PAP vs PSP: A playground squabble that needs to end

It was a battle royale for the ages. 

In the white corner: volunteers from the only ruling party Singapore has ever known, a mighty horde giving no quarter as they hand out pamphlets and engage in inane conversations with Chua Chu Kang GRC residents. 

In the red and white corner: volunteers from the opposition party with a grand total of, um, two lawmakers, neither of whom have actually won any elections, with one often resembling a child being beaten up by playground bullies in Parliament. 

And what was the end result of this epic clash between People’s Action Party (PAP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) volunteers that saw the (alleged) use of — gasp — “derogatory terms”, two (alleged) slaps, claims and counter-claims of harassment, and a police report? 

Think a bad remake of Young and Dangerous (Google it, Gen Z kids), except that it was played out with smartphones and social media accounts instead of guns and knives. 

Come to think of it, it wasn’t so much a gang clash as it was a playground squabble with “cher, he beat me” vibes.

Perhaps the best summary of it all came from an elderly Bukit Gombak resident: boh liao.  

Who started it? Who cares

Both sides have looked to occupy the moral high ground, in a laughably implausible attempt to appear like the bigger man.  

“It is clear that PSP has twisted the truth and has given an untrue picture of what happened,” said Chua Chu Kang MP Low Yen Ling. Some of the female volunteers were receiving “counselling and extra care”, she added, as they had been doxxed online in the wake of the incident. 

Meanwhile, PSP chair Tan Cheng Bock delivered his own counterpunch. “To physically bully and intimidate someone you disagree with — this is totally un...