Andrew Loh /
TOC managed to sit down with Mr Tan Jee Say and Dr Ang Yong Guan for dinner on the same day they were announced as candidates of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). In an exclusive interview over Hainanese chicken chop at Mooi Chin at the Landmark Village Hotel, the latest additions to the SDP’s team speak to TOC about their friendship that’s spanned 40 years, the level of support they’ve seen since taking the plunge into politics, and some of the causes they’d fight for if they were in Parliament.
How long have you and Dr Ang known each other?
TJS: We’ve been close friends for 40 years, I was one year Yong Guan’s senior as the Managing Editor of the school newspaper in Raffles.
It was quite a distinguished publication: Walter Woon took over from Yong Guan, and the person who handed the paper over to me was Han Fook Kwang (Editor of the Straits Times). We bonded over rushing deadlines and getting stories to press, and eventually we got to know each other very well, even our families. That made it easier when I had to speak to Yong Guan’s family about him joining politics.
When did you start thinking about running for elections?
TJS: Well it all started with the paper I wrote and presented at the TOC forum. I was encouraged by the response to my paper, a lot of people wrote in to me, strangers, old friends, primary school classmates I haven’t known for a long time. Many of them asked me to fight for my ideas to be realized.
My wife was the one who encouraged me to write the paper in the first place, she said to write my ideas down as a book or a report. So I burnt the midnight oil and finally it came about. I called up Sze Hian and said I’m not sure if they’re going to publish my paper or not, and it was nearing the Budget. Yong Guan’s family was a bit more resistant.
AYG: It’s a sad thing, because if you join the PAP you won’t have these issues. I think that in itself reflects poorly on the state of the nation. If you have an interest in politics you have to go in, but in Singapore it’s so difficult. My wife, my children, my parents: all were dead set against it. Jee Say had to talk to them.
When they finally came around, they became very supportive and even came to the press conference today.
TJS: I know them very well.
So, why now?
AYG: Well If I don’t go in this round the next time I’ll be 61 years old. My running mate (Jee Say) might already be an MP the next time round, and I thought since Jee Say is someone I know so well and feel so comfortable with, why not.
I want to be part of that critical mass, that wave. If you noticed the scholars who started joining the opposition, it’s almost like a few waves. First Tony and Hazel, then Ben and Jimmy, so I thought, it’s now or never.
TJS: Well, after the forum I realized that it wouldn’t achieve my purpose to come out alone, I must organize a group to come out. To make an impact you need numbers. And you need to start thinking about an alternative government to implement the policies. To do that you need the numbers. I thought of starting a non-aligned national resource pool to distribute candidates to different parties but eventually decided to try something more direct.
The first person I approached was Yong Guan, who was reluctant but he eventually came around.
Eventually, Dr Wong Wee Nam introduced us to Dr Chee, who had heard about my paper and wanted to talk to me about the ideas inside. After meeting up I realized he was quite a good man, very passionate and the SDP was the only party which offered a comprehensive economic plan for Singapore.
You’ve held pretty senior positions in the civil service, what was the reaction like from members of the establishment when they found out you joined?
AYG: Well before we joined we met up with two retired MPs, one of whom was an ex teacher of ours. The teacher ex-MP didn’t know, but the other one knew and was very supportive, gave us encouragement.
Well I guess the question on everyone’s mind is: why the SDP?
TJS: The SDP’s the only party with a comprehensive economic policy, a dedicated and excited base, and excellent communications policy that’s passionate and committed.
The only thing that worried me before I got to know Dr Chee was the negative public image. But I asked around and I was surprised that even a senior PAP grassroots leader told me that Dr Chee has been demonized by the PAP and the media.
So I met him, and he’s a very nice man, he’s not the demon he’s made out to be. So the positives were there and the negatives were overplayed, the rest naturally fell into place.
I think they welcome us because we add some credibility to the party which has taken an undeserved beating from the public demonization. We hope we can bring the SDP to the next level.
How will the PAP react?
I don’t know. This morning I wrote them an email to PM, SM Goh, Tharman, George Yeo, Lim Hng Kiang telling them, “I wish I’d told you about my entry into politics earlier but I’ve been overtaken by events, but my decision does not detract from the strong sense of respect I have for you as friends and former colleagues. I still treasure our personal friendships and my actions during the campaign will reflect this.”
