Progress Singapore Party
The Progress Singapore Party (abbreviation: PSP) is a political party in Singapore, founded by former Member of Parliament Tan Cheng Bock and 11 members in 2019. In 2020, PSP's membership has reached 1000.
History & Political developments
Founding
The party was officially registered on 28 March 2019 after receiving approval from Singapore's Registry of Societies. The initial formation included 12 Singaporeans whom some of them are former People's Action Party's cadres. Party's founder Tan Cheng Bock explained that the forming of his political party as a result of the erosion of good governance in terms of transparency, independence and accountability. The party also cited job creation and ensuring accountability from the People's Action Party (a party which Tan was formerly affiliated to) as their main focus. Dr Tan had previously contested the 2011 Presidential Election, in which he won 34.85% of the popular vote but lost by a small margin of 7269 votes to the eventual winner, former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan.
Activities
An event to commemorate the party's launch was first announced on 27 May 2019, and to be held at the Singapore Expo on 15 June 2019. However, police permits required for the event were not approved in time. The party announced on 3 June 2019 that the event was postponed to 3 August 2019, and was held at the Swissotel Merchant Court Hotel in Singapore, attracting an audience of 1,000 people. The event was also live-streamed to twenty-five thousand viewers online.
A National Day Dinner was held on 25 August 2019 in which more than 400 members attended. Central Executive Committee member Alex Tan mentioned that there is an even split of young and old members ranging from age 21 to above 55. New members have come forward as they resonate with the party's motto, “For Country, For People.” and its call for accountability, transparency, and independence. It was also highlighted that PSP's membership has grown to over 500 members in less than a month since it was launched.
PSP has initiated an event series called "PSP Talks". The party will invite thought leaders and subject matter experts to share their insights and ideas on important national issues and policies. The first forum was conducted on 10 September 2019 and ex-GIC chief economist Yeoh Kam Leong was invited to speak about poverty in Singapore and the policy gaps in Singapore's social safety nets as well as policy reforms to eradicate poverty.
On 19 October 2019, Tan led party members, volunteers and the members of the public to blood banks for a PSP community blood donation drive called “Giving The Gift of Life”. It was noted there was a nationwide shortage of blood type O and Tan calls upon members of the public to come forward and donate their blood. He is also proud to see many Singaporeans respond to the call.
The second PSP Talks Forum was held on 19 December 2019, veteran architect Tay Kheng Soon was invited to speak on “Politics and Planning: The Future of Singapore". He discussed some of the problems Singapore faced, such as how meritocracy has devolved into elitism, the obsolete town planning system, etc. He also talked about the possibility of Singapore having five different elections for five local governments, each governing a Community Development Council and a central government elected from the five local governments.
On 17 January 2020, the party announced a reshuffled of leadership at its New Year Dinner. Two CEC members have stepped down and five new members have joined the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC). Tan said "I am looking for a team to mentor, so many have stepped forward," he said. "PSP is now managed by a team. It is not just the Tan Cheng Bock party, it is the people's party." The party's newly composed theme song "March of Change" and party mascot "Otica" was also unveiled.
On 27 January 2020, PSP officially opened its new headquarters in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, the new HQ will be a location for talks and seminars. Tan mentioned that the it will be for the long haul
Pre-Election
On 29 September 2019, Tan led about 300 party members and volunteers in PSP's first official island-wide walkabout. The walkabout called "29 on 29" was conducted at 29 constituencies (16 Group Representative Constituencies and 13 Single Member Constituencies).
The purpose of the walkabout is to spread the awareness of PSP and touch base with the people, PSP reaffirms that they are a friendly political party and is not confrontational.
PSP assistant secretary-general Anthony Lee said that PSP sent out a friendly note as a form of courtesy to let the other opposition parties know of its walkabout plans. PSP will continue to work with other opposition parties and maintain a good relationship with them.
Tan does not rule out the possibility of having an opposition coalition for the next General Election. It was also added by Ravi Philemon (former Singapore People's Party's member) that Tan has been accepted as the leader of the opposition by the other opposition parties.
In October 2019, the party put out calls for volunteers to join the party as polling and counting agents, ahead of other political parties. The party regarded both play an important role in the electoral process.
