David Marshall, Singapore's first Chief Minister from 1955 to 1956 founded the Workers' Party in 1957. Four years later in 1963, he quit the party after being played out by some party members and subsequently, when invited by J B Jeyaretnam to rejoin the party, he refused.
Democracy, to David Marshall, means being a loyal opposition. It means not allowing mistakes to be swept under the carpet And that surely must include your own mistakes. It means doing things to improve 'the quality of life of the people'.
May we add also that a loyal opposition does not play politics.
David Marshall held his Meet-The-People sessions within a building, not in open spaces.
David Marshall would surely be ashamed if he knew that the party he founded and quit is, some 58 years later, holding their Meet-the-people sessions in open void decks when he could hold his in a room at a time when the party was in its infancy, small and definitely not as rich as it is today.
Once upon a time when Singaporeans were unaware of the fact that WP could actually rent the void deck space at concessionary rates similar to that which apply to charitable organisations, when Singaporeans mistakenly thought that PAP were allowed to use RCs for their MPS, WP was able to play their 'victim' card to their benefit.
Not anymore.
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