MM Lee urges Aljunied voters to think carefully. (AFP file photo)
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Tampines on Friday night, MM Lee said, "If they (Aljunied voters) choose (the opposition), then I say, good luck to them. They have five years to ruminate and to regret what they did. And I have no doubts they will regret it."
The 87-year-old warned Singaporeans would have to live with the choice they make come Polling Day next Saturday.
"It may well happen that they win, in which case the people of Aljunied live with the results," he was quoted as saying on The Straits Times.
"The only way people learn is when they have to pay a price. From time to time we may lose, and the voters pay the price, " he said.
He further cautioned, "If Singaporeans are that fickle, they will have to pay a price, the hard way."
He highlighted the example of opposition-held ward Hougang where, "If you have the wrong government, your property prices go right down. Ask why in Hougang the property is not as high as their neighbours."
The high-powered 'A' team from the Workers's Party contesting the Aljunied hotspot consists of former Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang, former NCMP Sylvia Lim, the party's "star catch" Chen Show Mao as well as family counsellor Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and post-graduate law student Pritam Singh.
They will be up against the incumbent PAP team fronted by Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Madam Cynthia Phua and new face Ong Ye Kung, an assistant secretary-general of NTUC .
He also urged Aljunied voters to look at the track record of the different candidates.
"Do you want a capable team that can look after your interests, or do you want a team with little track record?" he said.
"At the end of the day, if you are in Aljunied, ask yourself: Do you want one MP, one Non-Constituency MP, one celebrity who has been away 30 years, and two unknowns to look after you?"
Or, he asked if voters would prefer two ministers, one potential Parliament Secretary, one potential Speaker of Parliament and one grassroots MP?
MM Lee also cautioned voters against "trying their luck" when their value of their property and livelihood was on the line."Just think. Five years, they're in charge of your property and your lives... If you live to try your luck, well good luck to you. But I guarantee you, you will not do better than the PAP candidates."
MM Lee, whose own Tanjong Pagar GRC went uncontested, went on to question the WP slogan of "Towards A First World Parliament."
"Do you want a first world government or you want a first world opposition?" he asked.
"And is this a first world opposition? Can they compare themselves to the senators in the US congress?... If you want a third world or even a second world opposition to come and create a bit of excitement, well that's your choice," he said.
"But I do not consider them a first world opposition. I do not want to degrade them but you just look at their track record."
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