Workers’ Party’s star candidate opens up
He had applied to study medicine at the National University of Singapore, but was rejected.
"They felt too many were going into medicine, perhaps like too many are going into the PAP," joked the Workers' Party's star catch, Chen Show Mao, in an interview with The Straits Times.
The top A-level student of the 1979 cohort in Singapore, which included Cabinet ministers Vivian Balakrishnan and Lui Tuck Yew, then packed his bags and went to Harvard to study economics.
He landed the Rhodes scholarship for student languages and history at Oxford in 1986, and later earned a law doctorate from Stanford University in the U.S.
Since then, Chen, 50, has been away from Singapore for nearly 30 years and has been based most recently in China.
Now, the corporate lawyer, whose list of accomplishments includes leading a legal team in the world's biggest public listing of China's Agricultural Bank last year, is ready to return to Singapore and dive into the arena of opposition politics.
Over the two-hour interview, Chen, a self-professed "serious" person, talked about his background and desires for politics in Singapore.
While he does not fundamentally disagree with any particular People's Action Party policy, Chen wants to build a multi-party system to help create a more stable government. He believes that competitive politics will create better policies and a better Singapore.
"You don't have many Singaporeans doing this job, and I'd like to help do what I can," he said to the local paper.
Chen said he visited WP's headquarters at Syed Alwi Road in 2007 and joined the party after. He felt they were "like-minded people".
"We share the same goals and agree on the general approach and enjoy each other's company working together," he said.
Chen admitted his family had been resistant to his intention of joining opposition politics.
His father came from Taiwan to work for a trading company here, before setting up on his own. Two years later, 11-year-old Chen, his younger sister and mother moved to Singapore.
In 1986, Chen became a Singapore citizen. He believes his time abroad has not made him any less Singaporean.
And what does he think about the buzz that was created around him as the WP's star candidate?
Chen wants to be seen as just an "ordinary WP member".
He said, "At 50, I am older than most other members. Unless they are 50-year-olds, they're not going to have had the chance to have done as much in their line of work. And we know paper qualifications hide a wealth of heartaches and failures."
