TEMASEK REVIEW
Having
been founded in 1957, the Workers’ Party (WP) is the oldest
opposition party in Singapore’s political scene that is still
active. It was launched by Singapore’s first Chief Minister Mr
David Marshall with socialism and an equal society for all as its
core values.
This faith in the original objectives continued to guide the
party under Mr J B Jeyaretnam, who took over the leadership in
1971. Under the late JBJ, as he was popularly known, the party
gained mass support from all sections as well as all main racial
groups in Singapore.
But what has become now of a party that was the champion of the
underdogs? The WP of today has morphed into nothing but a mere
empty shell without any direction.
It is a pity that one of its Central Execuitive Committee (CEC)
members is even boasting that he had voted for the PAP in the last
elections in 2006, while the CEC member himself had contested
against the Prime Minister in the Ang Mo Kio GRC.
Not only that, the WP has become the mirror image of the
authoritarian PAP. It has, since the stepping down of JBJ in 2001,
been transformed into a party dominated by a particular ethnic
group. It is really disgusting to see that the WP has transformed
itself into a political party advancing its original socialistic
principles but championing some perceived cause of a section of
society.
In the recently elected CEC of the party, there is only 1
additional Malay in the lineup, bringing the number of non-Chinese
to a mere 2 persons. There are no Indians in the CEC either. This
is a far cry from the WP’s glorious past of being a
well-represented multiracial party.
Even the retention of 2 non-Chinese could be due to the
mandatory need to field so-called “minority” candidates in the GRC
scam.
The speed and the shift that WP has had since the Low Thia
Khiang – Sylvia Lim duo’s is a great blow to the very constitution
and the national pledge of our country. Is it possible for the WP
under its present leadership to project itself to be a party
believing in ideas like “regardless of race, language or religion”
as extolled in our national pledge?
Surely, we can’t expect much from a party which has its Youth
Wing entirely comprised of Chinese. It’s a shame that the Workers’
Party that had the vast majority of people supporting it has been
turned into a refuge for a particular race.
When will the day come for WP to regain its lost glory to be a
truly Singaporean party When will we be seeing a WP where affairs
of the day are conducted in a language understood by all
Singaporeans? It is disgusting to witness meetings of WP carried
out entirely in Chinese.
I’m sure David Marshall and JBJ would be grieving in the
netherworld if they knew what has happened to the party they both
dearly cherished.
Richard Tang
About the Author: Richard Tang is a 37 year old Singaporean
currently living in Canada. His father was a supporter of JBJ and
used to follow him on his election campaign trails back in the 80s.
Richard hopes that JBJ’s struggle and sacrifice will not be in
vain, and focuses writing on hypocrites in Singapore.