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PM rebuts WP claims on Malay progress
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday rebutted the claims of a Workers' Party (WP) candidate that the Malay community risked jeopardising its own progress if it continued to vote for the People's Action Party (PAP).
He said a look at statistics of Malays who pass their O- and A-level examinations, and graduates with a university degree, will show many more Malays are doing better, he said at a media conference.
'You can see in the economy, in the society, Malays rising in many careers, doing well in their jobs and succeeding on their own merits,' he added.
Mr Pritam Singh, a WP candidate in Aljunied GRC, had slammed Mendaki at a Sunday rally, saying that the self-help group was not doing enough to help Malay students academically.
He said just over 1 per cent of Malay students were awarded Public Service Commission scholarships between 2002 and last year, and that a fresh approach was needed.
Mr Lee retorted: 'Well, I don't know whether he has spent a lot of time working on this problem, as Mendaki has, for him to come along and make such a criticism.
'I think a lot of work has been done.'
Besides referring to the growing number of Malays doing well academically, the Prime Minister also highlighted the increase in the number and quality of Malay MPs who 'not only address Malay issues but address national issues as well'.
'So I think we have made a lot of progress,' Mr Lee said.
He was not surprised at Mr Singh's comments, saying: 'I will not expect an opposition MP who wants to collect Malay votes to say anything different from what Pritam Singh said.'
Mr Singh is part of the five-member WP 'A' team led by party chief Low Thia Khiang contesting in Aljunied GRC.
The contest in the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) is expected to be the fiercest in this election.
In the 2006 elections, Mr Low had openly acknowledged that his party lost Aljunied GRC because it failed to secure enough Malay votes.
The PAP team won with 56.1 per cent of the valid votes, the narrowest margin among the GRCs in the 2006 polls.
In this election, Aljunied GRC has at least two wards with a relatively higher proportion of Malay residents.
One is the new Kaki Bukit ward, formerly in Marine Parade GRC, which has 24 per cent of Malays compared with the national average of 14 per cent.
In Eunos, helmed by Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, 20 per cent are Malays.
TEO WAN GEK
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday rebutted the claims of a Workers' Party (WP) candidate that the Malay community risked jeopardising its own progress if it continued to vote for the People's Action Party (PAP).
He said a look at statistics of Malays who pass their O- and A-level examinations, and graduates with a university degree, will show many more Malays are doing better, he said at a media conference.
'You can see in the economy, in the society, Malays rising in many careers, doing well in their jobs and succeeding on their own merits,' he added.
Mr Pritam Singh, a WP candidate in Aljunied GRC, had slammed Mendaki at a Sunday rally, saying that the self-help group was not doing enough to help Malay students academically.
He said just over 1 per cent of Malay students were awarded Public Service Commission scholarships between 2002 and last year, and that a fresh approach was needed.
Mr Lee retorted: 'Well, I don't know whether he has spent a lot of time working on this problem, as Mendaki has, for him to come along and make such a criticism.
'I think a lot of work has been done.'
Besides referring to the growing number of Malays doing well academically, the Prime Minister also highlighted the increase in the number and quality of Malay MPs who 'not only address Malay issues but address national issues as well'.
'So I think we have made a lot of progress,' Mr Lee said.
He was not surprised at Mr Singh's comments, saying: 'I will not expect an opposition MP who wants to collect Malay votes to say anything different from what Pritam Singh said.'
Mr Singh is part of the five-member WP 'A' team led by party chief Low Thia Khiang contesting in Aljunied GRC.
The contest in the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) is expected to be the fiercest in this election.
In the 2006 elections, Mr Low had openly acknowledged that his party lost Aljunied GRC because it failed to secure enough Malay votes.
The PAP team won with 56.1 per cent of the valid votes, the narrowest margin among the GRCs in the 2006 polls.
In this election, Aljunied GRC has at least two wards with a relatively higher proportion of Malay residents.
One is the new Kaki Bukit ward, formerly in Marine Parade GRC, which has 24 per cent of Malays compared with the national average of 14 per cent.
In Eunos, helmed by Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, 20 per cent are Malays.
TEO WAN GEK
