Aljunied MP Chen Show Mao conducts his first Meet-the-People session
by Melvin Singh
The New Paper (May 24, 2011)
THE void deck of Block 117, Hougang Avenue 1, is a long way from the Beijing corporate offices of law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.
But it's where Mr Chen Show Mao got down to work yesterday evening at his first Meet-the-People session.
By 8pm, there were already 40 residents waiting to see him. About 30 curious onlookers and well-wishers were also present.
Mr Chen's "office" was simple – a few plastic chairs and four foldable tables.
But this is his second "home" now – the Paya Lebar division of Aljunied GRC.
The journey home to Singapore for the Workers' Party (WP) Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament started in 2007.
It was about a year after the 2006 General Election (GE) in which the People's Action Party (PAP) won 66.6 per cent of the votes.
The WP team in Aljunied had come close again, garnering 43.9 per cent of the votes.
Their showing that year won over a new fan in Mr Chen, whose credentials would prove to be a major plus factor for the party's ambitions five years later.
Political observer and Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan said: "It had a significant impact. His credentials are typical of those that you would identify with the PAP.
"So, obviously when the Workers' Party is able to introduce a candidate like Chen Show Mao, that made people sit up."
While no one would have batted an eyelid had the PAP fielded a candidate with MrChen's credentials, for someone like him to stand under the opposition banner, his motivations for going into politics become amplified.
"I think, in the end, his introduction had a halo effect not just on WP but on the opposition as a whole," Asst Prof Tan said.
Mr Chen, 50, had regularly returned to Singapore. But his visits back took on a different meaning after a meeting with WP's former treasurer, Mr Eric Tan.
Mr Tan was then working for a bank that Mr Chen had business dealings with.
In 2007, Mr Chen returned to Singapore about five times. On one of those visits, he dropped by the WP headquarters.
He told The New Paper last week: "I knocked on the doors of the WP headquarters at Syed Alwi Rd for one of its Monday open house in 2007 and got to meet and speak with the party members on duty that night, including our chairman Sylvia Lim.
"Sylvia subsequently introduced me to more members, many of whom I got to know better through party activities, such as the sale of our Hammer newsletter. That's how I came to meet Mr Low, Faisal and Pritam."
Mr Low Thia Khiang, Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and Mr Pritam Singh are his fellow Aljunied MPs, together with Ms Lim.
Mr Chen has been famously private, limiting himself to often repeated answers when quizzed by the media.
They grilled him on his timing. After all, he had been away for more than 30 years, scoring a number of academic and career highs, so why return home now?
Mr Chen referred to Confucian teachings and said he has always been mindful that he would have to repay society for all his goodfortune.
Values
He said: "My values come mainly from my family and the schools I went to in my formative years (Catholic High School, Anglo-Chinese School and National Junior College).
"They made me the person I am and instilled in me a high regard for community service.
"I remember distinctly my father telling a reporter after my GCE A-level results were announced that his hopes for me were that I would one day make contributions to society. And for me, Singapore is my community."
Mr Chen had previously said that he wanted to continue with his education here.
He was the top A-level student in his 1979 cohort, beating his NJC schoolmate who would go on to become a Cabinet Minister – Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
He didn't get the spot in medicine at NUS he had applied for. Though he served national service, he didn't get the President scholarship either.
That was when he left home.
In 1982, he left to study overseas, tackling his first degree at Harvard University. He went on to score a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in 1986.
Mr Chen said his time overseas cemented the idea of giving back.
He said: "Others who lent me assistance, such as universities and benefactors who gave me scholarships and financial aid to complete my education and professional training, had the same hopes (of giving back).
"Cecil Rhodes, for example, wanted young people 'for the world's fight'.
"I don't believe that any of us, however independent, resourceful or enterprising, sprang fully-formed from our own ambitions, with no help from the people around us."
So, who shaped his political thinking? What event sparked his interest to contest in this election?
Mr Chen wouldn't say. But as he had pointed out many times, he's no international man of mystery.
He travels with a Singapore passport, has returned home many times despite having lived in the US and China, and his parents, originally from Taiwan, still live here.
And contrary to suggestions that he had parachuted in for the recent GE, he joined WP four years ago.
