Seah on donations debate: I understand people’s concerns
In the second of a three-part series, National Solidarity Party's (NSP) Nicole Seah speaks to Yahoo! about her campaign donation controversy, her continued use of social media and her hopes for the future.
She understands why using her own personal bank account to solicit for donations concerned many citizens but Nicole Seah says there is "no legal issue involved".
The National Solidarity Party candidate also added that her party is looking at ways to resolve the issue and suggested a joint-candidate account or separate party accounts.
Earlier this month, the 24-year-old Marine Parade GRC contender turned to Facebook to ask for help to defray costs for her team's General Election (GE) campaign.
But that caused many to question why donations were to be made to her personal bank account, instead of the party or neutral person's bank account. She said then that she needed $35,000 to cover the cost of her promotional materials, t-shirts for volunteers and rental of stages among other things.
When Yahoo! Singapore caught up with Seah for a one-on-one interview last Friday, she said that it is not illegal to solicit for political donations online but she understood why it sparked so much heated debate.
"With regards to the Political Donations Act, there is no legal issue involved but I understand that this is something new," said Seah.
"So that has led to some people questioning whether this was the right way to go," she added.
On why her own personal account was used instead of the party's, NSP party chief Goh Meng Seng had explained earlier that "it would be technically tedious for us to differentiate between funding meant for the Marine Parade team if donations are made to the party's bank account."
Besides the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, the NSP also contested three other GRCs and 4 SMCs, including Chua Chu Kang, Tampines, Whampoa, Pioneer and Mountbatten.
The NSP also released a statement on its website last week assuring the public each Candidate would would have to make "full declarations of all campaign expenses incurred and all donations received, to the Returning Officer for public record and inspection" before the 9 June deadline for the listing of all expenses and donations.
When asked if she would have solicited donated through Facebook again, Seah highlighted the restrictions of the Political Donations Act.
"Honestly, Facebook was really one of the very few ways that we could go about doing it because if you look at the Political Donations Act, you can't solicit for donations openly or house-to-house to the public but they don't have any laws on publicising such information on the Internet," she said.
During the wide-ranging one-hour interview, Seah also answered questions on her life after the General Elections and her thoughts on the rash of reforms announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
On the latter, she said she's adopting a "wait-and-see" approach on new policies such as the review of ministerial salaries.
"With the previous election, what I noticed as a bystander is that there were a lot of promises made and things implemented, but ultimately after a certain period things started reverting to status quo," she said.
"If you look forward to the years ahead, we really need to ask and relook what should be the main motivation that drives our country," she added.
The advertising executive, who shot to online stardom during the GE campaign period, currently has over 104,000 likes on her Facebook page and has been credited with the "political awakening" of Singapore's Gen-Y generation.
But she admits she was surprised by how many Singaporeans took to social media to voice their opinions and frustrations.
Referring to how US president Barack Obama used social media to help galvanise America on the way to winning the US presidential elections, Seah said she didn't think this was possible in Singapore because "within the context of Singapore , we are still so self-censoring and we still have this climate of fear."
However, she feels that the comments made on social media platforms has been a true representation of what authentic discussion is supposed to be like in a society.
"In fact, social media has perhaps been one of the more authentic platforms where there has been a lot of discourse and exchanging of views," she added.
Over the next five years, she said she will continue to engage with the people who visit her page.
On how she has continued to stay active on Facebook, she said she's helped promote an event for the Singapore Cancer Society and plans to continue using her presence in social media to help people or organisations to reach out to people.
She said, "As time goes by, I don't want to spam my supporter base but I do want to keep pushing out events and information to let them know that there's such a problem and concern in Singapore."
Seah also dismissed thoughts of leaving the NSP to join a more established Opposition because she likens the party to a "diamond in the rough".
Like a diamond, the party needs some pressure and polishing and she wants to be part of the process, she said.
Previously, Seah has indicated that she is willing to take part in future elections. She has started to work the ground and has started her walkabouts and Meet-The-People sessions.
