Bukit Batok bi-election!

[Angcheek]

I meant for the pappy candidate to hug the person (suffering from Neurofibromastosis ) featured, shaking hands with Chee.

[Kopites]

ohhhhhh ......... im surprised you know that illness . you also a doc ?

 

your suggestion is valid. I liked it .... To be show more sincerity, they should nominate ladies or KFC

I remember few years back one of the pappy female candidate (forgotten her name) wipe her hand after "shaking" I mean hand with a fish monger.

[Maxus-MIFA9]

Yesterday reported that Election Department conducting head-count for the by-election.

 

So April ....

[BenTong]

I remember few years back one of the pappy female candidate (forgotten her name) wipe her hand after "shaking" I mean hand with a fish monger.

She apparently shook hands with pork sellers before that. Then wash hands. In case meet a Muslim, not good la.

 

Furthermore She is a doctor la. It's in their practice to always wash hands.

[Vratenza]

She apparently shook hands with pork sellers before that. Then wash hands. In case meet a Muslim, not good la.

 

Furthermore She is a doctor la. It's in their practice to always wash hands.

 

You are not applying for PR manager position in PAP are you? Sure get selected with sign on bonus 6 months!

[Wt_know]

still no date when is chee-by-election?

[BenTong]

You are not applying for PR manager position in PAP are you? Sure get selected with sign on bonus 6 months!

Calling a spade a spade...

[Vratenza]

still no date when is chee-by-election?

 

Chee-by-election needs to be planned within the time of the month. Not timed correctly you get PMS...cramps...moody.....

[Joseph22]

I remember few years back one of the pappy female candidate (forgotten her name) wipe her hand after "shaking" I mean hand with a fish monger.

Mrs Chiam did that also. Why no one mention?

[Gitanic]

Self discipline to go home.

What color is the monster?

 

http://youtu.be/l5Zo3UGFlJ4

 

you very cute.I like Sesame Street too.Cookie Monster is good.

 

a break fr reality and back to childhood.

[Vratenza]

http://heresthenews.blogspot.sg/2009/08/ex-minister-speaks-out-after-18-yrs.html

 

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Ex-minister speaks out, after 18 yrs

 

Aug 13, 2009

Seet Ai Mee throws light on hand-washing controversy raised ahead of 1991 election

EIGHTEEN years later, former acting minister Seet Ai Mee said she was wronged in reports of a prior hand-washing incident that many said contributed to her 1991 electoral defeat.

She said in the latest issue of Petir, the People's Action Party (PAP) news magazine, that she had washed her hands after shaking the hands of pork sellers in a market, not a fishmonger.

'I washed my hands...simply because I thought that if I shake the hand of another person later who may be Muslim, it would be a religious offence,' said Dr Seet, now aged 66, who is president of HCA Hospice Care.

However, she was not asked to clarify the matter then.

'Did the press ask me why I washed my hands? No. Did the then Prime Minister ask me? No. Had both asked for an explanation, I would've told them. I didn't know about the issue until the PM spoke about it at the General Election rally,' she said in an interview to mark the 20th anniversary of the PAP Women's Wing, which she co-founded.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was then the Prime Minister. When contacted yesterday, he declined to comment.

Mr Goh had said at a rally on Aug 29, 1991, ahead of Polling Day on Aug 31, that she was a strong woman of good character.

But he acknowledged that Dr Seet, a pharmacist, had a habit of washing her hands often. That. he added, could be a liability as a politician.

Days after the election, a volunteer on her campaign team, wrote to The Straits Times Forum page, saying the fishmonger story was an old tale from the previous 1988 General Election. It resurfaced in the last two days of the 1991 campaign, wrote Ms Tan Bee Bee.

'I was there at the time and saw what happened. The fishmonger had rinsed his hand in a water container in front of him

'He grinned, embarrassed, and said his hand was wet. Dr Seet smiled, told him not to worry and immediately gave him a firm handshake.'

Later, 'after we met a butcher, she showed me an oily hand and mentioned that she needed to wash it in case she met a Muslim, as she could not in all conscience offer her hand when it was covered with pork grease,' Ms Tan wrote.

Dr Seet was elected as MP in 1988, one of four women MPs then. The others were Dr Aline Wong, Dr Dixie Tan and Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, who is now Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Dr Seet went on to become the first woman acting minister, holding the community development portfolio, before her defeat by then Singapore Democratic Party chairman Ling How Doong. She lost her Bukit Gombak seat by 654 votes or by 1.4 per cent.

She told Petir her defeat was not because of the one washing-of-hands incident.

There were many issues the voters then were sore about, she added, citing rising prices and the cancellations of bus routes.

