Exclusive: Revealed — the people behind Tan Cheng Bock’s proposed new party and its election plans

SINGAPORE — Former People’s Action Party (PAP) Member of Parliament Tan Cheng Bock, who is seeking to form a new political party, has assembled a team of mostly veteran grassroots volunteers who had assisted him in past election campaigns.

Consisting of several ex-PAP veteran cadres among them, the founding team members include a businessman, an investment specialist, a private school teacher and retired public servants.

A dozen individuals, including Dr Tan, applied to the Registry of Societies on Jan 16 to register the party, called Progress Singapore Party.

The application is pending approval as the processing time typically takes up to two months. As part of the application process, the party has to list down who its office-holders and other members are.

Of the 12, five of them were named office-holders in the registration form, with Dr Tan, who is also a former presidential candidate, assuming the secretary-general position.

• Mr Anthony Lee, 39, was appointed assistant secretary-general, which puts him as second-in-command if the party’s application is approved. TODAY understands that Mr Lee runs his own business and met Dr Tan through his father, a long-time supporter of Dr Tan back when he was a PAP MP.

• Former PAP cadre Wang Swee Chuan, 68, who has extensive grassroots experience in West Coast group representation constituency (GRC), was designated as chairman. When Dr Tan contested the 2011 Presidential Election (PE), Mr Wang — a former senior manager in a signage and lighting company who is now retired — was his campaign coordinator. In that hotly contested election, Dr Tan narrowly lost to Dr Tony Tan.

• Mr G K Singam, 81, also another former PAP cadre, was appointed vice-chairman. Mr Singam — a retiree and formerly a technician at the Republic of Singapore Air Force — was Dr Tan’s principal election agent in the 2011 PE.

• Mr S Nallakaruppan, who is in his 50s and works at a bank, was named treasurer.

These names were disclosed to TODAY by two of the founding members, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Dr Tan could not be reached for comments.

Outside the office-holders, there is another former PAP cadre in the team: Retired technician Wong Chow Seng, 72. Listed as a member, Mr Wong is a grassroots volunteer who was also part of Dr Tan’s Presidential Election campaign team.

Another member of the party is long-time West Coast GRC grassroots activist Mr Kassim Syed Mohamed, who is in his 60s and a retired superintendent with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Also joining the team is Ms Michelle Lee, 41, a London School of Economics graduate who was a candidate for the Singapore Democratic Party in contesting Holland-Bukit Timah GRC in the 2011 General Election (GE). Back then, it was reported that she worked as a private school teacher.

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One of the sources who spoke to TODAY acknowledged that a majority of the party’s founding members came from the same demographic profile.

They knew Dr Tan, who retired as a doctor at the end of last year after practising for five decades, back when he was the MP of Ayer Rajah single-member constituency (SMC). Dr Tan was MP there from 1980 to 2006, before it was absorbed into West Coast GRC.

But the source stressed that Dr Tan is trying to attract younger potential candidates and has been meeting them in the past few months at his Holland Grove Drive bungalow.

“We are making progress in getting younger people to join us because we want to have a wider appeal,” said the source.

TRIED TO RECRUIT FORMER PAP MPS

In a bid to build up a “strong and credible team”, Dr Tan had also approached more than 10 former PAP MPs, but they all turned him down, citing reasons such as wanting to stay out of politics, work commitments and loyalty to the PAP.

They include individuals who served between one and three terms in Parliament, said the two members from Dr Tan’s camp. Three other PAP MPs, who were not approached but declined to be named, also told TODAY that they were informed of the attempted poaching by those whom Dr Tan courted.

One former PAP MP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he met Dr Tan at his home in November last year. According to him, Dr Tan wanted him because of his electoral and parliamentary experience in a constituency that the party is looking to contest in.

“But I politely turned him down because I am reluctant to re-enter politics due to work and other reasons,” said the former PAP MP. “Furthermore, I told him that he should look for younger candidates with no prior political experience as his party shouldn’t be seen as a PAP 2.0.”

GE PLANS

If the party’s application is approved, it is looking at eight constituencies in the western part of the island where it could possibly field candidates: West Coast GRC, Jurong GRC, Chua Chu Kang GRC, Pioneer, Yuhua, Hong Kah North, Bukit Panjang and Radin Mas.

Contesting in West Coast “is the most logical decision”, said one of the sources, since Dr Tan was the former MP of Ayer Rajah SMC for 26 years. The constituency is now part of West Coast GRC, which is currently helmed by a PAP team comprising Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran, former Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang, Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Patrick Tay. In the last GE held in 2015, the PAP won the constituency with about 78 per cent of the vote, defeating the Reform Party team led by its chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam.

Political analyst Eugene Tan of the Singapore Management University said that since a majority of the founding members of Dr Tan’s party are above 50, it will have “to lower their average age” to broaden their appeal as a “younger set of party members and election candidates could more easily reach out to and connect with the younger voters”.

However, Assoc Prof Tan and other political analysts said there are more important considerations such as experience and the party’s messages. SIM Global Education associate lecturer Felix Tan said “what really counts is the party’s manifesto, as well as the capabilities of those running in the election”.

While the party’s plan to contest in the west is most likely due to Dr Tan’s strong support in his former ward, Assistant Professor Woo Jun Jie, a Singaporean political analyst at the Education University of Hong Kong, noted that many of the constituencies in the west have traditionally been the PAP’s strongholds.

Based on the 2015 GE results, the PAP won at least 68 per cent of the vote in each of the western constituencies. Its five-member team in Jurong — led by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam — secured the highest votes among the PAP candidates, at slightly over 79 per cent.

Though Dr Tan is known among the public, following the 2011 PE and his appearance in the news in the last three years, the analysts said that Dr Tan’s party has its work cut out if its registration is approved.

The next GE is due by early 2021 but there has been speculation that it could be held this year.

As the newest kid on the block, the Progress Singapore Party has no track record to speak of and residents would need time to familiarise themselves with the party and its candidates.

“The party has to ensure that it is not the alter ego of Dr Tan but has breadth and depth that goes beyond Dr Tan,” said Assoc Prof Tan.