On 4 November 2019, PSP called for an opposition alliance meeting which representatives from seven opposition political parties attended. It was a private and confidential meeting and according to Tan and a preliminary meeting to discuss future plans and get to know each other from various opposition political parties since most of the members are new.
On 9 November 2019, Progress Singapore Party has begun its second island-wide walkabout. About 220 party members and volunteers took buses and trains to travel around the island. Tan Cheng Bock mentioned that besides getting more people to know about PSP, it is also to allow younger party members to experience walking the ground, an act which is more close to the people. He wants to continue forging stronger relations with the community. The party's first door-to-door house visits in West Coast GRC was led by Tan with more than 200 members and volunteers on 12 January 2020. This event involved 22 teams and covered 50 residential blocks. A walkabout of about 40 members was also conducted in 2019 within the same GRC.
Issues/Proposals raised
Budget
In Feb 2020, PSP announced its first public policy proposal which includes: a) Broader relief package for businesses, b) Expansionary budget to tide through the current crises, c) Fiscal budget is not a goodie-bag, d) Building a sustainable economy, e) No to GST hike, f) Taxpayers should not be burdened for large infrastructure projects and g) A prudent approach to expenditures.
PSP welcomes the Government's immediate short-term relief to assist Singaporeans and local companies in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The party also called for a more "broad-based" approach in helping the transport, retail, and food and beverage industries and conducting a review of the education system. The party is in favour of more permanent plans rather than short-term occasional handouts.
Climate Change
On climate change, Tan Cheng Bock has suggested that government and government-linked companies should provide incentives for renewable energy usage.
Employment of Foreign Manpower
Tan Cheng Bock has promised to call for the review of the India–Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), one of the terms which allow the free movement of Indian professionals in 127 sectors to enter and work in Singapore. He said that there is a need to ensure job priority for Singaporeans and CECA has brought a lot of unhappiness among Singaporean professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who feel vulnerable in their jobs. He calls for the government to publish a balance sheet for CECA, to show how Singapore and Singaporeans have benefited from this agreement, how many local jobs have gone to Indian professionals and how many Singaporeans have gone to India.
Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)
PSP issued a statement on POFMA, stating that the POFMA does not measure up to standards of transparency and accountability and when news involved the government, it also fails the standard of independence. The party view that POFMA should be the prerogative of the Courts of Singapore.
Racial harmony
In response to a video by entertainer Preeti Nair (known by her monicker 'Preetipls' and her brother Subhas Nair) which lambasted the use of racial brownface in an advertisement, then-Central Executive Committee member Michelle Lee stated that although the siblings had used inappropriate language in her video, she found the police response in the aftermath to be 'high-handed' and 'harsh'. Lee acknowledged the video by the siblings reflected grievances that the minority races held in Singapore, and should not be ignored.
Voting age
During the party launch ceremony, Michelle Lee called for the lowering of voting age from the current 21 to 18 in line with international standards. In her speech, she criticised that the current government policy on voting age is 'behind the times'.
Other issues
Lee commented on the high ministerial salary keep ministers in their ivory towers which prompted them afraid to take risks, disagree or lose their jobs. The highest-paid minister earns approximately 43 times the average Singaporean and an entry-level minister earns half of that. Michelle Lee also pointed out that more Singaporeans students are turned away from tertiary education and the government spends almost $130 million on foreign students' scholarships.
Controvesy
On 1 May 2020, Daniel Teo was expelled from the party after he had released a video saying that the party had been "been infiltrated and funded by foreign sources". The party denied this.
Among the PSP members Teo accused was Ravi Philemon. Teo later admitted that the allegations made in his video are completely false and without foundation.
He apologised unreservedly to Philemon and other members named in the video. Philemon resigned from the party on 12 May 2020, after he got the unreserved apology from Teo, but refused to elaborate on the reasons for the decision.
In response to this incident and the departure of other PSP members, Tan said that he was unconcerned as "there are so many waiting to join us". On 31 May Philemon was reported to have filed an application to set up a new political party in Singapore called Red Dot United along with Michelle Lee.