Lina Chiam: SPP’s pillar of strength

The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) has faced a challenging year since the monumental 7 May General Election last year.

Longtime secretary-general Chiam See Tong’s gamble to win a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) failed when he lost in Bishan-Toa Payoh. To make it worse, his wife Lina lost the Chiams’ 27-year stranglehold in single ward Potong Pasir, defeated by the People’s Action Party by a mere 112 votes. To round up a year of misery for the party, SPP also suffered its heaviest loss in Hong Kah North, where former party chairman Sin Kek Tong garnered just 29.4 per cent of the valid vote.

Earlier this year, news of internal conflict emerged among the party’s leadership, when old and new guard clashed, resulting in the resignation of six of its executive committee members, about half of whom had joined the party only last year.

Despite these challenges, SPP’s new party chairman and lone representative in parliament, non-constituency MP (NCMP) Lina Chiam, remains unfazed.

Even a fresh controversy stirred up by current Potong Pasir member of parliament (MP) Sitoh Yih Pin’s comments that the town council’s sinking funds were inadequate for its lift upgrading programme has failed to unsettle the Chiams.

“Even though I lost in Potong Pasir one year ago, I was undeterred in my mission to speak up for all Singaporeans, especially those who don’t have a voice in our society,” she told Yahoo! Singapore in a recent e-mail interview.

Admitting that cabinet ministers may find her “unrelenting” for daring to ask for information not previously made public, in her parliamentary questions, Chiam says simply her aim is to promote transparency, and to improve public debate on policies here.

Asked about her transformation from MP’s confidant to NCMP, Chiam said things have not changed.

“These are just different facets to the same mission,” she said. “When Mr Chiam was MP for Potong Pasir, I worked with him in his campaigns, in the Town Council. The most perceptible difference now, apart from the obvious one of parliamentary work, is more participation in the party and grassroots organisation.”

As for what the party has been up to in the wake of the 7 May election, Mrs Chiam said the SPP is focusing on issues such as educating the public about the central provident fund, healthcare, and on seeking a sustainable model of economic growth for Singapore.

She also said the SPP does not merely want to remain visible, but also to organise activities that “make a real difference to people’s lives”. As an example, she pointed to the party’s financial literacy awareness programme which starts in the middle of this month, a round of investment and financial training sessions conducted free-of-charge for anyone who signs up for them.

There are also the ongoing Potong Pasir Welfare Fund, and other activities such as door-to-door meet the people sessions and walkabouts.

Turning to the issue of leadership, Chiam said her husband is “well”, and is still “hands-on in leading the SPP”. She also steadfastly maintains that he is serious about the renewal of leadership in the party.

“That was already on his mind the day he entered politics. But the right people must be in line, and the time must be right,” she said.

Chiam said the party has in recent months received membership applications from “very capable and dedicated young people”, whom she says have made her “very hopeful” about the SPP’s future, and on opposition politics.

With respect to who these people are, she turned coy and would say only that they “will be unveiled when the time is right”.

Addressing Sitoh’s comments about his town council’s lack of sinking funds for the lift upgrading programme in the ward, Chiam said she is “fully aware” of residents’ sentiments there.

“Many of our former residents raised this issue, and had expressed their confidence that Mr Chiam’s financial plan back then would have completed the lift upgrading programme without any hassle,” she said, adding, however, that she will only reveal details of the plan come 2016.

Casting her sight on the next general election due in four years time, the 62-year-old said the party targets remain unchanged: Bishan-Toa Payoh, Hong Kah North and of course, Potong Pasir.

“The old climate of fear has gone,” she said, of the changing political scene in Singapore. “Young people realise they have a stake in their country and are now more willing to speak up for the better of Singapore.”