Hot spots: National issues, not local, on minds of some East Coast voters
In the second of our six-part series on the hottest contests in GE 2015, we focus on East Coast residents
East Coast GRC is touted in some quarters as one of the hottest seats in this General Election.
After all, the People's Action Party (PAP) team - helmed by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say - collected just 54.83 per cent of the votes in 2011, the slimmest among the ruling party's victorious GRC electoral battles then.
At the press conference to introduce the PAP's East Coast GRC candidates last week, Mr Lim said it was a "wake-up call".
This year, the Workers' Party is fielding one of its strongest teams, with some of its candidates boasting impressive academic credentials.
Former Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam leads a group that includes sociology professor Daniel Goh and consultancy firm chief executive Leon Perera, who has a double first class honours from Oxford University.
Mr Giam and Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff both have master's degrees.
WP's strong team signals the party's intention of aiming squarely at the GRC it has been chipping away at over the last two elections.
East Coast GRC residents The New Paper spoke to seem to have a "PAP has done well in this area, but..." mentality, with some still undecided on who they would vote for.
Media professional M. Lim, 30, who lives in Siglap, said: "As a whole, the PAP in East Coast has done a lot. Just look at Bedok Central and how it has been developed in the past few years.
"But I am looking at it as a whole, more than at (the) GRC level. The PAP seems a bit too elitist and not very down-to-earth, generally speaking."
Much has changed in the area since 2011.
The 37-year-old Bedok Town now has a new hawker centre and air-conditioned bus interchange that is connected to Bedok Mall and a condominium project.
Also, Eastpoint Mall in Simei has been renovated, while low-rise flats in the sleepy Changi Village area are being upgraded.
The PAP's strategy? A more personal approach.
"East Coast is about mass personalisation," said Mr Lim Swee Say last week. "How to do it? Week after week, we go out and visit our residents as part of our deep engagement. We go house to house, door to door, to understand the profile of our residents."
Hawker Chee Miaw Chiong agrees.
"Mr Lim has visited my home at least thrice and I find him a nice person," said the 67-year-old, who operates a food stall at Bedok North Street 1, in Mandarin.
"The PAP has done a good job. It hasn't been easy manoeuvring a vehicle, filled with 5 million people, forward, even if there are challenges ahead, like an ageing population."
But the PAP will have competition on that score as the team in blue has also been working the ground.
A retiree in his 60s living in Bedok Central, who gave his name only as Mr Yong , said he has seen WP members talking to residents almost every weekend for a year now.
CHECKS & BALANCES
But with almost half of its 99,118 voters living in private housing, observers said the opposition's call for greater checks and balances is more likely to resonate in East Coast GRC.
Mr Giam had previously acknowledged the incumbents' work in the GRC in a Facebook post.
But he added: "A general election is about more than just voting for a local MP. It's also about ensuring that the people have bargaining power to make the Government more responsive to people's needs."
Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said: "The WP has a strong reputational cachet that could see voters giving a new WP slate close consideration.
"Parts of the GRC may well have been rejuvenated but that's not going to be the key issue in the GE - whether at the national or municipal level.
"One could argue that now that the rejuvenation is completed, there is nothing more at the municipal level to incentivise voters to vote for the PAP."
Resident Jereen Liaw, 34, who works in finance, said: "My MPs have done a fair bit to address many concerns and if my vote goes to them, it is to signal that they are in the right direction and should keep it up."
Nationally, the ground is "sweeter" for the PAP at this year's elections, said National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser.
Assoc Prof Tan said: "In 2011, the ground was not sweet for the PAP. Voters were oriented towards having greater opposition voices in Parliament. The WP came across as a credible party with no negative performance to their discredit.
"In 2015, the PAP has had four years to address the 2011 hot button issues, while the WP has been affected by the AHPETC (Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council) saga."
One could argue that now that the rejuvenation is completed, there is nothing more at the municipal level to incentivise voters to vote for the PAP.
- Associate Professor Eugene Tan, political observer and Singapore Management University law don
ISSUES
1 PEST PROBLEM
Early last month, a coffee shop at Block 217, Bedok North Street 1, made the news for being riddled with cockroaches and rats that had reportedly come from a grass patch in front of the coffee shop.
When The New Paper visited last week, the coffee shop's supervisor said the situation was "much better".
Declining to give her name, the supervisor said in Mandarin: "We engaged pest control services on our own, and the town council also hired someone to cover up all the burrows when the news appeared in the newspapers.
"Also, we try to clear the used utensils and crockery as soon as we can, so it is much, much better now."
2 NATIONAL ISSUES
With almost half of the 99,118 voters living in private housing, national issues - rather than local ones - are more likely to resonate.
Residents told TNP that there are no significant municipal issues in the ward.
Bedok Central resident S. Tan, a retiree in his 60s, said jokingly: "Residents here get almost no sun (during) their commute because of the number of sheltered walkways here, so what else can be improved? Travellators from the bus stops to my home."
EAST COAST BY THE NUMBERS
Number of voters: 99,118
Types of homes:
50.2% public housing
48% private housing
Breakdown of flats:
15% are three-room or smaller
35.2% are four-room or larger
Source: The Straits Times
2015 General Election
Candidates:
People's Action Party
Mr Lim Swee Say
Mr Lee Yi Shyan
Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman
Ms Jessica Tan
Workers' Party
Mr Gerald Giam
Dr Daniel Goh
Mr Leon Perera
Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff
2011 General Election
Voters in East Coast: 120,324
People's Action Party
(54.83%)
Mr Lim Swee Say
Mr Raymond Lim
Mr Lee Yi Shyan
Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman
Ms Jessica Tan
Workers' Party
(45.17%)
Mr Png Eng Huat
Mr Gerald Giam
Mr Eric Tan
Ms Glenda Han
Mr Mohamed Fazli Talip
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