But there's no mistaking the contrast in fortunes between Mr Chen winning a seat in his very first election and that of Singapore Democratic Alliance's Mr Desmond Lim.
Despite toiling in the political scene for years, Mr Lim lost yet again. (See report on right.)
Mr Chen wasn't the only high flier to see GE 2011 as a mission.
But while some of the others couldn't decide which party they would give their allegiance to, and others jumped ship at the eleventh hour, he was clear from the start.
He said: "I find like-minded people in the Workers' Party. I find that we have developed mutual trust, we share the same goals, agree on the general approach and enjoy working together."
That teamwork was clear during the hustings.
Despite his multiple degrees from top universities around the world and his star attraction with the media, he left the talking to MsTan and Mr Low, the party's secretary-general.
'Excited'
Now that the hustle and bustle of campaigning is over, Mr Chen has rolled up his sleeves for his first Meet-the-People session.
He said: "I'm excited at the prospects of serving the residents of Aljunied as MP. I look forward to helping to make a difference for the better in their lives."
But he won't open up to the media and guards his privacy zealously.
He deflects questions that he's not yet ready to answer. Like if he would quit his job as a corporate lawyer for Beijing-based Davis Polk & Wardwell.
The firm doesn't have an office here.
He said: "I'm a private person, but at the same time, I know I'm now a public figure and people are naturally curious about me.
"Let me just reiterate that my Aljunied constituents will very soon get to know me better as I serve them as their MP."
But he did say that he is discussing with his American wife their plans to move here.
Mr Chen said: "On the family front, my wife and I continue to discuss our plans following my election. And that, of course, includes planning the family's move to Singapore.
"Timing is hopefully sooner, rather than later, as I miss them. But my wife and I have to take into consideration the best time so as to make it a smooth transition for my son, who will soon turn 11, and my daughter, who is seven."
He called his wife and children with the results on May 8, the day after the poll.
He said: "My family is very happy that I am happy. That's all I can ask for."
In his first rally speech in Hougang on April 28, Mr Chen stood staring at the crowd and said: "Brothers and sisters, it's good to behome."
That journey home for Mr Chen is now almost complete.
From the New Paper
From the New Paper
Picture by Edwin Koo
by Melvin Singh
The New Paper (May 24, 2011)
THE void deck of Block 117, Hougang Avenue 1, is a long way from the Beijing corporate offices of law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.
But it's where Mr Chen Show Mao got down to work yesterday evening at his first Meet-the-People session.
By 8pm, there were already 40 residents waiting to see him. About 30 curious onlookers and well-wishers were also present.
Mr Chen's "office" was simple – a few plastic chairs and four foldable tables.
But this is his second "home" now – the Paya Lebar division of Aljunied GRC.
The journey home to Singapore for the Workers' Party (WP) Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament started in 2007.
It was about a year after the 2006 General Election (GE) in which the People's Action Party (PAP) won 66.6 per cent of the votes.
The WP team in Aljunied had come close again, garnering 43.9 per cent of the votes.
Their showing that year won over a new fan in Mr Chen, whose credentials would prove to be a major plus factor for the party's ambitions five years later.
Political observer and Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan said: "It had a significant impact. His credentials are typical of those that you would identify with the PAP.
"So, obviously when the Workers' Party is able to introduce a candidate like Chen Show Mao, that made people sit up."
While no one would have batted an eyelid had the PAP fielded a candidate with MrChen's credentials, for someone like him to stand under the opposition banner, his motivations for going into politics become amplified.
"I think, in the end, his introduction had a halo effect not just on WP but on the opposition as a whole," Asst Prof Tan said.
Mr Chen, 50, had regularly returned to Singapore. But his visits back took on a different meaning after a meeting with WP's former treasurer, Mr Eric Tan.
Mr Tan was then working for a bank that Mr Chen had business dealings with.
In 2007, Mr Chen returned to Singapore about five times. On one of those visits, he dropped by the WP headquarters.
He told The New Paper last week: "I knocked on the doors of the WP headquarters at Syed Alwi Rd for one of its Monday open house in 2007 and got to meet and speak with the party members on duty that night, including our chairman Sylvia Lim.
"Sylvia subsequently introduced me to more members, many of whom I got to know better through party activities, such as the sale of our Hammer newsletter. That's how I came to meet Mr Low, Faisal and Pritam."
