The debates and caditates had also been streaming in.The PAP had released its next new batch of candidates, and which among them,the one that have attracted the most controversy could be unargumentably Tin Pei Ling.Recently,she had been popular online for all the wrong reasons.
But first we need to know more about what happened..Tin Pei Ling,the youngest candidate for the election this year. she is the youngest candidate among the total of 9 new faces that had been introduced to the public so far.At 27 years old.She is the youngest PAP candidate in three decades to feature in the political scene.However,many had criticized he online for being "too young",having not enough experience in the political scene,not fitting her estate's profile,Macpherson,helmed by SM Goh Chok Tong which happens to be one of the "old" estates in Singapore.Pictures from the Facebook account of the business consultant had shown her being"cute",such as showing her posing with a Kate Spade shopping bag or a teddy bear and had subsequently been posted on various websites and blogs.
Some had also accused her of being fielded was due to her husband's position as principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
I am utterly disgusted by what is happening online.I would like to quote Tessa Wong's article for The Straits Times. 'She is dismissed as a “gold-digging”, “sexy xiao mei mei” (Chinese for little sister) who is “act-cute” – to describe her in some terms used by netizens.'This is what I want to talk aout in my first point.Is this what SIngaporean netizens think.They had not only been sexist but also ageist.Do you look at a politician with your streotypical views towards young people and women?It is unfortunate how people rat on her on the ever so infamous "Temasek Review". I despise such people who only know how to look at politics on one side and do not dare to stand up to air their opinions but hide behind the protection of the internet.I cannot think of anything else apart from one being ignorant that will motivate someone to launch a personal attack on someone.Shouldn't we be looking for the real qualities we look for in the leaders of the nation?I do not particularly care or fret about a MP's or a leader's private life.To quote Lee Kuan Yew in the book 'Hard Truths to Keep Singapore going',in response to the question
"Q: It took time for Singaporeans to be able to accept single women MPs. Do you see Singaporeans being able to accept a gay MP? It's already happening in a fairly widespread fashion in Europe."
He said:
A: As far as I'm concerned, if she does her work as an MP, she looks after her constituents, she makes sensible speeches, she's making a contribution, her private life is her life, that's that. There was a British minister, I shouldn't name him, a Conservative. He was out of office but he was hoping to become the leader of the party and we had dinner with a few friends. He thought he had to come out upfront that when he was at university at Oxford, he did get involved in same-sex activities. But he's married now with children, he's quite happy. So he came out with it. He didn't become leader of the party and that's Britain. He thought he had come out upfront and it'd protect him from investigative reporting. It did not help him. But had he kept quiet they would have dug it out, then it's worse for him. So there you are. You know, there are two standards. It's one thing the people at large, it's another thing, your minister or your prime minister being such a person. I mean Ted Heath was not married. I shouldn't say who the ministers were who said he's a suppressed homosexual. So the opposition party leaders were telling me because it's very strange. Here's a man in the prime of his life and getting on, 40, 50 still not married, and he was that way at Oxford. So they said, suppressed homosexual. That's the opposition talk by very reputable leaders who tell me that seriously. So? And with it of course is disapprobation, that he's unworthy to be a leader. But that was in the early 1970s."
I would like to emphasize on this particular excerpt from his answer."As far as I'm concerned, if she does her work as an MP, she looks after her constituents, she makes sensible speeches, she's making a contribution, her private life is her life" A politician's life is his or her life.Who are we to judge them for what they do?Sadly to say,this has been what many had been viewing Tin Pei Ling with.Instead,we should be looking at her qualities,will she contribute to the nation?Will she be able to bring Singapore through the challenges it faces?
We need to look at her resilience,is she able to stand up strong and recover from any attacks and challenges she faces?I am glad to see that so far,she had been responding well and standing up strong in the face of criticism,She had shrugged off the criticisms,and I admire her for doing so.A 27-year-old that is able to do that seems to have a good political path ahead.For without resilience,where would Singapore and other nations in the world be?If Lee Kuan Yew sat down and quit after we were sepetrated from Malaysia,we wouldn't be here today.If the Japanese sat down after their calamity and thought the world had ended,they will never have survived and recovered,even stronger and courageous.I hope to see that in all future players in the political scene in Singapore.I have no wish and time to probe into a candidate's private life.All I can wish now is that the Singapore public see who have the merits and not judge Ms Tin on her private lifestyle.Let her learn and slowly but surely,she will gain more political experience over the years.To end off,I would like to use some excerpts from a excellently-written letter to TODAY by Siew Kum Hong 'to summarise my views.'She is a 27-year-old professional, not a nun.(On Tin Pei Ling' and 'I would like politics in Singapore to be about the candidates and their views and their competency/suitability as MPs and office holders. I would not like politics in Singapore to become an exercise in gutter journalism. If and to the extent that a politician makes morality and virtue part of his/her platform or public persona, then that becomes fair game as well - but only then, and not before.'
Because if this is really the way we view politicians and politics in Singapore, 'This is not what I want Singapore politics to be like'
To know more:
Tin Pei Ling's the one to watch-The Straits Times By Yen Feng
Mixed views on youngest PAP candidate in three decades-TODAY By Leong Wee Keat
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