A Message from the Secretary General- April 20, 2010
Dear Reform Party Members, Supporters and Friends,
I’m taking some time out from what is turning into a hectic schedule to personally thank each and every one of you for your support, the time you have invested and the effort you have expended on behalf of your country and your party, The Reform Party. In the last year we have moved from a Party on the brink of disappearing to Singapore’s newest and most dynamic party where every new initiative is followed enthusiastically by local and international Media. The Reform Party is definitely ‘on the map’. I have now achieved one of the 5 goals I first set myself as leader which was to see our long term future assured.
I recently had lunch with ex-NMP Mr. Siew Kum Hong who informed me that RP had, “changed the political landscape in Singapore”. These are very encouraging and positive words! RP has indeed changed the landscape and it was your hard work that made that possible. Maybe now is a good time to remind ourselves of how we in The Reform Party and our supporters go about changing landscapes. We don’t move earth by dynamiting it; that is for others. Nor do we sit around and wait for the landscape to evolve; that also is for others. We change that landscape by intelligently applying constant and consistent pressure and by working together as a team. In this way each individual’s seemingly small effort is effectively harnessed to produce great change. It might not be as dramatic as the Fire and Brimstone technique of the old style opposition politics you have been used to but it certainly works.
Now as we move into practical election campaigning with very little time available to us, your voice (and your ability to move landscapes) will become more vital than ever. Now is the time when we must all ask a little more of ourselves and those around us to finish the next stage of what we set out to do. I have mapped out below I0 areas where the smallest action you take now can have a major impact when combined with the actions of everyone else. I ask you to look through the list and see if there is an area that is a good fit for you personally. Please let us know by email or call the office line. But please do something. (Do not respond by Facebook message)
Thank you all once again. Remember don’t think that your voice is so small that it isn’t heard or appreciated. I can assure you that it is heard. Not only by me personally, but by the Reform Party at large and also by the country which is now truly sitting up and listening. Don’t think that you are only one person and can’t make a difference. You can! Should 10 of you who would not normally be active decide to participate in one or more areas because of this plea there will be a significant and noticeable shift. With 30 of you we will move mountains!
1. Attend the Annual Conference and Members’ meeting
This year we will not be holding an annual dinner as it will divert time and effort needed for campaigning. Last year’s dinner was such a marvelous success how could it possibly be bettered? The answer to that is to wait and see the celebration party we hold for you after the GE.
However, I do plan to call a conference on the 8th May 2010 which will function as a general meeting to time with one year of my leadership of the party. At this meeting we will take the pulse of the membership and your feedback on our work so far. Specifically we will be asking for your views on proposed amendments to the constitution, our manifesto, various elements of our election strategy and proposed candidates. This meeting will be closed with no press and will be strictly members only. I never forget that I am here to serve our members and I hope that as many of you as possible will attend so that I can ensure that I best represent you. When the notice goes out I would ask you to respond as quickly as possible so that we can organize effectively. Please join the party now if you want to be represented.
2. Help us hit our Membership target
Another goal I set myself was to increase membership with a target of 100 members. Our membership, thanks to you, is now strong and 6 x as large as it was when I took up the helm. Now look at those figures again and remind yourself how long those other parties have been in existence (30 and 25 years). That really puts our achievements in perspective. This much in just one active year, yes, ONE YEAR! So give yourself a pat on the back and if you are not yet a member take strength from the numbers and sign up. If you are a member please help us to grow by bringing in your friends and family.
3. Raise your voice for RP
WP is seen as having a large membership but I am reliably informed that many members live overseas and that WP is good at looking bigger than it is. There is a lesson to be learnt from this. RP despite all its efforts and growth has a tendency to look smaller than it actually is and it is distressing to see The Reform Party referred to in the press as, ‘a tiny Party’. We need to change this perception so that New is not seen as equated to Minority. So I ask you all to make your voice heard particularly in the new media. Specifically when we post a note on Facebook about a seminar, or a walkabout, or an Open House, or an interview I’m giving, or a debate I’m appearing in, or news of our legal clinic and other initiatives then please use the ‘share’ function to spread that notice over the internet. If 10 of you pick it up and share it, it will spread virally, yet we should have about 40 internet literate and active members so we can do much more. There is no need to comment if that makes you uncomfortable, just share the link/message. It is so difficult to get positive coverage in the MSM and I have worked so hard to develop a relationship with the journalists and organizations and it is a pity to think that those precious column inches and video footage are being squandered. We are creating the buzz but it is being allowed to fizz out and this is an area where you can’t actually take a back seat if we are to be effective. Please be proud of your Party and speak up.
