<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>Coffeeshop Chit Chat - AMK GRC kena challanged!!!!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>newyorker88 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>5:34 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 5) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>47837.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>Lets see if he gets more than 66 % this round. ANything lower than 66% is going to shame him big time.
SINGAPORE: The Singapore People's Party (SPP) is making plans to contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC. The team is likely to be led by 23-year-old Alex Tan, a financial adviser.
The SPP is the first political party to declare its intention to contest in the GRC, which is helmed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Mr Tan said he has assembled a team for the six-member constituency, and is putting together its battle plans.
Details of the team will be revealed in due course, and he said the team will comprise new faces and experienced politicians.
Sources said one possible candidate could be Mr Frankie Low, a new SPP member who was formerly from the Workers' Party.
Mr Tan said he has not conducted formal walkabouts at the GRC. He said he needs time to raise the election deposit - at least S$81,000, or S$13,500 for each candidate, based on the figure from the 2006 election.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a SPP walkabout at Bishan-Toa Payoh, Mr Tan concedes his team's chances are not high, but said his aim is to give Ang Mo Kio residents a chance to vote.
But he said the party's focus remains on fighting Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
In 2006, the Workers' Party fielded a young team in Ang Mo Kio GRC against the People's Action Party (PAP). The team, dubbed the "suicide squad", garnered 33.87 per cent of votes.
The SPP team to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC will be led by party secretary-general Chiam See Tong.
Mr Chiam said the cost of living is one key issue the party will campaign on in the coming election. Others include ways to cope with the influx of foreign immigrants, the need for greater public accountability, the ageing population, public housing and public transport.
Mr Chiam highlighted accountability and transparency of government as his main concerns.
"Most of the time members of the public don't know what the government is doing because there is not enough transparency, and unless we know what the government is doing, the government cannot perform its best," he said.
Mr Chiam also formally introduced the remaining two members of his five-member team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
They are 48-year-old businessman Mohamad Hamim Aliyas and 35-year-old Jimmy Lee, a former government scholar.
Mr Lee had worked in the Defence Ministry and the Defence Science and Technology Agency. He currently runs his own business management consulting firm.
Mr Hamim wants to champion the cause of Malay entrepreneurs.
"We have to get business people together, talk about what we can do to help them be successful," he said.
For Mr Lee, his focus is on transport issues. He feels that the policy-making process does not adequately address the difficulties faced by Singaporeans.
He said: "It is very easy to look at statistics and say, 'okay, this is a minority statistic, let's put it aside'. But it is not a minority statistic to those of us who suffer the tedium, the crowds, and all the attendant problems with public transport on a day-to-day basis."
The other members of the SPP team to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC are former scholar Benjamin Pwee and Wilfred Leung.
Mr Lee is the latest high flyer to be unveiled by the SPP, after Mr Pwee. And, Mr Chiam said he expects even more scholars to be unveiled in future.
"We have a group of scholars waiting at the wings to join our party, and we hope our party can attract them successfully," said Mr Chiam. "It is not true to say that Singapore cannot produce two 'A' teams. As it is now, we're almost there already. We've seen a lot of talent coming into the opposition, and it won't be long before you see a thriving political system in Singapore."
Mr Chiam also formally announced that SPP chairman Sin Kek Tong will stand in Hong Kah North single-member constituency.
The party also said it has been revitalising its internal organisation. And on Saturday, it announced its new Youth Wing, Malay Bureau and SME Bureau (a bureau looking into the concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises).
It will also revive its Women's Wing.
More details of the SPP election manifesto will be released soon but Mr Pwee said where accountability was concerned, the party will raise the topic of security lapses. These include terrorist Mas Selamat's escape, and the 2008 case where a father flew out of Singapore using his son's passport.
The SPP team will go up against the People's Action Party (PAP) team led by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. Asked if the SPP had decided on its manifesto based on the minister, Mr Chiam said no. The topics, he said, do not centre on one minister but take into consideration the interests of Singaporeans.
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SINGAPORE: The Singapore People's Party (SPP) is making plans to contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC. The team is likely to be led by 23-year-old Alex Tan, a financial adviser.
The SPP is the first political party to declare its intention to contest in the GRC, which is helmed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Mr Tan said he has assembled a team for the six-member constituency, and is putting together its battle plans.
Details of the team will be revealed in due course, and he said the team will comprise new faces and experienced politicians.
Sources said one possible candidate could be Mr Frankie Low, a new SPP member who was formerly from the Workers' Party.
Mr Tan said he has not conducted formal walkabouts at the GRC. He said he needs time to raise the election deposit - at least S$81,000, or S$13,500 for each candidate, based on the figure from the 2006 election.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a SPP walkabout at Bishan-Toa Payoh, Mr Tan concedes his team's chances are not high, but said his aim is to give Ang Mo Kio residents a chance to vote.
But he said the party's focus remains on fighting Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
In 2006, the Workers' Party fielded a young team in Ang Mo Kio GRC against the People's Action Party (PAP). The team, dubbed the "suicide squad", garnered 33.87 per cent of votes.
The SPP team to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC will be led by party secretary-general Chiam See Tong.
Mr Chiam said the cost of living is one key issue the party will campaign on in the coming election. Others include ways to cope with the influx of foreign immigrants, the need for greater public accountability, the ageing population, public housing and public transport.
Mr Chiam highlighted accountability and transparency of government as his main concerns.
"Most of the time members of the public don't know what the government is doing because there is not enough transparency, and unless we know what the government is doing, the government cannot perform its best," he said.
Mr Chiam also formally introduced the remaining two members of his five-member team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
They are 48-year-old businessman Mohamad Hamim Aliyas and 35-year-old Jimmy Lee, a former government scholar.
Mr Lee had worked in the Defence Ministry and the Defence Science and Technology Agency. He currently runs his own business management consulting firm.
Mr Hamim wants to champion the cause of Malay entrepreneurs.
"We have to get business people together, talk about what we can do to help them be successful," he said.
For Mr Lee, his focus is on transport issues. He feels that the policy-making process does not adequately address the difficulties faced by Singaporeans.
He said: "It is very easy to look at statistics and say, 'okay, this is a minority statistic, let's put it aside'. But it is not a minority statistic to those of us who suffer the tedium, the crowds, and all the attendant problems with public transport on a day-to-day basis."
The other members of the SPP team to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC are former scholar Benjamin Pwee and Wilfred Leung.
Mr Lee is the latest high flyer to be unveiled by the SPP, after Mr Pwee. And, Mr Chiam said he expects even more scholars to be unveiled in future.
"We have a group of scholars waiting at the wings to join our party, and we hope our party can attract them successfully," said Mr Chiam. "It is not true to say that Singapore cannot produce two 'A' teams. As it is now, we're almost there already. We've seen a lot of talent coming into the opposition, and it won't be long before you see a thriving political system in Singapore."
Mr Chiam also formally announced that SPP chairman Sin Kek Tong will stand in Hong Kah North single-member constituency.
The party also said it has been revitalising its internal organisation. And on Saturday, it announced its new Youth Wing, Malay Bureau and SME Bureau (a bureau looking into the concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises).
It will also revive its Women's Wing.
More details of the SPP election manifesto will be released soon but Mr Pwee said where accountability was concerned, the party will raise the topic of security lapses. These include terrorist Mas Selamat's escape, and the 2008 case where a father flew out of Singapore using his son's passport.
The SPP team will go up against the People's Action Party (PAP) team led by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. Asked if the SPP had decided on its manifesto based on the minister, Mr Chiam said no. The topics, he said, do not centre on one minister but take into consideration the interests of Singaporeans.
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