Interesting write up from TR
RP Meets PAP in Deepavali Walkabout in Little India
Today in Little India I saw a strange event, a (HUGE) group of PAP members were doing a walkabout around Tekka Market and Reform Party was there as well. Needless to say, the two groups ran into each other. The PAP group numbered about 30-40 people, while RP was much smaller, about 10-15 of them. The two groups ran into each other outside the Tekka Market busstop, and a rather long ‘interaction’ occured. I was waiting for a bus and managed to catch the whole exchange happening.
As I watched, the PAP group members came up, some of them shook hands with all the RP members, and handed them their party magazine, ‘Petir’. RP members, not to be daunted, gave them copies of the RP newsletter, New Dawn. There was a lot of discussion and shaking hands, but you could sense the tension between the groups. While both groups were uniformly civil and pleasant with the other, as a bystander, I could detect some level of discomfort in both camps.
The PAP group was made up largely of very young adults, probably in their early 20s, and very senior people, easily in their 50s and 60s. Most of them appeared rather reserved, some of them looked downright uncomfortable even being there, likely because this was their first time there. The leader of the PAP group appeared to be this big man in a pink/offwhite (couldn’t make out in the lighting), who took the initiative to shake hands with all the RP members, followed suit by a few of the other PAP members as well. Most however just tried to back further and further up till some appeared to go right through the glass of the jewellery store they were standing in front of! The image most PAP members portrayed was one of apprehension, nervousness and uncertainty. To be fair to the PAP group, most of them probably had never done this before, and appeared to be there just to fill up numbers or act as mobile racks for the stacks of ‘Petir’ they were giving people. They were all dressed in office wear or very sombre collared polo-tees, like it was a dress code enforced on them. They would not have looked out of place in a government event outing, complete with tucked-in polo tees and obligatory party badges.
The RP group was far more interesting and lively. First of all, most of them were dressed in bright yellow teeshirts, so they pretty much stood out in the mob, despite the small numbers. Also, most of them appeared to be far more comfortable around the young PAP crowd. Also, unlike the PAP, the RP members appeared like ordinary Singaporeans. Some of them, including one pretty young lady, wore office wear. Others wore the yellow party crew neck teeshirts, and yet others were in comfortable teeshirts and bermudas. One man was even dressed in a bright yellow Jimi Hendrix teeshirt and faded jeans, with a heavily pregnant woman who appeared to be his wife. Amongst the two groups, the RP group appeared more relaxed and more outgoing.
What was extremely unprofessional of the PAP members was the overtly intrusive way they were snapping pictures. It seemed like there were at least 5-10 cameras clicking away at RP, from safe distances, as if they were photographing a freak-show. The RP members were cordial, but you could guess that the number of cameras snapping away did appear to irritate some of them. The RP team had cameras with them but none of them took pictures of PAP members, or at least I didn’t catch any of them.
One incident particularly stood out. As the PAP members were shaking RP members hands, one RP woman was proudly proclaiming to each person who shook her hand, ‘I am Jane and I am a proud RP member’ (I can’t remember what her name was, and it would not be good to say it here even if I did). Not ONE PAP member responded saying, ‘and I am a proud PAP member’. They all looked sheepish at this overt display of party loyalty. The leader of the RP group, rounded off the handshakes by professionally saying, ‘We may disagree, but in the end we’re all Singaporean’. He wished the PAP members well and they proceeded on.
This whole exchange took about 10-15 minutes, and there were some conversations between individual RP members and PAP members, but I didn’t catch the details.
From my point of view, it appeared that RP appeared more ‘human’, compared to the PAP. The PAP members all looked almost identical in behaviour. Most of them were quiet, didn’t say anything and preferred to watch from the back and sides. They all, as I said before appeared like young civil servants, and some even appeared to be part of the ‘elite’. Their attitude came off as slightly condescending. RP on the other hand appeared to be a party of individuals who were different. Despite the fact that most of them wore yellow, RP appeared like the more diverse group. There was a heavily pregnant young Indian woman with her husband, a young Chinese female executive, a big smiling gentleman, a middle aged Malay man, an old Indian man, the bold elderly Chinese woman, and a few young Chinese, Malay and Indian youths. I asked an RP member (the young man in the Jimi Hendrix teeshirt) if their group was pre-selected and he said no, these are volunteers who chose to come, and were not pre-selected. I didn’t really feel like talking to the PAP guys but it appeared like they were chosen to come to represent ‘multiracial’ Singapore (though I don’t think I saw a Malay in the PAP bunch). They were all, as said before, very young and very old, predominantly Chinese with about 5 Indians. There was nothing remarkable at all about them, except for their leader who appeared a boisterous gentleman who was the only PAP member who appeared somewhat at ease in the PAP camp. I wish I could shake hands with the woman who proudly told the PAP, ‘I am a proud RP member’. She, by that one action exposed the PAP’s vulnerability when faced with a situation they were not familiar with. RP took this event in their stride and appeared to be far more confident about themselves and more importantly, enthusiastic than the PAP.
In other words, the PAP behaved like the HAD to be nice. RP behaved nice because it was the right thing to do.
Let’s hope other opposition parties take courage from this interaction and the fact that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the dog.
