Mr Goh Meng Seng has apologised for the NSP's "disappointing" results and has taken full responsibility for failing to win any seats
By Nigel Tan
Chief Editor
National Solidarity Party leader Goh Meng Seng has taken responsibility for the party’s poor showing at the recent general election, hinting at a possibility that he might step down to make way for new leadership.
The NSP failed to win any seats despite having fielded 24 candidates – the highest number fielded by any opposition party. Several of the candidates received star billing due to their impressive credentials, including government scholars Tony Tan Lay Thiam and Hazel Poa, internet sensation Nicole Seah, lawyer Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss and former NCMP Steve Chia.
Mr Goh, who employed a ‘minister-specific strategy’ that focused on playing up the mistakes of individual ministers in GRCs, admitted that the strategy did not succeed. He has also attracted considerable criticism for failing to employ his resources in an appropriate manner, with his top candidates spread out across several constituencies rather than being concentrated in one or two wards.
In contrast, the Workers’ Party managed to capture Aljunied GRC after fielding heavyweights Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Chen Show Mao on the same slate.
Mr Goh has also been slammed for running a haphazard and chaotic campaign, particularly with regards to Tampines, where he himself was fielded as a candidate. His critics feel that Tampines was a winnable GRC, due to the unpopularity of the incumbent anchor minister, Mr Mah Bow Tan. Instead of concentrating on his own contest in Tampines, Mr Goh spent most of the campaign period lending support to Ms Seah in Marine Parade.
“I am not happy with the election results,” admitted Mr Goh in an interview with Yahoo! Singapore. “I take full responsibility for the results.”
Despite this, Mr Goh said that he was proud of the performance of the party’s Marine Parade and Chua Chu Kang teams, who managed to obtain 43.35 and 38.8 per cent of the votes respectively. “I think Uncle Goh (Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong) will have a hard time sleeping tonight,” he said.
The Marine Parade team comprised of Ms Seah as well as Ivan Yeo, Spencer Ng, Abdul Salim Harun and former Singapore Democratic Party MP Cheo Chai Chen. The low margin of the PAP’s victory caught many observers by surprise, seeing as the ward is considered to be one of the PAP’s traditional strongholds. The last time it was contested was in 1992, when then-Prime Minister Goh romped home with more than 72 per cent of the votes.
Still, none of the NSP candidates have done well enough to even qualify for a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament seat, with the three best-performing losers being Lina Chiam (Potong Pasir), Yee Jenn Jong (Joo Chiat) and the Worker’s Party team in East Coast GRC. There is a small chance that the NSP will be awarded an NCMP seat, but this depends on the SPP or WP rejecting the seats.
Mr Goh has said that the NSP will be seriously considering the issue of leadership renewal. He has previously said that he is planning to groom the party’s younger members to take over, and also hinted that Ms Seah will be cast in a more important role in the party.
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The author is Chief Editor of The Satay Club.
Exactly where is the facebook like link ?
NSP n GMS are the favoured party of PAP. PAP put them in its pocket, can never expect them to win any ward from PAP. SDP is the visionary party PAP is most afraid off, they have the talents and the support of the Youngs and educated. SDP will be a much stronger party then even WP in time to come. WP appears more to the conservative citizenry.
The main topic on everyone’s mind is not abt BG Yeo & gang out.Old fart story.only MSM keepin the stench alive with daily mournin on SG media- whores.
the New Qn is Like Who Wts to Be Millionaire?
Who Within PAP Will Be out In YR2016?
a) Is it Vivian Bala
b) Is it KBW
c) Is it MBT
d) Is it NHK
or All of above!!!
WKS & old dinosaurs omitted as dead or retired likely no offense, just Nature’s Hard Truth
That is the Million oops sorri no insult multi Million dollar qn.
Goh Meng Seng is kind that if he enters the stage , he wants to come in with all his guns blazing , thunder flashing everywhere , everyone screaming including kids and old ladies , all hell will be breaking loose , all these, no doubt makes good drama and movies with reporters running helter skelter for every bit of his news… BUT ….the bottom line is .. it doesn’t win elections , its like firing the machine gun at will , with no aim , no target , no platform to unite the members on candidates to rally on , NSP did very well on oratory and some speakers like Nicole Seah , Hazel Pao , Tony Tan deserves my mention, the rest is not bad as supporting casts , Still , If they had put their strength in just a few baskets and not do carpet bombing
I have no doubt they would have won at least one or two seats
In truth , they gave their best and its praiseworthy !
Goh meng seng did not visit Tampines and he get 43% of the vote because majority of the Tampines Youth is fed up with Mah bow tan !
