Sinkies are an unpredictable lot. No one expected a woman of average academic qualification from WP to smash the pappies' candidate, a surgeon, in PE by a wide margin. People were saying WP sure see liao as the surgeon was sure to win although by a small margin. The result stunned even the gloomy Teo Chee Hean. Where WP got chance to topple Georgie Boy from Aljunied GRC? The result surprised all sinkies.
Let your relatives have just one unpleasant encounter with a foreigner or a PR in SG and it will change their mind about supporting the pappies. Sinkies look at FTsh as protégés of the pappies and if they do wrong, like anyhow issue parking tickets, behaving badly, etc, pappies must be punished.
You are right. It is the day to day humiliations that will cost the PAP seats. The PAP and Civil service heads have no idea because it happens well below the rarefied atmosphere they inhabit.