No Brainer That Jeffrey Siow Will Be Appointed To Cabinet

The Straits Times published a report entitled MP Jeffrey Siow being considered for new Cabinet line-up on 17 May 2025.

MediaCorp's news also reported on 17 May 2025 that Mr Jeffrey Siow said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had spoken to him about joining the Cabinet.

Neither mainstream media seem content to wait for the official announcement.

Mr Siow gave up his position as second permanent secretary for trade and industry and manpower to join the People's Action Party and contest General Election 2025. Isn't it plainly obvious that he will be appointed to the Cabinet once he is elected (he was). Otherwise, why end his civil service career to be a backbencher?

What is so newsworthy about Mr Siow's being considered for a position in the Cabinet?

Why not speculate about other MPs, whether new or existing, whose inclusion in the Cabinet may not be so clear cut?

Updated 11:30 pm 19 May 2025

Is The Straits Times Impartial in General Election 2025?

This is how the front pages of The Straits Times were presented to readers during the recent general election, starting from the day after nomination day to cooling off day.

Is The Straits Times neutral or does it function as the mouthpiece of the People's Action Party?

The Straits Times is the only English language newspaper published in Singapore. It is funded by taxpayers.

Updated: 5:30pm 8 May 2025

Impact of Electoral Boundary Changes on Votes

It has been posited that changes in electoral boundaries do not affect the country-wide distribution of votes.

It's not correct.

Die-hard PAP and Opposition supporters will vote PAP and Opposition, respectively, regardless of whether they are in one constituency or another.

But voters in the middle ground or who haven't made up their minds will assess the candidates standing for election in their constituencies.

If the candidates are incumbents, especially if they are from a constituency that the voters have moved to or have been moved to by the Electoral Boundaries Committee, have the incumbents lived up to the voters' expectations in Parliament (how often have they been present, how many questions have they asked and what is the quality of these questions, how often have they presented suggestions and what is the quality of their suggestions) and in looking after the constituents and the constituencies?

If the candidates are incumbents in single member constituencies that have been absorbed into group representation constituencies, the other members of the group will have to be assessed as well.

If the candidates are not the incumbents, do they or their party deserve your vote?

In conclusion, it's not correct to think that changes in electoral boundaries do not affect the country-wide distribution of votes.

People's Association Showcases MP's Achievements Ahead of General Election

Shortly before Nomination Day for General Election 2025, residents in Bukit Gombak SMC said they found a glossy 112-page document entitled Bukit Gombak A Home We Love in their letter boxes.

The document traces the developments in Bukit Gombak over the preceding five years under PAP MP for Bukit Gombak ward and Adviser to Bukit Gombak GROs, Ms Low Yen Ling.

Photographs of Ms Low appear throughout the document.

While the document does not say anything about voting for Ms Low or PAP, its timing is note worthy, serving to showcase just ahead of General Election 2025 what Ms Low has done for Bukit Gombak in the preceding five years (the last General Election was held five years ago). Ms Low is PAP's candidate for Bukit Gombak SMC in General Election 2025.

The document is produced by People's Association, an organisation funded by taxpayers.

Updated on 1:20pm 5 May 2025. Title amended by adding "MP's".

Losing Gan Kim Yong

Deputy prime minister Gan Kim Yong was moved from Chua Chu Kang GRC to Punggol GRC, presumably to fortify People's Action Party team in Punggol GRC against a strong The Workers' Party team led by Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal.

What if Punggol GRC voters voted out PAP and with it, Mr Gan?

1. PAP parachuted Mr Gan from a relatively safe Chua Chu Kang GRC to Punggol GRC. Should Punggol GRC voters feel compelled to vote for PAP just to keep Mr Gan in the Cabinet? Why should this responsibility fall on them?

2. Mr Gan would stand a higher chance of being re-elected if he stayed in Chua Chu Kang GRC although even there, there are uncertainties resulting from parts of Tengah being added to it and Bukit Gombak ward being removed from it and made into an SMC.

3. Mr Gan would stand a good chance of being re-elected if he were parachuted to an SMC. PAP used to think, and probably still thinks, that GRCs makes the party impregnable against the opposition. Until Aljunied GRC fell to WP in 2011 and Sengkang GRC fell, also to WP, in 2020. As more GRCs fall to the opposition, PAP may just abolish GRCs, which are absurd?

4. How important or indispensable is Mr Gan? He was not elected to PAP's Central Executive Committee late last year nor even co-opted, even though he was DPM then. So strange.

