Sin's attack on Chiam sparks speculation
By Kor Kian Beng
WHEN Singapore People's Party (SPP) chairman Sin Kek Tong publicly attacked his leader Chiam See Tong this week for not giving more of his MP's income to the party, the question on many minds was: Why?
Some in the opposition scene saw it as a move to shield himself from blame in knowingly letting Mr Chiam contribute less than the stipulated amount to the party coffers for 13 years.
Others viewed it as an attempt by Mr Sin to show other opposition parties that he is no pushover, as he sought to re-assert his claim to contest the Chua Chu Kang single-member constituency (SMC), which is being eyed by the Reform Party.
Mr Sin's criticism of Mr Chiam centred on the amount the MP for Potong Pasir should contribute from his monthly MP's allowance to the SPP.
An MP gets around $13,000 a month. Speaking to The New Paper, Mr Sin said the SPP's Constitution requires an MP to contribute at least 10 per cent of this a month. He said Mr Chiam had contributed $500 monthly since 1997, and raised this amount to $1,000 earlier this year.
He also said he had raised the issue with Mr Chiam before but was unable to resolve it. Another reason he cited was that he wanted to promote transparency and accountability in the SPP and the opposition at large.
In an e-mail reply yesterday, Mr Chiam, the SPP's secretary-general, said the dispute was an internal matter and had been resolved.
'Our party's priority right now is to campaign for the coming election,' he added.
An opposition leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mr Sin's aim in speaking out was to lay claim on Chua Chu Kang SMC as his potential battleground at the next general election, which is due by February 2012.
In 2008, the SPP and the National Solidarity Party (NSP) decided that Mr Sin would contest Chua Chu Kang while the NSP would contest the MacPherson SMC. But Mr Sin's plans came under threat last year when the Reform Party announced that it too wanted to contest Chua Chu Kang.
When Mr Chiam and Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam began talks on a proposed alliance in June last year, Mr Chiam promised Mr Sin that he would fight for him to stand in Chua Chu Kang - in return for his support for the alliance, said the opposition leader.
But with the alliance talks now on the backburner, the opposition leader said Mr Sin decided to act - out of concern that he may be challenged on his claim to contest Chua Chu Kang, whose current MP is Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Added the source: 'Mr Sin is trying to show voters and other opposition parties that he is clean, above board and not a pushover.'
Mr Sin, who runs his own chemicals company and has contested five elections since 1988, yesterday dismissed these suggestions.
But his remarks on the Reform Party's interest in Chua Chu Kang are telling. He told The Straits Times yesterday that it should give way to him in Chua Chu Kang, arguing that he has been doing the groundwork, like going on walkabouts, since 2008.
He also said he was keen to contest Chua Chu Kang at the last three polls, but had to give way to NSP candidates.
This time, Mr Sin said, he was not going to budge and had told Mr Jeyaretnam that his priority was to stand in Chua Chu Kang, or Braddell Heights if it was carved out of Marine Parade GRC.
He said: 'I don't know why the Reform Party continues to say it wants to contest in Chua Chu Kang. I hope Kenneth will respect me and give in to me.'
When contacted, Mr Jeyaretnam said: 'Where we contest will depend on the electoral boundaries report. But if Mr Sin decides to stand in Chua Chu Kang, he would have to take into account the risk of a three-cornered fight.'