Mr Low Thia Khiang, Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and Mr Pritam Singh are his fellow Aljunied MPs, together with Ms Lim.
Mr Chen has been famously private, limiting himself to often repeated answers when quizzed by the media.
They grilled him on his timing. After all, he had been away for more than 30 years, scoring a number of academic and career highs, so why return home now?
Mr Chen referred to Confucian teachings and said he has always been mindful that he would have to repay society for all his goodfortune.
Values
He said: "My values come mainly from my family and the schools I went to in my formative years (Catholic High School, Anglo-Chinese School and National Junior College).
"They made me the person I am and instilled in me a high regard for community service.
"I remember distinctly my father telling a reporter after my GCE A-level results were announced that his hopes for me were that I would one day make contributions to society. And for me, Singapore is my community."
Mr Chen had previously said that he wanted to continue with his education here.
He was the top A-level student in his 1979 cohort, beating his NJC schoolmate who would go on to become a Cabinet Minister – Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
He didn't get the spot in medicine at NUS he had applied for. Though he served national service, he didn't get the President scholarship either.
That was when he left home.
In 1982, he left to study overseas, tackling his first degree at Harvard University. He went on to score a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in 1986.
Mr Chen said his time overseas cemented the idea of giving back.
He said: "Others who lent me assistance, such as universities and benefactors who gave me scholarships and financial aid to complete my education and professional training, had the same hopes (of giving back).
"Cecil Rhodes, for example, wanted young people 'for the world's fight'.
"I don't believe that any of us, however independent, resourceful or enterprising, sprang fully-formed from our own ambitions, with no help from the people around us."
So, who shaped his political thinking? What event sparked his interest to contest in this election?
Mr Chen wouldn't say. But as he had pointed out many times, he's no international man of mystery.
He travels with a Singapore passport, has returned home many times despite having lived in the US and China, and his parents, originally from Taiwan, still live here.
And contrary to suggestions that he had parachuted in for the recent GE, he joined WP four years ago.
But there's no mistaking the contrast in fortunes between Mr Chen winning a seat in his very first election and that of Singapore Democratic Alliance's Mr Desmond Lim.
Despite toiling in the political scene for years, Mr Lim lost yet again. (See report on right.)
Mr Chen wasn't the only high flier to see GE 2011 as a mission.
But while some of the others couldn't decide which party they would give their allegiance to, and others jumped ship at the eleventh hour, he was clear from the start.
He said: "I find like-minded people in the Workers' Party. I find that we have developed mutual trust, we share the same goals, agree on the general approach and enjoy working together."
That teamwork was clear during the hustings.
Despite his multiple degrees from top universities around the world and his star attraction with the media, he left the talking to MsTan and Mr Low, the party's secretary-general.
'Excited'
Now that the hustle and bustle of campaigning is over, Mr Chen has rolled up his sleeves for his first Meet-the-People session.
He said: "I'm excited at the prospects of serving the residents of Aljunied as MP. I look forward to helping to make a difference for the better in their lives."
But he won't open up to the media and guards his privacy zealously.
He deflects questions that he's not yet ready to answer. Like if he would quit his job as a corporate lawyer for Beijing-based Davis Polk & Wardwell.
The firm doesn't have an office here.
He said: "I'm a private person, but at the same time, I know I'm now a public figure and people are naturally curious about me.
"Let me just reiterate that my Aljunied constituents will very soon get to know me better as I serve them as their MP."
But he did say that he is discussing with his American wife their plans to move here.
Mr Chen said: "On the family front, my wife and I continue to discuss our plans following my election. And that, of course, includes planning the family's move to Singapore.
"Timing is hopefully sooner, rather than later, as I miss them. But my wife and I have to take into consideration the best time so as to make it a smooth transition for my son, who will soon turn 11, and my daughter, who is seven."
He called his wife and children with the results on May 8, the day after the poll.
He said: "My family is very happy that I am happy. That's all I can ask for."
In his first rally speech in Hougang on April 28, Mr Chen stood staring at the crowd and said: "Brothers and sisters, it's good to behome."
That journey home for Mr Chen is now almost complete.
From the New Paper
From the New Paper
Picture by Edwin Koo
