Ms Lee Li Lian, Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong and Mr Leon Perera from the Workers’ Party have been elected as Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP), the Elections Department (ELD) announced on Wednesday (Sep 16).
In a statement, ELD said three candidates who received the highest votes among the unelected candidates from Opposition parties will be declared elected as NCMPs, as six opposition MPs were elected to Parliament in the Sep 11 General Election.
Ms Lee, who contested in Punggol East SMC and Mr Dennis Tan, who contested in Fengshan SMC, received the two highest percentages of votes among unelected opposition candidates.
Ms Lee received 48.23 per cent of the vote against the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Charles Chong, while Mr Tan garnered 42.50 per cent of vote against PAP’s Cheryl Chan.
WP’s East Coast GRC team – comprising former NCMP Gerald Giam, Mr Daniel Goh, Mr Mohamed Fairoz and Mr Leon Perera – who ran against PAP’s team anchored by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say, gained 39.27 per cent of the votes. The group informed the Returning Officer on Wednesday of their decision to nominate Mr Leon Perera as NCMP, said ELD.
DANIEL GOH TO TAKE PLACE OF MS LEE AS NCMP IF PARLIAMENT RESOLVES TO FILL SEAT: WP
Ms Lee, who was elected MP for Punggol East following a by-election in 2013, had told the media after the results were announced that she is not inclined to take up a NCMP seat in Parliament if offered.
In a statement released shortly after the ELD announcement, the Workers’ Party said its Central Executive Council (CEC) concurred with Ms Lee’s decision not to accept the NCMP position.
The CEC said should Parliament resolve to fill the vacated NCMP seat left by Ms Lee, that Associate Professor Daniel Goh would fill that seat.
PARLIAMENT NOT OBLIGED TO DECLARE THAT SEAT BE FILLED
According to the law, if an eligible NCMP decides not to take up the position, the seat may not automatically be transferred to the next eligible opposition candidate.
In response to media queries, Parliament is not obliged to declare that seat be filled by the next succeeding candidate.
The ELD said: “The Attorney General is of the view that if any NCMP declared to be elected under Section 52 of the Parliamentary Elections Act fails to take and subscribe before Parliament the Oath of Allegiance under Article 61 of the Constitution at the first or second sitting of Parliament during its first session after the General Election, then Parliament may at its discretion declare that seat vacant. Parliament is not thereafter obliged to declare that seat be filled by the next succeeding candidate.”
The Workers’ Party’s (WP) team for East Coast Group Representation Constituency is hoping that the “tremendous” support from residents during the hustings will translate into votes come Polling Day, said team leader Gerald Giam.
Speaking to reporters today (Sept 9) at a walkabout at New Upper Changi Road, Mr Giam noted the warm reception and said he expects East Coast GRC to be “one of the closest contested wards” in this election.
“So we’re trying to reach out to as many residents as possible… We hope that many of them will come to our rally tonight to hear what we have to say,” he said. WP is holding its final rally at East Coast GRC tonight.
Mr Giam added: “We hope that residents will also be able to share with their families and friends the message we have for them which is to entrench an opposition presence in Parliament and (for) a group of MPs who can hold the Government to account and give them (Singaporeans) bargaining power.”
In the 2011 General Election, WP received 45 per cent of the vote in East Coast GRC, while the People’s Action Party garnered 55 per cent of the vote. Mr Giam said he felt that the response from residents has been “better” this time round. He added that his stint as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament after the previous GE has helped made it easier for him to connect with residents, as more of them were able to recognise him. “I am very proud to have a good team with me,” he said.
He said: “The people in Singapore have demonstrated a desire for greater Opposition presence. Many of them have come up to us and told us that they want to see a greater Opposition presence in parliament, but not just any Opposition. They want an opposition that is credible, responsible and can speak up for them and raise issues that matter to them — that what we hope to be if we’re elected.”
