Here is a new series where Yahoo Singapore speaks to potential candidates for the upcoming General Election. Members of Singapore’s various political paties have been invited to participate. First up: Dennis Tan of the Workers Party, who was interviewed Friday, 14 August.
Shipping lawyer Dennis Tan, 44, cuts a somewhat nervous figure when we meet at the Yahoo Singapore office. Vice-chair of the media team for the Workers’ Party, Tan, who is married without children, also sits on the party’s central executive committee.
Tan has come to 60 Anson Road to be profiled as one of the many new faces in the upcoming General Election, though he stresses that Workers Party’s candidates will only be officially unveiled on Nomination Day.
Perhaps he seems ill at ease because he will be on camera in a one-on-one interview, and also because party members have strict guidelines on speaking to the media. “Discipline is very important for us. It’s important that party members are seen to be behaving in a responsible and disciplined way, and I think people respect that a lot,” says Tan.
But the diffident and mild-mannered Tan begins to loosen up when asked about the issues close to his heart, in particular multi-party democracy, and the adequacy of retirement schemes.
Asked what he thinks of the nine Workers Party MPs’ contributions to Parliament so far, Tan replies emphatically with a somewhat dated Carpenters reference, “As the song goes, we’ve only just begun. This is only the beginning of what we see as a First World parliament, and it will take time, given the political circumstances in Singapore.
What we look forward to, and certainly I look forward to, is a more diverse parliament with representation from different political parties. It is important that people from different ends of the political divide come together, share their ideas in parliament, debate bills and policies openly, and may policies be made as a result of such vigorous debate in parliament.”
He is also concerned about bread-and-butter issues like the Central Provident Fund (CPF), and whether Singaporeans will have enough to retire on. Tan says, “I think we have seen…in the last year, that there has been a lot of discussions, online as well as generally in the coffeeshops, about the adequacy of CPF savings for retirees in Singapore.
Clearly, with the relatively low interest rate, which is not linked to inflation, this is an issue that has really not been resolved by the ruling party.”
Tan’s education and background seem to echo that of many middle-class Singaporeans. The younger of two children spent much of his childhood in a housing estate in Telok Blangah and studied at Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. Tan also studied in the United Kingdom in his university days. Tan’s father used to work at the Japanese embassy, while his mother was a housewife.
He remembers being fired up on Nomination Day in 2011, when he was present as the candidate for Joo Chiat SMC was unveiled. Shortly after, he was invited by a friend to join the WP, and he gladly accepted.
“I could identify with the Workers Party leadership, with the way that they looked at politics in Singapore, the way they conducted themselves as a party,” recalls Tan. It has been a fairly rapid ascent within the party for Tan – by 2013, he was speaking at the WP rally during the Punggol East by-election.
Tan has been doing grassroots work in the Paya Lebar and Kaki Bukit divisions of Aljunied GRC for the past four years, a experience he calls “enriching and humbling”.
And while Tan declined to comment directly on the ongoing Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) saga, his words seem to reflect the party’s wariness of mainstream media outlets.
Asked how ground sentiment in Aljunied GRC have changed since 2011, he says, “I think the residents of Aljunied have been very supportive of our MPs and our WP members and volunteers who are on the ground, and they have encouraged us, including at times when there were not so happy news in the mainstream media about the Workers Party, and what the PAP is trying to do.”
But perhaps the issue that gets the strongest reaction from Tan is that of elitism, and his alma mater. A recent letter by teenager and RI alumnus Russell Tan Wah Jian to The Straits Forum, had suggested that elitism can be good for society, “There is no point aiming for equality for the sake of equality, and giving up equity.”
Tan says quietly but firmly, “I am from Raffles Institution, and I’m proud of being an RI boy…and I am proud of the fact that I’m a member of the Workers Party.”
Alluding to a newspaper article from the 1980s which noted that most of the RI students at the time came from working class backgrounds, he adds, “Elitism is something that all societies recognize exist, but it is always frowned upon, especially in a school like RI where we always prided ourselves…as a school that provides equal opportunity for Singaporean children of different backgrounds.”
Perhaps Tan’s sentiments on elitism have something to do with the fact that a fair number of his peers and schoolmates are currently Members of Parliament.
He clearly has strong feelings on fairness and having a voice in the democratic process, “It is important that Singaporeans have an active say in the way that they would like to see how their country moves forward, in which direction, rather than to have any party dictating to Singaporeans, telling us what is good for us.”
Asked if he has a message for voters, Tan takes a minute to compose himself, “Your vote is secret, always remember that. There’s nothing to fear. And if you cast away your fear, you can do anything that you would like to do.”
Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com
