JG Campaign Trail 2006: Day 2 - The Apology

By Roderick Chia

Day 2 of the JG Campaign was pegged by the minority certificate saga. It culminated in an apology that James made at the Nee Soon East rally. Below are James' apology over the issue of the minority candidate nomination form, followed by emails in response to the apology:

I refer to my claim over the submission of the Minority Certificate at the Elections Department on 26th April 2006.

I wish to confirm that I did not submit the said application on 24th April 2006 due to too much distraction caused by the busy schedule leading up to nomination day.

Please accept my sincere apologies if my actions on 26th April 2006 caused any distress or confusion to the staff of the Elections Department.

James Gomez

Responses from the public via email:

I just got to know of your apology, an excellent move. Now, just hope that, they come at you in Packs. You will have an upper hand, if they do. A real good one with regards to NKF.
[from Raj]

How come nobody is raising the roof about the country's elections dept taping a phone conversation without seeking the other party's permission first? In a first world govt, they would be hauled to court for this. What happened to basic civil rights? And why isn't the opposition taking up this matter?
[from Derek Rajamanikam]

Please send James my best regards and tell him that transparency over such trivial matter (which is immaterial anyway considering the closing date was over) is petty compared to being honest about the [high] salaries and perks given to PAP [ministers].

The only analogy I can think of is that the PAP is fond of putting tiny petty things under the microscope while shrinking abominable figures into the size of peanuts and layering it with icing. People who have seen the light know best. So hang in there and keep on fighting for us.
[from AD]


For more information or to place comments, please email Roderick at rick_162@lycos.com.

Roderick Chia graduated with a Communications Studies degree, majoring in Journalism from the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. He is currently working as an information and communications coordinator in a regional non-governmental organisation. He is a registered voter in Potong Pasir constituency.

posted by JG Blog @ 12:34 PM