5. PAP should learn to govern with half the seats plus one in Parliament. Any more is a bonus.

6. The number of political office holders is mind boggling. There are ministers, senior ministers of state, ministers of state, senior parliamentary secretaries and parliamentary secretaries.

Resign If You Cannot Follow The Constitution

The PAP government has introduced a bill to amend Singapore's Constitution that will allow the President to accept and hold an office in a foreign or international organisation in his/her private capacity if the Cabinet considers it to be in the national interest. [1]

The bill is intended to allow President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to continue with his roles as chairman of the board of trustees of the Group of Thirty, a member of the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees, co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and co-chair of the Advisory Board for the UN Human Development Report [2] inasmuch as, when the bill is passed by Parliament, it will be deemed to have come into operation retroactively on 14 September 2023, the day on which Tharman was sworn into office as President.

Someone apparently had forgotten that Tharman would contravene the Constitution when he did not relinquish his roles in the international organisations when he was sworn in as President and would continue to contravene the Constitution barring changes (which the Bill intends to make).

Tharman should decide which is more important to him: President of the Republic of Singapore or his role in the international organisations.

If Tharman cannot operate within the Constitution, he should not have offered himself as a candidate for the Presidential Election and, having been elected and sworn in, should resign as President.

The PAP government will claim that Tharman's continued roles in the international organisations are in the national interest but they can only be in the national interest if Tharman is representing Singapore in an official capacity, not as a private individual. 

Also, other members of the international organisations will view Tharman as President of Singapore, rather than a private individual.

Everything, good or bad, that Tharman does in the international organisations will reflect on Singapore.

The Constitution should not be amended to accommodate one individual.

Notes

1. Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment No. 3) Bill 35/2023.

2. Bill proposes to allow president, ministers to take on international roles in private capacities (The Straits Times, 8 Nov 2023 8:38 pm)

Order of Temasek for former President Halimah

Halimah Yacob will be awarded the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction), previously known as the Order of Temasek (First Class).

Three former presidents of Singapore ― Tony Tan Keng Yam, Sellapan Ramanathan (who chose to be known as S R Nathan) and Wee Kim Wee –― also received the award.

What did Mdm Halimah do that was exceptionally over and above what is expected of a president?

The statement from the Prime Minister's Office does not state why Mdm Halimah was conferred the award[1].

The Straits Times adds[2]:

"Madam Halimah was vocal about gender equality and spoke her mind on various social issues, such as the need to protect older workers. 

She has also long been a strong proponent of building interfaith relationships and encouraging multicultural dialogue.

…  the President’s Challenge had focused on empowering people with disabilities, building a digitally inclusive society and supporting caregivers, among other causes."

CNA adds[3]:

As President, Madam Halimah approved the government's draws on past reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was known for championing women's issues among other social causes.

The Order of Temasek was instituted in 1962.

None of Singapore's earlier presidents ― Yusof bin Ishak, C V Devan Nair, Benjamin Henry Sheares ― were conferred the award. All of them served, and stepped down, during the tenure of prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

The practice of conferring the Order of Temasek to presidents after they stepped down started with prime minister Goh Chok Tong and continued with prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Other than former president Ong Teng Cheong.

Furthermore, as the president ranks above the prime minister in the order of precedence[4], it is nonsensical for a lower ranking person to confer an award to a person who is higher.

Perhaps this was the reason Lee Kuan Yew did not confer the Order of Temasek to any of the three presidents who served and stepped down during his term as prime minister.

Or he thought that they were just doing their job as president.

Updated 25 Oct 2023 11:40pm

Notes

1. Madam Halimah Yacob, the eighth President of the Republic of Singapore, has been conferred the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction) (Prime MInister's Office, 25 Oct 2023).

2. Former president Halimah Yacob awarded Singapore’s highest civilian honour (The Straits Times, updated 25 Oct 2023 4:28pm).

3. Singapore's former President Halimah Yacob awarded nation's highest civilian honour (CNA, updated 25 Oct 2023 1:25pm).

4. Singapore order of precedence (The Straits Times 17 Aug 1967)

Political Ambush

A surreptitiously recorded video of Mr Leon Perera stroking the hand of Ms Nicole Seah in a seemingly intimate manner came into the public realm in the morning of 17 July 2023.

To recap.

Mr Perera was one of The Workers' Party Members of Parliament for Aljunied GRC and a member of WP's Central Executive Committee.