Mr Giam also reiterated the WP’s stand on foreign workers. While the WP supports the current tightening by the Government, it wants greater predictability to be given to businesses, with clearer targets and timelines on reducing the foreign worker dependency ratios. This should be done “independent of electoral cycles and other things that will be affected by political considerations”, Mr Giam said. “There is no choice (but) to tighten the inflow because of the excesses of the previous decade, where a lot of foreigners were brought in and there wasn’t sufficient planning done,” he said.
We now regret this unfortunate event, for my, were we impressed with Perera’s latest speech at the WP’s East Coast GRC rally on Sunday night.
Perera was the eighth speaker to take to the podium that evening, following candidates from Nee Soon and Jalan Besar GRC, and also after running teammates Daniel Goh and Mohamed Fairoz Shariff — but what he said in his speech made any concern about him being dwarfed by Goh or his succeeding speaker Gerald Giam combust quicker than a cartoon character being fried to a crisp.
Now, the Oxford double-first-class degree-holder spoke for 15 minutes, so we understand it might not be easy to sit through it all. But just like how we said DPM and Finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s video was totally worth watching (and it’s double the length), we’re going to strongly recommend you hear the words directly from him too.
(He even calls you “friends”; wouldn’t you want to be his friend too?)
Perera (far right) with his teammates (R-L) Daniel Goh, Mohamed Fairoz Shariff and Gerald Giam. Photo by Gerald Chan
Nonetheless, we shall once again be helpful (as always) and share the key points he made in his speech:
1. He said the PAP needs to stop praising itself.
– He said in the numerous countries he’s been to (especially for his company, which is based in eight countries), he never hears
“a never-ending barrage of statements about how superior they are to everyone else, about how things are so much better than everywhere else. But in Singapore, we hear this, all the time.”
– Sharing a story about how he heard a Korean documentary presenter say their state of tourism is something to be ashamed of, he said it’s rare to hear such talk here.
“Has anyone in the PAP ever said that we should be ashamed that so many elderly Singaporeans have to work in food courts, or collect cardboard boxes and that we should solve this problem?”
– He said even when it seems like there are problems with something, the party’s way of “admitting” it is by saying it’s good, but they will make it better.
“We hear statements like for example the CPF is a good system but we are going to make it even better. Our education is among the best in the world, but we’re going to make it even better. Do you think that the PAP admits frankly when it makes a mistake?”
2. It also doesn’t know how to admit it made mistakes, he says.
– He said they attempted to explain away the resale market rocketing out of control as “unanticipated” and us being “in a bad place in the property cycle” and the government’s foreign manpower policy as being “right for that era”, with the current measures to tighten inflows being “right for today”.
Really? When you control the number of foreigners given work passes, when you own most of the land in the country, when most housing is public housing, when you know the rate of new household formation every year, is this the fault of the property cycle?? Or is it a failure of government-forward planning?
– Even the most clear “policy failure” on the part of the PAP that happened in what Perera calls “the lost decade before the 2011 General Election” was resolved with just one apology from PM Lee Hsien Loong at the party’s lunchtime rally, days before the end of the campaign.
“Did the PAP admit these mistakes squarely? did they explain in detail how such a massive failure of planning could happen? did they explain why the ministry in charge of granting permits to foreigners did not plan with the ministries in charge of building infrastructure? Did the ministries talk to one another or did they just bochap and do their own things? … Friends, up to today they ahve not explained how exactly they will ensure this will never happen again to the country that we love.”
3. He reminds us that the PAP likes to say things are “perfect or close to perfect, because we are in charge. So keep voting for us”.
My friends, this is going to breed complacency. Ultimately it will lead to the decline of Singapore… A few days ago I represented the Workers’ Party in a TV debate. I started by thanking the PAP for its contributions to Singapore.
Ms Denise Phua replied by thanking the WP for acknowledging the achievements of the PAP.