David
RP Meets PAP in Deepavali Walkabout in Little India
Today in Little India I saw a strange event, a (HUGE) group of PAP members were doing a walkabout around Tekka Market and Reform Party was there as well. Needless to say, the two groups ran into each other. The PAP group numbered about 30-40 people, while RP was much smaller, about 10-15 of them. The two groups ran into each other outside the Tekka Market busstop, and a rather long ‘interaction’ occured. I was waiting for a bus and managed to catch the whole exchange happening.
As I watched, the PAP group members came up, some of them shook hands with all the RP members, and handed them their party magazine, ‘Petir’. RP members, not to be daunted, gave them copies of the RP newsletter, New Dawn. There was a lot of discussion and shaking hands, but you could sense the tension between the groups. While both groups were uniformly civil and pleasant with the other, as a bystander, I could detect some level of discomfort in both camps.
The PAP group was made up largely of very young adults, probably in their early 20s, and very senior people, easily in their 50s and 60s. Most of them appeared rather reserved, some of them looked downright uncomfortable even being there, likely because this was their first time there. The leader of the PAP group appeared to be this big man in a pink/offwhite (couldn’t make out in the lighting), who took the initiative to shake hands with all the RP members, followed suit by a few of the other PAP members as well. Most however just tried to back further and further up till some appeared to go right through the glass of the jewellery store they were standing in front of! The image most PAP members portrayed was one of apprehension, nervousness and uncertainty. To be fair to the PAP group, most of them probably had never done this before, and appeared to be there just to fill up numbers or act as mobile racks for the stacks of ‘Petir’ they were giving people. They were all dressed in office wear or very sombre collared polo-tees, like it was a dress code enforced on them. They would not have looked out of place in a government event outing, complete with tucked-in polo tees and obligatory party badges.
The RP group was far more interesting and lively. First of all, most of them were dressed in bright yellow teeshirts, so they pretty much stood out in the mob, despite the small numbers. Also, most of them appeared to be far more comfortable around the young PAP crowd. Also, unlike the PAP, the RP members appeared like ordinary Singaporeans. Some of them, including one pretty young lady, wore office wear. Others wore the yellow party crew neck teeshirts, and yet others were in comfortable teeshirts and bermudas. One man was even dressed in a bright yellow Jimi Hendrix teeshirt and faded jeans, with a heavily pregnant woman who appeared to be his wife. Amongst the two groups, the RP group appeared more relaxed and more outgoing.
What was extremely unprofessional of the PAP members was the overtly intrusive way they were snapping pictures. It seemed like there were at least 5-10 cameras clicking away at RP, from safe distances, as if they were photographing a freak-show. The RP members were cordial, but you could guess that the number of cameras snapping away did appear to irritate some of them. The RP team had cameras with them but none of them took pictures of PAP members, or at least I didn’t catch any of them.
One incident particularly stood out. As the PAP members were shaking RP members hands, one RP woman was proudly proclaiming to each person who shook her hand, ‘I am Jane and I am a proud RP member’ (I can’t remember what her name was, and it would not be good to say it here even if I did). Not ONE PAP member responded saying, ‘and I am a proud PAP member’. They all looked sheepish at this overt display of party loyalty. The leader of the RP group, rounded off the handshakes by professionally saying, ‘We may disagree, but in the end we’re all Singaporean’. He wished the PAP members well and they proceeded on.
This whole exchange took about 10-15 minutes, and there were some conversations between individual RP members and PAP members, but I didn’t catch the details.
From my point of view, it appeared that RP appeared more ‘human’, compared to the PAP. The PAP members all looked almost identical in behaviour. Most of them were quiet, didn’t say anything and preferred to watch from the back and sides. They all, as I said before appeared like young civil servants, and some even appeared to be part of the ‘elite’. Their attitude came off as slightly condescending. RP on the other hand appeared to be a party of individuals who were different. Despite the fact that most of them wore yellow, RP appeared like the more diverse group. There was a heavily pregnant young Indian woman with her husband, a young Chinese female executive, a big smiling gentleman, a middle aged Malay man, an old Indian man, the bold elderly Chinese woman, and a few young Chinese, Malay and Indian youths. I asked an RP member (the young man in the Jimi Hendrix teeshirt) if their group was pre-selected and he said no, these are volunteers who chose to come, and were not pre-selected. I didn’t really feel like talking to the PAP guys but it appeared like they were chosen to come to represent ‘multiracial’ Singapore (though I don’t think I saw a Malay in the PAP bunch). They were all, as said before, very young and very old, predominantly Chinese with about 5 Indians. There was nothing remarkable at all about them, except for their leader who appeared a boisterous gentleman who was the only PAP member who appeared somewhat at ease in the PAP camp. I wish I could shake hands with the woman who proudly told the PAP, ‘I am a proud RP member’. She, by that one action exposed the PAP’s vulnerability when faced with a situation they were not familiar with. RP took this event in their stride and appeared to be far more confident about themselves and more importantly, enthusiastic than the PAP.
In other words, the PAP behaved like the HAD to be nice. RP behaved nice because it was the right thing to do.
Let’s hope other opposition parties take courage from this interaction and the fact that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the dog.
David
