Tag: DPP

DPP’s Chia Ser Lin: I Will Give Up My Business In China To Become Full-Time MP If Elected

A potential new Opposition candidate at the coming General Election said he will give up his corporate career, which sees him shuttling in and out of China, to be a full-time MP if elected.

Mr Chia Ser Lin, 46, was introduced by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) during a Bishan-Toa Payoh walkabout on Tuesday evening (Aug 11). He runs a chain of F&B companies in China, where he is based, and returns to Singapore once a month to his wife and two kids in Toa Payoh, where he said he has lived all his life.

“He is one of the anchor persons in our team to compete in Bishan-Toa Payoh and run the town council if we win,” said DPP secretary-general Benjamin Pwee, who described Mr Chia as someone who “feels for and understands local municipal issues in Toa Payoh very keenly”.

Mr Chia gave the example of what he said were dirty monsoon drains and possible mosquito breeding grounds – a dengue fever threat – in the neighbourhood were not attended to by the Town Council, which he said deflected queries to the National Environment Agency instead.

“There have been persistent issues like this over the last five years. You write to MPs and you don’t really get a response from them,” he said, calling it “a disconnect on the ground”.

In a separate, earlier interview with Channel NewsAsia, Mr Pwee said the DPP “has been with Bishan-Toa Payoh residents since the last GE till now, and knows the issues on the ground … that have not been dealt with by the current team”.

THE CHINESE CHALLENGE

The Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency is held by the People’s Action Party, which on Wednesday announced the retirement of three MPs from the current GRC Team, including former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. The PAP also unveiled their replacements.

This new-look PAP team will square off at the coming General Election against an Opposition partnership made up of DPP and Singapore People’s Party members in Bishan-Toa Payoh.

With DPP not laying claim to any Single Member Constituency, Mr Chia, Mr Pwee and party chairman Hamim Aliyas are in the running for this joint team, whose final five-man lineup will be jointly decided by SPP and DPP leaders by the end of the week.

When asked why he wanted to run in the GE, Mr Chia said “it felt important to stand up, take a stand and support Ben against the idea of one-party rule”.

“It’s important there are certain checks and balances in the system,” he added.

A former schoolmate and fellow scout with Mr Pwee at Raffles Institution, Mr Chia said issues such as overcrowding and the job market concerned him. Also close to heart for the China-based executive was the issue of Singapore’s prospects over the next five to 10 years, in the face of competition from the “more aggressive” China market.

“We are all too protected in many ways. I’ve worked in China for so many years, I know what they’re up to and I’m very worried,” said Mr Chia, who has managed the China-based operations of multi-national corporations including Coca-Cola, OSIM and Asia Pacific Breweries for nearly two decades.

Asked if being based overseas would prove a problem during his campaign, Mr Chia said: “If Ben decides I should join him, if he wins the GRC, then it should be a full-time thing. I don’t believe in part-time MPs drawing allowance and having a full-time job and holding meet-the-people sessions once a month. I think that’s not the way.”

Soure: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 13, 2015
DPP To Contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Under SPP Banner

The team from two opposition parties that will contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh in the coming General Election (GE) will do so under the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) banner.

Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) secretary-general Benjamin Pwee said his party is happy to contest in the five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) under the SPP’s banner, as requested by SPP chairman Lina Chiam.

“The (SPP) brand name is a lot more recognised here, Hamim and I also ran under the SPP the last time (in the 2011 elections). And the SPP is still very much identified with Mr Chiam (See Tong, its secretary-general),” he told the media at both parties’ first joint walkabout outside Bishan MRT Station today (Aug 11).

Mr Pwee and DPP chairman Mohamad Hamim Aliyas — who left the SPP with several others after the 2011 GE — will be among DPP’s candidates put forward for the joint team, which will be selected by both parties, Mr Pwee said.

The SPP team led by Mr Chiam in 2011 lost the contest with 43.07 per cent of the votes. Both parties agreed after last week’s talks among Opposition parties to field a joint team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

The SPP is also looking to contest in Hong Kah North, Mountbatten and Potong Pasir single-seat wards in the coming election.

