WP's Png Eng Huat to contest Hougang constituency?

[Rakyat]

SINGAPORE: Flyers of Workers' Party member Png Eng Huat are making their rounds in Hougang constituency.

Hougang constituency lost its Member of Parliament Yaw Shin Leong in February after he was expelled from the Workers' Party over his alleged extra-marital indiscretions.

The distribution of these flyers is fuelling speculation that Mr Png may be fielded in Hougang in the next election.

Mr Png was a Workers' Party candidate for East Coast GRC in the last General Election.

Speaker of Parliament, Michael Palmer made a formal announcement in parliament on February 28 on the vacancy of the Hougang seat.

Mr Palmer told the house that former MP Yaw Shin Leong had informed parliament that he has decided not to appeal against his expulsion from the Workers' Party.

- CNA/fa

 

[TwitSeng]

not surprising at all

 

[The_Hypocrite]

SINGAPORE: Flyers of Workers' Party member Png Eng Huat are making their rounds in Hougang constituency.

Hougang constituency lost its Member of Parliament Yaw Shin Leong in February after he was expelled from the Workers' Party over his alleged extra-marital indiscretions.

The distribution of these flyers is fuelling speculation that Mr Png may be fielded in Hougang in the next election.

Mr Png was a Workers' Party candidate for East Coast GRC in the last General Election.

Speaker of Parliament, Michael Palmer made a formal announcement in parliament on February 28 on the vacancy of the Hougang seat.

Mr Palmer told the house that former MP Yaw Shin Leong had informed parliament that he has decided not to appeal against his expulsion from the Workers' Party.

- CNA/fa

He is good during the rallies,,but is he Teochew? Hougang is Teochew turf hor,,,so will only support 'kah kee lang' wan...

 

[HTOLAS]

Being teochew won't hurt a candidate but I think the teochew factor has been overrated.

When the PAPzis first lost Hougang, the teochew factor was an easy excuse to explain away the hard work that LTK had put into the ward. In the 20 years that WP had held Hougang, the PAPzis have thrown quite a few teochews at the ward but to no avail.

It's the party, then the candidate and of the candidate, if he/she can communicate on my terms, better.

He is good during the rallies,,but is he Teochew? Hougang is Teochew turf hor,,,so will only support 'kah kee lang' wan...

 

[yahoo55]

I agree that the teochew factor is overrated.

I've listened to Yaw Shin Leong speak teochew and it was atrocious, yet he still won comfortably. I think Desmond Choo spoke better teochew than Yaw during the campaign.

I think Png is hokkien, I've listened to him speak pretty good hokkien in rallies. To me, there's not a lot of difference between teochew and hokkien dialects. If you understand teochew, you can probably understand hokkien. But maybe I 'm wrong. Who knows, maybe Png can speak teochew too, that would be a treat.

 

[zeddy]

I'm very impressed by his rally speeches last year.. Felt sorry for him when his WP East Coast team lost the GE.. He's also been helping out Mr Fasal Manap in his MPS.. Mr Png deserved this opportunity to contest in Hougang.. Never mind if he's not a Teochew.. I'm sure he'll be a good MP if he's elected to Parliament..

 

[cunnilaubu]

His name suggests he is either Teochew or Hokkien.
Good for him. Eric Tan will be squeezing his balls now.

 

[Perspective]

Forummers here are rather observant and well-informed. Yes, Png is hokkien and Yaw is teochew, but Png's hokkien is a lot better than Yaw's teochew. Only that Png's mandarin isn't that good.

If Png is chosen, then I was right that Gerald and Yee JJ are not Hougang groundpounders. I have reasons to believe that even if Eric did not resign, he would not be chosen for Hougang.

 

[callmebad]

most important thing -this candidate must be a strong one
better be a quite senior WP member in order to show voters that they're being taken seriously
doesn't matter if he is Teochew or not
if you look at history of Potong Pasir, you mustn't take things for granted, just to send in anyone, assuming that people will vote for anyone that carries the hammer, is not going to work
LTK does this right thing by trying to minimize the damage by spending a bit of time there personally

 

[Zatoichi]

I'm very impressed by his rally speeches last year..

I'm impressed too, which is why I think the PAP would rather not experience such enthusiastic support for the WP by such a massive crowd so soon after last year's elections:

WP's Png Eng Huat at Aljunied GRC rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFFv7hT1Pzc
[video=youtube;AFFv7hT1Pzc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFFv7hT1Pzc[/video]

 

[GoldenDragon]

I'm very impressed by his rally speeches last year.. Felt sorry for him when his WP East Coast team lost the GE.. He's also been helping out Mr Fasal Manap in his MPS.. Mr Png deserved this opportunity to contest in Hougang.. Never mind if he's not a Teochew.. I'm sure he'll be a good MP if he's elected to Parliament..

Stable career and family man. Good choice. Should be able to entrench himself in Hougang with LTK's blessing.

Why no one asking GMS to stand?

 

[jixiaolan]

GMS, KJ, CSJ had long given their blessings for WP a chance to redeem itself. So far only independent candidates such as Frankie Low and Tan Jee Say have expressed interests. Frankie is unlikely to find enough sponsor and Tan is playing his card to the last minute expecting WP to kowtow to him for a straight fight.

 

[jixiaolan]

If Png is chosen, then I was right that Gerald and Yee JJ are not Hougang groundpounders. I have reasons to believe that even if Eric did not resign, he would not be chosen for Hougang.

If Eric did not resigned for not nominated for NCMP, he will resign for not chosen to field for Hougang by-election. I am sure if Png is not chosen, Glenda and even the malay candidate who recently resigned will be given priority over Eric. It baffles me on how WP rewards member for seniority and leadership.

