Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has asked voters to back the People's Action Party (PAP) if they wanted it to form the government and not "live dangerously" by giving their vote to the opposition even while hoping that the PAP would be returned to power.
Launching the ruling party's campaign manifesto and slogan yesterday, he refuted the opposition line urging voters to cast dissenting votes to send a message to the Government to work harder.
Cautioning that the Sept 11 polls were not a by-election but a general election, in which every seat would be contested and the party forming the government was not guaranteed, he said in Mandarin: "If you support the PAP, vote PAP. If you support opposition, vote opposition.
"But if you think that by voting for the opposition, you can get the PAP to work harder - when you regret it, it might be too late."
Speaking in English later, he said: "Be very careful not to live dangerously (by) wanting one party but voting for a different one. Please take this GE very, very seriously."
Mr Lee also quoted Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say's response when asked last week about the thinking that a vote for the opposition would "send a message" to the PAP.
Mr Lim's East Coast GRC team saw a 9 percentage point drop in vote share in 2011 and garnered just 54.8 per cent of the vote to beat a Workers' Party team.
He said last week: "We do not need another drop of 5 percentage points for us to continue to improve. In fact, if there's another drop of 9 percentage points, we won't be their MP any more."
Mr Lee yesterday emphasised the possibility that "I won't be here to receive the message", if enough voters used their ballots that way.
He said opposition parties used such psychological tactics knowing that they would not win votes if they said they wanted to form the government, given their lack of credibility.
Mr Lee spoke plainly when he referred to lapses in governance and compliance found at the Workers' Party-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) and reminded voters that the opposition candidates they voted in would be responsible for running their town council.
"And when they run it like AHPETC, then I don't know where your S&CC money is going to go," he said, referring to the service and conservancy charges which residents pay to the town council. "Surpluses will turn into deficits. You will have problems for many years to come.
"The opposition asked to be given a chance to prove themselves. But the one place where they are given the responsibility and the chance to prove themselves, they have failed the voters.
"And do you really want to give them more responsibility, and trust them with more of your hard-earned money?
"If you vote for the opposition and they win many constituencies combined, enough to run the government, then I think Singapore is sunk."
