My first PAP rally.

We all knew it was coming. I was going to have to do it at some point in this GE 2011. Inevitable. Unavoidable. And really, at the end of the day, only fair.

I attended a PAP rally.

At the end of the day, I wanted to give the PAP a chance before Polling Day. Attend a rally, see what they have to say.

I don’t know if I picked the wrong one out of the five PAP rallies that were on tonight or what, but I seriously regretted going, and left the rally feeling quite repulsed by the PAP.

About the actual rally itself, let’s just say that I found it to be too much about upgrading and repainting HDB blocks and building sheltered walkways to MRT stations and RC outings to Universal Studios. I get that these are important to residents, but ultimately they are also trivial issues in comparison to the overarching national issues of increased income disparity, influx of foreign workers, astronomical housing prices, etc. etc. It was like all the focus was on electing a town councillor, not a Member of Parliament to be a legislative voice.

In fact, in his speech Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean asked the crowd, “Do you want Michael Palmer to be your town council chairman?” I don’t think he asked them about Michael Palmer being their Member of Parliament, being an active participant in passing legislation that affects the life of every single Singaporean.

Mr Palmer said that even though he would be involved in dealing with national issues, his constituents would come first. Which I do think is fair enough, even correct. But there’s more to representing your constituents than sticking your neck out to get them the funds to upgrade, or consulting them so that they can choose the colour of their HDB blocks.

What really repelled me, though, happened at the end of the rally.

I will admit that GE 2011 is the first time that I have been actively involved in the elections, so I’m hardly very experienced when it comes to political rallies. However, in this elections period, I had been to three rallies before the PAP one – RP, SDP and WP. At the end of all these parties’ rallies, the candidates and speakers were available to meet members of the public as well as the press to answer questions, listening to suggestions and exchange ideas. My fellow TOC volunteer Ben (he was the reporter, I was the photographer) and I both assumed that this would be the same with the PAP rally.

Dr Ahmad bin Mohd Magad, Teo Chee Hean, and Michael Palmer were the three PAP candidates who were there, the former two in support of the third, who is standing as the PAP candidate in the newly carved out Punggol East SMC (which used to be part of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC). After the rally, the three of them came down to greet their supporters. Ben and I, who were already standing by the barricade anyway, decided that this was as good a time as any to ask them some questions. After all, who knew when we would get another chance to get such access to the PAP?

First up was Mr Michael Palmer. We waited for a little while as he greeted his constituents and supporters, taking photos with them and shaking hands. Then, when I felt that a window of opportunity had come up (i.e. a lull in the meet-and-greet), I decided to seize the chance. “Hi, Mr Palmer, we would like to ask you a question.”

He looked at me, a little uncertain. He had probably seen Ben and I standing by the barrier throughout the whole rally, taking notes on Ben’s iPad and snapping photos. I’m not sure where he thought we were from at that point. He opened his mouth to say something. I didn’t catch all of it and so I don’t want to misquote him, but I don’t think he was going to answer my question. A PAP volunteer then swooped in and said that it was time to take photos, or something to that effect. Both Mr Palmer and the volunteer then turned away from me, although they weren’t really taking photos either.

Then Ben stepped in. “Mr Palmer, I live here and I have a question for you.”

Once Ben said “I live here”, Mr Palmer was all ears. So Ben pressed on. “If the opposition were elected in Punggol East, would the PAP still carry out its upgrading plans?”

Mr Palmer told us that this would be up to the opposition, who would take over the town council. I was a little confused about this, because the opposition parties have hammered on this issue quite a bit during the previous rallies I had attended, and even PM Lee himself had said that the PAP gave priority in upgrading to PAP constituencies – indicating that it isn’t all up to the town council and the opposition party. So I asked, “But will the government provide the funds?”

“Funds for local upgrading projects will be controlled by the Town Council.”

I still didn’t feel 100% convinced/satisfied, but felt that Mr Palmer had probably said all that he wanted to say, which is his prerogative. So I thanked him, and Ben thanked him, and he went on his way to meet more of his supporters.