…
Friends, the PAP likes to accuse the Workers’ Party of claiming credit. But honestly my friends, they are number 1, they are the Olympic gold medallists when it comes to claiming credit! They have claimed credit for everything that goes right in this country. When something goes wrong it is airbrushed from history, or it’s the fault of the world economy or some other anonymous force, or it’s the fault of the Workers’ Party. The PAP slogan is “with you, for you, for Singapore”, but actually it’s all about them, not you!
4. The ever-accomplished student reminds us of his book-smarts by critiquing the PAP’s manifesto as “backward-looking” (because admit it, you didn’t read it, or at most skimmed through it.)
It’s not just the manifesto, the PM’s national day rally last week; the entire PAP campaign in this general election, friends, is all backward-looking, designed to make you think that this election is about the past 50 years. But you are voting for the PAP leaders today, not the PAP leaders 50 years ago.
What is the PAP’s vision? What is the PAP’s programme for the next 5 years? They have outlined no specific programme, they expect your blind faith. But the WP has a manifesto with a coherent vision and specific plans. You can disagree with our proposals, you can say it is boring. But when you look at the WP manifesto there is a vision and there are plans. What are their plans?
5. And here’s where he wins our vote (alongside that of possibly-frustrated mainstream media journalists): he talks about actual things the WP plans to champion in parliament.
Balance instead of dominance. Passionate striving for improvement instead of complacency, admitting mistakes and preventing their recurrence instead of pretending that there were no mistakes, humility instead of arrogance.
Our way is not to depend only on a strong state dominated by an entrenched party. It is to rely on a strong civil society, a strong private sector, an active citizenry, a strong responsible opposition.
Our way, my friends, is about all stakeholders in Singapore finding solutions together. Not just ramming policies down our throats through speed-reading bills in parliament. We want to ensure free and fair debate about Singapore’s problems and Singapore’s solutions, not a debate where we only hear the good stuff.
In our manifesto we propose a public consultation select committee and standing select committees in parliament to debate bills before they become law, and to scrutinise each ministry’s spending policies and operations. We propose freeing up our newspaper and braodcasting industry to open, regulated competition.
And we call for an end to the requirement that internet news websites need to comply with cumbersome registration requirements. (woohoo! -our addition)
From the looks of social media reaction, it seems like we aren’t alone in our assessment. Here are the top Twitter trends for the night, for instance:
Twitter trends don’t lie. (Screenshot from Twitter)
Sounds like a pretty solid team the WP is fielding for East Coast. Tough choices ahead, East Coast voters…
The Workers’ Party (WP) introduced its final crop of potential General Election candidates on Monday (Aug 31).
The party has declared that it will contest 28 seats – five more than the 23 candidates it fielded in 2011 – but has said they will only announce the constituencies the candidates will contest on Nomination Day on Sep 1.
As the incumbent, the Workers’ Party is expected to defend its seat in Aljunied GRC, Hougang SMC and Punggol East SMC. Ms Sylvia Lim earlier said that all the same teams will defend their constituencies.
Mr Leon Perera, 44, is the chief executive of Spire Research and Consulting. The former assistant head of the Economic Development Board’s Enterprise Development Division, Mr Perera graduated from Oxford University with double first-class honours. He is also an adviser for The Independent news website.
Married with two children, he started volunteering with WP for two years before joining as a member one-and-a-half years ago.
“Only with strong opposition can people be involved in asking big questions for our country,” he said. “Ultimately, economic development should mean each citizen’s ability to realise his or her full potential in the way he or she wants to.”
Ms Frieda Chan, 39, contested the 2011 General Election under the WP banner in Moulmein-Kallang GRC. The social worker is married and gave birth to a son about six months ago.
At the press conference, Ms Chan spoke about various stresses on young parents and adults. “(There are still) many barriers that discourage couples from starting a family. As a young mother, I feel the stresses,” she said.
She also called for more support for caregivers. “There are a lot of gaps in the system. I hope that through policymaking, I can be an effective and productive member.”
