People's Voice - Lim Tean

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Former opposition party chief Lim Tean forms new political party, People’s Voice
By FARIS MOKHTAR


SINGAPORE — Mr Lim Tean, who used to head the opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP), has set up a new political party called the People’s Voice, making it the 11th political party in Singapore.

The 53-year-old lawyer announced this on his Facebook page on Monday (Oct 29). He later told TODAY that the Registry of Societies had emailed him last week to inform him that his application has been approved.

TODAY has reached out to the registry, which comes under the Home Affairs Ministry, for confirmation.

Mr Lim declined to reveal the number of members in his party, only saying that about 600 people have expressed interest to join him. “We will formally approve and admit them into the party later on.”

Mr Lim, who first talked about forming a party in July, said that People’s Voice will not have the traditional structure of other political parties. “I am the party leader, but we do not have the secretary-general position in the party. We are doing things differently,” he said, adding that “secretary-general” is an “old-fashioned and almost communist term”.

In his Facebook post, there is a seven-minute video where Mr Lim spelt out his party’s promises. These include re-examining the hike in water prices — which went up by 30 per cent in July — and a pledge to slash ministerial salaries.

He also said in the video that the party is here to “make a difference” and “to be in government”, and it does not merely want to be doing checks and balances against the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Elaborating on this, Mr Lim told TODAY that the party’s promises are “not an election manifesto”, but “some of the most important issues we want to deal with”.

He expressed confidence that though his party is newly formed, it will be able to galvanise support from the population from now until the next General Election, which is due by April 2021.

More details on how the party will set itself apart from the others will be revealed at a later date, he said.

In July, Mr Lim’s party — then unregistered — was among seven political parties which met to discuss the possibility of forming an opposition coalition to contest the upcoming polls.

Last year in May, Mr Lim made the news after announcing his resignation from the NSP, where he has been the party’s leader for barely two years. He said then that he and the NSP had a “fundamentally different” approach to politics.

Political analyst Felix Tan, an associate lecturer at SIM Global Education, noted that Mr Lim wanting to form the Government is a “bold move, but not the least surprising” since political parties in other countries are formed on that basis.

“We need to examine whether, firstly, Singaporeans are ready for a new party with little or no experience or success in political ambit to come into the fore,” Dr Tan said.

Other areas that People’s Voice needs to focus on include attracting members who are “cogent in their thoughts and not just with an axe to grind”, he added. “Only then will Singaporeans be able to see for themselves that, perhaps, this political party is serious to battle it out in the long-term,” Dr Tan said.

“It will definitely be able to garner some influence within the short term, but with little experience, it might be challenging for them to attract a decent support to enforce any change within our political atmosphere.”

Political analyst Eugene Tan, a law professor at the Singapore Management University, said Mr Lim’s proclamation that his party wants to be the new Government is an attempt to show that it is inadequate and untenable for Singapore’s opposition parties “to be comfortable with being a mere check and balance to the PAP”.

“His message is addressed more to Singaporeans who have higher expectations of the opposition.”

However, Associate Professor Tan added that the People’s Voice is still an “unknown entity and it has its work cut out in a very crowded opposition space”.

Its prospects will depend on how the party differentiates itself from the others and how persuasive it will be in convincing Singaporeans of its plans despite its lack of any track record.

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Lim Tean forms new political party, Peoples V which promises to involve citizens in the process of democracy
Kathleen.F 2018-10-30 Current Affairs, Politics

Former leader for the National Solidarity Party (NSP), Lim Tean has finally announced the formation of his new political party in Singapore called Peoples Voice. After filing an application with the Registry of Societies (ROS) earlier this year in April, it appears that the request has been finally approved.

In a 7-minute Facebook video, Lim Tean as party leader announced their most important promises which include a return of CPF withdrawal at age 55, making basic goods such as baby milk, rice, books and children’s clothes zero rate GST, slashing the Prime Minister’s salary by 70% and introducing a minimum wage.

He also stressed that Peoples Voice will involve the citizens in the process of democracy via referendums on major issues. Specifically, he promised to call for a referendum to ask whether the people would like to overturn the current Elected President since “We were robbed of choosing a president a year ago. Not a single vote was cast for the President that was installed last year.” He added, that the people can “cast afresh a new democratic vote for a President we can call our own.”

Other issues that Peoples Voice will address include addressing the HDB ownership/tenant situation, breaking up market monopolies in Singapore, scrapping the PAP’s 10 million population plan, and examine the recent hikes in water, electricity, and transport fees.

Lim Tean called Peoples Voice ‘the only truly democratic party in structure, operations and core values’ which has ‘set sail to bring true democracy and social justice’ to Singapore.

He continued, “We did not create Peoples Voice for some incremental change system, for some kind of check and balance to the PAP... Peoples Voice is here to make a difference. To be in government so that we can restore and then transform our nation to be a leader once more in this region of the world.”

In a nutshell, Lim Tean promises that this new party, if elected into power, will focus on allowing every Singaporean to develop their potential to the fullest and will protect the interest of Singaporeans above all else.

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3 months ago.

More developments in opposition politics? Dr Tan Cheng Bock meets up with Lim Tean
The Online Citizen 2018-07-22 Politics

Former People's Action Party Member of Parliament and candidate in the Presidential Election 2011, Tan Cheng Bock had a meeting with lawyer and politician, Lim Tean at a Macdonald outlet in Choa Chu Kang Lot 1 Shopping Mall on Saturday.

This was shared in a Facebook post by Mr Lim on Sunday, saying "MacDonald's breakfast with Dr Tan Cheng Bock at Choa Chu Kang. Sharing views over a Happy Meal."

Mr Lim. who was formerly the Secretary General of the National Solidarity Party, had registered his party, "People's Voices Party" in April this year and shared with TOC that he expects for his party to be approved very soon.

Speaking to TOC on the meet up, Mr Lim said, “We had a very interesting and wide-ranging discussion on the challenges which our country faces and what must be done to overcome these challenges for the benefit of all Singaporeans . I find Dr Tan to be a person of great warmth whose heart lies in serving Singapore and making it a better place for all"

Dr Tan had expressed his intention to stand for President prior to the Presidential Election 2017 but was barred from standing after the Parliament passed amendments to the candidate criteria, which made the election a reserved election for Malay candidates and required private candidates to be the CEO of a company with $500 million shareholders equity. Two Malay private sector candidates who submitted their application to stand as candidates, were disqualified as they were deemed not to have met the standards set in the new criteria, leaving Mdm Halimah Yacob "elected" as the President of Singapore as she was then the sole candidate.

During a forum organised by "Future of Singapore" last December, Dr Tan shared, “I’m prepared to mentor any political group, even PAP chaps can come to me, I’ll still mentor them. Because the objective must be very clear: you want to train people who will be good MPs. MPs who will think of Singapore first.”

He also said, "To be a unifying person, I think first you must have acceptance. I cannot just say well, I want to be a unifying figure…let me think more…options will not be closed off just yet.” when asked if he could be an unifying figure among the opposition parties.

Earlier in June, Dr Tan coincidently met with MPs from Workers' Party during the breaking of fast in Bedok and took photos together with many questioning if there will be collaboration between him and WP.

[jwhtan]

Fragmented opposition.

I think this is one reason PAP wins, by default.
Cos the opposition oppose each other

[millenium]

Originally Posted by jwhtan

Fragmented opposition.

I think this is one reason PAP wins, by default.
Cos the opposition oppose each other

Some r spies la.