Singapore must have higher standards for its politics than those of some opposition politicians who seem to believe that if they are not in jail, they must be doing okay, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last night at a rally.

His comment came shortly after Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang argued at a rally over in Hougang that the lapses at the Aljunied- Hougang-Punggol East Town Council were not investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and that was a sign that there was no wrongdoing.

PM Lee objected to the way that "when people do something wrong, they don't fix it, they don't admit it, they pretend it doesn't exist".

"And then sometimes they say, 'Well, I haven't been sent to jail. If I've done something wrong, I should have gone to jail. I'm not in jail, so everything is okay'.

"I think, if your standard for politics is that the people who are in politics should not be in jail, then I think Singapore is in very serious trouble," he said, adding: "We must have high standards for politics."

The questions politicians should ask themselves are whether they are doing the right thing and serving Singapore well, he said.

He asked voters to "take a look at the people we have, the people they have and ask yourself, ask them: What sort of people are you? What do you represent? Is your heart really with me?"

Mr Lee also made reference to opposition parties fielding "candidates with flawed characters, people who should never be in politics".

"But they just sweep this aside, they hope that (it) will disappear into the distance, forgotten. They say, 'We look forward'.

"Please don't look behind, you might find my black tail," he said, characterising their line.

"I think that's very dangerous."

Rachel Chang