PAP - THE WEAKEST LINK

IDENTIFY PAP'S WEAKEST LINK IN TAMPINES GRC - VOTE NOW! (Updated -Baey Yam Keng included)

If there’s a competition for the most “endangered” Minister, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan will definitely be in a neck-to-neck race with Wong Kan Seng to win it. Mah has been made public villain for causing the sky-rocketing prices of public housing. His fortune as a politician is fast sinking and he may well be the one to bring down the PAP GRC at Tampines, despite being its anchor minister.

The sinking ship at Tampines GRC has meanwhile lost two incumbent MPs, Ong Kian Min and Sin Boon Ann, who presumably prefer refuge outside politics. Facing the line of fire (figurative) instead are the unproven Steve Tan and Heng Swee Keat, who hail respectively from the usual PAP incubators in the NTUC and Civil Service. They join the almost pedestrian Masagos Zulkifli and Irene Ng in a difficult mission to rescue Mah’s political demise.

But will they be up to the task? Who is The Weakest Link? Your votes will determine.

Update 27 April:

Lee Hsien Loong’s earlier declaration that the PAP had confidently named all its candidates way ahead of nomination day provided to be false. It withdrew in the last minute on nomination day rookie Steve Tan from the Tampines GRC and replaced him with Baey Yam Keng from Tanjong Pagar. Tan cited “personal reasons” for quitting, but the possibility that Baey was taken out from Tanjong Pagar, where the PAP has a walkover, and thrown into the deep end to rescue PAP’s grip on Tampines GRC remains.

Because of this disruption, we decided to re-set the game for Tampines, with Baey replacing Tan in the running for your choice of The Weakest Link.

Candidate 1: Steve Tan Peng Hoe

If the NTUC has a mold for producing “talents” for the PAP, Tan fits perfectly into it. He has been involved with the union movement for ten years and is Executive Secretary of its official youth wing, the Young NTUC. Yet further scrutiny of his CV leaves hanging question marks about his leadership qualities. Tan lists his duties with the NTUC as “From managing scholarships and education grants, administering insurance claims for fallen workers and issuing transport vouchers and other assistance schemes; to discussing with unions and management on labour-related issues” – he seems no more than an administrator. The glaring limitations of the 38-year-old even compel him to include in his resume, “representing Singapore’s St. John’s Ambulance Brigade in the Singapore-Malaysia First Aid Competition when he was in Secondary 4”.

Highest Education Qualifications

Masters’ degree in Mass Communications, NTU

Career

Past	Marketer of consumer commodities in Myanmar and Singapore
2001	Senior marketing executive, NTUC
Present	Executive Secretary, Young NTUC

Candidate 1:  Baey Yam Keng

Baey is the Managing Director of one of the largest public relations firm in Singapore. At the height of the debate over Section 377A of the Penal Code, Baey spoke up passionately at a forum against the law banning homosexual sex, saying he would vote to repeal it if Parliament took a vote. Baey was later lambasted by members of the public, who reminded him of his responsibility as MP to represent the will of the majority, and not his personal view.

Highest Education Qualifications

M.Sc (Distinction) (University College London)

Career

1995-2003	Economic Development Board, last appointment was as Director (London)
2003-2006	Director, Creative Industries Singapore, Ministry of Information, Communications & the Arts
2004-2006	Second Director, Planning, National Arts Council
2006-2008	Vice President (Corporate Marketing) / Vice President (Corporate Social Responsibility), CapitaLand Limited
2010-2011	Deputy Managing Director, Hill & Knowlton
2011	Managing Director, Hill & Knowlton

Board Directorship

Board Director, STET Homeland Security Services (part of ST Electronics)

Other Key Appointments

Exco Member, Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC)

Director, Chinese Development Assistance Council,

Member, REACH Supervisory Panel member

Director, Asian Civilisations Museum

Member, Advisory Council Avelife (Limited)

Founding President, The ETCeteras

Candidate 2:  Heng Swee Keat

Heng is seen by the PAP as the life-buoy thrown in to save the deeply unpopular Mah Bow Tan. He is touted by Goh Chok Tong to be of ministerial potential and appears so, on paper. The former Singapore Police  Force scholar underwent a spell as Principal Private Secretary to Lee Kuan Yew before scaling the heights as Permanent Secretary at the Trade Ministry and finally as Managing Director of the MAS. Many Singaporeans of course remember painful losses suffered through structured financial products like the Lehman “Minibonds” due to the inadequate regulation by the MAS during Heng’s watch. The personal losses of wealth does not yet include the MAS’ investment setbacks, including a net loss of $9.2 billion Singapore in the financial year ending March2009 alone. Meanwhile, Heng enjoys life amidst high society popularity being in The 300 List of Asia Tatler’s “Who’s Who in Singapore”. 

Highest Education Qualifications

Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Career

Past	Senior police officer
1997	Ministry of Education.
1997-2001	Prime Minister's Office. Principal Private Secretary to then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew
2000	Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry
Jan 2001	CEO, Trade Development Board (IE Singapore)
	Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry
Jun 2005-Mar 2011	Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore

Other Key Appointments

Board Member, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Alternate Governor at the IMF

Member, IMF's Asia and Pacific Advisory Group

Member, Financial Stability Board

Member, Governor's Board overseeing the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

Chairman, Singapore’s Institute of Banking and Finance

Candidate 3: Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad

Prior to his entry into politics, Masagos spent almost two decades with SingTel. There he spent time managing the less than successful subsidiary companies in East Indonesia and Australia. Since then, Masagos has like most of PAP’s Malay leaders been playing no more than a second fiddle in the political set-up.

Highest Education Qualifications

Master (Electrical Engineering) (National University of Singapore)

MBA (IBEAR) (University of Southern California)

Career

1988-2006

Eight different roles at Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) - last appointment CEO/Vice-President (SingTel Global Offices)

Government Office

May 2006 Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education Apr 2008 Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs Nov 2010 Minister of State, Ministry of Education;  Minister of State,  Ministry of Home Affairs

Other Key Appointments

President, PERDAUS (Association of Adults Religious Class Student of Singapore)

Candidate 4: Irene Ng Phek Hoong

Ng is formerly a reporter with The New Paper tabloid and Senior Political Correspondent at the Straits Times. In 2006 she infamously branded Opposition MPs as “troublemakers” and refused to apologise when confronted by Low Thia Kiang for her unsubstantiated accusation.  Soon after being re-elected that year, the Penang-born ex-Malaysian left behind her responsibilities as MP to do a three-month fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, where she met her Scottish husband. Ironically, he listed one of the reasons for being attracted to Ng was “her commitment to her work as an MP and the people she represents, particularly those who are less fortunate". 

Highest Education Qualifications

M.Sc in International Relations, London School of Economics & Political Science

Career

1990	Journalist, The New Paper, Singapore Press Holdings
1993	Correspondent, The New Paper, SPH
1997	Senior Correspondent, The New Paper, SPH
1998	Senior Political Correspondent, The Straits Times
2001	Senior Manager, Editorial Services Unit, SPH
2002	Director of Programmes / Senior Research Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs
2003	Managing Editor, NTUC Media
2006	Director (Special Duties), NTUC
2009-Present	Writer-in-Residence, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)

Other Key Appointments

Member, Board of Directors, Esplanade

Member, Advisory Board and Council of National Youth Achievement Award

Patron, Singapore Amateur Cycling Association

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