We hope Worker’s party will come Tampines in 2016.
Fm TKL’s Blog by reader. Can he be the next SG “Anwar” though better morales and gd man to lead and unite the opposition.History has funny way of springing up very unlikely heros…we wait
Open Letter to All Opposition Parties in SG,
Post GE2011: For SG & Singaporeans Need For An Alternative Voices
Dear All Opposition Parties Of SG,
All: Moving On you need to have a joint meeting on next step forward outside your own party planning and post election evaluation.
1.Take note you tried to have a few towards the start of election but was not enough time.
2.The political landscape will change further esp winning WP team will draw more able candidates than now bec of success and results.
Not to take it negatively all opposition parties, this is natural and right step for political development.
3.But on your side continue to improve and change to build up your own parties and approaches to win gd candidates esp SDA, NSP.
4.But you all as Opposition Parties need to meet and engage in joint dialogue inorder to move forward as opposition parties in SG as end of day despite different party ways and manifestoes, you share a common goal to represent Singaporeans and challenge PAP’s arrogant and out of touch policies for the people of Singapore.
5.The reality of Post 2011 election towards YR2016 will see a bigger slate of opposition candidates to contest on WP cards in next elections which means 3 corner fights will be inevitable.But cn be done in a civil, proper equal playing field whic does not dilute opposition votes.
6.But unlike the SDA fiasco in Punggol East by Desmond which did not help any opposition party or SG people, this can be done in a better way.
7.Meaning a joint meeting and discussion needs to start moving forward by all opposition parties to some discuss on possible wards they will focus on in YR2016 minus the PAP’s continued plans for more gerry manderring or changes which cannot be avoided.
8.Least give each party an opportunity to focus on key wards or repeat wards and opportunity to build a base there and continue efforts than last minute changes and switches to new locations.
The latter normally erodes voter support as last minute parachutting vs incumbent PAP as they are there already.
9.So please start talking among yourselves, least a decent start based on whoever comes forward among you, reform party, NSP,SDA and WP.
10.Least a better strategy and gives you room to build your resources, work on target wards effectively and do not disappear as that will play into ruling party’s hands and make no mistake they are all changing and will prepare for the YR2016 fight starting from now.
11.For your survival, relevance in representing SG and most impt success for next GE2016.
Last Note; Mr Tan Kim Lian, you as a respected man by many in SG and a friend of the opposition and Singaporeans can step in to initiate a first meeting after this election so this can happen as is impt for our political landscape and survival as we want change.
Think opposition parties can talk and be civil as this is not like asking PAP to join in as they don’t even listen to you and anyone.
GMS needs to have more drive. A strong and trusted personality is crucial in politics. You must lead from the front.
You have to push and rebut your opponents, take the fight to him. But, you must do it in a highly defensible way. With the help of people like Hazel Poa you could have tear to pieces MBT’s stand on the HDB and affordable housing for instance.
As a leader, you must ensure that EVERY member of your party, in particular, your candidates must be able to build a positive and strong and respected image of himself or herself. That counts for a lot in politics when you are facing ministers as opponents.
You should not leave, you can still play a role as an adviser. Use the time to the next GE to build up your party’s overall strength from organisation, to structure, to calibre of potential candidates, to crystallizing what objectives. Use half the time available for such internal strength building as well as keeping in contact with your ground, use the remaining half working the ground in earnest. Consider publicizing your party’s views and comments and stand on issues that surface every now and then. Your public need to know or be informed of your stand on important issues that crop up along the way. But, take care not to comment for commenting sake. That can have a reverse impact on people.
Goh Meng Seng is incapable. A party leader’s most important requirement is to be able to marshall and deploy his resources (much like a strategist). This requirement is even MORE important than ability to speak well or ability to do administrative work well.
He failed the first test. And it’s not as though he has proven to be a good speaker or a good administrator either.
Usually i don’t have anything good to say about Goh Meng Seng , we cross swords many times in the past , the latest being the buddha tooth relic temple saga BUT
truth be told , he done well for this election , i am amazed and dumbfounded how he can persuade many talents to join his cause and i am also impressed by his willingness to fund the cause by selling his flat and finance the campaign ,
With regards to this election , its easy to throw blame and point fingers at him on hindsight and its easy to be arm chair critics if you are not involved in the heat of battle
this election have thrown in many firsts , and this posting is also my very first time defending and supporting Mr Goh Meng Seng
I know you will remember me , Meng Seng
Merlion
( ex-sammyboy forummer )
He did NOT persuade many talents to join! The main bulk of his “talents” came via a mass defection from RP! There were at least 9-10 RP members who defected, including Tony, Hazel, Jeannette, Jeisilan, Nicole and Gilbert Goh. GMS didn’t go and court them. They were openly looking for a party to join. If not for them, NSP would be full of old uncles, fossils, relics, dinosaurs like Yip Yew Weng and Ken Sun who have zero chance of winning of making any impact at all.
