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Tag: Sembawang GRC

  • SWAMI Home Advised To Abide By Its Constitution, Do Not Allow Permises To Be Used For Political Purposes

    SWAMI Home Advised To Abide By Its Constitution, Do Not Allow Permises To Be Used For Political Purposes

    The Sunshine Welfare Action Mission (SWAMI) Home, which hosted a People’s Action Party (PAP) press conference last Friday, has been told by the authorities to abide by its constitution, after a report was lodged with the Registrar of Societies questioning whether it had violated its constitution by hosting a political event.

    SWAMI’s constitution states that it cannot take part in any political activity or allow its funds or premises to be used for political purposes.

    A Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson said SWAMI is a registered society and is obliged to adhere to its constitution. “SWAMI was advised by the Registry of Societies on 17 August 2015 to ensure strict adherence to its constitution,” the spokesperson said.

    The report was lodged by Singapore People’s Party (SPP) member and blogger Ravi Philemon.

    In a blog post on Saturday, Mr Philemon questioned why SWAMI Home had hosted the PAP press conference, which saw the introduction of the party’s slate for Sembawang GRC in the coming General Election by party chairman Khaw Boon Wan.

    Mr Philemon said based on his experience working in volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs), most of them have constitutions that forbid them from getting involved in political activities. “The introduction of PAP candidates who will contest in Sembawang GRC in the next General Election is clearly a political activity,” he wrote.

    In a statement, SWAMI Home’s president Low Chang Yee said the home had not checked its constitution when it agreed to rent its premises to the PAP. “The local MPs wanted to rent our premises for their event. We agreed as their rental of our premises on commercial terms was helpful for us,” he said in a statement.

    The organisation has never used its funds to help any political party, and funds raised from the renting of its premises are used to help run the home and other charitable causes, Mr Low explained. “Now, we have been informed and are aware of this provision in our constitution,” he added.

    The PAP’s Sembawang GRC team — led by Mr Khaw, who is also National Development Minister — said in a statement that it had rented the home “partly to support this VWO and partly because we felt it was an accessible place and had sufficient space to accommodate reporters”.

    “We had not checked the VWO’s constitution. However, we have nothing but the highest regard for the work done by this VWO and will continue to support it in any way we can,” they said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Battle For Sembawang GRC Shapes Up

    Battle For Sembawang GRC Shapes Up

    The battle for Sembawang GRC is shaping up.

    The People’s Action Party (PAP) slate of candidates is starting to take shape in the five-MP GRC that was substantially affected by new electoral boundaries last week, and its MPs have begun working the new ground.

    Party chairman Khaw Boon Wan yesterday said he and his team were reaching out to the 53,177 new voters added to Sembawang GRC from areas that were under Nee Soon GRC, while “handing over” the areas with 61,061 voters that have been carved away to the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

    In the 2011 General Election, Sembawang GRC saw a contest between the PAP team and a Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) team.

    he PAP won 63.9 per cent of the vote against the SDP, whose slate included academics James Gomez and John Tan.

    The SDP confirmed it will again contest the GRC at the coming general election. But party leaders have yet to name their slate for the GRC.

    With the boundary changes, two members of PAP’s current team in the GRC – Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi Daipi and first-term MP Ong Teng Koon – will see their wards go to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, said Mr Khaw, who is the National Development Minister.

    But Dr Lim Wee Kiak, a two-term MP in Nee Soon GRC’s Canberra ward, will join Sembawang GRC.

    This leaves a spot open in Sembawang GRC. But Mr Khaw would not confirm if lawyer Amrin Amin, 35, a PAP new face spotted in the GRC, will join his team.

    But he added: “He’s in my group. He’s proactive. I need a Malay after (the) carving out of Marsiling.”

    The two other MPs in the Sembawang GRC team are Ms Ellen Lee and Mr Vikram Nair.

