The Biggest Election Story

So Chiam retains his seat, and Low retains his seat, and the PAP retains exactly the same number of seats in Parliament that it had before. Seems like nothing much changed.

What then is the biggest story of GE 2006, to Mr Wang?

Not the Saga of James Gomez's Missing Form - which I think is memorable only for the way the PAP grossly mishandled the matter (far worse than James could have done himself).

Not Lee Hsien Loong's self-slap in the face, when he talked about "fixing the Opposition" and the PAP "buying the supporters' votes". Which I think the Opposition was quite gracious in not playing up, after PM Lee apologised.

Not even the exciting contest between Sylvia Lim's team and George Yeo's team in Aljunied GRC, although that comes close.

To Mr Wang, the big story is PM Lee Hsien Loong's election loss in Ang Mo Kio GRC.



"Loss, Mr Wang?" I hear you say. "You're mistaken. PM Lee won 66.1% of the votes!"

I was referring to his loss. The loss of 33.9% of AMK votes to a bunch of happy, cheery, fresh youngsters mostly aged below 30. None of whom had ever contested in an election before, and none of whom you had never heard or seen before.

PM Lee had said that he would try to make them forfeit their electoral deposits (meaning that he would try to win by more than 87.5%, if I recall the electoral rules correctly).

PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng had also gone on record saying that a good mandate for PM Lee in AMK GRC would be a percentage at least in the high 80s (that is, possibly into the 90s).

Instead PM Lee scored only 66.1% of the votes, losing 33.9%.

In Singapore academic terms, that's like a very strong A1 student, unexpectedly floundering and just scraping through to get a B3. Very un-scholarly.

I guess I would have to say that the Workers Party strategy for AMK worked well.

The Straits Times article below has the facts, although you can see how they've angled the story to save the PM some embarrassment. For example, a more straightforward, honest title would simply have been "Surprise Results in AMK: 33.9% of Residents Vote Against PM".

ST May 7, 2006
All-round support in AMK led to win: PM
PAP team retains Ang Mo Kio GRC with 66.1% of votes, but figure is not as high as expected

By Dominic Nathan
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong last night described his team's win in Ang Mo Kio GRC as being the result of very evenly spread support in the constituency.

His team secured 66.1 per cent of 146,059 valid votes cast, against the 'suicide squad' of newbies from the Workers' Party.

Speaking to reporters after the election, he said: 'I am happy with the result... From what I know, it's an evenly distributed 66 per cent throughout the constituency, the young areas from north to south, all supporting us uniformly, which means we covered the ground and collected all the votes.'

On the margin of victory, he said: 'I thank all of you for supporting me and my colleagues and my PAP team, and electing us with a strong mandate to represent you in Ang Mo Kio GRC.'

As for the young WP team's performance in getting 33.9 per cent of the votes, he said: 'Well, they have been around, made one or two speeches. I think they had one rally in Ang Mo Kio, but that means the percentages really reflect the logo of the WP more than the individuals.'

In the PM's team were Dr Balaji Sadasivan, 50, Senior Minister of State; Mr Inderjit Singh, 45, businessman; Mr Wee Siew Kim, 45, deputy chief executive officer; Ms Lee Bee Wah, 45, engineer; and Dr Lam Pin Min, 36, doctor.

Adding his congratulations to the team was the leader of the losing WP slate, 30-year-old business analyst Yaw Shin Leong, who called on constituents in Ang Mo Kio and all Singaporeans to rally around the PM, with his victory.

His teammates were Ms Glenda Han, 30, businesswoman; Mr Abdul Salim Harun, 24, sales coordinator; Mr Gopal Krishnan, 54, maintenance inspector; Ms Lee Wai Leng, 26, businesswoman; and Mr Melvin Tan, 31, sales executive.

This election is PM Lee's third contest. In 1984, the year he entered politics, he stood in single-seat Teck Ghee, where he trounced United People's Front's Giam Lai Cheng with 80.4 per cent of the votes. In 1988, he polled 79.1 per cent against independent candidate Patrick Leong.

But since the formation of Ang Mo Kio GRC in 1991, with Teck Ghee as one of its wards, the constituency had never been contested - until now. Expectations of a big win were high.

PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng had said a good mandate would be a percentage at least in the high 80s, while analysts such as Mr Ho Khai Leong pegged it at 70 to 75 per cent of the valid votes.

Mr Inderjit Singh offered The Sunday Times an explanation for what he saw was a slightly lower than expected margin of victory - the James Gomez affair.

'The James Gomez issue might have affected us a little... with votes against the leaders and myself for bringing the issue up.'

But there were no regrets, he added. 'No, I think I had to do what is right, so we move on from here.'

Before the James Gomez affair hogged the headlines, much was made of the WP team who were sent in 'prepared to lose', but they came away having succeeded in denying the PAP more than 80 per cent of the votes, a target set for themselves.

On achieving this, Mr Yaw said: 'It is a significant percentage because one in three constituents and residents in Ang Mo Kio have voiced themselves out in a loud and clear manner, that the PAP have not done enough to make the life of Singaporeans better.'

Over the nine days of campaigning, the WP team had brought up rising costs, selective upgrading, and more help for small and medium enterprises, among other issues.

But with almost 80 per cent of the eligible blocks having been upgraded under various plans, with new features such as talking lifts, covered walkways and landscaped spaces, upgrading was not an issue in the GRC.

Did the young WP team help sway young voters?

Both PM Lee and teammate Mr Wee did not think so, going by the spread of votes the PAP won in younger areas such as Fernvale, Anchorvale and Sengkang.

Said PM Lee: 'In fact, it was higher than 66 per cent in some areas, so we are very happy.'

Mr Wee said this was a bellwether for how younger voters will decide. PM Lee added there were first-time voters in these new estates, and this signalled that the PAP had struck a chord with young voters too.

But on a broader national level, WP's Mr Melvin Tan believes the opposition too has won over young voters. He said: 'We have done well and secured a decent margin. Another thing we hope to have achieved is to have opened a path for better youths and more youths to take up political roles in Singapore.'

The broad-based win also means the legacy of the now-defunct Cheng San GRC was not a factor in this election.

The WP had contested the ward to give Cheng San voters, who gave the WP strong support during the 1997 General Election, a chance to vote.

For the winning team, the work has just started, said the PAP team members at the Woodlands Stadium last night.

Said Mr Inderjit: 'We have promised our residents many things. Our job for the next five years is to execute those plans.'

For the WP team, all five of the young guns said they were not going to disappear from politics.

The oldest member of the team at 54, Mr Gopal Krishnan had shared his experience in campaigning with the young team.

He said: 'I think that our style of campaigning and reaching out to the people have brought in the results. We have worked very hard and covered most estates, and the results show that people want us.'