Online Only - That Young PAP membership: Still questions unanswered
04:30 PM Jul 13, 2009
Letter from Li Wenfeng

I refer to Mr Calvin Cheng's letter "I am curious all the time" (July 13). Like Mr Cheng, I am also curious all the time.

While Mr Cheng's letter had sought to address the points raised in Mr P N Balji's piece "My, My... Mr. Cheng" (July 11-12), it has undoubtedly left me with more questions which I hope Mr Cheng can address with sincerity.

Firstly, if Mr Cheng had indeed joined the Young PAP "out of curiosity", would it be illogical to deduce that he would be brimming with enthusiasm - at least in the initial weeks - and be more than willing and enthusiastic to attend Young PAP events? Why was it that he "never attended a single branch activity of the PAP"?

Secondly, I am curious to find out where Mr Cheng stays - just the constituency. I do not have the statistics but I believe the majority of Young PAP members, like grassroots leaders, serve in the PAP branches located within their residential constituencies. Was Mr Cheng curious to find out more about the Young PAP in general or was it a case of wanting to serve specifically in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Teck Ghee ward?

Thirdly, Mr Cheng noted in an earlier letter that after signing up for the membership out of curiosity, he "never returned". I believe many Singaporeans, including myself, are curious to hear from Mr Cheng what these reasons were. Was it because of work commitments? Was it because of other factors? We would certainly like to know.

Fourthly, as academic Eugene Tan rightly pointed out in an earlier article in TODAY, the late Mr Ong Teng Cheong had resigned from the PAP when he contested in the presidential election in 1993. My next question to Mr Cheng is: Would you have resigned from the Young PAP if you had failed in the bid to secure an NMP seat? Or would you have remained as an "inactive" member?

Last but not least, I understand that Mr Cheng had earlier indicated that he did not even pick up his membership card and that he had allowed the membership to lapse after two years (in 2008). That brings me to the final point: Would Mr Cheng have adopted such an attitude if the issue concerned the membership of a credit card for instance? Would he have written in to the bank to request for a termination of the card services if he decided that he no longer had any interest in holding onto the card? Or would he merely allow the membership to "lapse" - neglecting the fact that he'd still be charged/billed the 'renewal' fees? I guess the PAP membership department would also have sent Mr Cheng letters indicating the fees for the renewal of his membership when it expired last year? Did Mr Cheng not reckon it would have been more appropriate to 'cut all ties' with the party if he really had no desire to participate in any of the PAP's events?

URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC090713-0000155/Online-Only---That-Young-PAP-membership--Still-questions-unanswered

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