Dr Ang, you were a grassroots leader with the PAP for a very long time, why don’t you think you can change things from the inside?
AYG: In the intermediate levels you can still make a change, but at the policy level it’s very difficult.
For example the government policies are failing at a very systemic level: the low fertility rate is very disturbing. Although standards of living are higher, fertility rate is dropping. The stress levels in Singapore just aren’t conducive to starting families.
The funniest thing is I’ve seen many families where the couple goes to Australia for a few months and then conceive!
Spontaneity, creativity has been stifled. It’s a sense of helplessness in the citizenry that makes people very selfish and result orientated where the end point becomes more important than the process.
For example, a principle will tell a child to get her depression treated first before taking a major exam, and take some time off school. This is done purportedly in the interest of the child but from my interactions with them I realize that it’s because of concern over the school’s result. There’s a lot of cynicism.
I spent 15 years serving as a grassroots leader in Kembangan with George yeo, no one can say I don’t know.
How do you sense the PAP is feeling right now?
TJS: There’s an uneasiness. I don’t know if its dissatisfaction, but they’re definitely very nervous. They know they’ve run out of ideas. For instance, Ong Ye Kung’s introduction as a candidate was very disappointing: he said he used to be against casinos but now he’s for it.
AYG: Which illustrates the saying the ends justify the means: that’s wrong. You bring in the jobs but what kind of jobs are they?
TJS: In my paper I recommended cutting class sizes by half by increasing the numbers of teachers. Doubling the numbers of teachers and doctors and nurses, we have 30,000 teachers now, if we doubled it up we’d be creating honorable jobs that will be helping our country advance and at the same time grooming our children of tomorrow.
You can create a lot of jobs in the health sector, PMET and creative industries. We need to set aside a significant portion of the budget to fund creative industry, young people in IT and the creative industries.
I mean, what are casino jobs? The government says there are 35,000 of them, but most of them are croupiers and dealers, and most of these go to foreigners. You prefer your children to be doctors and teachers or be croupiers and dealers?
Mr Tan, you nearly became a PAP MP in 1984, tell us about that.
TJS: Well in 1984 when I was working in Ministry I went through the whole selection process. I went right to the final session by LKY [Lee Kuan Yew] and Rajaratnam, I remember Raja grilled me very rigorously. You know, the last round is the full Cabinet, it’s not really exactly a tea session, it’s quite rigorous.
Awhile after that Goh Keng Swee called me at the office and asked me when I’m resigning to start my entry into politics. I was quite surprised because I hadn’t heard back from the party yet. Not long after I was told by my Minister then, Tony Tan, that they wanted me to establish my career first as I was too young.
I was 30 years old that year, two years younger than Lee Hsien Loong. That was his first round running.
I knew Goh Keng Swee because I worked with him for a special project where he was advising the President of Sri Lanka. He was appointed a special economic advisor to the President sometime in the early 1980s and he needed someone to work with him on the project to help him with the research for it. He picked me, and so I ended up seeing him quite regularly for that project, several times a week.
Do you think the fear of a change in government will work against the opposition?
TJS: I don’t think people should be frightened, it’s a reality of the future of politics. The realities of today are too complex to be represented by a one or two party state. Coalition governments are a possibility, that’s the way the UK’s gone.
AYG: People need to delink the PAP from the civil service: the civil service will remain no matter which party is in power. The teachers won’t stop teaching the children, the nurses won’t stop running hospitals, the fire fighters will still fight fire.
In reality, and I’m sure Jee Say can tell you, it’s actually the perm sec who runs the ministry. So whichever government is in power, the civil service is supposed to be apolitical and make sure the country continues to run by cooperating with the government of the day.
You know MM says that Ministerial pay is the reason why the PAP has managed to field good candidates in the last few elections, but this one we’ve proven him wrong.
All these Cambridge and Oxford people who don’t need to be paid millions to contest. A few nights ago Chiam See Tong said “politics is in my blood”! Now that’s pure passion, that’s something money can’t buy.
How do you rate your chances?
JS: Quite good. Heavyweights have become lightweights now.
AYG: I’m in it to win.
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April 28, 2011 at 4:46 pm
The PAP ran out of ideas long ago but people hesitated to speak up because of LKY, the bulldog and Lee lawsuits. It is a very polarizing party and the paradox is Singaporeans somehow do not equate the PAP as a polarizing party but the SDP as the firebrands out to destroy society. This is something the seasoned newbies in this interview must recognize and address.
