In December 2014, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had a chance meeting with a Barisan Sosialis member.

This took place at the wake of People's Action Party (PAP) candidate Ong Ye Kung's mother, who passed away at the age of 80 year old on 13 Dec 2014.

Many "leftists" of the past and current members of the ruling party attended the wake to pay their last respects to Ong's mother.

This is not exactly a curious fact as Ong's father was a Barisan Socialis MP and Ong himself ran under the PAP ticket in the 2011 General Election.

In a recent interview with evening tabloid newspaper Lianhe Wanbao on Jan. 5, 2014, they tried to examine his political pedigree and if the 50 years that separated the man at the wake from the boy who had first known politics through his Barisan Socialis father have fallen away.

Below are three key points from this unusually extensive feature in an evening paper: 

1. Ong's reflections on the General Election 2011

- Ong distinguished the differences between setbacks and mistakes, explaining that one should overcome setbacks and reflect upon mistakes. Ong analysed that PAP's Aljunied GRC defeat was a setback that could be overcome.

- During his GE 2011 experiences, Ong felt that there was a "deep change" in the national mood and Aljunied reflected this change. Ong added that while the residents liked his team, he could sense the residents' clamour for opposition voices in the parliament.

2. Ong's lessons from the electoral defeat 

- If he were to start all over again, Ong would change his attitude towards campaigning and put less focus on winning the elections. He felt that the whole campaign was interesting and meaningful - he was able to help the residents and debate ideas with others.

3. Ong's thoughts on how public service could be improved

- Ong believed that there is a need for public servants, parliamentarians and ministers to have strong core positions on matters. He added that one must have ideals so as to influence his/her environment and create a vision for the future.

Two observations from the feature: 

1. Ong prefers to speak to non-traditional media platforms 

During the last GE, Ong, together with George Yeo, were the only PAP politicians who granted exclusive interviews to Yahoo News.  Ong continues to do the same this time by granting exclusive interviews to Mothership.sg and Lianhe Wanbao instead of The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao.

2. Ong is running a different political campaign from the rest

What's the aim of the Lianhe Wanbao feature?

It is aimed perhaps at distinguishing his unique political pedigree from his politically staid peers.

In the feature, Wanbao noted that Ong has a "greater sense of history than his peers of the same generation" (王乙康的历史感比许多同代人强).

Afterall, Ong has a compelling personal narrative to tell.

He was the second son to the late Ong Lian Teng, one of 13 Barisan Sosialis legislative representatives elected in the 1963 General Election. In fact, Ong decided not to contest the 2006 GE because he sensed his dad's initial reservations.

He was the Principal Private Secretary to PM Lee and a senior leader of the National Trades Union Congress.

And he was the only "survivor" from the watershed PAP Aljunied GRC defeat - the rest of the MPs have retired.

Ong Ye Kung - a bridge between Barisan Sosialis and PAP?

In the Wanbao interview, Ong used a thousand-year olive tree analogy to describe how he appreciated PAP's "roots" (strong foundations) and its determination to change.

Two days after the GE, Lee Kuan Yew commented that "2011 has seen a generation that does not remember from whence we came ".

If elected, Ong could very well be this bridge between the past and the new.

Top photo from Ong Ye Kung Facebook page. 

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