The People’s Action Party rally yesterday (Apr 29) had several quotable moments, but the best came when Grace Fu - Minister of Culture, Community and Youth and MP of the adjacent Yuhua SMC - tore into the character of Chee Soon Juan.

Grace Fu brought up the internal strife within the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) nearly 20 years ago - as well as more recent political adventures from the party, such as its attempt to represent Punggol East in Parliament while letting the Workers’ Party run its town council in 2013 - as proof that SDP’s Chee Soon Juan is not prepared to run an estate, a major talking point in this by-election.

Fu also brought up the track record of PAP candidate Murali Pillai, who ran in Aljunied GRC in the last election.

Here are 8 quotable quotes from the three rally speakers who spoke at Bukit Gombak Stadium yesterday (Apr 30).

From Grace Fu:

“It would be very interesting to see whether there would be a referral letter from Mr Chiam See Tong, you know the sifu (teacher) who recruited (Chee) into SDP, and what Mr Chiam will write about him.”

“(Aljunied) is place where many people would hesitate - and the result, in three years, he won over the people in Aljunied - particularly the people in Paya Lebar. Not only is he sincere, he has no fear.” - Fu on Murali's character.

“Bukit Batok deserves someone who has sincerity and humility… your decision does not affect you alone; collectively it affects everyone in the constituency.” - Fu on what voting Murali entails.

From Murali Pillai:

“When you leave politics, make sure you leave with just the shirt on your back.” - Murali on his father’s advice when he joined the PAP. Murali’s father - P. K. Pillai - was a Barisan Sosialis member.

“I want to make a positive difference for you. The day I stop doing that, I will leave.”

“When there is a clash between my personal interests, and Bukit Batok residents’ interests, I will always put Bukit Batok first.” - Murali Pillai, on claims that he would not do well as a part-time MP.

From Halimah Yacob:

“He’s not a new kid on the block - you all know that.” - Halimah Yacob, who cites Murali Pillai’s 16 years of experience.

“It is quite unbelievable to me - because whichever party we (come) from we must respect our Prime Minister… You must respect our Prime Minister. Mr Goh Chok Tong was the Prime Minister at the time, and he (Chee) shouted at Mr Goh Chok Tong. You may gloss over it and say that’s not important - but I never forgot. We are Asians, we are Singaporeans, we respect our elders.” - Halimah Yacob, on Chee’s 2001 remark accusing Goh Chok Tong of misleading Parliament about a loan to then Indonesian President Suharto.

Photographs by Ng Kai Yuan

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