Has Dr. Chee really changed? More Singaporeans need convincing on that score. People are afraid of of a raucous parliament if SDP enters and causes gridlock. Tell us about your approach and win the middle ground. People think you guys are fringe loonies. Contrast with Show Mao who is more a gently gently sort of dude.
Let’s do it and take our country back. Wish you gentlemen the best of luck! Don’t screw up.
LETS TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK
SINGAPOREANS FOR CHANGE
April 28, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Dear Mr Tan & Dr Ang,
You are my heroes. It is no joke that both of you are the right candidates that our nation need it so much.
My dear fellow Singaporean in Holland, Bukit Timah, Sembawang, Yuhwa, Bukit Panjang. Please treasure your vote and vote it wisely. Act now or never and our voices need to be heard. We count on you, vote for a change.
If Mr Tan & Dr Ang can stand up and step forward for our nation, their action have been proved and I am willingly to give all oppositions an opportunity to serve us, let’s do it faltogether in this election and I don’t think people should be frightened, it’s a reality of the future of politics as quoted by Mr Tan.
April 28, 2011 at 6:12 pm
fantastic article. It’s like a mythbuster…shed lights to so many grey areas. Both these gentlemen (I call them that as a form of respect) should really enlighten the electorate about real facts of the govt and civil service and how PAP actually works. I’m sure it will have very strong resonance with people.
Salute to you, Mr Tan and Mr Ang!
April 28, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Dear Dr Ang and Mr Tan,
Thank you for putting yourself out there for the voters to have a choice. And since you and your ideas are out in the public arena, it is subjected to question, examination and scrutiny.
My questions are the following,
1. what is your first card Mr Tan? what is the next wave for Singapore? be specific. renewable- solar? wave?
2. the let a “1000 flowers bloom theory”- sounds good, but which SME should we put our money on? isnt that similar to Spring Singapore’s “grow SMEs” to rev of 200mil ?
3. your comments on the SDP’s manifesto on using reserves to re-distribute wealth to the poor. how much ? and how long can that last?
4. How do we compete with the best cities of the World and not fall behind like Colombo? KL?
5. we are all immigrants. If we become xenophobic, will we have the Japanese malaise? (fallling birth rates, aging population, high public debt, no FTs)
April 29, 2011 at 1:35 am
Thanks, TOC, for the interview with these two heavy weight SDP members. It is always good to read what the candidates actually say on their own. It gives voters very useful information to assess the candidates themselves.
Clearly Mr Tan and Dr Ang are more than qualified to represent Singaporeans in parliament. I’ll vote for change than be the frog-in-boiling- water.
April 29, 2011 at 11:40 am
I feel that Chee Soon Juan not being able to run for the 2011 GE may be a blessing in disguise and the SDP, he can concentrate more on organizing the campaign behind the scenes and leave room for the new stars (VW, TJS, AYG) to bask in the media spotlight, because they don’t have the same activist troublemaker stigma that is attached to Chee.
April 29, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Maybe the only reason the Straits Times is finally reporting at least some opposition-friendly news is because of their connection with the Editor.
April 29, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Judging by the response in rally people are beginning to wake up to the fact that they do need a strong alternative voice in parliament.
both Mr. Tan and Dr. Ang have made the right decision to stand up to represent the people. If Singapore does not change direction and accept more opposition parties into parliament it will become like the old failed state Sparta.
One party system based on money and elitism can never last. We really need change
April 30, 2011 at 12:29 am
All the best to you! I shall save my breath on ‘that’ chap…
Let’s us wake up to a new dawn on 8 May 2011. The day after thé ‘HISTORIC’ Polling Day!
April 30, 2011 at 12:45 am
Mr Tan and Dr Ang have made the difficult and right decision. Now, it’s up to us Singaporeans to make the right choice. A choice that determines not only our MPs, but also the quality of life, and the socio-political landscape for the future.
However appealing a manifesto may appear on paper, the outcome can only be achieved when visions and policies are aligned between the leadership and the people. After all, a true democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people.
I salue these two passionate and courageous leaders. With best wishes.
