Amid the sea of followers clad in blue and white at North Vista Secondary School on Tuesday, two smaller dots of yellow and green battled in vain for attention.
The supporters of Reform Party (RP) and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) may have been greatly outnumbered, but they valiantly tried their best to make themselves heard from the back of the field.
Minutes after 12.30pm, when the deadline for objections to candidates’ forms had passed, RP’s candidate Kenneth Jeyaretnam took to the stage to give a speech.
As his voice boomed across the field, a group of about ten RP supporters in yellow shirts chanted their secretary-general’s surname: “Je-ya-ret-nam! Je-ya-ret-nam!”
Then it was SDA’s candidate Desmond Lim’s turn.
Up went the SDA flags, bearing the revamped party logo of four circles to represent the four different races in Singapore.
Most of the 20 SDA activists in neon green shirts were polytechnic students, and some of them are too young to even vote. But that did not deter them from shouting Mr Lim’s name at the top of their voices.
Still, the rowdiest group were those in light blue.
Crammed in front of the stage, the WP activists cheerfully hoisted red flags with the party’s hammer logo. While waiting for the nomination process to end, they periodically launched into popular Hokkien ditty “Ai Pia Jia Eh Yia”, which title means one must fight to win.
Not to be outdone, the PAP supporters shouted: “Majulah PAP!” Their cries changed when Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean showed up on the field, as they chanted the names of Mr Teo and their candidate Dr Koh Poh Koon.
But just as it was during Nomination Day in the Hougang by-election, those standing in the WP camp jeered and shouted through the speeches of the other candidates, despite numerous requests from party leaders not to.
Mr Lim received the brunt of it, with some WP supporters calling him names. Mr Lim has been seen by some as being a spoiler of WP’s chances in Punggol East in the 2011 general election.
Attracted by the noise, curious members of the public gathered outside the field and on a nearby overhead bridge to watch.
Residents in the housing blocks facing the school also leaned out of their windows.
Others ventured into the field to get a closer look. Mingling among them were would-be independent candidates Zeng Guoyan and Ooi Boon Ewe. Both had claimed they could not contest because of problems with their papers.
Undaunted, Mr Ooi was seen on the field asking residents to be his assentors, in a scene that was a repeat of his attempt to contest in Sengkang West in 2011.
Meanwhile, Mr Zeng wandered the field chanting WP slogans while wearing a red and white keffiyeh, a type of Arabic headdress.
When asked why he had stayed on, Mr Zeng referred to WP’s candidate Lee Li Lian saying: “I want to make sure that she is in before I walk out.”
