人民党可能 ‘老少配’ 挑战碧山大巴窑

Translated by Donaldson Tan

This is a non-verbatim translation of Zaobao report 《人民党可能“老少配” 挑战碧山大巴窑》 dated 7 April 2011.

(2011-04-07)● 游润恬 报道

Alex Tan joins Chiam See Tong at a walkabout.

Alex Tan joins Chiam See Tong at a walkabout.

新加坡人民党的碧山—大巴窑集选区竞选团队里,有可能出现来临大选最年长和最年少的反对党候选人组合。

本报获悉人民党秘书长詹时中(76岁)要组成的碧山—大巴窑集选区竞选团队,相当肯定将包括年仅23岁的陈智祥。如果他参选,将是至今表示有意参选的候选人当中年纪最轻的,昨天还和几名支持者在碧山北24街走访咖啡店和组屋。

他毕业自淡马锡理工学院宇航工程系,目前在一家保险公司担任金融顾问。他去年三月加入人民党,上周被增选入中委。

他积极参与网络论政,本星期六也将在芳林公园的演说角落用华英语针对移民政策发表演讲。

碧山—大巴窑是个五议席集选区。据知人民党有意向国民团结党“借人”,而团结党答应借出的两人是杨忠文(63岁)和黄忠明(35岁)。詹时中目前还在非常慎重地考虑整支团队的队形,他可以决定接受这两人或只选其中一人。

杨忠文和黄忠明最近都曾随他一起走访碧山—大巴窑集选区。有消息称人民党对有丰富从政经验及出身华校的团结党组织秘书杨忠文满意,但对黄忠明却有所保留。杨忠文曾任高级公务员,1994年下海从商。

杨忠文:不会有借无还

黄忠明是在去年10月加入团结党,目前经营信息科技生意。

对于自己已被借给詹时中的传言,杨忠文昨天受询时不愿证实,只说“现在八字还没一撇”。

不过,他承认团结党和人民党的确曾在2000年签了一份谅解备忘录,答应分享资源及互换候选人。如果团结党把两名党员借给詹时中,而詹时中也接受这两个人选,他们就得退出团结党并加入人民党,以在人民党的旗帜下参选。

如果落选,那被借出的党员又该怎么办?杨忠文对本报记者说:“这跟刘备借荆州不一样,不会有借无还。被借出去的团结党党员自然会归队。”

他说:“詹时中说想借人,我们不介意帮忙。这是基于两党以前曾合作过,而詹时中年纪已这么大,也轻微中风,却在这个时候决定出来为选民付出最后的精力,这股奋斗精神实在令人佩服。”

团结党和人民党曾是新加坡民主联盟的成员党,如今两党虽已脱离民联,但据知当年签署的谅解备忘录仍然有效。

黄忠明受访时则表示本身是在2006年大选时,开始对政治产生兴趣。

“如果当选,我愿意当个全职议员。”

询及是否有信心攻下由副总理兼国家安全统筹部长黄根成领军的碧山—大巴窑集选区时,他说:“就像足球赛一样,有时较弱的队伍也能打赢较强的队伍,毕竟球是圆的,我们永远无法知道它会怎么转。最重要的是能赢得人民的信任。”

碧山—大巴窑集选区被指定必须至少有一名马来族候选人成为五人团队一员。48岁的人民党中委莫哈末哈敏是个可能的人选。

23-yr-old may join SPP’s TP-Bishan Team

7 April 2011. Yew Lun Tian reports.

It is likely that the oldest and youngest candidates this coming General Election will emerge from the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) Toapayoh-Bishan (TP-Bishan) GRC Team.

Zaobao understands that the 23-year-old Alex Tan may join the TP-Bishan GRC Team led by 76-year-old SPP Secretary-General Chiam See Tong. If he were to contest, Alex Tan would be the youngest candidate this coming General Election. Yesterday, Alex Tan carried out a walkabout with supporters at Bishan Street 24.

Alex Tan is currently a financial advisor at an insurance firm. He graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a diploma in naval engineering. He joined SPP in March 2010 and was co-opted into its Central Executive Committee (CEC) last week. He participates in online political discussion regularly and will be giving a speech on foreign immigration at Speaker’s Corner this Saturday.

TP-Bishan is a 5-member GRC. SPP intends to ‘borrow’ members from the National Solidarity Party (NSP) to form the TP-Bishan GRC Team. Sources informed Zaobao that the NSP offered 2 names: 63-year-old Ivan Yeo and and 35-year-old Dexter Wong. As Chiam See Tong places a lot of emphasis on the overall team formation, he may decide to accept one or both of them.

Both Ivan Yeo and Dexter Wong had accompanied Mr Chiam during his recent walkabouts in TP-Bishan GRC. Sources told Zaobao the SPP is particularly interested in Ivan Yeo due to his background, while felt lukewarm towards Dexter Wong.

Ivan Yeo is the organising secretary of the NSP. He is Chinese-educated and was a highly ranked civil servant. He became a businessman in 1994. On the other hand, Dexter Wong joined the NSP in October 2010 and runs an IT business.

What’s loaned out must be returned

Upon confronted with the story that he would be loaned to the SPP, Ivan Yeo was unwilling to confirm or reject its authenticity. “Nothing is finalised,” he said.

However, he admitted that the NSP and SPP signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU)in 2000 for inter-party sharing of resources and exchanging of GE candidates. If the NSP were to loan out 2 candidates to the SPP, these 2 candidates have to quit the NSP and become SPP members, contesting under the SPP banner.

If the 2 candidates were to loose the election, what would happen? Ivan Yeo said, “This is unlike the case of Liubei’s loan of the Jing Province [a reference to The Romance of the 3 Kingdom]. What is loaned out must be returned. The candidates would return to the NSP.”

He further added, “If Chiam See Tong wants to borrow NSP members, we don’t mind to help as there is a good history of cooperation between our parties. Despite his old age and medical condition, Chiam See Tong still wants to fight for the people. His fighting spirit is very admirable.”

Zaobao understands that the MOU is still in effect despite both the NSP and SPP have quit the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).

Dexter Wong told Zaobao in an interview that his interest in politics was sparked by the 2006 General Election. “If I were to be elected, I would be a full-time Member of Parliament,” he said.

When asked whether he has confidence to capture Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng’s ward, Dexter Wong said, “This is like football, whereby sometimes a weak team can defeat a strong team. We don’t know how the ball will spin because it is round. What’s most important is which team will win the electorate’s heart.”

Election regulation stipulates that there must be at least 1 member of the Malay race in each GRC team running for TP-Bishan GRC. It is very likely that SPP CEC member Hamim Mohd (48 year-old) will contest there.