Politics

In a survey of the men and women most admired in Singapore, it came as no surprise to anyone that local power-couple, Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, Ho Ching, did not top the survey.

Instead, former US President, Barak Obama, and his wife, Michelle, topped the list.

The survey was conducted by a UK-based research firm, YouGov.

LHL was eight on the list, ahead of local pop star, JJ Lin, but behind global icons such as David Beckham, Mark Zuckerbeg, and Jack Ma.

Ho Ching was fifteenth on the female list, behind President Halimah Yacob, who was placed eleventh. Pop superstar, Taylor Swift, was fourteenth on the list.

We know, the question on your mind has to be - how did LHL come eighth on the list? Is there really a dearth of men worthy of admiration in Singapore? What about Tharman Shanmugaratnam?

Ravi Philemon has been with SPP, Singapore People's Party, since 2015. On 21st July 2019, he announced that his membership with Singapore People's Party and that he has joined with Dr Tan Cheng Bock in Progress Singapore Party (PSP). 

In his Facebook post, he mentioned that he has decided to join PSP because he "believe that the crowded opposition political scene benefits no one except the PAP. Fighting in a disoriented manner in their respective constituencies carved out from the previous elections, does the opposition no favours". He also "trust the leadership of Dr Tan to do what is right for Singapore, and place myself at the disposal of PSP, to use me in a way where I can best serve my fellow citizens". 

This comes after Brad Bowyer, formerly from People's Voice party, under Lim Tean and PAP joins Dr Tan. Are we seeing more politicians joining Dr Tan in a consolidated party? Will Dr Tan be able to kick PAP out when the time comes? Stay tuned in the next episode of GE Singapore!

We wish him all the best!

Lawyer M Ravi has applied to the Attorney-General's Chambers requesting for the Court to declare that SDP Chairman, John Tan, be allowed to stand for elections.

Tan was convicted and later fined $5000 for scandalising the Court, in relation to comments he made on a case involving local human rights activist, Jolovan Wham.

With the elections coming, Tan is eager to seek clarity on his standing and whether he can run for elections.

According to Ravi, Article 44 of the Constitution allows Tan to contest.

Many Singaporeans are disenfranchised with the ruling party which, in their eyes, are becoming inceasingly elitist, and disconnected from the people on the ground.

What would Singaporeans give to have an MP like SDP's Damanhuri Abas?

Damanhuri, a former PMET who graduated from NUS and later completed his Master's degree from NTU/NIE, is earning an honest living as a Grab driver.

He wasn't worried how becoming a Grab driver would affect his political reputation. Instead, he took this as an opportunity to get himself closer to the ground.

For him, the decision to bcome a Grab driver was worth it.

This stint has given him a view of Singapore at its raw, unfiltered, best. 

It has helped to reaffirm his political convictions to "right the wrong for the common folk", who have to slog, with "no retirment in sight". 

Dr Tan Cheng Bock's Progress Singapore Party have been working the ground to attract more members and supporters. Over the past two weekends, Dr Tan himself hosted PSP's membership meet-ups.

The response have been wonderful. Many have stepped up to serve.

Recruitment does not stop.

Those interested to join the party can email an indication of interest to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

SDP member, Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood, took to Facebook after he had allegedly been assaulted by a former friend, a property agent named Yee. According to Jufrie, Yee is an elusive debtor who owes money to Jufrie and their mutual friends.

In the past, Yee attempted to repay the money he owed through post-dated cheques which bounced. Jufrie took responsibility by paying off the friends but Yee never repaid Jufrie the money that he was owed. 

In the mean time he had disappeared from the scene. I had engaged debt collectors on two different occasions to trace and try recover the money which I had paid on his behalf but they gave up after finding him to be too illusive.

Early last year I managed to locate his address and paid him a visit. He agreed to pay up and on two occasions after that he paid a small percentage of what he owed. He then reneged on his promise to continue paying in instalments, blocked all my calls and disappeared once again. 

I had no other means of contacting him except to go to his house again. Over one year I visited his house on 7 or 8 occasions. He was never home. I left written messages asking him to contact me. He never did but made a false police report against me alleging that I was harassing him.

Last Thursday I went again to his house but before I could take the lift I saw him walking past. On seeing me he hurriedly walked towards a bus stand and warned me not to come close or he would whack me. I ignored his warning and followed him to the bus stand. He turned around and said "I am not paying, what can you do?"

He then, in the presence of two strangers, started to assault me.

All along he takes pride in claiming that "he is an RC chairman helping SM Teo Chee Hean". He may think that he has the licence to cheat and beat up people.

Jufrie has since reported Yee to the police. However, he was advised to lodge a magistrate's complaint instead as beating someone in public is not an arrestable offence.

Yee is a fraud who is trying to dissociate himself from his debts. Jufrie has become the victim instead.

While he may claim to be an RC Chairman with links to SM Teo Chee Hean, the truth may not be what he claims it to be. Even if he is connected to Teo Chee Hean, he has to take responsibility for his debts and not run away from it.