Singapore Democrats

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Home The Party Who we are
Who we are PDF Print E-mail

The Singapore Democratic Party was constituted in 1980. Since then the Party has evolved and, today, stands proudly as the vanguard for the democratic struggle in our nation.

We are acutely aware that pocket-book issues are what drive political opinion in Singapore. A look at some of the articles in this website and especially those in The New Democrat, our party newspaper, shows that we have been emphasizing much on the bread-and-butter issues concerning the common folk.

In fact, we made issues such as paying minimum wage, giving retrenchment benefits, and advocating giving jobs to Singaporeans first before foreigners our focus in the 2001 elections.

However, without a system where opposition parties can freely campaign for votes, where the media reflects fairly and accurately about dissenting views, where civil society can speak up on behalf of the people, no meaningful change can occur.

Conversely when society has a free and pluralistic media, where the people are able to exercise our freedoms of speech and assembly, and are able to vote in genuinely free and fair elections the PAP will not be so arrogant and insensitive to the wishes of the people.

Then, and only then, will our grievances on bread-and-butter issues be taken seriously by the PAP Government. Dr. Toh Chin Chye, former deputy prime minister and founding chairman of the PAP, said: "When the PAP and the Opposition were 26-25, the government was sensitive to issues and was circumspect. When you've got a strong opposition, there's consultation."

What we, the Singapore Democrats, are offering Singaporeans is a way out of this cage that the PAP has put us in. We spell out clearly in this section, what we stand for and how we will go about achieving our goal of entrenching democracy for our nation.

These are not pipedreams. They are achievable goals that require the leadership of the SDP and the active support and involvement of Singaporeans young and old, rich and poor, man and woman.

Why support the Singapore Democrats? Because we believe in, and are working towards

  1. restoring human, civil, and political rights in Singapore;
  2. fostering a vibrant and dynamic society based pluralism and diversity;
  3. cultivating a transparent and accountable political system;
  4. establishing an economic system based on free competition and equal opportunity for all;
  5. removing all policies and practices that discriminate against the less fortunate, women, and minorities;
  6. and cooperating with democratic parties and organisations in Asia to achieve peace and sustainable development in the region.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) governs the party. Its members are elected by the Party's cadre members at the Ordinary Party Conference held biennially. The present CEC comprises of:

Gandhi Ambalam

Gandhi Ambalam

Chairman

Francis Yong

Francis Yong

Vice Chairman

Chee Soon Juan

Chee Soon Juan

Secretary-General

John Tan

John Tan

Asst Secretary-General

Hoe Poh Fatt

Hoe Poh Fatt

Treasurer

Jeffrey George

Jeffrey George

Asst Treasurer

Mohd Isa

Mohd Isa

Member

Chee Siok Chin

Chee Siok Chin

Member

Lawrence Lai

Lawrence Lai

Member

Gerald Sng

Gerald Sng

Member

Lilian Chia

Lilian Chia

Member

Michael Hwang

Michael Hwang

Member

Comments
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??  -     Tue, 10 Jun 2008 1:30 am
Hi SDP.

Can I inquire about the educational backgrounds of your CEC members?

Just merely seeing the face and name really tell me very little about your background, competence, profession by training, etc. which are all crucial qualities and traits that every thinking voter must consider before deciding to support, or not, a particular political party.

Please kindly furnish us with a brief education information of your party's top brass? I am sure it will be deeply appreciated by people like myself who wants to be that bit surer that I am supporting a party with able and passionate people. I am sure many others will benefit from knowing how intellectually competent your capable CEC really is. Since we cannot assess experience, personality etc. I think paper qualifications for now and for this specific purpose will do.

Please do upload some info ASAP. I am waiting eagerly to be blown away by my favorite party's heavyweight intellectual capacity and achievements, which is certainly and invariably telling of your ability to lead a party, people, country and hold your own with foreign govt's leaders and renowned academics, should you guys win the elections soon. I know you guys will!

Okay, please provide us those basic education information, thanks! :)
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??  -     Sat, 14 Jun 2008 9:02 pm
Hi,

I hope when the site administrators vet and approve of my comment, you guys will also bring to the CEC's attention my questions. Some sort of reply will be good! I mean, the provision of the details demanded will be very enlightening!

That is part of democracy - transparency (the answers to legitimate questions asked) and accountability (a response).

Thanks!
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motorguy123  -     Mon, 16 Jun 2008 7:31 pm
WHAT IS THE USE OF READING AND VETTING AND APPROVING AND POSTING THE COMMENT IF YOU DONT ACT ON IT??

