Tin Pei Ling - MP!

Why was I not surprised to hear that Ms. Tin Pei Ling was one of the first – probably the first - newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to host a Meet the People session following the announcement of the results in Singapore’s General Election 2011?

Ms. Tin is going to need to work very hard indeed, I think, if she means to prove to her detractors that the people of Marine Parade did well to return her to parliament.  It will be interesting too to notice to what extent Ms. Tin’s party, the People’s Action Party (PAP) will be willing to support her endeavours to redeem herself in the eyes of the Nation.  Was it her own idea or was she advised to make an early start on working with actual constituents in MacPherson, I wonder?  What else might she be expected to do as an MP other than serve those of her constituents that happen to be seeking financial assistance and/or help in securing rental flats?

Senior Minister, Mr. Goh Chok Tong, has already been heard saying something or other about Ms. Tin and the National Solidarity Party (NSP)’s Ms. Nicole Seah both having been factors in the outcome of the Marine Parade results.  (Being some three years younger than the much-maligned Ms. Tin, Ms. Seah’s presence in the contest might have served to make Ms. Tin’s ability to handle the rigours of being an MP appear all the more questionable; one could hardly defend her lack of appeal as a candidate on her youth and inexperience, not when the yet more youthful and even less experienced Ms. Seah appeared to be winning over so many hearts and minds not only in Marine Parade but at a National level as well.)

He has also been heard to suggest that the PAP wanted Ms. Tin as a candidate not so much despite her youth but, more accurately, because of it; the PAP appears to have expected that she might help the PAP to win over the youth vote.  Had the party been able to attract a Ms. Seah, my guess is that it would have been delighted to field her.  I’m uncertain whether the PAP can hope to attract any young candidate that might appear so appealing as Ms. Seah, however; the party’s branding makes it unlikely any so obviously passionate a young person would perceive it as providing a platform upon which to stand for change and it is Ms. Seah’s eagerness to promote change that forces her to be so open about her opinions, I think.

Ms. Seah did not ask voters to like or dislike her; she asked them to like or dislike the policies being put forward by her party.  Ms. Tin, on the other hand, failed to appear to support (or even to oppose) any policy referred to in the PAP manifesto.  She promised to do her best to help her constituents get their needs met, leaving voters with the impression she might try to help them deal with the bureaucracy and that would be enough to see them well and happy.  In a Singapore that is all of a sudden more politicised than ever before, TPL’s approach doesn’t appear to cut a lot of ice, I’m afraid.