Mr Bernard Chen joined the WP in 2006 and is a project executive at Ang Chin Moh Foundation. A graduate of the National University of Singapore and the University of Oxford, Mr Chen said that he comes from a humble background – his father was a coffee-shop runner and his mother a cleaner.
At 29, he is the youngest candidate that WP has introduced this election. “I hope my participation in the WP will serve as an encouragement for Singaporeans to have a say in their future,” he said.
Mr Chen hopes to speak up for residents. “I believe residents’ small issues are our big issues,” he said, adding that his “ideal Singapore” is not just an advanced country and economy, but also a “warm-hearted home”.
OTHER POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
On Wednesday, four potential candidates were unveiled: Sociology professor Daniel Goh, engineer Redzwan Hafidz Abdul Razak, banker Dylan Ng and software engineer Koh Choong Yong.
The following day, private investment firm managing director Luke Koh, sales consultant Cheryl Loh, chocolate manufacturing firm manager Firuz Khan and lawyer Terence Tan were presented to the media at Workers’ Party headquarters.
On Friday, corporate lawyer He Ting Ru, property agent Ron Tan, businessman Adrian Sim and polytechnic lecturer L Somasundaram were introduced as potential candidates for the coming General Election.
On Sunday, the party unveiled four potential candidates: Voluntary welfare organisation worker Kenneth Foo, shipping lawyer Dennis Tan, head of the legal department in a real estate company Gurmit Singh and former associate librarian at National Library Board Mohamed Fairoz Shariff.
The likely Workers’ Party (WP) candidates for East Coast GRC and Fengshan SMC made their first public appearance together yesterday, visiting major markets there to meet stallholders and residents.
Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam, 37, who was part of the WP’s East Coast team, which garnered 45.2 per cent of the vote in the 2011 General Election, is almost certain to enter the fray once again in the constituency.
He was joined yesterday by other potential candidates: National University of Singapore associate professor and sociologist Daniel Goh, 42; law firm partner Dennis Tan, 44; research and consultancy firm chief executive and former civil servant Leon Perera, 44; and librarian Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36.
East Coast GRC was a five-MP constituency at the last general election, but will be a four-MP constituency at the next one. This means three of the four new faces could be Mr Giam’s running mates, while one might go it alone in Fengshan SMC.
Also at the walkabout were WP chief Low Thia Khiang, 58, Aljunied GRC MPs Sylvia Lim, 50, Chen Show Mao, 54, and Faisal Abdul Manap, 40, and Hougang MP Png Eng Huat, 53.
Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong, 50, who is expected to lead the WP team in Marine Parade GRC, was there too, with potential candidate Terence Tan, 43, a lawyer who has been doing house visits.
The GRC will absorb Joo Chiat SMC, where Mr Yee stood in 2011 and lost by 388 votes to Mr Charles Chong of the People’s Action Party.
The WP has been walking the ground daily in recent weeks, with the elections expected next month.
It said it has not finalised its candidates or where they will stand.
Speaking to reporters after yesterday’s walkabout, WP chairman Sylvia Lim said the party will formally introduce its candidates after National Day.
The party said it will also contest Jalan Besar and Nee Soon GRCs, as well as Sengkang West and MacPherson SMCs.
Last night, the WP held a Hari Raya dinner in Aljunied GRC’s Kaki Bukit ward, attended by party leaders – and the man who stepped down last week from his post as chairman of the PAP branch in the ward, Mr Kahar Hassan, 45.
Mr Kahar said Mr Faisal had invited him to the dinner “some time back”, and he was there in his personal capacity.
When asked by reporters if he had joined the WP, Mr Kahar said: “That will never happen – I’ve been a (PAP) member for 20 years. I was invited to this dinner a long time ago.”
Mr Faisal told reporters that he invited Mr Kahar to the dinner because they both serve residents in the area.
“We have a working relationship… sometimes I refer residents to him, and sometimes he refers residents to me,” he said.
