Tag: NSP

Nor Lella Yakin NSP Bariskan Calon Yang Kuat

CALON Parti Perpaduan Nasional (NSP) Nor Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed melahirkan keyakinan bahawa partinya telah menurunkan barisan calon terbaik bagi merebut GRC Tampines daripada pasukan Parti Tindakan Rakyat (PAP) dalam Pilihan Raya Umum (GE) 11 September ini.

Bercakap kepada pemberita sejurus sesi pengisian borang dan penamaan calon di pusat penamaan calon di Sekolah Poi Ching semalam, Penolong Bendahari NSP berusia 41 tahun itu berkata keyakinan tersebut timbul daripada kepercayaan yang diberikan penduduk Tampines kepada parti itu semasa mereka mengadakan sesi bertemu penduduk Tampines.

“Kali ini kami berasa lebih yakin, teguh dan mantap,” jelas beliau dengan membuat perbandingan mengenai keputusan terbaik yang diraih NSP ketika bertanding di GRC Tampines dalam GE 2011 yang menyaksikan parti tersebut meraih 42.78 undi.

“Kalau penduduk (Tampines) berasa yakin kami dapat ke depan, mengapa kami tidak boleh berasa yakin?”

Cik Nor Lella, yang sebelum ini bertanding di GRC Chua Chu Kang, menambah bahawa NSP, antara lain, akan mengetengahkan isu yang dihadapi warga tua yang menghadapi masalah mengeluarkan wang CPF mereka.

“Inilah keluhan yang selalu kami dengar dalam sesi bertemu penduduk yang kami jalankan… (malangnya) suara mereka tidak kedengaran.

“Kenapa mereka perlu mengeluh sedangkan warga tua Singapura telah lama menyumbang kepada negara?” ujar beliau lagi.

Awal daripada itu, Pemangku Setiausaha Agung NSP Lim Tean dengan lantang berkata parti itu akan memperjuangkan isu seperti imigresen, pekerja asing, persaingan yang dihadapi pelajar warga Singapura untuk mendapatkan tempat di sekolah setempat dan isu warga tua yang menghadapi dilema menghabiskan usia senja di negara lain kerana menghadapi ketidakcukupan wang untuk terus hidup di tanah air sendiri.

Perjuangan NSP itu mendapat sorakan gemuruh sekitar 70 penyokongnya yang mengibarkan bendera parti tersebut di pekarangan Sekolah Poi Ching sejurus tamat sesi penamaan calon.

Sebelum itu, calon Parti Pekerja (WP) Png Eng Huat menggesa penyokongnya supaya terus memberi sokongan kepada parti itu di Hougang, yang dianggap kubu kuat WP, menerusi slogannya Memperkasa Masa Depan Anda.

Beliau, yang berusia 53 tahun, dan penyandang kerusi SMC Hougang, menghadapi saingan calon baru PAP, Encik Lee Hong Chuan, 44 tahun.

Encik Png meneruskan penguasaan WP di Hougang dengan memenangi kerusi SMC itu pada 2012.

Sebelum ini SMC itu ‘dipegang’ setiausaha agung dan orang kuat WP, Encik Low Thia Khiang, dari 1991 hingga 2011.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

September 2, 2015
NSP: Workers’ Party Left Us With No Choice, We Had To Enter Into 3-Cornered Fight In MacPherson

In the wake of a frantic few hours on Nomination Day, which saw three multi-cornered fights emerge in the General Election, the leaders of the National Solidarity Party came forward to say they were “the most active party promoting Opposition unity”.

NSP candidate Cheo Chai Chen will face a three-cornered fight in MacPherson SMC, where he will come up against the People’s Action Party’s Tin Pei Ling, 31 – the incumbent after the ward was carved out of Marine Parade GRC – and the Workers’ Party’s Bernard Chen, 29.

Said party Acting Secretary-General Lim Tean, at a press conference where the party’s Tampines GRC team was introduced: “I believe to a very large extent we have avoided multi-cornered fights but for MacPherson we had to do it. MacPherson used to be part of Marine Parade. We did very well in the last GE and we have already made a huge concession to WP there.”

