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PSP

"There have been people with "big egos" who joined PSP out of self-interest, instead of contributing to Singapore's development, said Dr Tan in an outreach session streamed live on Facebook on Thursday night." Dr Tan Cheng Bock, founder/leader of Progress Singapore Party (former popular PAP member of parliament, but ran against Tony Tan for presidency in 2011 and narrowly lost) about former PSP members; I myself would not say things like that about former colleagues, but then I am not a politician facing potential new competition (see story on right)

Within the relatively short period of PSP's existence it saw a sigfnificant number of departures: a Central Executive Committee member quit, after a number of new members recruited were immediately put into inner circle on ground of their academic qualification and job experience. A member was expelled after posting anti religion content on facebook. Another for making video attacking a group of party members for contact with people outside PSP, supposedly hoping to obtain foreign donations. Later one of the attacked group's members also quit.

It is reminiscent of the early phase of Reform Party, founded by Kenneth Jeyaretnam, son of JBJ. RP too had a very promising start, then a whole group quit and went over to National Solidarity Party, probably after arguments over an alliance with Chiam See Tong. 

Do people who advocate democracy know how to behave democratically, and use their organizational machinery to resolve policy differences without breaking up? I have often wondered. 

added on 27/5/2020: PSP candidate Tan Meng Wah aroused much attention with an article on gov handling of covid19, specifically the outbreak in the foreign worker dormitories; TMW was research fellow in NUS Institute of Policy Studies 2012-2015, but is not employed there currently. Info about his work experience is sketchy, including what he did at NTU as adjunct researcher which too appears on his CV. My guess: he was a businessman who somehow got interested in social and economic research, and went to Nanjing University for PhD, but did not manage to build a research career afterwards.

21/6/2020 PSP is considering to contest in Nee Soon group representation constituency (GRC), said its secretary-general Tan Cheng Bock during the party’s walkabout around Chong Pang Market  “I was here many, many years ago as a doctor, practising somewhere in Chong Pang. So there’s a lot of historical element, and so I thought, maybe let’s have a look at the place.”

23/6/2020 PSP 2nd batch

Tan Meng Wah (yes he is in), Kayla Low Shu Yu, Dr Ang Yong Guan, 23 year old law undergraduate Choo Shaun Ming, A’bas Bin Kasmani,  Harish Pillay. PSP would be standing at West Coast GRC, Choa Chu Kang GRC, Hong Kah North GRC, Tanjong Pagar GRC, Marymount SMC, Pioneer SMC, Yio Chu Kang SMC and Kebun Baru SMC but may change

25/6/2020

Red Dot United

Ex PSP members Michelle Lee and Ravi Philamon have formed a new party RDU and declared it will field candidates for the next election; obviously, they find their political notions incompatible with PSP so need to launch out on their own

this picture, forming the middle part of my header above, came from an article psp-women-meet-for-lunch-all-seems-to-be-well published a couple of days after Lee resigned as PSP vice chairman early march, declaring her continued support for PSP; it was posted on the facebook of Chika Tan, one of the four, but has since been removed; at the time a story circulated that Lee disagreed with adding several new party members to Central Executive Committee; however this was announced at a CNY banquet together with her own appointment as party Vice Chairman, so presumably she was OK with it at the time; disagreement seems to have occurred in the month after

it is natural to wonder whether during the lunch Lee was already trying to recruit the other three for the new party; it takes some time to register an organization; you need to have a minumum number of members, a constitution, a committee, etc, so you cannot go from being committed to one party to having a new party in a few days; When philemon quit PSP in mid May, planning would already be quite advanced; things would already be moving in March; RDU has since released its logoand plans to run in Jurong GRC; almost immediately afterwards People's Voice Party announced the same plan, and it remains to be seen how this will play out25/6/2020 in the mean time Singaporeans First Party founded by Tan Jee Say in 2015 decided to disband; he was an SDP candidate in 2011, ran for president same year (with Nicole Seah as kingmaker)

3 corner fight in West Coast?

reform party introduced a number of election candidates 15 June 2020 and also announced it intends to return to West Coast GRC, where it contested in 2011 and 2015, in addition to fielding candidates in Ang Mo Kio GRC, Radin Mas and Yio Chu Kang. West coast is significant in that PSP is amost certain to run there. It will introduce its candidates on 18 June 2020, Because its leader was MP in that neighbourhood for many years, PSP will probably try hard to persuade RP to field elsewhere, but RP had fielded candidates in multiple past election so might feel itself better entrenched there; in any case current list of each party is a bargaining position and both may very well change focus after negotiation.

On 18 juen PSP introduced 6 candidates. because TCB himself is likely to want to run in West Coast, these 6 would not all be there, assuming PSP does contest it

they are Francis Yuen, 70, an SAF scholar, who has held senior roles in MNCs; Hazel Poa, 50, Vice Chairman of PSP’s CEC, a PSC scholar who currently runs an education business once with NSP; Muhammad Taufik Bin Supan, 40, IT professional. Bradley Bowyer, 53, who has a background in media. Sri Nallakaruppan, 56, an Investment Specialist in capital markets. Gigene Wong, 54, who has held senior roles in China MNCs over the years.

Brad Bowyer is worth an extra mention because he started in PAP circles; some say he was Michael Palmer's classmate at ACJC and was introduced to Lui Tuck Yew former transport minister, but found PAP inner circle unpenetrable, and objecting to TPP and Halimah's presidency; he then looked at NSP (dismissing it as Not Serious Party), joined lim tean's PVP including speaking at Honglim on 16 march 2019, but left PVP on 26th. He joined PSP at early stage though there was rumour of problem there too half year ago; well at least this well wisher stands by him

24/6/2020 Reform Party appears to have given way to PSP and will not run in West Coast; RP says PSP agreed to let RP have Yiu Chu Kang, but PSP says not really

it was also announced LHY joined PSP officially without committing to running for MP; 

25/6/2020 MOH said Mr Jeyaretnam is allowed to authorise a representative to deliver his nomination papers on Jun 30 in order to contest in the General Election but must complete his 14-day stay-home notice like all other Singaporeans returning from the United Kingdom.