GE 2015: PAP Manifesto

From "For Singapore" to "With you, for you, for Singapore"

The PAP must have wondered why after decades of "For Singapore" there is now a need to get to "With you, for you, for Singapore"

The Old Guard were predominantly elites but somehow voters didn't seem to notice or mind. "Elites" is a real liability now and every aspiring politician had to take pains to explain and sell their heartland credentials, and so prove they are not out of touch with the people.

There is nothing wrong with being elite or having an elite class. I have not seen now nor in history any functioning society without a elite class in leadership. It is how the elites conduct themselves and more important their values and motivations which mattered. You can't hide the non-verbal vibes and Singaporeans are hard nosed and not stupid.

So it is "With you, for you" with substance or not at all.

Now the hard work begins. Candidates have to press the flesh and meet as many people as possible. It would be indispensable to be able to connect with listeners emotionally at rallies but that is not the forte of nearly all PAP MPs. You gotta to connect emotionally or you would get voters' support. This time your personal brand is likely to be more important than the party's brand. For a long time we have told you we do not want Yes-men and Yes-women in parliament. They must have understood why Inderjit Singh is so popular eh? But there is no need to imitate Inderjit. Everyone should be himself or herself and show they are "With you and for you" in their personal way, otherwise it is just insincere.

My MP came yesterday and I decided not to see him especially when I was busy tutoring the daughter Physics. I just ignored him when he pressed the door bell. Since it is GE time once more, tomorrow we will call the town council again and see if we can get our broken window fixed. We shall see to what degree they are "with you, for you". The well oiled Singapore machinery is when I do my job well and you do yours well then everything will be well. Right now the overwhelming majority of us are doing our jobs better than you are running our trains. That is when it becomes a big problem.

Now what is the town council number again? I think I shall Google that.