IM INTERESTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EDUCATIONAL QUALITIES OF THE CEC TOO LEH. QUICK LA, DO SMTG ABOUT IT. HOW CAN U JUST APPROVE AND DAO THE MSG ONE. SO IRRESPONSIBLE.

DELIVER ON THE LEGITIMATE DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLE PLEASE!
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NSP  -  Will SDP work together with NSP? Chiam Question NS     Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:19 am
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sg_ppa/

The define of the flag's composition and the symbolism of its elements:

1) red symbolises "universal brotherhood and equality of man"
and

2) white "pervading and everlasting purity and virtue".

3) The U shape "represents the association's outward looking, living in
peace, stability, prosperity, bonded together in dynamic development
and in one united nation".

4) Finally, the five stars "stand for the association's ideals of
democracy,peace, progress, justice and equality.

Since independent from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore had adopted one
dominant ruling party. The country has progress very fast and come to
a stable point. But who will be next leader to let Singaporean
outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded
together in dynamic development and in one united nation. So our
opposition parties needed to form a Political Parties Association.
(PPA)
Vision: Form an alliance government in parliament
Mission: Form an alliance party to contest in general elections
OBJECTIVES: The PPA Declaration that the aims and purposes of the
Association are: (1) To accelerate Political Growth, Social Awareness
and Political Power sharing in our General Elections and Parliament
House. (2) To promote political peace and stability through abiding
respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among
political parties. 3) PPA agreed on a concert of Singaporean outward
looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together
in dynamic development and in one united nation of caring societies.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES: PPA Members have adopted the following
fundamental principles in their relations with one another: 1)
mutual respect for the Aim, Vision, Mission, Objective, Principle,
Election Manifesto, Integrity, Equality and Party Identity of all
parties; 2) the right of every party executive council to lead its
party existence free from external interference, subversion or
coercion; 3) non-interference in the internal affairs of one
another; 4) settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful
manner; 5) renunciation of the threat or use of force; 6) effective
cooperation among themselves.
STRUCTURES AND MECHANISMS: 1) The highest decision-making organ of
PPA is the Meeting of the Secretary General and President of the
Party. The PPA General Meeting is convened every year. 2) The PPA
Organizing Meeting is the Meeting of the Organizing Secretary of the
party. The meeting is held annually. The meetings on the national
current issues are also held regularly: 3) The Group Treasurer, Group
Organizing Secretary, Group Secretary-General and Group President of
PPA is elected among the Secretary General and President of the
party, every two years. 4) The Group Executive Council is form among
the party Deputy Secretary General, Secretary General, Deputy
President and President. 5) The Group General Election Council and
Contesting Candidates is Chair and appointed by Group Secretary
General.
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Anonymous  -     Thu, 19 Jun 2008 2:59 am
Quote:
?? - Tue, 10 Jun 2008 1:30 am

Hi SDP.

Can I inquire about the educational backgrounds of your CEC members?


Eh, hello, Goondu, this is not PAP or even PAP-copycat NSP lah, my God (of No Mercy)!

What educational background you want? PAP Kindergarten Kampung Ubi can or not?

Or you prefer PhDs from Hubbard and MITsubishi Fudousan KK??

Or was it Harvard? Hubbard is space telescope?? SoLEE, soLEE

In a citizens' democracy, what you only is this: CITIZENSHIP

That's all. No PhDs, no doctorates, no doctor-ships, etc, required. Not even $13,000.

Just your pinkie - I meant pinkID lah

So, to our apparently very clueless (and very-hopelessly-brainwashed-and-Yew-ised) Comrade ??:
Just show us your pinkie! oops, sollee, I meant pinkiD - damn, hate QWERTY keyboard, 'e' and 'd' are positioned too closely...
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Moderator  -  Reminder    Thu, 19 Jun 2008 3:14 am
Please do not engage in personal attacks. Let's respect every contributor, including those whose view are different from yours.
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??  -     Thu, 19 Jun 2008 7:34 am
Why u so fierce one. I asking a question than u scold me until like that? Wao lao. I scared of what i can ask already la like tt. so much for freedom of speech? hmmm.

moderator! thanks for being the objective voice of wisdom here. pls den provide the info! thanks :)
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??  -     Sat, 28 Jun 2008 8:27 am
STILL FREAKING WAITING.
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ken  -     Sat, 05 Jul 2008 1:42 am
True that education may be a reflection of a person's capability. But what good are you doing by asking a everyone's educational background for ? or even any other information other than what has been provided. So you can support further ? your belief should be in the objective of the party and not how educated the movers of the party are.

