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.