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- Jul 21, 2010
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It all started in Jan when CST said that he would be "abandoning" Potong Pasir to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh (BTP). Not a whimper was heard from SDP then.
Then KJ joined CST’s walkabouts twice in Apr 10. Still SDP maintained its stony but uncharacteristic silence.
Only when CST recently announced that he might consider contesting Hong Kah instead did SDP see the opportunity to quietly slip back into BTP, after a whole year of absence.
SDP now claims that it “has been working in the constituency for the past few years”. It boldly added that it “will continue to work in the GRC and is finalising plans for the coming contest”.
However, KJ had pre-empted SDP’s move and reiterated: "No decision has been made yet as to where we'll field the joint teams, so Bishan-Toa Payoh is still in the mix and a possibility, but it gives us flexibility."
That was when Alex Tan, the SPP adherent jumped in and berated SDP on its website, his own FB and on the FB group “Vote for change, Vote PAP out”.
He jumped the gun and demanded that SDP retract the statement that it will continue to work in BTP. The fact is that the Elections Dept has yet to publish the electoral boundaries and CST and KJ have not confirmed where they would be contesting.
Alex’s faux-pas and his proclivity for childish exaggeration aside, it is fascinating to hear what he genuinely had to say about SDP over the past two days. Of course, quite a bit has to be discounted as his emotionally juvenile outburst.
It should be noted that Alex has since gone into damage-control mode. He is claiming, very clumsily, that his “full fledged attack” on SDP was a fake.
It was meant as a “trial to test who are the ones with the capability to counter anti-SDP measures effectively”. It was also to “test to know who are the Opposition supporters who dislike the SDP”.
Since it sounds so amateurish, it is hard to imagine that even he thinks others would believe this ridiculous cover-up story.
In fact, he contradicted his storyline because he went on to repeat all the accusations about SDP on its website. Why would SDP supporters need to be tested whether they dislike SDP? And, of all people, by a fervent supporter from SPP.... the arch-enemy of SDP.
The contradiction is also affirmed by the fact that he is apologizing to SDP for his “seemingly-mindless machine gun fire”. Still, the way he has phrased it sounds so insincere.
It appears as if some Opposition “elder” had just given him a tongue-lashing and told him to kowtow to SDP. He is reluctantly doing so.
Anyway, leaving aside his clumsy theatrical and half-baked apology, it is educational to hear what a member of the Opposition (Alex) has to say about another Opposition party (SDP).
Note that I have taken the liberty to “censor” the more ludicrous things that he said, of which there was much. I have also taken the liberty to summarise what he has said. (Note: I have retained the raw text of what he said, in case there are any disputes or that he deletes the posts.)
So here goes:
Firstly, Alex accuses SDP of advocating blind democracy and acting as blind opposition against the ruling party. He cites his friends, relatives, ex-secondary schoolmates and co-workers in Toa Payoh as saying that SDP are “troublemakers who only protests and get themselves arrested over some stupid protests”.
As a result, he says that the average Singaporeans “siam” from SDP. They do so to avoid having to “lim kopi” for getting caught in a "procession" with them. (note: “lim kopi” is understood to mean having to pay a visit to ISD)
He states that SDP’s current plight is caused by their own run-ins with the Police and law, eg. defamation and protests. SDP members pride themselves in being martyrs and feel honored for being jailbirds, he says.
Surprising, Alex warns against the conduct of “dangerous and economically-hurting strikes and demonstrations”. He says that “to blindly defy the PAP with no recognition for their past works is equivalent to suicide”.
Alex believes that as a result of its frequent brush with the law, SDP does not “look any credible, mature or reliable at all”. By saying that credible Opposition parties provide constructive criticisms and viable solutions, he implies that SDP does not do so. In fact, he accuses SDP of being out of touch with Singaporeans. It is “a thing of the past.... irrelevant and unrealistic to Singapore's development”.
Despite having members with PhDs, he characterises the party as being so “childish, immature and self-centered”. It resembles a spoiled child and can't discipline itself.
He humorously analogises SDP's reputation to toilet paper - easily torn and destroyed. It reputation is suffering not because of the MSM mainstream unfair, but mainly because “it is not bright enough to use them selectively”.
He feels that SDP’s chances of winning a GRC single-handedly is zero. He said that SDP needs to grow up and stop blaming the world for its lack of growth and of electoral results.
Alex cites the example of CST having won at five GEs whilst CSJ has nothing to show. The latter just continues protesting.
Specifically, he says that SDP are always the worst performers in every election. Specifically, it screwed up the GE in 2001 and 2006.
There were no 3-cornered fights in 2006 because WP gave up Sembawang to SDP, he says. Despite this, SDP did so badly, it lost its electoral deposits. In this sense, SDP squandered WP's chances. He goes on further to say that SDP is bent on spoiling other parties' chances of winning.
Lastly, it blames SDP for making the term “Opposition” rotten. Many Opposition parties avoid SDP like the plague. As such, he calls for SDP to dissolve itself so as to stop ruining the term "Opposition".
Although Alex is prone to exaggeration, it is enlightening to hear from him. Usually Opposition supporters have a “gentlemen’s agreement” not to criticise each other’s parties. Self-censorship and restraint is self-imposed, in the name of Opposition unity.
But under the circumstances such as these when they get disgruntled, the truth pours forth.
In a sense, we can call it friendly fire. But SDP can also be thankful that it can receive some frank feedback about itself based on how representatives from its fellow Opposition parties perceive it.
For having contributed to this valuable feedback, those netizens who called Alex naive, simplistic and myopic are wrong - even though in person, he is naive, simplistic and myopic.
Based on his make-up story that he was testing his fellow Opposition supporters, Alex told a netizen that he(Alex) knew he couldn’t help feeling punk'd.