    Mr Khaw gave the likely line-up for his GRC – and partially for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC – to The Straits Times when he met Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah at a coffee shop in Yishun Avenue 11.

    His disclosure reinforced a point that PAP organising secretary and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen made at a SingHealth Nurses’ Day event yesterday: that the party would disclose its slate of candidates early, probably well ahead of Nomination Day.

    At the meeting between Mr Khaw and Ms Lee, she briefed him about the 51 blocks that were being transferred to Sembawang GRC following the boundary changes.

    Mr Khaw said boundary changes have the greatest impact on the PAP, and in some cases are “quite drastic … We’ve invested time. Now, new relations have to be forged”.

    Losing Marsiling, which has a predominantly elderly population, Mr Khaw said, will lower the median age for Sembawang GRC and bring it nearer to the national median age of just over 40 years.

    Yesterday, SDP members went on a walkabout in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, and party activist Paul Tambyah said it would return to the areas it contested in 2011 – including Sembawang – “because the residents know who we are”.

    “We have been going back there over the years… on a regular basis, so these are a natural fit for us.”

    That opposition parties aim to contest all 89 seats at the next general election, is a prospect relished by first-term Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Chia Shi-Lu.

    Speaking to reporters at an event yesterday, he said that he and his fellow GRC MPs were at a “disadvantage” as theirs was the only uncontested constituency in 2011.

    As the GRC, previously helmed by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has no history of contests to indicate how it would do in the face of a challenge, “we actually have to work harder than most others”, he added.

    This is why the team campaigned in 2011, going door to door and meeting residents, as if they were facing a real election.

    “We take nothing for granted because of this unknown element, which I suppose spurs us to work even harder,” he said.

    The Singaporeans First party and Democratic Progressive Party are keen on Tanjong Pagar GRC.

    But the SDP, which said in January that it was also considering Tanjong Pagar, confirmed yesterday that it would not target the GRC.

    Said Professor Tambyah, who was accompanied by SDP chief Chee Soon Juan and party activists: “Many people in Tanjong Pagar are very keen to vote but, at the same time, there are many other parties that have expressed interest.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • SDP Working The Ground In Sembawang GRC

    SDP Working The Ground In Sembawang GRC

    “I thought Lee Kuan Yew said nothing is free?” an elderly resident pointed out when we visited the Sembawang GRC on Sunday. “Then why Lee Hsien Loong giving out this and that? Like he’s very scared like that.”

    He was referring to the recent announcements of goodies that the Government made.

    “Yes,” we agreed, “the Government is obviously feeling the pressure. But it’s important to remember that it is the opposition that is constantly speaking up that the PAP feels it has to react.”

    It is certain, however, that after the elections the PAP will find ways and means to collect back what it gave out before the elections.

    The only way to stop this is to ensure that the next Parliament has SDP MPs in it. We will ensure that the Government genuinely takes care of the people rather than employ such cynical and unworthy ploys.

    The SDP will be vigilant and push for policies that will make life for the people less stressful and enhance the quality of life in Singapore.

    The PAP must not continue to squeeze Singaporeans just so that it can boast that we have huge reserves and then pay its ministers million-dollar salaries.

    The greater the strength of the SDP, the less the PAP will bully the people.

    On the matter of the MPs in the GRC, a few residents told us that they hardly see their MP Mr Ong Teng Koon. “He’s not very involved with us,” one commented.

    On the other hand, residents’ reactions to our work and presence has been encouraging.

    This is because the SDP has been visiting these constituencies consistently in our walkabouts, house-visits and kopi sessions since the last elections in 2011.

    The exciting news is that we will increase our tempo in 2015 as the next GE draws nearer. We will be announcing our plans soon.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • PAP Reshuffling Grassroots Advisers in Opposition Wards

    PAP Reshuffling Grassroots Advisers in Opposition Wards

    SINGAPORE — After serving as grassroots advisers in constituencies where they lost during the General Election in 2011, Mr Ong Ye Kung and Mr Desmond Choo are leaving their positions in the opposition-held wards of Aljunied GRC and Hougang.

