Hougang SMC & Sengkang West SMC: Blue Versus White

The contrast between the average Workers' Party candidate and PAP candidate is stark.
It's literally 'blue collar' vs 'white collar'.

Let's just look at 2 SMCs, Hougang and Sengkang West.

The Men in White fielded are (i) consistently elitely-educated, (ii) fair and clean-cut, and (iii) ever been employed by the government/government-related entities.

Meanwhile, the Men in Blue are (i) averagely well-educated, (ii) dark and somewhat bloated, and (iii) make their living via participation in the vulnerable SMEs.

I dunno about you, but I feel the need to redefine what a 'worker' is in today's context.

Being tertiary-educated, i.e. having a diploma or degree, doesn't elevate from you from 'worker' status. It merely makes you the New Worker. And the New Worker is part of the larger and ever more sophisticated machinery, which is built, operated and controlled by an elite class.

Such a redefinition is not merely semantics. Figuring out where you stand in society enables you to be clear about the opportunities which this system makes accessible (or not) to you.
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While you may have been brought up to be in awe of exceptional academic prowess (and subconsciously: good/clean looks = 'good' person), please think twice before applying such convenient set(s) of criteria when choosing someone to represent you, your problems, your wants etc in Parliament.

Choose someone who truly understands what you have gone through, and what you are likely to go through henceforth.

Party	Workers’ Party [Hougang SMC]	People’s Action Party [Hougang SMC]
Name	Yaw Shin Leong	Desmond Choo
Age	35	33
Ethnicity	Chinese (Teochew)	Chinese (Unknown)
Marital Status	Married	To be married in 2011
Language(s)	English, Mandarin, Teochew	English, Mandarin, Teochew, Hokkien, and Cantonese
Education	MBA, (University of Sydney) Dissertation Topic: “The Singapore Worker - Challenges & Implications” BA (Political Science), (NUS) Jurong Junior College Bukit Panjang Secondary School (Primary school unknown)	B(Economics), (University of Chicago) on Singapore Police Force Overseas Merit Scholarship National Junior College Catholic High School Ai Tong Primary School
Work Experience	Proprietor of Eduhearts Consultancy – Provider of enrichment courses) Managing Partner of Easto Global LLP – Provider of biometric sensors See long CV at his Facebook page here.	Deputy director of NTUC youth development unit Former senior officer with the Singapore Police Force up till May 2010.
Political Experience	Organising Secretary of Workers’ Party Fielded as WP candidate for Aljunied GRC in GE2001 Fielded as WP candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC in GE2006 Fielded as WP candidate for Hougang SMC in GE 2011	Unknown.
Sob Story	Unknown.	In his younger years, his father’s business went downhill, and his family had to downgrade to a 4-room HDB flat.

Party	Workers’ Party [Sengkang West SMC]	People’s Action Party [Sengkang West SMC]
Name	Koh Choong Yong	Lam Pin Min
Age	37	42
Ethnicity	Chinese (Unknown)	Chinese (Unknown)
Marital Status	Married (2 kids)	Married (2 kids)
Language(s)	English, Mandarin	Unknown (Minimally English)
Education	BSc (Information Systems & Computer Sciences), (NUS)	MMed (Ophthalmology), (NUS) MBBS, (NUS) National Junior College Anglo-Chinese School
Work Experience	Principal Consultant – ARCWorks (internet consultancy) See CV and personal website here.	Consultant in the Department of Ophthalmology, KKH Former SAF regular See long CV here and personal website here.
Political Experience	Workers’ Party Central Executive Committee (CEC), Webmaster, and President of Youth Wing, Workers’ Party	MP of Ang Mo Kio from 2006 to 2011 & Advisor for Sengkang West GRO *Note: This candidate has been involved in multiple types of community work. Refer to his website.
Sob Story	His father, a fish-monger at a Toa Payoh wet market, was the sole breadwinner, while his mother helped out at the stall. They used to stay in a 1-room rented flat in Kim Keat Ave, then a 2-room rented flat in Toa Payoh. Eventually they saved enough to purchase a 4-room flat in Bishan.	Unknown