The biggest failure of GMS was that he failed to fight a proper battle in Tampines even though he himslef was fielded there. Instead, he just kept on going to Marine Parade to focus on Nicole Seah. He even let Nicole hog the limelight for the entire party. If WP went to Tampines, GUARANTEED that they would win even with their “B” team. Even though GMS didnt do anything, no campaign, no rally, no walkabout.. he still managed to get 43%. That just shows you how much the people hate MBT.
Maybe my praise for him was a bit too early , have to wait for the post mortem report first , still, not too take anything away from him , i sincerely hope he will stand again 5 yesrs later
this man might not have the ‘ savyness ‘ yet but no one can say he does n’t have the conviction
to want something so bad until selling a flat to pursue it is indeed commendable !
Of course this fool should take responsibility and resign. NSP is a party of defectors. Tony Tan, Hazel Poa, Jeannette Aruldoss and Nicole Seah all came from the Reform Party while Goh Meng Seng himself came from the WP. This is typical of Singapore opposition politicians, with frequent hopping from party to party. As SM Goh said, the NSP has no substance whatsoever. Their entire campaign was based on one 24 year old girl. All their other candidates were just hiding behind her. This is not what we want in a political party and it is no wonder that the NSP was overwhelmingly rejected by the voters with no seats in Parliament, not even NCMP seats. Please stop wasting our time.
NSP was doing a good job. You guys are really good. How I wish you’re are over my area. Is a break thru this round.
I would suggest join forces with WP. Both parties will be stronger than ever.
In my heart your have won. NSP will win 2016
jeanette makes a gd chariman
easy to put blame on one guy but remember NSP is a party and we need pple like GMS to take the fight. Rememeber this is exactly whats PAP wts, so pple like him give up and disappear. Work on ur weakness and come bk and take out MBT. Tampines needs a strong Malay candidate to match what they have, work on that and draw the best out fm SG
Dear GMS, don’t give up despite the criticisms.
Choose the right ward not last min like before esp CCK team went there too late.
That is easy and not right way to do and everyone shld give the man a chance as he brght in the new firepower after they left Reform party which includes starpower Nicole Seah, CCK A team and rest.
Maybe he floundered in effectively deploying the best resources he had, strategy wrong and missed an elephant of chance available on grds to take out MBT.
Fine but he is no attention grabber and sour plum like SDA Desmond who chewed and spit out Mr Chiam, for his own personal agenda or the real “party” he wks for.
GMS:
1) hand over the power to a new chariman either top duo fm CCK, Nicole Seah or someone younger like Mr Low as he did to Sylvia as renewal.
2) Stay on as advisor and party man , never give up.
3) change all these ancient old seniority party approaches for new current model.
4) Go with the flow and let the youngster run the show but assist on advice.
5) A new young leader makes a diff and show of force.
6) Let new heads and Nicole set the agenda for next 5 yrs campaign now, today
7) Engage the public and get back to work.
9) Assemble ur A to J teams now and make room to chg as when time comes near election with bkup for turnovers.
10)Most impt gun for key wards now, prepare to negotiate with all opp parties now for YR2016 as remember next election WP will merge bigger and stronger and might contest all seats (get ready for 3 corner fights as will happen).
Focus Focus on star wards from now and NSP will get back.
Maybe invite pple like tKL on board as advisor.
K
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What do you expect from a guy that claims he can see UFOs?
Correct. In any case, if you look at the results, you can see that party brand image matters a lot. Even the unknown WP guy in Joo Chiat (first-timer) almost won if not for 300 votes. I would suggest that Tony, Hazel, Jeannette and Nicole join WP. If they do that, confirm can take down another GRC.
Very disappointed with GMS. He is not suited to be a politician, instead he should be an activist or grassroots leader. To be a political party leader, you need to be able to deploy your resources well. What was he doing by spreading out all his top candidates and interspersing them with nameless ghouls and phantoms with no appeal whatsoever? What was with fielding Ken Sun and Yip Yew Weng in SMCs? Was he just defering to party elders due to seniority? And why did he seemingly abandon Tampines (where he himself was a candidate) and focus so strongly on Marine Parade, where arguably the chances of winning were next to none? If he had concentrated his firepower on Tampines, I think NSP could have won. I mean, they scored 43% without doing anything at all.