    The People’s Association (PA) announced today (Sept 18) that Mr Choo had been appointed second adviser to Tampines Grassroots Organisations (GROs) for Tampines East.

    Mr Ong, who has been volunteering in Sembawang GRC, relinquished his post as adviser for Kaki Bukit in Aljunied.

    Replacing them are veteran grassroots leaders Goh Chee Koh, 69, and Dr Kee Wei Heong, 64.

    Mr Goh, the honorary chairman of Punggol Central Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC), is now adviser to Hougang GROs, while Dr Kee, chairman of Bukit Gombak CCC, takes over from Mr Ong.

    The changes mean the positions of adviser to GROs at the two Workers’ Party-held constituencies — typically occupied by People’s Action Party (PAP) Members of Parliament or potential PAP candidates — are now almost all filled by veteran grassroots leaders.

    Apart from Dr Kee, advisors to the Aljunied GROs include Mr Anthony Loh, 75, Mr David Tay Poey Cher, 69, and Professor Brian Lee Chang Leng, 73. The fifth advisor is former Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Zainul Abidin Rasheed, 66, who was part of the PAP team that was defeated in the 2011 election.

    Political analysts TODAY spoke to said the moves are not surprising, coming in the wake of earlier appointments of grassroots veterans at Aljunied GROs. For example, Mr Loh replaced former Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo in Bedok Reservoir—Punggol in 2012, said Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Gillian Koh.

    Singapore Management University law professor Eugene Tan said the PAP faces a dilemma in Aljunied and Hougang. Fielding a strong candidate with no guarantee of an electorial victory would upset the PAP’s leadership plans, he said. If a weaker candidate is fielded, voters could feel they are not taken seriously.

    The latest move also suggests that while the PAP considers Mr Choo — who also lost in the Hougang by-election in 2012 — and Mr Ong MP material, the party feels the ground in Aljunied and Hougang are not sweet enough. “The party is seeking to be realistic in electorial prospects,” said Assoc Prof Tan.

    The PAP received 57.2 and 63.9 per cent of the vote at Tampines GRC and Sembawang GRC during the last General Election. Tampines GRC and Sembawang GRC are currently helmed by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat and National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan respectively.

    At Tampines, Mr Choo will be working with Mr Mah Bow Tan — current Adviser for Tampines East. Mr Mah stepped down as Minister of National Development after the 2011 General Election. Mr Ong, meanwhile, was reportedly slated to join Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Manpower Hawazi Daipi said at his Marsiling Meet-the-People Sessions.

    Asked whether the move to place Mr Ong and Mr Choo in Sembawang and Tampines was intended to ensure they stand a higher chance of getting elected into Parliament, Dr Koh said the PAP knows there is no such thing as a stronghold and each constituency has to be taken seriously. Voters have become more demanding and will scrutinise the candidates, she added.

    On whether the move would give them a better chance of getting into Parliament, Mr Choo and Mr Ong – who was both the PAP branch chairman and grassroots adviser for Kaki Bukit at one point – stressed that the announcement was made by the PA, and not by the party. The PA appointment and whether a candidate is fielded in the constituency where he is adviser are two separate matters, Mr Choo said.

    “I think the PA is quite clear about this separation. Whether I will be fielded as a candidate in Tampines, that is something that is still very much (the) party’s decision,” he added.

    When contacted, Dr Kee, who hopes to do more for seniors in Kaki Bukit, said he is not interested in becoming an MP and prefers serving residents through grassroots work. “I had predecessors who actually died on the job when they are in their 80s. Even at 80 years old, they still come and help out at functions and do their best for the community. I will be like that,” he said.

    Previous media reports have identified several chairmen of the PAP branches in Aljunied GRC as potential candidates. The next General Election is due by Jan 2017.

    http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/ong-ye-kung-desmond-choo-appointed-other-constituencies