![DPP_OPC]()
By Benjamin Cheah
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![DPP_OPC]()
Democratic Progressive Party's new CEC / Photo by Terry Xu[/caption]
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) today elected its new Central Executive Committee (CEC) during its Ordinary Party Congress. Mr Benjamin Pwee is now the DPP’s new Secretary-General, and Mr Mohamad Hamim bin Aliyas is the DPP’s new Chairman. Both men were former members of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) who contested in the 2011 General Elections. Mr Pwee and Mr Hamim promise a collaborative leadership and political style, working with the people and other political parties for Singapore.
Speaking during the congress, Mr Hamim said, “I assure you that in moving forward, both Ben and I will work towards a future of collaboration together with other parties, to further our shared political cause.”
In his speech, Mr Pwee said,“I call on all political parties, and all Singaporeans, to put aside adversarial, zero-sum, win-lose politics. We all need to work collaboratively as a community of citizens, for win-win shared outcomes and common-interest solutions for all.”
The other new CEC members include: Mr Winston Lim, General Treasurer; Mr Wilfred Leung, Assistant Secretary-General; Julianah Juwahir, Assistant Treasurer; Mr Ting Tze Jiang, Organising Secretary; and Ms Fatimah Akhtar, Assistant Organising Secretary.
The DPP, founded in 1973, has been effectively dormant since the 2001 General Elections. The old CEC, comprising of former Secretary-General Mr Seow Khee Leng, former Chairman Mr John Chiam and former Treasurer Mr John Tan, will now form an advisory board to assist the CEC.
“I hope to work together with the new leadership to send the DPP into the future,” Mr Seow said.
Speaking of the party’s political ambitions, Mr Seow added, “We will work together with other opposition parties to form the next government. The leaders of the opposition parties are good quality and highly educated. We can do better than the PAP and Lee Kuan Yew.”
Mr Hamim outlined the DPP’s current direction. “Our short-term target is to work hard to win seats in Parliament in 2016, and more importantly to win the hearts of Singaporeans through collaborative engagement with them; in proposing policies and community work.”
During the party congress, the DPP also released a draft working paper, titled “A Manifesto for the People”. Continuing the theme of collaboration, the paper said the party believed in respect: respect between the government and the people, respect in partnerships between people and the government, and respect for solutions sought by the electorate.
The manifesto discusses the party’s four point method to politics. The paper states that every issue consists of interrelated factors, needing to be tackled holistically. The party believes that problem solving is a consultative process that taps into open source intelligence instead of a monopoly of knowledge. The DPP argues that collaboration is vital to grow as individuals, citizens and a country. Finally, it says the best outcome is caused by cooperation founded on mutual respect.
Inspired by Singapore’s founding values, the DPP’s manifesto says everyone has unique potential to contribute towards society, and each contribution is an invaluable part of the national ecosystem. The DPP says it explicitly rejects elitism in favour of meritocracy, and that is based on Singapore’s founding values.
“When we did research for the manifesto, we were inspired by Singapore’s founding values,” Ms Akthar said.
The DPP’s manifesto draws attention to multiple issues of interest: the impact of globalisation; labour issues and fair wages; increasing productivity across sectors; displacement of Singaporean workers by foreigners; increasing participation of elderly workers; fair hiring practices for young professionals, managers, executives and technicians; providing work-life balance to increase fertility; and sustainable healthcare.
“We chose these issues because they are hot button topics being discussed in society,” Ms Akhtar said. “As we research more topics we will write more.”
Many of these issues, the DPP argues, are intertwined. For instance, lack of work-life balance, unreasonable employer expectations, and lack of labour protections lead to increasing burdens on the current generation to care for the aged and their families. This makes it increasingly difficult for the current generation to pay for the healthcare of the previous one.
In addition to the manifesto, the party approved amendments to its constitution. Chief amongst them is a new clause that explicitly forbids the party from expelling any member who had been elected to Parliament.
“It is important for the constituents to be part of the deciding process,” Mr Pwee said. “The Parliamentary process is also important.”
Mr Pwee added that if constituents truly wish to expel a DPP Member of Parliament, the party will honour their wishes.
Discussing the DPP’s first steps, Mr Hamim said, “First step for me would be to do walkabouts to get to know the people in our target constituencies, and set up what we light-heartedly call the ‘DPP makan-wing’. We will find food places where Singaporeans in our constituents like to hang out to eat, and engage them over a good meal or drink.”
This ‘makan-wing’, Mr Pwee said, was purely a social event, letting people to know the DPP better. It was designed to reach out to foodies and connoisseurs, drawing on Singapore’s love of good food. Mr Pwee also said that the party hopes to regularly send its members to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy for training in public policy matters.
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![Mr Benjamin Pwee and Mr Hamim]( "DPP Benjamin Pwee and Hamim")
Mr Benjamin Pwee and Mr Hamim / Photo - Terry Xu[/caption]
While the DPP is planning to run for Parliament, its target constituencies are still being intensely studied. “We are still deeply discussing which constituencies to run in, and we will collaborate with all the other parties,” Mr Pwee said. “If the PAP want to, they can also join in the discussion.”
Reaching out to other political parties, Mr Pwee said, “Let’s stop fighting, let’s stop throwing stones. Let’s get serious. Our country needs new solutions, our nation needs new answers. And solutions and answers no more sit within the PAP Government – it sits within us all, every Singaporean.”