Ms Seah was also a member of WP's Central Executive Committee and in WP's team that narrowly lost in the East Coast GRC in the 2020 General Elections. She was considered by many to be a rising star in not just WP but also national politics.

Both Mr Perera and Ms Seah are married to other people.

According to WP's Secretary-General Pritam Singh, both Mr Perera and Ms Seah admitted their affair, which started after the 2020 GE. but said that it had stopped some time ago. They had previously denied any affair after Mr Perera's driver alleged that they were meeting very often at restaurants and hotels and had been seen hugging each other and holding hands.[1]

By 19 July 2023, Mr Perera and Ms Seah had resigned from WP. Mr Singh said, “The Constitution of WP requires candidates to be honest and frank in their dealings with the party and the people of Singapore. Leon’s conduct and not being truthful when asked by the party leadership about the allegations fell short of the standards expected of WP MPs. This is unacceptable. Had he not offered his resignation, I would have recommended to the CEC that he be expelled from the party.”[2]

Nothing in Singapore law requires any MP to resign because of an extramarital affair.

Why is the video significant?

Recorded more than a year ago, it was not made public until mere hours before Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's press conference announcing the resignations from the People's Action Party and Parliament of Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-jin and PAP Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui. Mr Tan (who is married) and Ms Cheng (who is single) had continued their affair despite their being counselled by PM Lee earlier in 2023.

Was the timing of the release of the video a coincidence?

Or was it timed to soften the impact of Mr Tan's extramarital affair on the ruling People's Action Party?

When did the person(s) who had, or had access to, the video originally intend to make it public? A damaging moment might be at the next general election just after nominations had closed. As WP would be unable to change its slate of candidates, it could spell electoral doom for WP in one or more GRCs.

Are there matters that certain person(s) are holding in abeyance, waiting to politically ambush WP's (or any other opposition party's) candidates at the next general election?

Notes

1. WP’s Leon Perera, Nicole Seah resign over extramarital affair which started after GE2020 (The Straits Times, 19 July 2023).

2. Ibid.

Deprived of Their Right to Vote

As many as 1,093 Singaporeans informed the Elections Department Singapore ("ELD", a department under the Prime Minister's Office) during the 2023 Presidential Election ("PE") that their names were not in the register of electors, even though they had last voted in the 2020 General Election ("GE").[1]

In its earlier press release on 24 August 2023, ELD had stated that 200 Singaporeans had informed ELD that they had been wrongly struck off from the register of electors following the issuance of the Writ of Election on 11 August 2023.

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister-in-charge of the Public Service, said in Parliament on 19 September, “For context, this number [1,093] averages one voter per polling station which had on average 2,400 registered voters in GE2020."

Mr Chan misses the point: one citizen wrongly omitted from the register of electors is one too many.

Mr Chan added, "I just want to assure the public that ELD has gone through the records, and while there is a margin of error, [it] is nowhere to the extent that you will call into question any of the election results that we have in recent memory.”[2]

Mr Chan misses the point again. Presidential and parliamentary elections are compulsory in Singapore. When ELD omits an elector from the register of electors, it deprives that citizen from exercising his or her democratic right to vote regardless of whether that one vote makes any difference in the result. Otherwise, a citizen who didn't vote in an election won't have to pay a fee to reinstate himself or herself in the register of electors.

Notes

1. Under the law, a citizen's name is removed from the register of electors if he or she fails to cast his or her vote in the last presidential or parliamentary election.

2. The point in this paragraph was not in ELD's Oral Reply to Parliamentary Questions on the Removal of Names from the Registers of Electors Eligible to Vote at Presidential Election 2023 and Technical Issues with Electronic Voter Registration System during Presidential Election 2023 (19 September 2023). It was reported, however, in Over 1,000 voters wrongly taken off voter rolls in PE 2023, due to human errors in GE 2020 (TODAY, 19 September 2023).

Meritocracy?

In his speech at the farewell ceremony for President Halimah Yacob on 13 September 2023 at the Istana, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that she showed that Singapore's meritocratic system worked in that every Singaporean could achieve his or her aspirations, regardless of race, language, or religion, and regardless of family background or station in life.

Regardless of race?

The 2016 Presidential election was reserved for Malays; no person of any other race could participate.

Regardless of station in life?

Clause 19 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore states that no person shall be elected as President unless he or she is qualified for election in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Mr George Goh Ching Wah was ruled ineligible to contest the 2023 election.

Mr Mohamed Salleh Marican and Mr Farid Khan were ruled ineligible to contest the 2017 election.