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| National Solidarity Party Singapore |
Speaking to MediaCorp yesterday during a walkabout at Serangoon Central, the NSP secretary-general Goh Meng Seng questioned Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's proposal: "Does he mean that his new candidates cannot stand on their own?"
NSP member Hazel Poa added: "That seems to be an indication of a lack of confidence in individual candidates so we are very encouraged by this development because it actually shows that they are taking the Opposition more seriously."
Ms Poa added that the proposal also highlights "one of the weaknesses of the GRC system where weaker members can ride on the coat tails of the stronger ones".
On Saturday, the Senior Minister, who is the anchor minister of Marine Parade GRC, said his PAP team will hold cross-ward Meet-The-People sessions if elected.
For example, once a month, Dr Fatimah Lateef will visit MacPherson - which will be Ms Tin Pei Ling's ward - and Ms Tin will work in Dr Lateef's Geylang Serai ward. New candidate Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan Jin will pair up with Mr Seah Kian Peng.
When asked by reporters if the proposed system was introduced because of the emergence of younger and more inexperienced candidates such as Ms Tin, Dr Lateef had said: "I don't think it is an age issue. It is more due to new MPs coming in, and they should have some mentorship."
Yesterday, NSP's Mr Goh also took the chance to attack the GRC system. He said there were many people who wanted the GRC system to be abolished "so that you will really have to choose people who can stand on their own and be a fighter" in a single member constituency.
Citing the NSP's new candidate Nicole Seah, who was unveiled as a candidate last week, Mr Goh said he had confidence in her and thinks "she can out shine everyone".
Yesterday, Ms Seah, whose Facebook page has attracted more than 15,000 "likes" - as well as the attention of CNN, which interviewed her at a coffeeshop in Aljunied during a walkabout - took questions on behalf of her GRC team mates.
Asked to respond to SM Goh's remarks that he did not take the NSP manifesto seriously, Ms Seah asked voters to scrutinise the manifestos of all parties and choose one that they believed most strongly in.
"All Singaporeans - maybe they know it, maybe they do not - have the power to choose which manifesto to want. Let's just bring this election back to the Singaporeans. This is about them, this is not about anyone else," she said.
For hours yesterday morning, as Ms Seah, her Marine Parade GRC team-mates and the NSP entourage of about 30 people toured the wards of Aljunied and Serangoon Central, it was the advertising executive who attracted the most attention. Cars honked, passengers waved and members of the public came up to pose for photos with her.