The DPP is awaiting the SPP’s confirmed candidates for Bishan-Toa Payoh, and both sides will pick the “best five”, said Mr Pwee.

Both parties, which met up yesterday, are working on a joint manifesto for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

Mr Pwee said some municipal issues they would highlight include the sweeping of monsoon drains and the presence of dengue hot spots.

Activists from both parties handed out flyers to the public today stating that the joint team is keen to serve and would like to hear from residents on issues such as housing, education and employment. The SPP’s central executive committee members Kumar Appavoo and Williiamson Lee, as well as members including Mr Ravi Philemon, were present today. Mrs Chiam was not at the walkabout as she was engaged in outreach at Potong Pasir, said Mr Philemon.

In a statement on its Facebook page last night, SPP said the joint team would offer voters in Bishan Toa-Payoh GRC a stronger alternative, but the partnership would not extend beyond the GRC. “The SPP will continue to put up our strongest candidates for Potong Pasir, Mountbatten and Hong Kah North SMC. Our candidates will continue to be guided by SPP’s party manifesto,” the party said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 12, 2015
A Reality Check For All Opposition Parties

I might be flamed by fellow opposition supporters for saying this, but I feel it’s better if we opposition supporters voice out our concerns BEFORE the upcoming GE.

Firstly, not all opposition parties have the same status. The strongest opposition party at the moment is the WP which has 7 parliamentary seats and 2 non-constituency members of parliament. The WP is stable, has good leadership, party discipline, a strong brand name, strong grassroots network and has managed to attract a critical mass of skilled professionals. These factors explain why the WP has a better image and thus a better chance of winning than the other opposition parties. As was seen in the Punggol East by-election, in a multi-cornered fight, the WP candidate will attract a much larger share of votes than the minor opposition parties.

Next in the ranking of the opposition parties, is the SDP. Why? Because this is a party with a history, alternative policies and a clear ideology. SDP’s grassroots potential is underused but not lacking, as it seems to be able to attract social activists and other liberals. Say what you may about the SDP but at least it does not give the image that it is an unstable party that lacks people. The party website is well designed and is kept up to date. SDP’s decision to pull out of the Punggol by-election and avoid being a spoiler earned it goodwill from opposition supporters and thus the SDP’s image was not tarnished by a great defeat. The SDP may have committed some blunders such as implying that they were unwilling to run a town council, but they have corrected that mistake! They realized that they have to turn their attention to municipal matters too. And thus, earlier this year, they published a paper detailing their plans on running a town council. The SDP is not perfect, but if your constituency is not contested by WP, it’s your best bet if you want an opposition win.

Why did I not list the SPP which has 1 NCMP as the second pick for opposition supporters? Last GE, we saw a nationwide 6.5% vote swing AWAY from the PAP. Thus, every constituency that was also contested by the opposition in 2006 saw a larger percentage of the votes gained by the opposition in 2011. All constituencies save for one – Potong Pasir. SPP instead saw their votes in Potong Pasir drop by 6%, leading to their narrow loss of a safe seat to the PAP’s Sitoh Yi Pin!

This is largely due to the choice of SPP to field Lina Chiam who was intended to be Chiam See Tong’s successor. This is widely perceived to be the reason why SPP lost. Mrs Chiam was not eloquent enough at her rallies. Nor did she attack the PAP candidate sufficiently. Most importantly, she did not manage to convince the swing voters that she had a good chance of winning against the PAP candidate. That was why there were 242 spoiled votes. If just half these votes had gone to SPP, she would have won!

I’m not against SPP but I’m just saying that SPP has to deal with these REAL perceptions if they intend to field Mrs Chiam in Potong Pasir again. A party only stands a decent chance if it can generate hype among its supporters. Supporters and swing voters have to be convinced that the party can win. Remember, Sitoh Yi Pin has been the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir for 4 years now and he has a huge advantage over Mrs Chiam. It is no longer 50-50 as was the case in 2011. Even other opposition parties like the DPP are doubting Mrs Chiam’s ability to win again. That is why these opportunists want to cause a multi-cornered fight in Potong Pasir.

