GLAD TO BE HERE: PAP secretary-general Lee waves to party members as he and other Central Executive Committee members arrive. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

'Our (People's Action Party) five men are working hard, but the opposition's five have scattered like monkeys when the tree fell,' he said in Mandarin, using a Chinese proverb.

'One of them has ran to Sweden, the other has left the WP. They called it their A team, I say it is A for Awol,' he added, to much laughter during a dialogue at the annual PAP convention.

Awol is an acronym for 'absent without official leave'.

Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general, was responding to a veteran party member who had highlighted a challenge thrown up by WP leader Low Thia Khiang last Saturday.

Mr Png Wee Chor said Mr Low had argued that winning a GRC is a must or the opposition faces the risk of extinction.

To counter it, the 68-year-old made an impassioned plea to the PAP to bolster its strength in Aljunied GRC ahead of the next polls. He was among three dialogue participants who referred to the Aljunied battle.

In last year's general election, the WP team in Aljunied scored the highest number of votes among opposition parties in a Group Representation Constituency.

Led by party chairman Sylvia Lim, they took 43.9 per cent of the valid votes, losing to the PAP team led by Foreign Minister George Yeo.

But after the polls, the WP's James Gomez left to work in Sweden and Mr Goh Meng Seng resigned from the party. Another team member, Mr Tan Wui-Hua, is also working overseas now.

The fifth candidate was businessman Mohammed Rahizan Yaacob.

While Mr Png was full of praise for Mr Yeo, he added that the minister is too busy and hardly has time to meet residents.

'Can the party send to Aljunied a Teochew-speaking heavyweight minister who is preparing to retire?' he asked in Chinese, to laughter.

Mr Lee, who replied in Mandarin, said that even when Mr Yeo travels, he makes time to see the residents, at times meeting them the day he returns home.

He urged Singaporeans to take their vote seriously. 'Think carefully if you want to vote some opposition into the Parliament so you can have some excitement,' he said.

'If they go Awol after that, it won't be easy to solve everyone's problems. Election is a serious matter... and your vote would decide Singapore's fate. Don't treat it as a joke.'

Also looking ahead was Ms Tan Bee Lan, a branch secretary in Aljunied. She wanted the party to keep the same team to battle the WP again.

She said the last contest was 'unchallenging' and the WP avoided local issues. Instead, it canvassed for sympathy over the Gomez issue.

Mr Gomez had claimed during campaigning that he had submitted his minority candidate form, but video footage released later showed he had not.

The PAP focused its firepower on him, turning the issue into a major electoral talking point.

Party chairman Lim Boon Heng said he knows the PAP MPs' work rate in Aljunied is 'above average' compared to other MPs.

'So I think the results will show that people know the MPs care for them. So I'm not too concerned about the next election at Aljunied. Maybe for those of you who think you're safe, you should work harder,' he added.

shpeh@sph.com.sg