 

[halsey02]

Stable career and family man. Good choice. Should be able to entrench himself in Hougang with LTK's blessing.

Why no one asking GMS to stand?

He has proven himself to be fair weather friend, would not hesitate to go kill you if the opportunity arises or what would say, a character asssasin.

 

[Ramseth]

GMS, KJ, CSJ had long given their blessings for WP a chance to redeem itself. So far only independent candidates such as Frankie Low and Tan Jee Say have expressed interests. Frankie is unlikely to find enough sponsor and Tan is playing his card to the last minute expecting WP to kowtow to him for a straight fight.

Versus WP in Hougang, even PAP is sure to lose. They're only worried about scoring a respectable losing margin. All others are sure to lose deposits, not at the 10 to 12% level, but at the 1 to 2% level. No, WP isn't arrogrant, neither am I. It's just the situation as it is now. Hokkien or Teochew doesn't matter. These are mutually understood and convertible dialects. All Hokkien speakers understand Teochew and all Teochew speakers understand Hokkien.

If Eric did not resigned for not nominated for NCMP, he will resign for not chosen to field for Hougang by-election. I am sure if Png is not chosen, Glenda and even the malay candidate who recently resigned will be given priority over Eric. It baffles me on how WP rewards member for seniority and leadership.

It baffles me how you come to your conclusion that Eric, Glenda or Fazli would be chosen. None of them has been in HGCC, only Png. Selecting a candidate is not about reward for seniority. It's about the most suitable for the constituency. For example Yaw, he was selected to defend HG when LTK left for Aljunied GRC because he was LA for LTK (HG MP then) and have experience sitting in for LTK in HG MPS when LTK was abroad, sick or otherwise unable to host it.

 

[jixiaolan]

Versus WP in Hougang, even PAP is sure to lose. They're only worried about scoring a respectable losing margin. All others are sure to lose deposits, not at the 10 to 12% level, but at the 1 to 2% level. No, WP isn't arrogrant, neither am I. It's just the situation as it is now. Hokkien or Teochew doesn't matter. These are mutually understood and convertible dialects. All Hokkien speakers understand Teochew and all Teochew speakers understand Hokkien.

We are not talking about 3 corner fight with an independent candidate who works as a security guard. Even Desmond Lim managed 4.5% vote in 3 corner fight at Punggol East. People like TJS and your old boss TKL would certainly be able to do way better than your projected 1-2%. If Tan Cheng Bock wants to contest in Hougang by-election, winning a 3 corner fight is certainly not beyond his reach.

It baffles me how you come to your conclusion that Eric, Glenda or Fazli would be chosen. None of them has been in HGCC, only Png. Selecting a candidate is not about reward for seniority. It's about the most suitable for the constituency. For example Yaw, he was selected to defend HG when LTK left for Aljunied GRC because he was LA for LTK (HG MP then) and have experience sitting in for LTK in HG MPS when LTK was abroad, sick or otherwise unable to host it.

If involvement in HGCC is the main criteria, isn't Ng Swee Bee the top and most logical choice?

 

[Ramseth]

We are not talking about 3 corner fight with an independent candidate who works as a security guard. Even Desmond Lim managed 4.5% vote in 3 corner fight at Punggol East. People like TJS and your old boss TKL would certainly be able to do way better than your projected 1-2%. If Tan Cheng Bock wants to contest in Hougang by-election, winning a 3 corner fight is certainly not beyond of his reach.



If involvement in HGCC is the main criteria, isn't Ng Swee Bee the top and most logical choice?

Well, if TCB jumps into the ring, he may fare better than 1 to 2% but still lose deposit. You must understand the ground in Hougang. There're about 55% sure-vote WP and about 35% sure-vote PAP and 10% that can swing either way. Anyway, TCB won't jump in. Many of his PE helpers and supporters were from WP.

As for NSB, she's one of the top WP grassroot leader in Hougang, that's right. But she's not interested in being MP; she'll just be campaign manager.

 

[jixiaolan]

If what you say is true, put a donkey WP also will win.

Well, if TCB jumps into the ring, he may fare better than 1 to 2% but still lose deposit. You must understand the ground in Hougang. There're about 55% sure-vote WP and about 35% sure-vote PAP and 10% that can swing either way. Anyway, TCB won't jump in. Many of his PE helpers and supporters were from WP.

As for NSB, she's one of the top WP grassroot leader in Hougang, that's right. But she's not interested in being MP; she'll just be campaign manager.

 

[sleaguepunter]

Well, if TCB jumps into the ring, he may fare better than 1 to 2% but still lose deposit. You must understand the ground in Hougang. There're about 55% sure-vote WP and about 35% sure-vote PAP and 10% that can swing either way.

BS aside, WP votes cannot be 55%, dont be sway by 2011GE result as it was caused by ppl worry there may not be even one opposition MP after LTK left for aljunied. i grew up there, ave 3/5/7 was my playground so i know the place better than u. I always there since 1983 and i know the teochew effect is BS, it just happen there more teochews in the area in the 90s and nowaday teochew can barely be heard in the coffeeshop as other dialect groups moved in. as for your 55% theory, how i wish it was true. even during LTK tenure as hougang MP, his highest vote only ard 58% and it one time only and the rest no more than 55%. minus away the neutral, it should be ard 45-48% only.

the only logical way wp to contest in this by election was to convince the ppl to use this opportunity as mean to "grade" the pap performance since may 2011.

 

[Ramseth]

If what you say is true, put a donkey WP also will win.

Sure-win is sure-win now but cannot field a donkey. A donkey will screw up the status quo in the next election.