SPP can still win back Potong Pasir if they field someone younger, whose appeal to the voters is stronger. If they wish to revive Mr Chiam’s legacy while renewing SPP, then why not field Mr Chiam’s daughter? As Nicole Seah proved in the last GE, it is possible for a young, eloquent and inspiring female politician to generate sufficient hype to shift the vote towards her party, even against a strong incumbent from the ruling party.

SPP has been gifted with the entry of strong opposition personalities like Ravi Philemon and Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss, who is poised to give the PAP a tough fight at Mountbatten SMC once again. So why not build on that to renew the party’s overall image? I hope SPP can see the bigger picture and try to attract back swing voters.

All the other opposition parties are not main contenders. NSP received a lot of bad publicity after GE2011 because they went through a change of 5 secretary generals in such a short time and furthermore lost almost all their top candidates in the last GE to other political parties. Singfirst and PPP are new parties with no history and swing voters usually stick to established parties when they vote. RP and SDA have been discredited by their secretary generals losing their deposits in the Punggol by-election. These parties will be entering the upcoming GE with voters perceiving them to have a low chance of winning. They have a lot of hard work ahead of them. It will be an uphill task for them to win a seat in parliament.

Harold

Source: www.tremeritus.com

July 30, 2015
Opposition Supporters Slam DPP For Attempting Multi-Cornered Fights

Prior to the 2011 Presidential Elections, the last multi-corner electoral fight occurred took place in 2001 in the then Bukit Timah SMC. A 3-way contest saw the PAP eventually securing 77% of the valid votes, while independent Tan Kim Chuang lost his deposit with a ‘mere’ 4.92% of the votes.

Given that such multi-cornered fights work to the advantage of the PAP due to the splitting of opposition votes, alternative political parties such as the NSP and SingFirst have called for unity to avoid such scenarios. Working out a common ground, however, seems to demand a different level of commitment.

Brinkmanship occurred in the 2013 Punggol East by-election where the SDP had publicly offered the WP a deal: the SDP would send its elected MP to parliament as an alternative voice while the WP would manage the town council. In the absence of a reply, the SDP stood down altogether.

The SDP thus deserves some credit to its name even though it may seem to have acted conceitedly. Had it pushed ahead with its proposition, the opposition votes may very well have been split into those who preferred a more radical alternative in the form of SDP and a more moderate alternative in the form of the WP.

Reassuringly, the voters gave their support to the WP by an astounding margin causing both the RP and SDA to lose their deposit. Taken together with the Presidential elections 2 years earlier, the electorate has shown a new found maturity when it came to 3-cornered contests: only want alternative parties who act reasonably will secure votes.

Yet, it would seem that multi-cornered fights seem to have inevitably emerged again in a hotly contested atmosphere of increased resentment towards the PAP. The DPP, for example, have stood up to contest in the Mountbatten, Hong Kah North, Potong Pasir, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Tanjong Pagar constituencies.

As a likely scenario emerged, even netizens from the core opposition group have been quick to condemn the actions of the DPP with one saying on TRE: “Guaranteed to lose terok terok if you enter into a 3-cornered fight. Don’t tiew Lian ok”

Another said: “fly-by-night parties that ‘wake’ up during GEs gunning for multi-cornered fights better understand their own strength before they jump. Opposition supporters will vote for only credible and viable candidates, not the more vocal or those with dubious track record.”

Despite an absence from the electoral scene, this is not the first time the DPP has done so. In 1997, a 4-cornered fight in Chua Chu Kang SMC saw DPP’s Tan Soo Phuan lost their deposit with a mere 1.9% of the valid votes. This set a new record for the lowest share of popular votes until 2013 where SDA had less than 1% of the votes.

Will 2015 prove to be Déjà vu?

Source: http://mythoughtsinafewparagraphs.net/

July 29, 2015