Now that the General Election 2015 is coming to a close, what are some of your favourite rally speeches? I guess 2015 sees an impressive turn-out for most of the rallies, expectedly for Workers’ Party (WP), and somewhat surprising for Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), led by Dr. Chee Soon Juan. This General Election is also one that has a lot of analogies and metaphors being spilled out to directly (and indirectly) burn the ruling and opposition parties. Which is your favourite? We pick out 7 notable ones.
1. Unicorn…?
“Singapore is like a unicorn. One of a kind, a special animal, no other in the world. It works well, has unique solutions. Will we remain a unicorn, special, or become just like everyone else? It is not at all inconceivable that we can become quite ordinary like any other country.”
— Lee Hsien Loong, on Singapore as being special.
2. Tiger and Mouse
“The opposition frankly has been disappointing, because when you go for election rallies, it’s very easy to make fierce rousing speeches. But when they come to Parliament, none of these issues are raised. Because they know that if in Parliament they raise those issues, face to face, in debate, they’ll be pinned down and the fallacies and insincerities will be exposed… So you voted for a tiger in the chamber and you got a mouse in the house. It’s one of these Frankenstein monsters. Every night it turns into a tiger and every day it turns into a mouse.”
— Lee Hsien Loong on WP’s candidates, who were voted in the parliament. WP hits back with with reference to the hansard on which politicians spoke and attended the least of parliament meetings throughout the electoral period.
3. Blue Sky
“Before I end, let me share with you something a voter told me this morning when I was with our East Coast and Fengshan candidates at Bedok North. The voter, Mr Tan, said: “If you ask me whether I prefer the Blue Sky, or the White Clouds, I will vote for the Blue Sky. Why? The White Clouds can be blown here and blown there, and change their shape, white clouds can turn grey and even black. But the Blue Sky will always be there.””
— Sylvia Lim
4. Birthday Party
“For what happens, when the party is over, my friends? What happens when the music stops playing, and all the guests go home? Your housing loan is still not paid. The electricity bill has gone up, and the guy that threw the party now sends you the bill for the cake, the decorations and the drinks.”
— Dr. Chee Soon Juan
5. Mango Tree
“If a tree bears good fruit all these years, and you know that the tree will continue to bear good fruit, will you cut it down, will you tear it down, will you weaken the tree? Clearly, the answer is no. The Opposition somehow has a different view, they want to weaken the tree.”
— Lawrence Wong, on People Action’s Party’s (PAP) achievement all those years.
6. Carrot and Rabbit
“I hope that the PAP, as the big brother, can level up its game, to have a constructive conversation [in] the way forward for the nation, rather than [to] rely and campaign again and again with the offerings of carrots! My friends, are we rabbits?”
— Khung Wai Yeen, on PAP’s upgrading offers on a municipal level every other elections.
7. Cruise Ship
“If you go with the PAP, you’re embarking on a cruise ship with a definite destination… You know the captain, the crew members, you know the quality.
(On opposition parties) These are gambling ships, casinos. Very exciting. So you can take this ship, you can gamble, but you go nowhere.”
— Goh Chok Tong, on PAP’s values and mission.
“I’m afraid the cruise ship is over capacity limit. It used to be a luxury cruise ship. The designer claimed that it’s not sinkable. The name is Titanic.”
— Low Thia Khiang‘s venomous and brilliant comeback at ESM Goh.
Writer: Leong Chee Sheng