Democratic Progressive Party's new CEC / Photo by Terry Xu[/caption]
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) today elected its new Central Executive Committee (CEC) during its Ordinary Party Congress. Mr Benjamin Pwee is now the DPP’s new Secretary-General, and Mr Mohamad Hamim bin Aliyas is the DPP’s new Chairman. Both men were former members of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) who contested in the 2011 General Elections. Mr Pwee and Mr Hamim promise a collaborative leadership and political style, working with the people and other political parties for Singapore.
Speaking during the congress, Mr Hamim said, “I assure you that in moving forward, both Ben and I will work towards a future of collaboration together with other parties, to further our shared political cause.”
In his speech, Mr Pwee said,“I call on all political parties, and all Singaporeans, to put aside adversarial, zero-sum, win-lose politics. We all need to work collaboratively as a community of citizens, for win-win shared outcomes and common-interest solutions for all.”
The other new CEC members include: Mr Winston Lim, General Treasurer; Mr Wilfred Leung, Assistant Secretary-General; Julianah Juwahir, Assistant Treasurer; Mr Ting Tze Jiang, Organising Secretary; and Ms Fatimah Akhtar, Assistant Organising Secretary.
The DPP, founded in 1973, has been effectively dormant since the 2001 General Elections. The old CEC, comprising of former Secretary-General Mr Seow Khee Leng, former Chairman Mr John Chiam and former Treasurer Mr John Tan, will now form an advisory board to assist the CEC.
“I hope to work together with the new leadership to send the DPP into the future,” Mr Seow said.
Speaking of the party’s political ambitions, Mr Seow added, “We will work together with other opposition parties to form the next government. The leaders of the opposition parties are good quality and highly educated. We can do better than the PAP and Lee Kuan Yew.”
Mr Hamim outlined the DPP’s current direction. “Our short-term target is to work hard to win seats in Parliament in 2016, and more importantly to win the hearts of Singaporeans through collaborative engagement with them; in proposing policies and community work.”
During the party congress, the DPP also released a draft working paper, titled “A Manifesto for the People”. Continuing the theme of collaboration, the paper said the party believed in respect: respect between the government and the people, respect in partnerships between people and the government, and respect for solutions sought by the electorate.
The manifesto discusses the party’s four point method to politics. The paper states that every issue consists of interrelated factors, needing to be tackled holistically. The party believes that problem solving is a consultative process that taps into open source intelligence instead of a monopoly of knowledge. The DPP argues that collaboration is vital to grow as individuals, citizens and a country. Finally, it says the best outcome is caused by cooperation founded on mutual respect.
Inspired by Singapore’s founding values, the DPP’s manifesto says everyone has unique potential to contribute towards society, and each contribution is an invaluable part of the national ecosystem. The DPP says it explicitly rejects elitism in favour of meritocracy, and that is based on Singapore’s founding values.
“When we did research for the manifesto, we were inspired by Singapore’s founding values,” Ms Akthar said.
The DPP’s manifesto draws attention to multiple issues of interest: the impact of globalisation; labour issues and fair wages; increasing productivity across sectors; displacement of Singaporean workers by foreigners; increasing participation of elderly workers; fair hiring practices for young professionals, managers, executives and technicians; providing work-life balance to increase fertility; and sustainable healthcare.
“We chose these issues because they are hot button topics being discussed in society,” Ms Akhtar said. “As we research more topics we will write more.”
Many of these issues, the DPP argues, are intertwined. For instance, lack of work-life balance, unreasonable employer expectations, and lack of labour protections lead to increasing burdens on the current generation to care for the aged and their families. This makes it increasingly difficult for the current generation to pay for the healthcare of the previous one.
In addition to the manifesto, the party approved amendments to its constitution. Chief amongst them is a new clause that explicitly forbids the party from expelling any member who had been elected to Parliament.
“It is important for the constituents to be part of the deciding process,” Mr Pwee said. “The Parliamentary process is also important.”
Mr Pwee added that if constituents truly wish to expel a DPP Member of Parliament, the party will honour their wishes.
Discussing the DPP’s first steps, Mr Hamim said, “First step for me would be to do walkabouts to get to know the people in our target constituencies, and set up what we light-heartedly call the ‘DPP makan-wing’. We will find food places where Singaporeans in our constituents like to hang out to eat, and engage them over a good meal or drink.”
This ‘makan-wing’, Mr Pwee said, was purely a social event, letting people to know the DPP better. It was designed to reach out to foodies and connoisseurs, drawing on Singapore’s love of good food. Mr Pwee also said that the party hopes to regularly send its members to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy for training in public policy matters.
[caption id="attachment_2108" align="aligncenter" width="400"]
Mr Benjamin Pwee and Mr Hamim / Photo - Terry Xu[/caption]
While the DPP is planning to run for Parliament, its target constituencies are still being intensely studied. “We are still deeply discussing which constituencies to run in, and we will collaborate with all the other parties,” Mr Pwee said. “If the PAP want to, they can also join in the discussion.”
Reaching out to other political parties, Mr Pwee said, “Let’s stop fighting, let’s stop throwing stones. Let’s get serious. Our country needs new solutions, our nation needs new answers. And solutions and answers no more sit within the PAP Government – it sits within us all, every Singaporean.”