Personally, I'm a pap guy. But my eyes are open as to what other parties are doing. I'm just impressed there are people who take significant portions of their lives to fight for something they believe in and not just 'go with the flow'.

so to you mr "??", question your agenda or just follow your beliefs.
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the lord  -     Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:02 pm
the sdp will make our dreams and wishes come true in human rights in the parliament house
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Muhammad  -  WP    Sun, 27 Jul 2008 4:21 pm
SDP is the best
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??  -     Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:21 am
Sorry for the lag reply. Havent checked in here for some time.

Well Ken, I still think that it is important for the SDP to provide such details.

It is akin to standing for an election - and indeed the SDP is a political party - and saying, "you dont have to know us on a personal level, where we studied, what are our jobs, what are our areas of specialization etc. just look at our manifesto and vote away".

ideally, theoretically, that should be the case. a purely meritocratic contest in a democracy, based on programs and not personalities.

however, we all know that in politics, it is about connecting with the people, striking that essential chord with the voters. therefore, how is it that the SDP refrains from providing even such basic details to let us know more about the personalities of the party?

i dont disagree that programs and plans ought to reign supreme in our considerations when voting - that is the sign of a mature democracy. while this is necessary, it is not sufficient for political bases to be built up. personalities have to emerge, whether you like it or not.

therefore, i still think that it is important that voters like you and me get a sense, even a vague one, about the backgrounds of the sdp leaders. it is certainly a great leap of faith to believe in the party without an understanding of the CEC's members!

So, feel free to provide the no. of kids you have, interests, hobbies etc. but importantly, for us to make informed choices and to ascertain the sdp's qualities, i maintain that a provision of the cec members' educational qualifications is essential.

it has been more than 1 month since i first inquired about the possibility of the party providing such information. till now, there is not yet a single reply. i am pretty saddened and disheartened, for it either shows the sdp machinery is grossly inefficient (i.e. too caught up with the ceaseless politicking it is involved and party to), or that the sdp has unilaterally obliterated my legitimate request for factual information - part and parcel of a more liberalized political landscape.

i hope the sdp acts on its promise of being a transparent, open and honest party - supposedly the antithesis of everything the pap is.

after all, what harm is there for the sdp? there are no negative externalities if the sdp does provide such information. all it does is to, positively, allow us to know the cec better and inch towards making a better assessment of their backgrounds etc. surely this is a fair request which ought to have been attended to since a month ago?

unless the sdp is implying, by way of silence, that it is ashamed of the educational standings of its cec members, and that there is indeed a negative externality involved in providing such information, that is, the credibility of the party will be undermined i.e. the standards of the cec members are far from ideal and thus should not a piece of information for public consumption.

than, sadly but truly, we'll have no business being here at all. this whole enterprise for democracy might as well capitulate.
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ahsayman  -  Part of a war novel.    Sun, 03 Aug 2008 2:28 am
And the stranger who had been so polite and engaging to the host, suddenly whipped off his clothes, revealing underneath the combat uniform of the despicable enemy the Papsmearites. Bringing up his LKY-47 he let loose on auto, firing round after round of contemptuous shit into the host and his council of elders. He then slithered out of the fore room, with baiting calls to them to go after him. The host turned to his council elders and sadly said, "I'm sorry to have to put you all through this."
But the elders in unison replied. "We had expected this, haven't we? No, we'll show them. We will not stop even if they go the lowest of what human decency will go." The oldest among them said softly to the host. "That's what we are here for, we knew it was going to come to this, didn't we? we may not have learn much of the skills of war unlike you. But we have to give courage to the young. Trained and educated they may be, they need to be taught on how to overcome the fear of swimming in the troubled waters of our land. A small price indeed to pay for cheap shots at humiliation. We will win the end. It will come to past , the people will see the Papsmearites for what they are." And the host with tears in his eyes embraced the elder and whispered,"Thank you, thank you, my loyal friend."

To be continued.............
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??  -     Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:15 pm
It has been more than 2 months, still no reply from the website moderators who might have viewed my post by approving it.

Why the gross inaction?

I am seriously beginning to question the reason for this information-black out. It is not dissimilar from the media black-out the SDP has accused the straits times of being.

Voters like myself and many more are awaiting for such basic, factual information. The 2-month delay (and counting) is absolutely unnecessary and disappointing.
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Anti Dictatorship Governments  -     Wed, 20 Aug 2008 4:55 pm
I think you guys are wonderful and wish you all the very best! Dr Chee, how can we help you to run for the next elections? Or will u not be allowed again to stand for it?
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