Hougang by-election

Okay, my first day in unemployment and the paper had to be filled with a big political story. It’s about time. That there was a by-election, that is. I supervised and reported the last one, the Marine Parade GRC by-election in 1992. That was when then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong threw down the gaunlet and decided to re-contest the GRC, pulling along Teo Chee Hean with him. Renewal of the ranks, he said. And I guess he wanted a firm mandate on his leadership as well. The thing I remembered about the introduction of Mr Teo, then Commodore, later Rear-Admiral, now Minister, we asked him about his family and he said his father worked in a bank. We were thinking teller? Loan officer? And George Yeo who introduced him piped up to tell us his father wasn’t just ANY banker, but a really big shot in OCBC. I guess at election time,  you don’t want to boast about your pedigree. Would probably be the same this time round too, with both candidates stressing their man-on-the ground credentials. So, what are we going to see? A repeat of Anson? I found it weird that political watchers actually thought that a GRC would be up for grabs. Since Marine Parade, none had been put to the ground, never mind a missing Member or two.  Now I really want to know more about Hougang, a real close-up look at the constituency of just 25,000 voters. State of town town council, number of blocks (any rental? upgraded), what sort of shops…coz I am betting that the fight would be more local than national. And not personal, I hope. I mean, I wouldn’t care what Yaw Shin Leong did in his spare time in the past…