“Let’s ask DPM Teo now,” Ben suggested.

I agreed, but judging from Mr Palmer’s reaction, I said, “I think as someone who actually lives here you stand a better chance than me at getting a word in.” So Ben handed me his iPad and I stood back as he approach DPM Teo.

From where I stood, I couldn’t hear what Ben was saying, but I heard some of what DPM Teo said. I saw Ben gesture – I guessed that he was indicating where he lived. Then I heard DPM Teo say, “Where are you from?”

Ben said something, which I assumed to be “The Online Citizen”, and then DPM Teo very curtly said, “thank you for identifying yourself” and walked away. Ben raised his arm and called DPM Teo’s name, but he just kept walking.

I was horrified. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

Now, I didn’t really expect DPM Teo to give us a detailed answer. Heck, I didn’t even expect him to give us a definite answer. But I did think that he could have spared a little time to hear the question and to give a short response. But he didn’t even stop to listen to the question. In fact, he had already turned and was walking away from Ben as he was speaking. He didn’t even want to hear what the question was. And that was what really got to me.

I understand that public figures, including politicians, are not beholden to the press, no matter how much the press wishes they were. I know that it is well within their rights to decline an interview, or decline a question. However, I did feel that he could have at least heard Ben out, listened to the question. And if he didn’t want to answer the question, he could have said so, or said something along the lines of “I believe this is something for Mr Palmer to address as the candidate in this constituency”. But to have turned and walked away, dismissing a person so abruptly, was just rude. And what was the “thank you for identifying yourself” supposed to mean? Are we supposed to feel threatened by that, as TOC volunteers?

Ben wrote about his experience here.

I was disappointed by this encounter because DPM Teo is a high-ranking member of the Singapore government. I think it highly unlikely that he is going to be voted out in this elections, and so he will continue to be a high-ranking member of the Singapore government. And as the Deputy Prime Minister, he is someone who has been elected by Singaporeans to represent them, not just nationally but on the international stage as well. Wherever he goes, he is a representative of all Singaporeans, not just the PAP-supporting ones. As such, I felt that he should not have turned his back on a Singaporean in such a manner, even if that Singaporean is a TOC volunteer.

And this is not even to mention the fact that this Singaporean (Ben) is also a constituent of Punggol East SMC, for which the rally was being held. Just minutes before this the PAP had been campaigning so hard for the people’s votes, claiming that the PAP “listens to YOU” and the PAP “knows YOU” and “cares about YOU”. And then DPM Teo snubbed a constituent just because of his affiliation to a website SM Goh declared to be “anti-establishment”.

I had heard accounts from friends and acquaintances of PAP candidates not wanting to shake hands with people who show signs of support for the opposition, or getting angry at people they deem to be too critical of them. But I had not really put much stock into these accounts, dismissing them as misunderstandings or perhaps an over-eagerness to criticise the incumbent. Today I saw it with my very own eyes, how a Singaporean was dismissed just because he was not a supporter. And he hadn’t even asked the question yet.

I did not join TOC to be anti-PAP. I did not join TOC to be “anti-establishment”. I did not join TOC because of any hidden “agenda” to pull down or undermine the PAP. I joined TOC because I felt that the mainstream media in Singapore was not giving us the full picture, and because I realised that there are so many people who would be neglected or forgotten, without a voice, if ordinary Singaporeans like myself stood by and did nothing. I have my frustrations with the PAP government and the policies they have passed, and I do strongly believe that change is needed in my country, but I have no hatred towards the party itself. When I report something for TOC, even if it is a PAP event, I try my best to be as fair and balanced as I can be. When I first went to a YPAP forum, the organiser had been worried about the TOC report and asked me not to be too harsh. I told him that I would report what I observed, and try to be balanced. You can read the resulting article and judge for yourself.

As such, I don’t feel that my fellow volunteers and I deserve to be snubbed, slighted and dismissed in such a way. We are not TOC volunteers in spite of being Singaporeans, we are TOC volunteers because we are Singaporeans.

And when our leaders say that they want to reach out and connect with the people, they should not forget that we are their people too.