMO as well as deputy PM, Perm Secs, etc helping him.
 
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