<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>16478.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>
A political party at St James
PAP Women's Wing celebrates 20th anniversary with bash
By Hedy Khoo
July 06, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
IT IS your 20th and you're having a party at a hip club.
Click to see larger image
WOMEN IN WHITE: Miss Chloe Khoo (right) and Mrs Serene Wong of the PAP Women's Wing, decked out for a catwalk during the party.
How stressful can it be?
The Women's Wing of the People's Action Party (PAP) decided on the theme of 'hot white' with 'red hot accessories for women'.
But having fun isn't always painless.
'I had a lot of e-mails from the male PAP members about the dress code,' recalled MsIndranee Rajah, the organising chairman, with a chuckle. She's also a Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
The dress code was her brainchild.
'I replied saying they have to look hot in their white and white, but more than they usually do, of course!' she said, laughing.
Their reaction?
'They all seemed very pained, but to their credit, they were all very sporting and turned up looking hot in white,' she said.
But why the addition of 'hot' to the standard white?
'We wanted to move away from the perceived conservative image for ladies and show that we know when to be serious, and when to have fun,' she explained.
'We wanted the party to be something happening, not the usual sit-down dinner at a hotel. This venue could accommodate our 1,000 guests and naturally, we wanted the dress code to match the venue.'
But she pointed out that while giving the colour for the dress code, she had deliberately left it generic and open to interpretation.
Click to see larger image
SMILES ALL AROUND: (From left) Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean sharing a laugh with Ms Indranee Rajah , Ms Lim Hwee Hua, Mrs Josephine Teo and Ms Diana Pang
Anyhow interpret? That can be stressful.
Take Ms Diana Pang, a party member and party goer yesterday.
With less than four hours to the event, MsPang, an organising committee member, had to sprint through the shops at VivoCity to buy a white dress in 15 minutes.
Three days earlier, she had picked out the perfect outfit to suit the dress code but then, horrors.
Yesterday morning, she packed it in a bag, intending to change into it later, as she had to be at the venue from 10am to oversee the final preparations for the party.
To her dismay, at 1pm when Ms Pang wanted to change into her outfit, she realised she had left her bag at home. She may have been red-faced but there was no white dress.
'I panicked because I had been reminding everyone about the dress code and I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans with no dress to wear,' said Ms Pang.
She quickly ran across to VivoCity in the hope of finding something suitable.
Click to see larger image
ROSE AMONG THE THORNS: MP Jessica Tan (centre) with MPs (from left) Lim Wee Kiak, Baey Yam Keng, Abdullah Tarmugi and Michael Palmer. --TNP PICTURES: KUA CHEE SIONG
'It was a nightmare. I went to three shops and none of them sold all-white dresses without prints,' she said.
But she breathed a huge sigh of relief when she found one at the fourth store.
'I was very lucky and even more so because the dress was on sale,' she said with a laugh.
She wasn't the only one who took 'white' so seriously.
'White hot'
Mrs Josephine Chew, secretary of the executive committee of the Women's Wing said of theme:
'When coal is at the highest burning point, it is white, hot. That for me, symbolises our passion and commitment.
'It is good that we have a party like this because it shows that the PAP is not inflexible, unchanging and rigid. We are open to new ideas.
'The dress code allows individual women to express themselves according to their own interpretation, but at the same time there is a cohesion as we are all in white.'
So serious. Ask about party theme and get party manifesto.
Click to see larger image
Maybe the younger ones know it's okay to not talk shop.
A new member of the Women's Wing, undergraduate Chloe Khoo, 22, gushed:
'The fact that they chose this venue shows that they are helping the younger generation and new blood feel integrated and welcome.'
Then she added: 'When the female politicians dress fashionably like today, it catches the younger crowd's attention. It shows us that we can have principles, yet be hip at the same time.'
Maybe the men are different.
Of the party theme, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: 'We think that white is plain, but it can also be exciting and creative.
'The dress code for this party reflects that we can maintain our key values while moving with the times.'
