Freudian slip

A Freudian slip is defined as:

A verbal mistake that is thought to reveal an unconscious belief, thought, or emotion.

Now, it may be debateable if Mr Goh Chok Tong, the Senior Minister, committed this a couple of days ago when he promised residents of Realty Park that if more than 60% of the residents voted for the PAP's candidate in the coming General Elections. The obvious question asked by many Singaporeans was, if voting is secret, how would the PAP, much less Mr Goh, know if those residents did indeed put in 60% or more votes? Mr Wong Kan Seng was in damage control mode when he tried to explain the 'open secret' that indeed, this fact can be arrived at by doing a observation count of how the physical votes stack up in the counting centres during polling day. But even so, how would one ever know if the stack of voting slips are from Realty Park, and that that stack of voting papers actually exceeded 60% for that particular Park? One can only speculate that, after 10 GE's, PAP candidates and/or experienced ministers will be able to tell.

With the unnecessary and unhelpful dust he has kicked up, maybe Mr Goh shouldn't have gone to Potong Pasir and Hougang to 'help'. He, and the PAP, should just let their candidates fight their own battles. If they succeed on their own, they would then have earned their seats proper and gained respect from the residents, even from those who may not have voted for them. The credibility of the winner, especially in General Elections, is important for the long term work of that MP, both inside and outside Parliament.