Nicole Seah is the "obvious choice of spokesperson" for the NSP's Marine Parade team, according to her teammate Spencer Ng
By Wayne Sim
Staff Writer
Speaking to reporters outside Tao Nan School this morning, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and PAP candidate for Marine Parade GRC said that the NSP team appears to be relying solely on the star appeal of young candidate Nicole Seah.
Mr Goh, who will be facing a contest for the first time in 19 years, said: “I look at NSP and they appear to have only one person in charge. The four men are leaving it to the young lady to campaign and say all the things.”
“If you win, you have to look after the town council, I have five members who can look after a town council; my sense is the other side has only one member to do all the talking and all the attraction for them.”
Ms Seah, 24, has created a stir online because of her youthful charisma and good looks. She has also been praised as being mature and articulate, and has spoken passionately on issues ranging from the cost of living to the repeal of anti-gay laws. She has attracted a massive following on social network site Facebook.
She has also been compared with Tin Pei Ling, one of Mr Goh’s PAP teammates. In contrast to Ms Seah, Ms Tin, 27, has received brickbats for being immature and lacking in depth.
Mr Goh Chok Tong working the ground in Marine Parade with his GRC team mates
Indeed, when Ms Tin took to the podium to deliver a short speech after being nominated, she was drowned out by chants of “we don’t know what to say” and “Kate Spade! Kate Spade!”.
Mr Goh, however, has cautioned against looking at the electoral battle as a popularity contest between Ms Tin and Ms Seah, and has promised to introduce a ‘buddy system’ where the PAP’s new candidates would be paired up with a more experienced incumbent. He also commented that Ms Seah’s NSP team mates – Spencer Ng, Ivan Yeo, Abdul Salim and former SDP MP Cheo Chai Chen – have been silent thus far.
In reply, Mr Ng said:”Nicole has been in the media line for two years now, and she’s the obvious choice of spokesperson, but we work as a team with each member handling other aspects of the campaign, crafting plans and working out how to get citizens to understand us better.”
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The author is a Staff Writer at The Satay Club.
Tin Pei Ling is not bad. She looks sincere and speaks good mandarin.
But Nicole is simply HOT!
Ah Goh is just jealous/sour grapes that the yong candidate from NSP outshine his own Tin Tin.
C’mon lah, lao Goh, you not happy? Ask your Tin Tin to come forward to impress the voters lah! Or is she not ready? Not ready and yet you PAP fill her as candidate to serve the residents? You think election is play play?
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In a GRC system you either win big or lose big. Chances are that the electorate will simply look at the weakest link in the group, which unfortunately throws up clearly in GCT’s group. So it is only natural for the electorate to vote Nicole Seah’s group rather than GCT’s group because of the latter’s weakest link.
What a pity, Mr Goh. You have made yourself a system of thorns and you are now forced to live with it for better or for worse.
Why is someone like Goh Chok Tong attacking a young lady like Nicole? If he comes across as MCP he could lose votes.
My favourite part of the article was this:
Indeed, when Ms Tin took to the podium to deliver a short speech after being nominated, she was drowned out by chants of “we don’t know what to say” and “Kate Spade! Kate Spade!”.
Why not pit the “4 men relying on a young lady” against TPL and see if she can hold her own against them. She herself is relying on GCT’s coat tails. If not, why did GCT need to implement a special buddy system for?
Please. PAP did not recruit Tin Pei Ling because of her ability. PAP recruited her based on her political connections. Her boss at Ernst & Young is Dilys Boey, who is the wife of PAP MP Hri Kumar Nair. Tin’s husband is Ng How Yue, the Principal Private Secretary to LHL himself. That’s why Tin was selected. PAP only knows how to recruit from within their circles.
24 yr old lady is enough to kill!
i’m sure mr goh will be kicking himself for not recruiting nicole seah thus ending up with tin pei ling. nicole seah will have tin pei ling for breakfast in a debate. word of advice to ms tin pei ling, if you “don’t know what to say” just stay in the kitchen where you belong. is this the best PAP can find?
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THE PAP REAP WHAT THEY SOW. NOW IT IS TIME FOR A HUGE UPSET IN MARINE PARADE. GOH CHOK TONG VOTED OUT. DEFEATED BY YOUNG 24 YEAR OLD ROOKIE NICOLE SEAH. THIS WILL BE A FAIRY TALE STORY.
Haha, that is the fault of the GRC system!! Weaker candidates can hide behind stronger ones. As you said yourself Mr Goh, this is a “team effort”, so why are you now criticising it? You think anyone would vote for Tin Pei Ling if not for you?
This just smacks of half-baked hypocrisy! Goh Chok Tong’s own team mates aren’t hiding behind him, are they??