AHPETC - Aljunied residents elevated to be judges

There were lapses in the AHPETC, just like there were lapses in other town councils and grass root organisations. There was no dishonesty and all were acting on good intention. I thought these would be good enough to say let’s move on, leaving the benefit of the doubt to the individual to decide what he chooses to believe.

The conditions leading to the problems and lapses faced by AHPETC are there for all to see, starting from the handover of accounts, the AIMS saga, the transfer of surplus funds to the reserves and no longer touchable, and the withholding of govt grants etc etc. In the case of other town councils and grassroot organisations, the lapses were from different circumstances, more voluntary in nature with no exciting saga or drama.

For the moment, and likely, for whole election rally period, the AHPETC issues would be on the lips of all PAP politicians and ministers. They are going to drum, WP is bad, WP is bad, WP is bad. Some even gone so low as alleging whether money was lost without any proof or justifications.

The attack against the WP is furious if you read the main media. It is all over the pages daily with very wide and detailed coverage. While the PAP is launching a massive PR exercise against the WP, they forget that the WP MPs are the elected representatives of the people of Aljunied GRC, Punggol and Hougang. They forget that the masters of the AHPETC are the people of the GRC and the two SMCs. Attacking their elected representatives is in a way attacking the people who elected them to Parliament, that the people made a bad choice. WP is bad, PAP is good or better.

The bottom line of the AHPETC saga would end up becoming case of who the respective constituents choose to believe. Would they believe the PAP story that WP is bad, incapable of running a town council, or would they see this as ploy, as a set up by the PAP against the WP? The PAP has presented its case and would continue to hammer their points in till Polling Day. The WP has spoken and laid their cards laid bare on the table. Both sides have spoken.

Now who is going to judge who is right and who is wrong? Not the supreme court judges, not the whole of Singapore, but the residents of AHPETC. They are now the judges to this saga. They will pronounce who is right and who is wrong. This is about the fairest judgement that can come about, a judgement made by more than a hundred thousand residents. They will deliver their verdict on Polling Day.

If WP is booted out, it would mean the PAP has made their case and the residents believe the PAP story. If the WP wins again, it will be a resounding rejection of the PAP story, that the residents believed in their representatives and trusted them and did not find anything wrong with them. The case would be a test of the intelligence of the residents of AHPETC. Are they intelligent enough to sift through the smokes and know what the whole saga is all about?

Is it a case of right versus wrong, a case of wrongdoings, and who is the wrongdoer? Or is it a plain and simple case of political bickering and petty politics?

The people will be the judge in this case. This is as fair as one can get and the losers would be dealt a severe blow for losing the trust of the people. It would be a case when the majority of the people speak in one voice, we don’t trust you, we reject you. It is a mini referendum in a way. The people will deliver the justice against the unjust.