(a born, bred Singaporean in his 50s)
April 30, 2011 at 8:28 am
Dr Ang, nice to read about your journey with JS. I am sure this is a worthy cause. Always been working to help people but I sometimes wonder where have the able, thinking and caring, people gone in Singapore? Few and far between but so glad there are still a number around, and thank you for contributing to Singapore in such a sacrificial way. Wishing you and JS great success ahead!
April 30, 2011 at 12:28 pm
At my age of 68, I never had the opportunity to vote because all the constituencies I had live in had a walk over by the ruling party.
In any case, during the earlier days of independent Singapore, I recognized the necessity of voting in a party with good leadership with an earnest desire to lift our country from the quagmire of post colonial rule. Those days there was no doubt we needed strong and committed governance and LKY and his team mates like GKS, Raja..,HSS, LKS, LKS, Ed Barker, etc offered the right mix of foresight, creativity, integrity, patriotism, qualifications and guts to take the task of nation building. Let’s face it, those were rough and tough times. My respect however for the subsequent cohorts of the ruling party especially after GCT dwindled. I realized that over time, the mental make-up of the population at large had shifted from a patriotic fervor to a self glorifying one. The long ruling government has inculcated that into the populace and has itself become just that too. No longer was the sentiments and psychological needs of people that mattered. Our dreams of a wholesome and sturdy society, social well being and enhanced quality of life have been turned into a nightmare of strife, of being the best of the best, of being at the cutting edge, one up over another, do or die manifestos, etc. My dreams of a better life after tightening my belt 3 times (basically for a brighter future for the new generation) eventually dissolved into a bleak prospect of having to work till I die. ( LKY claimed that with early retirement we will die sooner, which is contrary to an extensive research done in the USA which concluded that people who retired early at 55 with alternative healthy activities lived longer than those who continued to work until they are over 60. The latter die faster after leaving their jobs.) My son whom I tightened my belt for has concluded that he does not intend to stay on in Singapore after graduating because of the “kiasu, kiasee” mentality he witness amongst several young executives. All in all Singapore has become a stressful place to retire in. Though there are attempts by the ruling party to create many new amenities and community programs to offer the public, we cannot ignore the fact that we are going toward an unending path of stress. Economic excellence for the sake of progress has overtaken peace and harmony. The casinos becoming reality, even when a public referendum opposed the idea, shows this obsession of the ruling party.
Organized increment of population has taking root with an eventual 6.5 millions giving way to 8 millions. Rising Inflation in cost of living for basic needs like housing and food and transportation Not a good picture for future generation. Unfortunately, but I may be wrong, the current leaders in parliament seem to take a complacent stance to the true desires of the citizens. To them economic considerations take precedence to peaceful life. It’s the only intellectual thing to do.
So I am glad for the sake of the new generation, hope is not lost by the induction of good qualified opposition candidates for this forth coming election. People like Dr, Ang, Mr. Tan of SDP, Mr S.M.Chen of WP will be welcome introduction into parliament to counter current schemes of grandeur. With more people of this caliber, with similar passionate resolute like our leaders of yesteryear, Singaporeans can once again hope for a better life. I will pass my dream to them. Meanwhile, I will pick myself up, pack up and venture to an environment more amicable for my tired out mind and body.
April 30, 2011 at 1:02 pm
My son has told me that he will work elsewhere if there’s an opportunity to work oversea rather than here. He also told me that he wishes to emigrate to other country when the time is ripe.
Why did he say that ? I can understand fully and if he does so, who can I blame ? We are a family but during my old age, I can foreseen 10 to 20 years later, my husband and I will be suffering childless, grandchildress at home. We will be staying lonely all by ourselves if my children and their children are living elsewhere. Do we have any family bonding, 3G bonding or social activies for our active age if your belove ones have gone away ? Can you always rely on friends only ? What about our social life without our belove ones by our side ?
When home doesn’t mean a home anymore, why do we still need a country to run ?
May 1, 2011 at 4:28 am
Thank God! Finally we have a credible team from the Opposition, SDP helmed by Mr Tan and Dr Ang…Welcome to Holland-Bt Timah GRC, a largely upper middle and upper class private residential enclave, never mind that we don’t need precinct upgrading, we have been taken for granted for far too long…even the road outside my house doesn’t get swept at all.
