The People’s Action Party (PAP) on Saturday (Aug 22) introduced its candidates for the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Bukit Panjang SMC for the coming General Election (GE).

The four-member slate features the same members who contested the Holland Bukit-Timah GRC at the 2011 General Election: Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of State Sim Ann and MPs Christopher de Souza, and Liang Eng Hwa. Mayor Teo Ho Pin will defend his seat at Bukit Panjang.

Pasir Ris-Punggol unveiled new candidates like Ng Chee Meng and Sun Xueling, and Tampines saw the retirement of Mah Bow Tan and Irene Ng. Would this unveiling by Minister Balakrishnan be overshadowed by the other PAP press conferences today?

Here's five observations we think may give this unveiling a 'sleeper hit' status:

1. Kopitiam audience without the squeeze

While some wards held their press conferences in a kopitiam to imbue a more 'heartland' flavour, the squeeze and heat from such proceedings made things a little uncomfortable for those present.

Kudos to the Holland Bukit-Timah team for holding the Town Improvement Plan launch under a canopy right next to a kopitiam. Residents could have their kopi and toast in peace without the media scrum crowding them out while the candidates could speak on stage with a bigger audience (those under the canopy and the breakfast crowd in the kopitiam).

The team then proceeded to the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council conference room for its press conference where Minister Balakrishnan quipped that the media had already unveiled the candidates for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC before the press conference even began.

2. Focus on Character, Integrity, Honesty.

While PAP candidates at other wards mostly focused on how much walking they have done on the ground and solving residents' problems, the team at Holland-Bukit Timah not only did that but also talked about the impending election and how voters have to decide 'who they trust' with their children's future.

On the prerequisite of public office, Minister Balakrishnan said:

Character. Integrity. Honesty. These are non-negotiable for the PAP. Many people ask us why we are so obsessed with it. We believe this is the first prerequisite of public office.

He also mentioned that 'life is not about promises', but rather in the doing and delivering.

3. Is this team the PAP's spear tip against the opposition?

While the Workers' Party (WP) was not mentioned at all during the press conference, the comments made by Minister Balakrishnan about trust, integrity and delivering of promises may seem to be directed at the WP and the handling of the AHPETC issue.

Of the four members of the Holland-Bukit Timah team, three have, some way or the other, 'crossed swords' with the WP over AHPETC matters.

Most recently, Minister of State Sim Ann sparred with WP's Gerald Giam over the AHPETC accounts issue during the Political Dialogue @ NUSS event.

MP Liang Eng Hwa earlier this year had called AHPETC a “house in disarray” in Parliament and criticised the town council for its handling of sinkings funds. More recently, he had asked a supplementary question in Parliament to Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam about the differences between the Auditor-General Office's annual audits of ministries and agencies (where lapses were found in the People's Association), and its audit on AHPETC. This led to DPM Tharman saying that the issues in AHPETC went beyond poor accounting procedures, and asked the WP to resolve the problems and not whitewash them.

Minister Balakrishnan's 'battle' with AHPETC occurred back in 2013 where he said that AHPETC lied over the matter of charging hawkers extra money for cleaning the high areas of the hawker centres even though town councils are obligated to do so without imposing extra costs on hawkers.

4. Minister Balakrishnan made a good pitch to the public on why the team should be re-elected again.

With the focus on the fourth generation of leaders, many people have probably forgotten how effective a communicator Minister Balakrishnan is.

In fact, Minister Vivian made a effective pitch on why the voters of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC should continue to vote for the "time-tested, relatively young" team.

In his opening address, he told the audience that the "residents know our values, know what we stand for, know our attention to detail and our commitment". He highlighted the improvements made in transport such as the 9 new Downtown Line 2 stations and the addition of 68 new buses to the GRC. The verdict's still out though on resident satisfaction due to the disruption of traffic flow because of station construction, particularly along the Bukit Timah Road stretch over the last few years.

In his conclusion, he managed to sell  tell the public about his team members' achievements that was akin to an elevator pitch. He praised "bi-cultural and bilingual" Sim for "working so hard". He called Teo "Mr Town Council" and highlighted de Souza's private member bill achievement. He also touched on Liang's important work on finance and trade and industry in parliament.

5. It was a missed opportunity for the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) team in GE2011

The PAP advantage gap just drew wider between the ruling party and SDP.

In 2011, Minister Balakrishnan led a team of two one-term MPs and a new candidate to contest against SDP's "A" team.

It was a tough fight as SDP, with its team of former Presidential Election candidate Tan Jee Say, Vincent Wijeysingha, Ang Yong Guan, and Michelle Lee, achieved their best GE2011 result of 39.92% at Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

Four years later, the SDP team will face an experienced Minister, officeholder Sim Ann and two accomplished two-term MPs with constituencies improvements (Liang's mention of the increased bus services and the new Downtown Line 2) and legislative achievements (de Souza's private member's bill on human trafficking).

With Tan and Ang leading the new opposition party Singaporeans First (SingFirst) party and Vincent quitting politics, 3/4 of the SDP "A" team is unlikely to be back for Round 2.

P.S. The team, which said that it had pushed for a quicker completion of the Downtown line, should really send a big Thank You card to Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew.

Additional reporting by Matthias Ang.

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