Just goes to show. Parties for this party mean fun taken seriously.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
A political party at St James
PAP Women's Wing celebrates 20th anniversary with bash
By Hedy Khoo
July 06, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
IT IS your 20th and you're having a party at a hip club.
Click to see larger image
WOMEN IN WHITE: Miss Chloe Khoo (right) and Mrs Serene Wong of the PAP Women's Wing, decked out for a catwalk during the party.
How stressful can it be?
The Women's Wing of the People's Action Party (PAP) decided on the theme of 'hot white' with 'red hot accessories for women'.
But having fun isn't always painless.
'I had a lot of e-mails from the male PAP members about the dress code,' recalled MsIndranee Rajah, the organising chairman, with a chuckle. She's also a Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
The dress code was her brainchild.
'I replied saying they have to look hot in their white and white, but more than they usually do, of course!' she said, laughing.
Their reaction?
'They all seemed very pained, but to their credit, they were all very sporting and turned up looking hot in white,' she said.
But why the addition of 'hot' to the standard white?
'We wanted to move away from the perceived conservative image for ladies and show that we know when to be serious, and when to have fun,' she explained.
'We wanted the party to be something happening, not the usual sit-down dinner at a hotel. This venue could accommodate our 1,000 guests and naturally, we wanted the dress code to match the venue.'
But she pointed out that while giving the colour for the dress code, she had deliberately left it generic and open to interpretation.
Click to see larger image
SMILES ALL AROUND: (From left) Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean sharing a laugh with Ms Indranee Rajah , Ms Lim Hwee Hua, Mrs Josephine Teo and Ms Diana Pang
Anyhow interpret? That can be stressful.
Take Ms Diana Pang, a party member and party goer yesterday.
With less than four hours to the event, MsPang, an organising committee member, had to sprint through the shops at VivoCity to buy a white dress in 15 minutes.
Three days earlier, she had picked out the perfect outfit to suit the dress code but then, horrors.
Yesterday morning, she packed it in a bag, intending to change into it later, as she had to be at the venue from 10am to oversee the final preparations for the party.
To her dismay, at 1pm when Ms Pang wanted to change into her outfit, she realised she had left her bag at home. She may have been red-faced but there was no white dress.
'I panicked because I had been reminding everyone about the dress code and I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans with no dress to wear,' said Ms Pang.
She quickly ran across to VivoCity in the hope of finding something suitable.
Click to see larger image
ROSE AMONG THE THORNS: MP Jessica Tan (centre) with MPs (from left) Lim Wee Kiak, Baey Yam Keng, Abdullah Tarmugi and Michael Palmer. --TNP PICTURES: KUA CHEE SIONG
'It was a nightmare. I went to three shops and none of them sold all-white dresses without prints,' she said.
But she breathed a huge sigh of relief when she found one at the fourth store.
'I was very lucky and even more so because the dress was on sale,' she said with a laugh.
She wasn't the only one who took 'white' so seriously.
'White hot'
Mrs Josephine Chew, secretary of the executive committee of the Women's Wing said of theme:
'When coal is at the highest burning point, it is white, hot. That for me, symbolises our passion and commitment.
'It is good that we have a party like this because it shows that the PAP is not inflexible, unchanging and rigid. We are open to new ideas.
'The dress code allows individual women to express themselves according to their own interpretation, but at the same time there is a cohesion as we are all in white.'
So serious. Ask about party theme and get party manifesto.
Click to see larger image
Maybe the younger ones know it's okay to not talk shop.
A new member of the Women's Wing, undergraduate Chloe Khoo, 22, gushed:
'The fact that they chose this venue shows that they are helping the younger generation and new blood feel integrated and welcome.'
Then she added: 'When the female politicians dress fashionably like today, it catches the younger crowd's attention. It shows us that we can have principles, yet be hip at the same time.'
Maybe the men are different.
Of the party theme, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: 'We think that white is plain, but it can also be exciting and creative.
'The dress code for this party reflects that we can maintain our key values while moving with the times.'
Just goes to show. Parties for this party mean fun taken seriously.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
