Ever since GE2006, Teo Chee Hean has labelled Workers Party as "Wayang Party" and the label has since been stuck.
Netizens have been calling Workers Party as PAP Team B etc.
Comments include "Seems like have to relook at other parties, maybe SDP. I also do not like the combatant style of CSJ but at least his party has been very active since the last election to try to tackle the housing and medical issues. They may not have the best solutions but at least they are showing that they are trying. Whereas for the Wayang Party, nothing to show but all NATO during the elections. Really disappointed so far in Wayang Party’s so called ’star’ performers!"
"WP is clearly a ‘Wayang Party’, a fake opposition whose sole purpose of existence is to maintain the status quo. This is what the Kremlin is doing to sideline the real opposition in Russia. Time to boycott the ‘Wayang Party’ and switch your support to the real opposition parties which can make a real difference now. A vote for WP = A vote for PAP! Please help spread the message around."
"Please spread the message around to BOYCOTT the ‘Wayang Party’ by switching your support to the real opposition parties so that they can challenge the PAP-WP alliance in 2016."
Having joined opposition politics and met with a few parties here and there, below is my analysis. Feel free to disagree with me as well.
1) WP still needs PAP's help and assistance in many areas.
Even as an opposition party, you still need PAP's help. PAP still holds the dominant majority and controls all the stats boards and Ministries. Residents living in opposition wards still need LTA, NEA and HDB for help. Workers' Party also has to toe the line and try to act and 'be nice' to PAP. Even during Meet the MP session, opposition politicians still need to write appeal letters to MOE, HDB, NEA, LTA and CPF for their residents. Should WP take an aggressive presence in Parliament and piss off PAP, it could cripple their own opposition wards.
2) Taking an aggressive stand or being too strong/ confrontational scares off conservative voters.
Many conservative voters/ swing voters still demonise opposition politicians as they usually read Mediacorp/ SPH.
Most Singaporeans are still quite an apathetic and passive lot when it comes to politics.
At work, these people follow their bosses' orders and it gets into their psyche that one should not disobey higher authorities. So when it comes to Elections, they also blindly vote for PAP.
When I said I support opposition, some of my close friends gets alarmed and ask me "Why are you so negative and anti-establishment?!" How come suddenly I become the bad guy?
But yet, these voters are WP's secret weapon to swing easily if WP play their cards right.
Some voters whom I approach still cannot forget Chee Soon Juan's shouting at Goh Chok Tong in 2001 General Elections and his hooligan tactics back then and they tend to link Chee with the mother / father of all opposition politicians.
WP gentle coaxing without coming across as overbearing works well so far for them.
3) WP still gets bullied by PAP in Parliament.
We have seen how WP Md Faisal got bullied by Halimah Yacob and Shanmugam when he tried to cite an example of how a couple was asked by HDB officer to divorce and re-marry again during the reading of an amendment to the Family Justice Bill.
We have seen how Vivian Balakrishnan pounced on Sylvia Lim over the spring cleaning issue and Khaw called Sylvia as arrogant during the AIM saga.
It's tough to be a WP politician when PAP magnifies your mistakes 10 times but PAP still gets away with it as they are the dominant political holder.
Therefore, a rational WP will be to be a fence sitter first rather than take a stand and get shot down easily by PAP.
4) WP is unable to do more as PAP holds the government office roles.
For a person to do his/ her job well, he needs to have the tools. For example, Chen Show Mao has been touted the next Prime Minister but even the next Prime Minister needs to have access to confidential documents and data which PAP only hides/ evades and buries it.
In Parliament, there is a time limit for each politician to speak. WP can only do so much to pressure PAP. Look at how netizens booed Woffles Wu's light sentencing and when Sylvia tried to push this issue, Shanmugam tried to accuse her of politicising the issue and shut her down immediately.
So after reading all this, is WP still a Wayang Party?
CJ
TRS Contributor