An NSP team featuring Ms Nicole Seah took 43.36 per cent of the vote against the PAP in 2011.

“If WP wanted to avoid a three-cornered fight they should have allowed us to fight with PAP in MacPherson,” said Mr Lim.

“That decision to contest in MacPherson was made a few weeks ago, and we’ve never departed from that decision. NSP has been the most active party promoting Opposition unity. We initiated talks to avoid three-cornered fights.”

The decision to contest in the SMC led to fissures within the party, including the departure of then-Acting Secretary-General Hazel Poa. Mr Lim said that the lessons learnt over the past few weeks will make the party “stronger for the battle ahead”.

“We are a democratic party and in a democratic party run on democratic principles you’re going to have a difference in opinions. I think that’s healthy,” said Mr Lim.

“As for party members who have left, we cannot stop people from leaving – it’s their right to join any party they wish. And as for why we have been so quiet in the last couple of weeks, I think the media made a lot of the disunity and turmoil, so we decided that it’s best not to add to the frenzy, and instead regroup to prepare for the coming GE.”

NSP President Sebastian Teo – part of the party’s Tampines GRC team that includes Mr Lim, Ms Nor Lella Mardiiah Mohamed, 41, Mr Fong Chin Leong, 46, and Mr Choong Hon Heng, 45 – said that if elected, the party did not think think it would face any problems running a Town Council in Tampines.

Said Mr Teo: “It’s not that difficult to run a Town Council. I’m sure we have all that we need to put in place and to run a Town Council. It’s not difficult like the PAP say. You need capital, you need manpower. So I don’t understand – what’s so difficult about running a Town Council?”

The NSP will face a People’s Action Party team led by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat at the polls on Sep 11.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

September 2, 2015
Three-Cornered Fight Shaping Up In Macpherson SMC Between PAP, WP And NSP

In a surprise twist, the single-seat ward of MacPherson might be set for a three-cornered fight after all, after the National Solidarity Party (NSP)’s Cheo Chai Chen said he will throw his hat into the ring on Nomination Day morning.

Mr Cheo, 65, announced that he will stand in MacPherson when he arrived at Kong Hwa School to file his nomination papers.

This means that MacPherson will likely see a three-cornered fight between Mr Cheo, the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Tin Pei Ling, 31, and the Workers’ Party’s Bernard Chen, 29.

Mr Cheo was an MP for Nee Soon Central from 1991 to 1997 under the Singapore Democratic Party.

Ms Tin, the incumbent MP, came in for fierce criticism at the last election but appears to have turned the tide of public opinion in her favour.

Addressing her supporters before filing her nomination papers, Ms Tin said: “Today is the day. We will put up a tough fight. We will put up our best and 101 per cent. Thank you for fighting this with me. Every vote counts we are the best party to do this.”

The WP and the NSP have crossed swords over MacPherson in recent weeks, after both sides disagreed over who should contest in the single-member constituency.

The NSP made several U-turns in the lead-up to Nomination Day over whether or not it would contest MacPherson.

After initially agreeing to not contest the seat, the NSP then voted last month to field a council member there. The decision prompted acting secretary-general Hazel Poa to resign from the party.

The party then flip-flopped on that controversial decision again, when Mr Steve Chia announced on social media that he would not contest MacPherson SMC or any other constituency in the general election, threatening to throw the party – already seemingly troubled by factional splits – into disarray.

MacPherson was part of the Marine Parade GRC in the last election in 2011 and reportedly garnered the second-highest PAP vote share among the wards in that GRC.

Candidates will file their nomination papers between 11am and noon on Tuesday (Sept 1).

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 1, 2015
Cambridge-Educated Lawyer, Lim Tean, Appointed Acting Sec-Gen Of NSP

After weeks of turmoil, Cambridge-educated legal consultant Lim Tean has been appointed the National Solidarity Party’s (NSP) new acting secretary-general, TODAY has learnt.