She also said that had the hand-washing issue been clarified, 'we could've explained and defused the incident'.

'The opposite happened instead and I became political fodder.'

However, looking back, Dr Seet said 'what has happened, happened. One moves on. Life goes on before, during and after politics'.

--------
online comment:

I am thoroughly surprised that the Straits Times,a bastion of investigative journalism and renowned objectivity, didn't verify the comment by the then Prime Minister or give the accused person the right of reply. It's one of the rare times this paper has slipped up.

Secondly, just as Dr. Seet still remembers an incident from 18 years ago, so do many readers and the electorate. Is she so naive as to think that an entire constituency voted against her because of THAT ONE INCIDENT? What does she take them for? From memory the letter to the Straits Times merely said that she washed her hands because the content on her hand was not halal. I don't recall such detail at the time, it's a shame the ST hasn't reprinted that letter from their archives.

She could have taken the opportunity to clear the air when the PAP Women's Wing celebrated their first decade. Why wait 'til the second decade?

Thirdly, why didn't Dr. Seet rebut the comment publicly in any election rally or to the press. Do you need to wait for people to come to you? Even the Minister Mentor has said the duty of a leader is to lead. She should have taken the lead on the matter.

Fourthly, SM Goh a few years ago - I think in a ST writeup about his first decade as PM, was reported to have said he apologised to Dr. Seet for the comment and felt responsible for her loss. She could have come forward then to clear the air. He invited her to make a return to politics, it was reported, so why didn't she have the courage of her convictions to return?

Fifthly, other people in power have their quirks - MM is a firm believer in non-smoker's rights and has always insisted that no one smokes in his direct presence. The late Mr. Fong Sip Chee was allergic to the paper contents of garlands which caused an itchiness so he always took garlands off after they were put on him. These people were re-elected year in year out. So why would the average person in the heartlands have a problem with a woman washing her hands?

Sixthly, if I recall, another reason she lost was that the opposition candidate - I think it was Ling How Doong - constantly brought up the high hospital charges at the time - which were revised after the election. This was a bread and butter issue as well - not one of fish.

I also recall that the talk on the ground was that Dr. Seet had personality issues. She dressed very elegantly (in itself not to be held against her) and was seen as snooty. Did she have problems trying to relate to her constituents and did they feel comfortable throughout the years she was in power during her meet the people sessions for example? Had she lost her common touch? There was a joke making the rounds after her loss. Apparently she wanted everyone to call her "Ai Mee" after her loss. Why? Because she had lost her "seet". :-)
Posted by: janganbedeh at Thu Aug 13 10:59:13 SGT 2009

Just reposting historical report . I had to search for this since I do not remember this incident. Turns out I was still in secondary school then. LOL

 

A few things I noticed:

 

- GCT used her former profession as a pharmacist as an explanation(excuse). Based on my understanding, pharmacists are not known to have bodily contact with patients. If they have said she is just a clean freak, I would have understood but I guess that explanation will not go down well with the commoners on the ground as it implies that they are too dirty for her immaculate hands.

 

- We have many more doctors in the PAP wing  as well as an infectious disease professor in SDP, I will like to see how many of them are caught out for behaving in accordance to their profession. 

"But he acknowledged that Dr Seet, a pharmacist, had a habit of washing her hands often. That. he added, could be a liability as a politician."...GCT

 

- Only after losing the election than a mysterious volunteer wrote in to a public forum to explain why....a little mysterious..a little too late?

 

 

 

[Neost]

i doubt puppy will do this 

 

12923196_2210509069089810_5209307432803410507_n.jpg

 

For the OTHER PARTY, its advance party will make sure this resident won't even get close to the main actor.

[Wt_know]

shake hands can win votes already? ...

 

during election time ... miw whole team stand inline at mrt station

shake hands and give pamphlet

treat mrt peasants like superstar ...

 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Wt_know

[Voxy28]

Wahlaueh, where is David Ong? Abducted by aliens?

[Nolicense]

maybe the one kenna shake hand then feel this way.

 

people outside sure say wayang. happen before mah., comment everywhere is wayang. those who dis agree with is dog. so i agree is wayang

of cos wayang lah. politics. enough said.

[Vratenza]

Wahlaueh, where is David Ong? Abducted by aliens?

 

Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!    

 

Get back to your daily struggles before the elite come ask you why you so free to kaypoh about David Ong affair. They do not have to account to peasant like us okkaayyyy....

[Joseph22]

of cos wayang lah. politics. enough said.

You try saying Chee wayang see what happen.

[Nolicense]

You try saying Chee wayang see what happen.