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Tag: People’s Power Party

  • Citizens, Not Opposition Parties, Who Should Feel Ashamed Of Opposition’s Electoral Performance

    Citizens, Not Opposition Parties, Who Should Feel Ashamed Of Opposition’s Electoral Performance

    We did our round of thanking voters of CCK for their support this evening. There were quite a number of pairs of guilty conscience eyes in the coffeeshop but we just ignore. I always believe people deserve what they voted for.

    Someone ask me don’t we feel shameful of going around to thank voters when we only get 23%? I laughed and said, people will only feel shameful when they have done something wrong. We have done no wrong and in fact we should be holding our heads up high because we have done a great public service and making sacrifices of money, time and effort to put up the contest. We should not be the ones who will worry about being shameful lah!

    Goh Meng Seng

     

    Source: People’s Power Party

  • PPP’s Goh Meng Seng Says Lee Kuan Yew’s Death Part Of Reason For Forming Party

    PPP’s Goh Meng Seng Says Lee Kuan Yew’s Death Part Of Reason For Forming Party

    The People’s Power Party (PPP) is a newcomer for the General Election, but the man behind its inception is no stranger to politics in Singapore.

    Founder and secretary-general Goh Meng Seng has 15 years of political experience and contested in the last two general elections under two different parties.

    On Sept 11, Mr Goh will lead a PPP team to contest Choa Chu Kang GRC. His rival will be Health Minister Gan Kim Yong’s People’s Action Party (PAP) team.

    Yesterday, Mr Goh, 45, the managing director of a group of market research and linguistics companies, told The New Paper in a phone interview that he does not see the switching of parties as a weakness.

    “I’ve learnt a lot during my time in Workers’ Party (WP), which I joined in 2001, and helped contribute in the rebranding for the 2006 GE,” he said.

    Mr Goh was a member of the WP’s Central Executive Council and the party’s “A” Team, which stood and lost in Aljunied GRC in 2006, with 43.9 per cent of votes.

    Saying “my job was done”, he left the party later that year and joined the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in 2007. He said he used his knowledge to build NSP up for the 2011 GE.

    “We helped increase the profile of NSP after four years. But I felt that we needed more opposition to give rise to more political discourse,” he said.

    In July this year, the PPP was officially registered, with Mr Goh as its secretary-general.

    Mr Goh said the death of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew this year was another reason behind the setting up of the new party.

    “The current system, where there is a strong concentration of power, is only viable when you have a strong philosopher behind it.

    “Now that Mr Lee is gone, there’s no one else who has such a strong political morality who can control everyone. Things can go wrong.

    “The only way to provide sustainability is when power is separated into different parties that can act as checks and balances,” he said.

    PROFILE

    WHO:
    Goh Meng Seng

    WHAT:
    Managing director of a group of market research and linguistics companies

    FAMILY:
    Married with a daughter

    POLITICAL CAREER SO FAR:
    2001: Joined Workers’ Party (WP)
    May 2006: Contested Aljunied GRC with WP
    November 2006: Quit WP
    March 2007: Joined National Solidarity Party (NSP)
    May 2011: Contested Tampines GRC with NSP
    November 2011: Quit NSP
    July 2015: Registered People’s Power Party (PPP)

    MR GOH MENG SENG ON….

    WHAT VOTERS ARE LOOKING FOR TODAY

    Gone are the bread and butter issues of the early days of Singapore’s independence.

    Instead, voters today are looking for people who can represent them, are articulate and provide intellectual political discourse.

    “I have always challenged the PAP ministers on policy debates, and they always siam (Hokkien for dodge). The only way that I can bring this debate to them is to be elected into Parliament,” he said.

    The PPP is looking to champion key issues of population growth, national identity, housing, healthcare and the Central Provident Fund (CPF), he said.

    HOW HIS PARTY WILL ATTRACT VOTERS

    As the PPP is new, Mr Goh said the party will have to rely on personalities, such as his own, to reach out to voters.

    “My party is new, but I’m not. My Facebook page, my blog and everything I’ve done, is out there on the Internet,” he said.

    So a strong online presence is essential, he said.

    “People have come up to me to tell me that they watched an online video of me speaking at the National University of Singapore Society dialogue,” he said.

    WHAT KEEPS 
HIM GOING

    Standing as an opposition candidate is a public service, Mr Goh said.

    This will give voters viable choices when they are at the polling stations and allow them to think carefully about who they wish to elect.

    “That, in turn, will create a national level of consciousness for society and the country,” he said.

    “Whether we win, or not, it is a public service,” he said.

    He is also grateful for his supporters and helpers who have stood by him over the past 15 years.

