Tag: SFP

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

August 2, 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
Singaporeans First Party’s Chance Encounter With DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam In Taman Jurong
When Mature People Meet….. Collaboration Becomes Possible

The walkabout at Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre on Sunday saw SingFirst achieving several “firsts”. This is what we mean:

1. First walkabout when we met a minister making his round at the same location

2. First attempt in getting the members and supporters to take public transport to the walkabout location

3. First largest turn out by our members and supporters

4. First ever longest walkabout route

5. First ever most photo requests by members of the public with our chairman and secretary general

Taking the public transport to the location was our first attempt in building the bond and rapport between the members and supporters. This arrangement also allowed us to gain exposure and to publicise our party name. Everyone was enthusiastic and admitted that it was indeed a refreshing idea.

This walkabout was by far the largest turn out by our member and supporters. A total of 25 of us gathered at Lakeside MRT before making our way to Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre. SingFirst is encouraged by the great support by our members! It goes to show that we are growing in terms of membership.

As the market and food centre occupies 3 storeys with several units on each floor, it made its way into our record book for the longest walkabout route. Apart from the market and food centre, we also seized the opportunity to visit the nearby flea market. We were pleasantly surprised that many patrons at the market and food centre immediately recognized our chairman, Dr Ang Yong Guan and secretary general, Mr Tan Jee Say. We were even more surprised when several of them came up to the duo and asked for their pictures to be taken together.

The most pleasant encounter during this walkabout was the chance meeting with the finance minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam. He too was at the food centre greeting the residents. He was pleasant and greeted us with warm smiles and handshakes. We suggested having a photo together and he agreed without any hesitation. That wasn’t the end of our encounter with him. While taking a break from the walkabout at a nearby coffee shop, he came to us and said that the coffee shop has the cheapest food in the area.

From this walkabout, we would like to highlight some interesting points from the residents and our brief meeting with Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam:
- The residents recognized that there is a need for a political change in Singapore. They are also curious who will be the candidates for SingFirst and whether we are up to the mark to take on the ruling party in the next election. Many still bear the scars from the memory of the 1960s and 1970s during the tussle between Barisan Socialis and the PAP.
- They are sincere in their response when approached. The residents either stand up to greet or putting away their utensils to have a brief word with us. They also hope that SingFirst is able to do more to help the citizens.
- They hope to see in the coming election younger candidates with a credible party running for the public office and who can take on the PAP.
- MPs need to speak their language from the ground to represent them in parliament. They hope the MPs truly understand their plight.
- There is no need for scholars to stand for elections or be MPs. They just need someone who is able to understand their concerns and have a heart to feel and fill their needs. The Punggol East by-election is a good example where a caring candidate won despite a four-corner fight.
- The SingFirst logo is being etched into the minds of the Singaporeans. One elderly man said he recognized the logo because it resembles an ice cream brand.
Mr Tharman’s encounter was an encouraging one as he is so open. SingFirst hopes to see more of such PAP politicians to engage alternative parties. Only with such openness can we then build a better Singapore and move Singapore forward.

Taman Jurong walkabout was a new milestone set for SingFirst. We hope we will set a higher benchmark and be fortunate enough to meet more ministers or MPs in our future visits to the various GRCs.

Source: http://singfirst.org
March 2, 2015