NTUC and environmental groups finalise their picks for Nominated Members of Parliament

• NTUC announced that it will submit its vice-president Abdul Samad for consideration to become a Nominated Member of Parliament
• A group of environmentalists have rallied around research scientist Andie Ang following a vote on Nov 19
• Other groups are expected to finalise their names before the deadline on Nov 23

SINGAPORE — The labour movement and a group of environmentalists have both rallied around their respective picks for Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), days before the public deadline for nominating potential NMPs ends next Monday (Nov 23).

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) had put up on Thursday its vice-president, Mr Abdul Samad Abdul Wahab, 48, to a parliamentary committee for consideration as an NMP, it said in a statement on Friday.

Likewise, a collective of environmental groups have selected Dr Andie Ang, 35, a primatologist, after a vote on Thursday. 

Dr Ang came out in front of two other potential nominees with 49.7 per cent of the vote, a post on the grouping’s Facebook page, named the SG Green Groups Town Hall, stated.

Anyone can still apply to be an NMP, provided they meet certain conditions and have a proposer, a seconder and at least four assentors. The public has until 4.30pm on Nov 23 to nominate potential NMPs.

Mr Abdul Samad and Dr Ang will be among many other parliamentary hopefuls who will be reviewed by a special select committee after the deadline passes.

Singapore’s Constitution ultimately allows President Halimah Yacob to appoint up to nine NMPs.

NMPs are selected after every 2.5 years and are chosen to represent at least one of seven “functional groups”. Each group goes through a coordinated nomination process and can propose up to two persons.

The seven groups are:

• Business and industry

• The labour movement

• Professionals

• Social service organisations

• Civic and people sector

• Tertiary education institutions

• Media, arts and sports

The arts community has also been holding an open election process to determine its representative, with artists and creative practitioners indicating their support for their nominee through a ballot — something it has done since 2009.

This year, there are five prospective candidates, namely, musician George Leong; creative consultant Audrey Lim; photographer Benjamin Matchap; playwright Nabilah Said; and community artist Terence Tan.

The voting process for the arts NMP ends at midnight on Friday.

MR ABDUL SAMAD

A union leader since 2006, Mr Abdul Samad is the general secretary of the Union of Power and Gas Employees. 

He had played “a crucial role” in securing bonuses, salary increments and training funds for power and gas workers in 2018.

He had also helped to set up company training committees to aid employers in rolling out training plans for workers in the power and gas industry.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, NTUC’s secretary-general Ng Chee Meng said of Mr Abdul Samad: “He will be able to draw on more than a decade of experience as a unionist to shape policies that will benefit workers and Singaporeans at large.”

DR ANDIE ANG

Edging ahead of two other environmental activists, Ms Vandana Khialani and Ms Nor Lastrina Hamid, Dr Ang is the president of the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) and oversees outreach programmes promoting greater awareness and protection of the environment.

She is also a research scientist with the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund, and is an expert in primates, particularly in the ecology of the Raffles’ banded langur.

She won the Conservationist Award by the American Society of Primatologists in 2019 and also received the Great Women of Our Time Award for Science and Technology by Women's Weekly magazine in the same year.

"I value this as an opportunity to facilitate a greater understanding of the environmental issues to a wider audience, to highlight the importance of protecting our biodiversity and natural heritage, and to participate in the decision-making process so as to push for positive changes," Dr Ang said. 

A number of Nature Society members participated in the town hall, its president Shawn Lum said, and are "no doubt very excited by Andie Ang’s selection as the choice of the environment community".

"NSS members probably know Andie best of the three candidates as she is a wildlife biologist and is also President of the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore)," he said in response to TODAY's queries.

"However, Nature Society, as part of the broader environmental community, would have been delighted to support whoever had prevailed after the Town Hall vote. It was a difficult choice for the community to select one person to put forward for consideration as NMP, but Andie is a very worthy and highly qualified candidate."

Mr Sankar Ananthanarayanan, co-founder and President of the Herpetological Society of Singapore, described Dr Ang as a role model for many in the nature community.

"We believe Andie would be capable of being a voice for nature, biodiversity and the environment in Parliament," he said.

"I'd also like to highlight that we especially resonate with Andie's focal areas: Science-based climate solutions, improvement of nature education in mainstream curriculum, and enhanced transparency and stakeholder engagement in Singapore's land-use decision making."