May 1, 2011 at 12:34 pm
I am so much dismayed to hear from respected SM Goh Chok Tong making comments on Mr Tan Jee Say when he promised not to make comments out of Marine GRC. I hope Mr Tan Jee Say do not make any harsh comments and only concentrate on national issues. I fear that this is a bait for lawsuits and destroy him morally and politically if he gives way to his feelings and emotions and say unwise things. We have respectable and highly educated calibre opposition candidates and I believe they not fall into the traps laid out for them and go on with the issues that is of utmost importance to singaporeans. I hope Mr Tan Jee Say is wise to tread cautiously and stick to real facts so that no loopholes are laid bare for lawsuits. Let’s hope Dr Ang or Mr Tan be the NCMP.
May 1, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Merely on three counts we the citizens of Singapore would be committing mass suicide if we vote the PAP back into total power:
1) The tremendous influx of foreign ”talent” which plugs our jobs across the whole range of occupations, our transport system, our housing and even our indigenous languages, all within the intensity of a five year maniacal orgy..
2) Paying themselves sums that cannot be supported on sane grounds and increasing the sums exponentially on every excuse. It is impossible that our PM has a more complex job than Obama and yet he is paid a few times more than Obama. What is worse the whole chain gang in the Cabinet receive such largesse that I suspect they laugh themselves to sleep every night when they think of it:: how they have cowed a whole population in order to raid it .
3} How the thuggish use of defamation laws and faceless premier police force (ISD) frighten the life out of the ordinary man in the street, so that mouths are gagged as we go about our daily grind.
I can guarantee you my fellow citizens that five more years of the turn of the screw would leave this island unlivable except for the elites and the foreign talents.
The machinery to ensure that the box is tightly closed is to continue with this one party Government together with defamation laws to keep down the leak. You can talk but only into a feed back tunnel to the Ruling Party ( like the NCMP or other castrated conduits) )and to ensure no leaks the iSD is vigilantly hounding the people. This country is rapidly becoming a rogue police state. Here the ISD do not pull you out of your car to slap you as in Egypt but every bit of your life is monitored and recorded by the ICA’s personal identity electronic system. This system is available to the elites connected to the Government,
( premier and elite law firms ) who is given free access to the surveillance system located in the computer system of the ICA.
My fellow citizens, you have a window of opportunity to stop the tyranny by voting in an opposition. An opposition would scramble somewhat the pure tones of the PAP who sings like the siren to entrap you into servitude.Which means the three points above would be carried out with greater intensity and with total impunity.
May 2, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Tan Jee Say’s idea as reported and exaggerated by the PAP sounds really daft to most people. But as a man who has been around factories for close to 40 years I think it contains the germ of a very important fact. Look around you in Jurong and other established industrial estates in Singapore. Do you see and hear the same level of activity as say 10 years ago. No. These estates are hollowing out or have in individual factories substantial change of use to office and warehousing. For the most part they are propped up by tax holidays and land rent subsidies. Which drains the coffers of the State.
Looking around in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam right up to Pakistan and Jordan, I can see that the land values over which their factories are built are a fraction of that in Singapore. Thus the land cost component in Singapore is not conducive to the sorts of industries planned by the late Dr Goh Keng Swee. Moreover the labour cost is too high compared to the countries in the region. The business of manufacturing in Singapore is too costly with artificial props which sucks up tax payers’ money.
There is wisdom in not subsidising industry to the present level. Gradually ween Singapore to other sorts of activities for which we have an economic advantage. To continue at this intensity with the industrialisation program envisaged by Dr Goh Keng Swee is to subsidise the world’s labour force to the detriment of our own.
If you go to as far as Jordan today and visit a factory you will see the same racial groups as are found in factories in Singapore. You will see Indians, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Thailand people, Indonesians and Filipinos. Should we Singaporeans have to bear the brunt of upkeeping this highly mobile migrant workforce at the expense of our own.
The implementation of shifting emphasis from industry to service has to done with intelligence and not proceeded like how the Ruling Party dealt with the foreign talent deluge. We need gears to shift in Parliament and for that we need opposition groups to access new ideas, new frontiers and not just ‘leave it to me, trust me,’ as the PAP is wont to say.
May 2, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Suggest Dr Ang to prescribe and dispense some medicines to PAP team. All of them are suffering from Delusion of Grandeur. We cheer you on Mr Tan and Dr Ang. Finally, there is light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. By the way,Mr Tan, ignore GCT’s remarks. He is a bitter loser. Even my dog’s barkings are nicer than their speeches