Mr Lim, who was a partner at law firm Rajah and Tann, was introduced as a potential candidate at a walkabout in Tampines GRC earlier this month. He takes over from Ms Hazel Poa, who abruptly resigned from her post over a week ago because she “strongly disagreed” with the party’s decision to contest in MacPherson.

Mr Lim did not respond to calls for comment, but several party sources at a walkabout today (Aug 30) in Sembawang confirmed the appointment.

When contacted, NSP president Sebastian Teo said the party will introduce its new acting secretary-general and its slate of candidates on Nomination Day on Tuesday.

The party has said it will contest in Tampines GRC, Sembawang GRC, as well as in MacPherson and Pioneer. When asked, Mr Teo also said he planned to contest, but reiterated that final confirmation would have to wait until Nomination Day.

Today, over a dozen NSP members, including NSP organising secretary Spencer Ng, new face Kevryn Lim, youth-wing head Eugene Yeo and former Member Of Parliament Cheo Chai Chen — all touted as potential candidates — gave out flyers at Sembawang and Woodlands MRT stations. Other new faces present included Mr Yadzeth Haris and Mr Nicky Tan.

The walkabout came in the wake of the drama that besieged the party over the past two weeks, with its decision to run in MacPherson — a U-turn from an earlier position that sets up a three-cornered fight with the Workers’ Party and the People’s Action Party — leading to the resignation of Ms Poa and Mr Mohamed Fazli Talip, who was on the party’s central executive committee.

This was followed by an anonymous online smear campaign that went viral, resulting in party member Steve Chia reversing his decision to run in MacPherson. Mr Teo was also a target of the online attack, which detailed his corruption conviction in the 1970s.

On Saturday night, the NSP also said it was filing a police report on an alleged intrusion at its offices. In a Facebook post, the party said the four alleged intruders were captured on closed-circuit television. The police are investigating the incident while the party is also conducting its own investigations.

The uncertainty over the NSP’s election slate has also led the Reform Party to signal that it is keen on contesting in Pioneer if the NSP withdraws.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 31, 2015
Reform Party Will Contest Pioneer SMC – Should NSP Pull Out

The Reform Party (RP) wants to contest Pioneer Single Member Constituency (SMC) – but not if it means entering a three-cornered fight, party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam said on Wednesday (Aug 26).

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) was previously set to contest the SMC after a series of talks between most of the Opposition parties in early August. Mr Steve Chia – who took 39.27 per cent of the votes in Pioneer in the 2011 General Election – was originally expected to contest again under the NSP banner, but he has since pulled out of contesting the 2015 General Election entirely.

The People’s Action Party incumbent Cedric Foo will be defending his seat in the single-seat constituency in the coming General Election.

On Wednesday, Mr Jeyaretnam said RP had initially pulled out of Pioneer only because Mr Chia was contesting the SMC, but should now be given the chance to contest if NSP is unable to field a “strong candidate” there.

“We agreed to relinquish our interest in Pioneer only because Steve Chia from NSP said he would be standing again. We felt he was a strong candidate and had a good chance of winning, having done well in 2011. However he has now withdrawn entirely from the election,” said Mr Jeyaretnam.

“If NSP withdraw entirely or are unable to field a strong candidate then we feel that we should be given the chance to contest as we have many excess candidates. However, in the interests of unity and solidarity among the Opposition, we will not enter a three-cornered fight.

“We hope that NSP will clarify its intentions shortly.”

The RP chief said his party is declaring its interest publicly as it has been trying to contact NSP President Sebastian Teo and Organising Secretary Spencer Ng, but with no success.

Pioneer was formerly part of West Coast GRC, but was carved out for the 2011 General Election. RP is set to contest West Coast GRC again in the 2015 General Election, having done so four years ago. The party has been visiting residents in Pioneer SMC since 2011, RP said.

The RP added that in “similar spirit of Opposition solidarity”, they have contacted independent candidate Tan Lam Siong to offer him a place in one of their GRC teams or in an SMC to avoid a three-cornered fight in Potong Pasir SMC, but have been unable to dissuade him.

Mr Tan confirmed that RP tabled an offer for him to contest Radin Mas SMC, but he did not accept it.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 27, 2015