In reality, Alex has just punk’d the entire Opposition..... and himself.
by Bryan Ti
Then KJ joined CST’s walkabouts twice in Apr 10. Still SDP maintained its stony but uncharacteristic silence.
Only when CST recently announced that he might consider contesting Hong Kah instead did SDP see the opportunity to quietly slip back into BTP, after a whole year of absence.
SDP now claims that it “has been working in the constituency for the past few years”. It boldly added that it “will continue to work in the GRC and is finalising plans for the coming contest”.
However, KJ had pre-empted SDP’s move and reiterated: "No decision has been made yet as to where we'll field the joint teams, so Bishan-Toa Payoh is still in the mix and a possibility, but it gives us flexibility."
That was when Alex Tan, the SPP adherent jumped in and berated SDP on its website, his own FB and on the FB group “Vote for change, Vote PAP out”.
He jumped the gun and demanded that SDP retract the statement that it will continue to work in BTP. The fact is that the Elections Dept has yet to publish the electoral boundaries and CST and KJ have not confirmed where they would be contesting.
Alex’s faux-pas and his proclivity for childish exaggeration aside, it is fascinating to hear what he genuinely had to say about SDP over the past two days. Of course, quite a bit has to be discounted as his emotionally juvenile outburst.
It should be noted that Alex has since gone into damage-control mode. He is claiming, very clumsily, that his “full fledged attack” on SDP was a fake.
It was meant as a “trial to test who are the ones with the capability to counter anti-SDP measures effectively”. It was also to “test to know who are the Opposition supporters who dislike the SDP”.
Since it sounds so amateurish, it is hard to imagine that even he thinks others would believe this ridiculous cover-up story.
In fact, he contradicted his storyline because he went on to repeat all the accusations about SDP on its website. Why would SDP supporters need to be tested whether they dislike SDP? And, of all people, by a fervent supporter from SPP.... the arch-enemy of SDP.
The contradiction is also affirmed by the fact that he is apologizing to SDP for his “seemingly-mindless machine gun fire”. Still, the way he has phrased it sounds so insincere.
It appears as if some Opposition “elder” had just given him a tongue-lashing and told him to kowtow to SDP. He is reluctantly doing so.
Anyway, leaving aside his clumsy theatrical and half-baked apology, it is educational to hear what a member of the Opposition (Alex) has to say about another Opposition party (SDP).
Note that I have taken the liberty to “censor” the more ludicrous things that he said, of which there was much. I have also taken the liberty to summarise what he has said. (Note: I have retained the raw text of what he said, in case there are any disputes or that he deletes the posts.)
So here goes:
Firstly, Alex accuses SDP of advocating blind democracy and acting as blind opposition against the ruling party. He cites his friends, relatives, ex-secondary schoolmates and co-workers in Toa Payoh as saying that SDP are “troublemakers who only protests and get themselves arrested over some stupid protests”.
As a result, he says that the average Singaporeans “siam” from SDP. They do so to avoid having to “lim kopi” for getting caught in a "procession" with them. (note: “lim kopi” is understood to mean having to pay a visit to ISD)
He states that SDP’s current plight is caused by their own run-ins with the Police and law, eg. defamation and protests. SDP members pride themselves in being martyrs and feel honored for being jailbirds, he says.
Surprising, Alex warns against the conduct of “dangerous and economically-hurting strikes and demonstrations”. He says that “to blindly defy the PAP with no recognition for their past works is equivalent to suicide”.
Alex believes that as a result of its frequent brush with the law, SDP does not “look any credible, mature or reliable at all”. By saying that credible Opposition parties provide constructive criticisms and viable solutions, he implies that SDP does not do so. In fact, he accuses SDP of being out of touch with Singaporeans. It is “a thing of the past.... irrelevant and unrealistic to Singapore's development”.
Despite having members with PhDs, he characterises the party as being so “childish, immature and self-centered”. It resembles a spoiled child and can't discipline itself.
He humorously analogises SDP's reputation to toilet paper - easily torn and destroyed. It reputation is suffering not because of the MSM mainstream unfair, but mainly because “it is not bright enough to use them selectively”.
He feels that SDP’s chances of winning a GRC single-handedly is zero. He said that SDP needs to grow up and stop blaming the world for its lack of growth and of electoral results.
Alex cites the example of CST having won at five GEs whilst CSJ has nothing to show. The latter just continues protesting.
Specifically, he says that SDP are always the worst performers in every election. Specifically, it screwed up the GE in 2001 and 2006.
There were no 3-cornered fights in 2006 because WP gave up Sembawang to SDP, he says. Despite this, SDP did so badly, it lost its electoral deposits. In this sense, SDP squandered WP's chances. He goes on further to say that SDP is bent on spoiling other parties' chances of winning.
Lastly, it blames SDP for making the term “Opposition” rotten. Many Opposition parties avoid SDP like the plague. As such, he calls for SDP to dissolve itself so as to stop ruining the term "Opposition".
Although Alex is prone to exaggeration, it is enlightening to hear from him. Usually Opposition supporters have a “gentlemen’s agreement” not to criticise each other’s parties. Self-censorship and restraint is self-imposed, in the name of Opposition unity.
But under the circumstances such as these when they get disgruntled, the truth pours forth.
In a sense, we can call it friendly fire. But SDP can also be thankful that it can receive some frank feedback about itself based on how representatives from its fellow Opposition parties perceive it.
For having contributed to this valuable feedback, those netizens who called Alex naive, simplistic and myopic are wrong - even though in person, he is naive, simplistic and myopic.
Based on his make-up story that he was testing his fellow Opposition supporters, Alex told a netizen that he(Alex) knew he couldn’t help feeling punk'd.
In reality, Alex has just punk’d the entire Opposition..... and himself.
by Bryan Ti
