Why Punggol voters should give WP a chance?
1. You have 2 lawyer candidates especially one is a senior counsel. There are only 98 senior counsel as at Nov 2024 in Singapore. It is not easy for WP to recruit credible candidates. Furthermore, Mr Happy said that he will serve almost full time in the constituency. Why do you want PAP candidates who are working part time in your constituency where you can get someone working full time? In addition, PAP candidates are holding positions in the private sector in addition to their public roles. It is very difficult for them to care for you. Let be honest about it. You only have 24 hours a day.
2. Management of Town Council for Punggol GRC will be less problematic given that WP has been managing Aljunied and SK GRCs for quite some time. You do not have to worried that your estates will be turned into slums.
3. More diverse voice in parliament is always better than group thinking. Many mis-steps taken by the government could have been avoided if there were robust debates in the parliament before passing them. But given the super majority in parliament by MIW, there are little chance for any meaningful debates.
4. Even if WP won Punggol GRC, the voters shouldn't be worried because the MIW is definitely returning to parliament with more than 2/3 majority.
5. I have due respect for Mr Gan for his contributions to Singapore for the past decades. However, his era is over, just like Teo, HSK and Ng. PM Wong said that he is a very important person to negotiate with the US with regards to the tariffs. However, my question is - is Mr Gan a close ally of Mr Trump or his team to make the negotiation smoother? Did he support Mr Trump during his campaign. Imagine Mr Gan betted on Harris..... Mr Trump is not going to give him a good time. Secondly, even Mr Gan is out of the game, does it mean that MTI and EDB, etc do not have any other persons to negotiate with the US. If that is the case, it shows a very serious crack within the government & public service. Remember, nobody is indispensable.
6. Finally, if Punggol voters find that WP team is not doing their job well in the next 5 years, you can always vote them out in the next GE. There is nothing stopping you. This is what democracy is all about. The question is - do you give them a chance to serve you at the first place?