    HOW THE POLITICAL SCENE HAS CHANGED

    The 2006 General Election was a turning point in Singapore’s politics, Mr Goh said, adding: “We (then Workers’ Party) opened up space, created a wow effect and showed to everyone that there was nothing wrong with the opposition.”

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

  • PPP’s Goh Meng Seng Tries Unsucessfully To Diffuse 3-Cornered Fight In Potong Pasir SMC

    PPP’s Goh Meng Seng Tries Unsucessfully To Diffuse 3-Cornered Fight In Potong Pasir SMC

    SINGAPORE: People’s Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng has tried to persuade independent opposition candidate Tan Lam Siong to join the PPP to contest Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) instead of standing as an independent in Potong Pasir.

    Mr Goh told Channel NewsAsia his offer was a “last-ditch effort” to avoid a three-cornered fight in the Potong Pasir single seat.

    He said: “I have indeed met up with Mr Tan Lam Siong yesterday night to make the last-ditch effort to defuse the potential bomb of a three-cornered fight at Potong Pasir. I have urged Mr Tan to join my team at CCK but unfortunately I have failed to convince him to come over.”

    “Although there is seriously very little time left, we still hope Mr Tan could reconsider our proposal. Nevertheless, if Mr Tan so decides to continue his campaign at Potong Pasir, we can only hope the best candidate wins,” he added.

    Mr Goh also posted a note on Facebook alluding to his efforts. “I shall now leave it to nature to take its course. What will be will be,” he wrote.

    Mr Tan confirmed that he had met Mr Goh on Monday night but had rejected his offer. Rebutting online reports alleging that he was planning to join the PPP, he added: “I think people are just speculating because someone saw me having dinner with Mr Goh Meng Seng. But it’s not true, I’m still actively walking in Potong Paris SMC and I will definitely follow up my plans to contest as an independent candidate for Potong Pasir SMC.”

    Incumbent People’s Action Party MP Sitoh Yih Pin will defend his seat. Singapore People’s Party (SPP) chairman Lina Chiam has announced that she will contest the single seat – held previously by her husband Chiam See Tong for over 27 years – as she did in the 2011 General Election.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Goh Meng Seng: If Private Sector Can Accept Employees Wearing Tudung, Why Not The Public Sector?

    Goh Meng Seng: If Private Sector Can Accept Employees Wearing Tudung, Why Not The Public Sector?

    I do not understand why Tudung is such a difficult issue.

    I believe most Chinese like me are used to seeing our fellow Malay ladies wearing Tudung in our lives, in our working places and on the streets or neighbourhood.

    It is nothing intimidating at all and it should be a proud Heritage of our multi ethnicity and culture. Local born Singaporeans do not feel uneasy with Tudung ladies because we understand and respect their dress code. This is nothing special just like seeing our fellow Sikh brothers wearing turbans.

    So stop talking about difficulties or social acceptance of such. If private sectors have no problem about tudung why should the Government has any problem with that?

     

    Source: Goh Meng Seng

  • Goh Meng Seng: Possible For Two Opposition Parties To Join Forces

    Goh Meng Seng: Possible For Two Opposition Parties To Join Forces

    Members of various Opposition parties gathered at the home of Singaporeans First (SingFirst) secretary-general Tan Jee Say on Saturday evening (Aug 1) for an informal discussion on how they could “work together” in the upcoming General Election.

    Veteran Opposition politician Goh Meng Seng, chief of the recently formed People’s Power Party (PPP), told reporters after the gathering that having two Opposition parties join forces to contest constituencies is a “possibility”.

    He also alluded to Opposition parties’ interest in constituencies in the West. “Personally, I think the West is a good ground. In the past, it has been very receptive. It has been neglected for about 10 to 20 years,” he said, adding that the western part of Singapore was an Opposition “hotbed” in the 80s and 90s.

    Mr Goh said the meet-up had been planned before the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee report had been released. He described the discussion as “just a sharing of ideas” and said no consensus was reached.

    Prior to Saturday’s gathering, the head of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Benjamin Pwee told the TODAY newspaper that six Opposition parties would be represented there – SingFirst, Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), Singapore People’s Party, NSP, PPP and DPP. However, SDA clarified on Facebook that it was “not aware of the meeting” and would not be attending. NSP also said in a Facebook post that its party president and secretary-general would not be at the gathering.

    Mr Goh said some of the Opposition party leaders were not present, but that party activists were, while Mr Tan said “more than half” of the Opposition parties were represented.

    DPP adviser Seow Khee Leng who was at the meeting said the parties discussed contesting in Ang Mo Kio, West Coast and Jurong GRCs. He echoed Mr Goh’s comment that Opposition parties could join forces to contest in the coming General Election. When pressed for details, Mr Seow said this would be fleshed out in Monday’s horse-trading meeting.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com