WP Area Committees’ Leaders' Fellowship

The following WP Area Committees’ leaders had an informal lunch fellowship today:

1) Dr John Yam (Chairman, WP Northern Area Committee),

2) Dr Poh Lee Guan (Advisor, WP Northern Area Committee),

3) Eric Tan (Chairman, WP Eastern Area Committee),

4) Brandon Siow (Veteran-Member, WP Eastern Area Committee),

5) Yaw Shin Leong (Chairman, WP Central Area Committee)

Operational considerations, tactical updates and forward political strategies were exchanged. We had scenarios planning, candid discussions over lots of laughter and yummy Thai food!

Think Centre Reunion

I attended the reunion of former and current founders/ members of Think Centre at “Friends of SFD” informal gathering hosted by Dr. James Gomez yesterday.

Think Centre is an independent, multi-partisan, non-governmental organization (NGO) gazetted as the first political association in Singapore.

It was founded in 1999 as a Sole-Proprietorship by Dr. James Gomez, which later evolved into a Partnership when I came onboard as its Project Director. Subsequently Think Centre progressed itself into a Society. 10 years on, how the civil society landscape in Singapore has progressed!

At the same time, the ‘Friends of SFD’ gathering was a fantastic occasion where passionate Singaporeans across social-political spectrums, such as NGOs, SDP, RP & WP gathered, networked and exchanged ideas.

I enjoyed the Think Centre reunion tremendously. This is especially so, catching up with fellow opposition fraternity member and trusted political buddy, Dr. James Gomez. Both of us spent prolonged moments exchanging collaboration ideas and forward political strategies for Singapore.

Photo Above: (Left to Right) Jacob George, Anba, Yaw Shin Leong, Dr James Gomez, Tan Kong Soon, Tan Kian Hwee & Sinapan Samydorai

Conversations With A Veteran Activist

During yesterday’s Dong Zhi (冬至) & 70th anniversary celebrations of my Hui Kuan (clan association), I had the opportunity to sit beside fellow Teochew clansman Mr. Chen Mei Hua (aka 美华叔).

Mr. Chen is someone whom I am very fond of and greatly respect. He was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for 7 years (1966 - 1973) because of his leftist idealism & activities.

Also I am immensely proud to know that we were from the same secondary school, Bukit Panjang Government High (BPGHS). He was amongst BPGHS's first batch of students and was its inter-schools representative during the students' boycott movements.

Mr. Chen is a sharp and humorous person. For instance he teased me for my request to take a photo with him. He asked me, 'Ain't you afraid to take photos with a known leftist?'. I replied, 'Why not!' and proposed that he allow me to blog about his story (alongside his photo) to inspire younger opposition activists. He replied gamely with a 'Why not!'too.

From 1963 - 1966, Mr. Chen also served as the secretary to Barisan Socialist MP Ong Lian Teng for Bukit Panjang Constituency. Mr. Chen is a well known Chinese literary figure who has won numerous cultural prizes.

Mr. Chen has promised to give me one of his books detailing his political struggles. Not surprisingly, I am REALLY looking forward to read it :)

TNP Article On Political Activists Under 35

By Tay Shi'an (13 December 2010)

They went into the last general election with the vigour and enthusiasm of youth. Three in the whites of PAP, 11 in Opposition colours - all first-time candidates under the age of 35. Fast-forward from 2006: Where are these candidates now? Are they still as fired up?

HE MADE a splash in the 2006 General Election (GE) when, at the age of 29, he led a mostly-young Workers' Party (WP) team against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's team - and picked up one-third of the votes.

It was a bold challenge to break the stronghold of the PM's Ang Mo Kio GRC.

Fast-forward four years and Mr Yaw Shin Leong, now 34, is still gung-ho about politics, stepping into a hotter seat as WP's organising secretary.

Is this an indication of another bold move in the coming GE?

"I'm willing to offer myself for strategic deployment by WP," said Mr Yaw, a businessman and lecturer.

This partial article was lifted from: http://www.tnp.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,264796,00.html

Devotion of Veteran WP Activists

Yesterday, during WP’s public outreach in Southern Singapore, I chanced upon two veteran WP activists from yesteryears. They are Mr. Ye from WP-held Anson Constituency (1961 – 1963) and Mr. Kali, an activist from WP-held Anson Constituency (1981 – 1986).

There will always be warm & fuzzy feelings within me, whenever I meet veteran WP activists of yesteryears. This warm & fuzzy feeling comes from this knowledge that the political party I am from, has a very rich history that links up the collective effort of many throughout the decades.

Personally I am energized today when I chatted with them. Particularly Mr. Kali showed me his devotion to the WP, via means of a permanent WP-logo tattooed onto his forearm! (Refer to Photo above)

Given the collective effort of WP activists throughout the decades, I am VERY positive that Singapore will eventually become an even better place. Will you join us?

Moment of Silence at Tiananmen Square

I was on a short trip and had the opportunity to visit Beijing’s Tiananmen Square last week. What that happened on June 4th 1989 at Tiananmen Square injected a major dosage of reality into my youthful idealism which deepened my ideological consciousnesses.

Security was very tight, with security personnel, check points, barricades and surveillance cameras all over Tiananmen Square. I walked around the square with a heavy heart and stood there for a prolonged moment of silence. Least we forget.

I spent a total of 6 days in Beijing and 2 days in Tianjin and Chengde. Overall Beijing’s pace of development (whilst slower than Shanghai) is very rapid. New sky scrappers built over the past one-and-a-half decade are popping up fast in its ever expanding环 (s) (Rings Roads). Currently there are six Ring Roads.

However my deeper impressions of northeastern China are not over its sky scrappers, but its cultural heritage, history and ancient architectures. These include the Juyong Pass segment of the Great Wall of China, Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City.

Some photos of the trip could be viewed [here].

Informal Talks With Tian Chua

I met Mr Chua Tian Chang (better known as Tian Chua), Member of Parliament for the Batu Constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a member of the Central Executive Council of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party).

Tian Chua & I exchanged candid viewpoints and forward strategies regarding Singapore & Malaysia’s political development.

Members of the Think Centre (Tan Kong Soon, Ted Tan & Samydorai) and NSP (Sebastian Teo & Christopher Neo) were also present at this informal gathering at NUS Guild House (Suntec) last night.