<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>What Jurong residents want: Two MPs, two different conclusions
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->BOTH spoke to Jurong GRC residents.
But Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) and Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong came away with very different conclusions.
Madam Halimah said grassroots leaders and residents in Bukit Batok were satisfied with the arrangements that fellow MPs in the GRC made to look after the ward after the sudden death of MP Ong Chit Chung last month.
But Mr Siew, who presented results of a street poll he helped conduct, said residents in the group representation constituency wanted a by-election.
Both spoke during the debate on the motion to fine-tune the Parliamentary Elections Act to provide for a by-election under certain circumstances.
Madam Halimah explained how the remaining four Jurong GRC MPs were taking turns to cover Dr Ong's duties. To date, they have attended over 15 activities in Bukit Batok and handled five Meet-the-People Sessions. Just last week, Madam Halimah went on house-to-house visits there.
At no point, she said, did residents or grassroots leaders even broach the subject of a by-election: 'They raised the usual local or municipal issues but none raised any concern or discomfort at the existing arrangement that we had worked out.'
Their response was 'a great assurance' to her, she said. 'They gave us a strong mandate at the last General Election and knew we would honour and respect that mandate even after the demise of one MP.'
The PAP team won 79.8 per cent of the votes in 2001, and had a walkover in 2006.
On Mr Siew's part, he said he helped The Online Citizen (TOC), which runs a current affairs website, conduct a street poll in the GRC last Saturday.
The detailed results were put up on the website yesterday.
They polled 478 people, of whom 312 were residents and 166 non-residents.
Of the total, 214 or 44.8 per cent wanted a by-election held.
A further 142 or 29.7 per cent disagreed with the need to hold one, while the rest (25.5 per cent) responded with a 'don't know'.
Mr Siew removed the third group from the base figure when he calculated the proportion of those wanting a by-election.
He said: 'Putting aside all those respondents who did not have an opinion - and I must say this was a disturbingly high number - the majority of Singaporeans and the majority of Jurong GRC residents felt a by-election should be held.
Another interesting figure emerged from the full results online.
While about five in 10 non-residents wanted a by-election, only four in 10 Jurong GRC residents - those who would get to vote there - wanted it.
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->BOTH spoke to Jurong GRC residents.
But Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) and Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong came away with very different conclusions.
Madam Halimah said grassroots leaders and residents in Bukit Batok were satisfied with the arrangements that fellow MPs in the GRC made to look after the ward after the sudden death of MP Ong Chit Chung last month.
But Mr Siew, who presented results of a street poll he helped conduct, said residents in the group representation constituency wanted a by-election.
Both spoke during the debate on the motion to fine-tune the Parliamentary Elections Act to provide for a by-election under certain circumstances.
Madam Halimah explained how the remaining four Jurong GRC MPs were taking turns to cover Dr Ong's duties. To date, they have attended over 15 activities in Bukit Batok and handled five Meet-the-People Sessions. Just last week, Madam Halimah went on house-to-house visits there.
At no point, she said, did residents or grassroots leaders even broach the subject of a by-election: 'They raised the usual local or municipal issues but none raised any concern or discomfort at the existing arrangement that we had worked out.'
Their response was 'a great assurance' to her, she said. 'They gave us a strong mandate at the last General Election and knew we would honour and respect that mandate even after the demise of one MP.'
The PAP team won 79.8 per cent of the votes in 2001, and had a walkover in 2006.
On Mr Siew's part, he said he helped The Online Citizen (TOC), which runs a current affairs website, conduct a street poll in the GRC last Saturday.
The detailed results were put up on the website yesterday.
They polled 478 people, of whom 312 were residents and 166 non-residents.
Of the total, 214 or 44.8 per cent wanted a by-election held.
A further 142 or 29.7 per cent disagreed with the need to hold one, while the rest (25.5 per cent) responded with a 'don't know'.
Mr Siew removed the third group from the base figure when he calculated the proportion of those wanting a by-election.
He said: 'Putting aside all those respondents who did not have an opinion - and I must say this was a disturbingly high number - the majority of Singaporeans and the majority of Jurong GRC residents felt a by-election should be held.
Another interesting figure emerged from the full results online.
While about five in 10 non-residents wanted a by-election, only four in 10 Jurong GRC residents - those who would get to vote there - wanted it.
JEREMY AU YONG <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><SCRIPT language=javascript> addRatingPortion() </SCRIPT>
