WP’s new faces took the road less travelled to reshape policies
L-R: Daniel Goh, Dennis Tan, Gerald Giam, He Ting Ru and Terence Tan pictured during the Workers' Party rally on Sept 2, 2015. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY
SINGAPORE — The four new faces who spoke at the Workers’ Party’s (WP) first rally last night (Sept 2) emphasised that they were “ordinary Singaporeans” who joined the Opposition to reshape polices they feel are “detached from everyday citizens”, not elites from the traditional mould of professionals with high-flying jobs and top educational qualifications.
Kicking off the three-hour rally yesterday was RHB Bank wealth manager Dylan Ng, 40, who said his humble family background helped him understand the daily needs and struggles of “average Singaporeans”.
“This country belongs to every Singaporean like you and me. No one should be marginalised,” he said.
Sales consultant Cheryl Denise Loh said she joined the WP because she shares its vision of “working for Singapore”. “If we only have elitist leaders, leaders who have only had perfectly paved lives and careers, how will they be able to relate to the issues of everyday Singaporeans?” said the 31-year-old.
Citing education as an issue she feels strongly about, Ms Loh said the WP sees social inequality as a challenge to be tackled, and schools are a place to start. The party has proposed that neighbourhood schools receive more government funds to ensure all of them are adequately funded to become good schools, she said.
Shipping lawyer Dennis Tan, who spoke in Hokkien, Mandarin and English, said he joined the party following the 2011 General Election because he felt “the ruling party has lost its way”, drawing applause from the crowd.
Calling for greater political competition in Parliament, Mr Tan, 45, said: “We cannot rely on the People’s Action Party (PAP) alone in the next 50 years. There must be a better contest of ideas ... You are the shareholders of this country, the owners of this country. You tell the Government what to do, not the other way round.” The current ratio of one Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) to nine PAP MPs is “not enough”, he said, adding that Bills are “rushed through” without sufficient debate.
National University of Singapore sociologist Daniel Goh spoke at length about the WP’s vision to reform the “system of fears” he said the PAP has created. His personal experience of joining the Opposition drew negative comments from friends, Dr Goh, 42, said.
“When I told them I would be standing as a candidate, they told me, ‘They would throw a kitchen sink at you’,” he said. The PAP has been “disrespectful”, said Dr Goh, by name-calling and “painting (the Opposition) as monsters”.
Echoing comments by WP chairman Sylvia Lim last Sunday, he said: “The PAP is becoming a huge party government machinery that will try and attack and eat you up if it thinks you are not on its side ... We cannot because of fear tolerate the overwhelming power of the PAP machinery to interfere and run our lives.”
A proper Opposition party in Parliament will ensure that the ruling party separates party and governance, so that “it will work for the people and not become an arrogant monster”.
