By 
It’s just the beginning of the road for the Workers’ Party’s Png Eng Huat in Hougang.
Based on Yahoo! Singapore’s interview with some residents, Png, who won the by-election in the single member constituency over People’s Action Party candidate Desmond Choo on Saturday, is now expected to make good on his promises.
Jeffrey Lai, a 46-year-old business development manager, noted that Png is still a “relatively new man” in Hougang, and that the Member of Parliament-elect has to do a lot more to prove his credibility and win the hearts of the residents in the next four years.
22-year-old Loh Hui Min, who works as a coordinator, echoed Jeffrey’s sentiment. She said, “What Png needs to do now is to stick to what he mentioned in his rallies – creating a first world government, conducting upgrading works where possible and representing the marginalised people in Hougang and Singapore.”
Most residents that Yahoo! spoke to were not surprised that Png won, although some expected it to be a closer fight.
“It is quite expected that the Workers’ Party would win. From the results, it is evident that the residents strongly want the WP to have a bigger voice in Parliament,” Eileen Yeo, a supervisor in her 50s said.
“I expected the winning margin to be much smaller, although I’m not surprised that the WP won, said Pamy Tan, a 23-year-old writer. “At the national level, Png’s win means the next step in democracy. At the ward level, it means that the people really love the way WP has been running the ward if not they would not have voted Png in.”
Png garnered 62.09 per cent of the total votes cast while Choo got 37.91 per cent, almost three percentage points better than the share he got in the general elections in May last year. At that time Choo was up against then WP member Yaw Shin Leong, whose expulsion from the opposition party in February over alleged marital indiscretions triggered the by-election.
Some observers feared that confidence in the Workers’ Party would be affected by the scandal and questions over Png’s honesty over whether he considered a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament seat.
At least one resident expressed disappointment with the results. Irene Teng, a 54-year-old senior designer in a construction firm said, “There has not been much change in Hougang and I was hoping for a change. Maybe I’ll wait for the next election.”
With about 48 hours left before Saturday's Black 505 rally, the standoff between the police and the organisers continues.In response to a police warning yesterday (June 19) that the organisers will be prosecuted if the rally is held, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli told The Malaysian Insider there was no change of plan. "We will continue with it," he said of the plan to hold the gathering at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur."However, we are hopeful that closer to the date, the police will be …