肯尼思:詹时中一度考虑加入革新党

Translated by Donaldson Tan.

This is a non-verbatim translation of a Lianhe Zaobao report 《肯尼思: 詹时中一度考虑加入革新党》 dated 24 Dec 2010. It was originally published as a facebook note on NAR facebook on 24 Dec 2010.

Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Chiam See Tong at a joint SPP-RP Walkabout in Bishan

Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Chiam See Tong at a joint SPP-RP Walkabout in Bishan

Reform Party (RP) Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam told Zaobao that Mr Chiam See Tong once considered to contest a GRC with the Reform Party during the next General Election. Mr Chiam is the Secretary-General of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) and the Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir.

Mr Jeyaretnam said in an interview last night during the SPP Christmas Party that Mr Chiam took the initiative to express his interest to do so 2 months ago. The timing coincided with SPP’s internal strife.

Upon quizzed on how to share leadership should Mr Chiam joins RP, Mr Jeyaretnam said, “This is only a preliminary proposal. We have not furthered any discussion into this matter.”

Mr Chiam’s initiative could be the result of objection from other component parties to RP joining the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA). This imply that Mr Chiam may be considering to quit SPP, a political party that was set up for him 16 years ago, to join RP upon dissolution of Parliament.

However, Mr Chiam stressed last night that SDA remains his preferrential platform for contesting during the next General Election.

Zaobao asked Mr Chiam what his expectations of Opposition Unity are. He said, “The SDA remains the most ideal platform for Opposition Unity. There is no need for any political party to dissolve. If Kenneth Jeyaretnam joins the SDA, the SDA will grow stronger.”

RP has already given up on joining SDA a month ago, pending the SDA to resolve its internal differences. However, given the absence of other component parties at the SPP Christmas Party, it is unlikely of the SDA component parties to reconcile with one another in the short term.

Satay fragrance enveloped the void deck of Potong Pasir Block 108 last night as Malay hawkers grilled over 1000 sticks of Satay in-situ. The Christmas party represented Mr Chiam’s call for Opposition Unity as this was the first time the SPP invited other opposition political parties to celebrate Christmas with Potong Pasir residents.

Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam led a 10-member delegation at the Christmas party representing the Reform Party. On the other hand, the National Solidarity Party (NSP) was represented by Chairman Mr Sebastian Teo and former NCMP Steve Chia.

On whether representatives from the Workers’ Party (WP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) were invited, Madam Lina Luo (aka Mrs Chiam) said that the SPP only invited opposition political parties that the SPP was familiar with.

Despite being component parties of the SDA, the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) and the Singapore Justice Party (SJP) were visibly absent at the Christmas Party. Madam Luo clarified: “They are Malay-Muslims. It is inappropriate to invite them to celebrate a Christian festival such as Christmas.”

When asked on the absence of PKMS and SJP, Mr Chiam evaded the question and replied: “I think it is time for you to eat Satay.”

Madam Luo also revealed to Zaobao that she intends to set up a Woman Wing in the SPP.

“Politics is not limited to women only in their twenties or thirties. As long as one is alive, one is capable of making contribution. Aung San Su Kyi is older than me and she is a successful female politician,” she said

She added, “In Parliament, there are female elected MPs from the ruling party but none from the Opposition. This is an imbalance.”

She also reiterated her intention to contest at her husband’s constituency Potong Pasir SMC at the next General Election. If elected, she would raise issues of concern to both men and women instead of focusing on woman’s issues and woman’s rights.

Below is the Mandarin transcript for the original Zaobao report.

肯尼思: 詹时中一度考虑加入革新党

(2010-12-24)● 游润恬 报道

革新党秘书长肯尼思向本报透露,新加坡人民党秘书长、波东巴西区议员詹时中一度曾考虑加入革新党,以在大选时与革新党组成集选区竞选团队。

他昨晚在新加坡人民党所举办的反对党圣诞节沙爹聚餐会上受访时,表示詹时中是在一两个月前,也就是新加坡民主联盟内讧白日化时,主动向他提出这个建议。

询及詹时中若加入革新党,他打算如何分享革新党领导权时,肯尼思说:“这只是个初步的想法,我们还没进一步进行讨论。”

从这个消息可以洞悉由于让革新党加入民联之举频频受到民联其他成员党的阻力,詹时中或许考虑在本届国会解散后脱离16年前为他成立的人民党,转而在革新党旗帜下参加竞选。

然而,詹时中昨晚仍坚称民联是他首选的竞选平台。

询及期待反对党以哪种形式团结时,他对本报记者说:“民联是最理想的平台,各政党无需解散,也可加入这个联合平台。如果肯尼思能加入,民联将会更加壮大。”

革新党一个月前已公开表示放弃加盟民联,除非民联能化解内部分歧。

但是从民联其他成员党昨晚没受邀参加人民党的圣诞节沙爹聚餐会来看,民联的内部分歧似乎短期内难以化解。

波东巴西第108座组屋楼下昨晚沙爹飘香,马来族小贩现场烘烤了1000支沙爹。这是詹时中为号召反对党团结,而首次邀请其他反对党,一同与人民党及波东巴西区居民共庆圣诞。

肯尼思率领约十名革新党党员出席,新加坡团结党主席张培源也与谢镜丰等党员前去捧场。

询及为何没邀请工人党和新加坡民主党代表出席时,詹时中的妻子罗文丽解释说:“由于资源有限,我们只能邀请跟人民党比较熟络,平时较常来往的政党。”

那为何不见民联其他成员党的代表?马来民族机构和新加坡正义党有受邀吗?罗文丽说:“他们是马来人,请他们参加圣诞派对好像不太恰当。”

当本报记者向詹时中提出同样问题时,他笑着避而不答,只说:“我想你应该去吃沙爹了。”

罗文丽也向本报记者透露她打算在不久后成立人民党妇女团。

“不是只有二三十岁的妇女才适合参与政治,只要你活着,就能作出贡献。你看翁山淑枝、她的年龄比我还大。”

她说:“国会里现在只有行动党女议员,却没有反对党女议员,这是不平衡的。”

她已宣布将“代夫出征”,在来临的大选时角逐波东巴西区议席,并表示如果当选,将会在国会上提出男女都关心的课题,而不会一面倒只关心妇女课题或倡议女权。