One of my Malay friend lamented that ever since the Hijab incident happened and the shutting down of the Facebook Day of World Hijab Day by MDA (Click on http://therealsingapore.com/content/world-hijab-day-singapore-facebook-page-shut-down-authorities), she wished that her heroine Halimah Yacob could say or speak out against her boss, PM Lee.
This Malay friend used to know Halimah Yacob back in her NTUC union days when Halimah was a young union worker. Sometimes, when Singaporeans are retrenched and meet her at the Meet-the-MP session, she will always try to forward their CV to NTUC Unions and Co-operatives to help them get a better job etc.
She briefly mentioned to me that sometimes, she wished Halimah could join opposition politics to do more for the people.
To some certain extent, that is true.
If we look at how Sylvia LIm was promoted to be the Chairman of WP and Jeannette Chong is the Secretary General of NSP, they have broke the glass ceiling as many Singaporeans see them as true calibre despite their gender or age.
Previously, Hazel Poa also broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman Secretary-General of NSP while Nicole Seah is now the trump card of NSP.
Halimah could have achieved more as an opposition politician rather than a PAP politician. Despite joining PAP since 2001, she has not held a any full Ministerial position but could sadly watch male politicians such as Chan Chun Sing, Heng Swee Keat and Tan Chuan Jin hold important Ministerial positions.
Halimah, being a NTUC union worker since young, would have more than qualified to replace Tan Chuan Jin, a Army General who knows nuts about Manpower issues.
During the SARS recession, Halimah also urged and spoke out in Parliament to urge all employers to hire Singaporeans first.
She has also championed women's rights and urges government to do more to recognise single mothers. Click on http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/halimah-yacob-urges-govt/901958.html
Her attendance in Parliament is excellent and she was promoted to Speaker of the Parliament as a result. Despite growing up poor, she has also chosen to be the rare PAP people to live in a Yishun HDB flat. Click on http://www.asiaone.com/print/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20130114-395386.html
Unlike other unpopular MPs such as Lee Bee Hwa or Lim Wee Kiak or Tin Pei Ling, A quick check on Halimah shows not many netizens bad-mouthing her online.
She was also popular enough to be able to stand on stage to help canvass for votes for Dr Koh Poh Koon during the Punggol East by-election while the more unpopular PAP such as Tin Pei Ling had to stand at the sidelines and watch.
To Mdm Halimah Yacob, if you are reading this, it might be a good time to pledge your allegiance to an opposition party and do more for Singaporeans and be a true role model for Singaporeans. I believe that you have many opinions about the recent Hijab issue but because you are under PAP, you are required to be a Yes man and practice group-thinking.