4. Join a Committee/CEC
Recently SDP and NSP made a splash with announcements of their large CECs but most commentators suggested that those CECs actually comprise the majority of the total number of their active membership. Not forgetting that they have been around for 25 + years. We have a much larger membership as I said, but our constitution only allows for a 10 person CEC and one SG so we cannot make a splash about this number. We do often invite those who wish to be CEC in the future to sit in on CEC meetings and I plan at the conference, to put to all our members a proposal to change the constitution to allow for a greater CEC size. Meanwhile we can make a splash with the number of attendees on walkabouts and we can grow our committees. Please look at the committees we currently have (listed on the last page) and see if you could join one and make your membership more active. If none of the committees appeal to you then form your own!
5. Help with Party HQ
Justin Ong and some friends have worked very hard on physically decorating the office by re-painting it. In particular the ex-darkroom is no longer painted black but a sunny yellow. This is a large room suitable for forums and seminars etc and is of course available for all party events. The Reform Party has paid for new furniture, I have had the carpets steam cleaned and hired regular cleaners. What we need now are people with a good eye to put up notices and other information in a visually attractive way so that visitors, particularly prospective new members and visiting media get a good impression and can access the information they need. If you have skills in this area that you can offer please come forward. The largest room is also available for hire for non-party related events.
6. Sell the Newsletter: The New Dawn
Obtaining a license to print and sell a newsletter was not easy and then producing and translating all the articles but thanks to an amazing combined effort we did achieve it. We now have our first newsletter and are looking for sellers. Each seller gets a copy of the permit to keep on his/her person as I know some of you worry about legality. In addition you get to keep 50c from each letter sold. How it works is that you pay $1.50 for each newsletter you take, sell them on at $2:00 and keep the profit. Some of you find putting money up front off-putting so now thanks to a generous donation we have $200 worth of newsletters to give away free to sellers to help get you started. Please contact Tee Seng who is head of the newsletter committee. The newsletter also needs contributors and translators.
7. Help with the Website and other New Media
As with the newsletter getting a website up was a major milestone and thanks is due to the talented designers and developers who donated their time. The website needs suitably qualified people to upload articles and post notices. We also need contributing writers, copywriters, photographers and translators so please come forward if this is an area where you can help.
One thing that RP lacks is an aligned blog or blogger. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over this as we are so young but it would be good to have some writers on our side.
8. Join in the Election Campaign
We have formed a new committee specifically to organize the election campaign. If you are interested in helping and have skills and experience, than please join this committee or our walkabouts. On the actual walkabouts we split into teams with specific tasks. The more teams the more ground we cover. We need people to meet and greet, post pamphlets, conduct the surveys and polls on walkabout and to collate the results after, to sell the newsletter and membership and to take photographs. There is also plenty of scope for help behind the scenes for those with experience. For all of you who have an opinion on where we should be campaigning then please send your input directly to the election committee for greatest effectiveness. Please remember we can’t cover the whole Island for next GE. Together we have shown we can change landscapes but we cannot yet perform miracles. So, if you want to see us campaign in your area then you need to help us to help you. Get a grassroots organization going, find out what the issues are or join a committee or follow the other initiatives here to grow the party and available candidates. If you are well informed or already active in your area then consider standing.
9. Stand!
With the amendments to the political representation laws we have an opportunity now to grab several NCMP seats. You can be sure that the other opposition parties will be making the most of that opportunity. Of course we will still be fielding our main SMC and GRC seats but here is an unparalleled opportunity to back up the Reform Party MP’s with NCMPs. If you have been thinking about standing then now is your chance. Like the lottery we won’t stand a chance of winning without entering and these NCMP seats will be up for grabs. If we don’t get them someone else will do so don’t let them go to waste. Contact me for more information on candidate section procedures.
10. Get involved with fund raising.
We need to raise $60,000 for the election campaign and a dedicated fund raising team is needed to push fundraising to the next level. There is not so much time left and a lot of money to be raised but we have plenty of ideas and I believe we can do it.
To all my dear earth movers and landscape shifters,
Thank You.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Secretary General,
Dear Reform Party Members, Supporters and Friends,
I’m taking some time out from what is turning into a hectic schedule to personally thank each and every one of you for your support, the time you have invested and the effort you have expended on behalf of your country and your party, The Reform Party. In the last year we have moved from a Party on the brink of disappearing to Singapore’s newest and most dynamic party where every new initiative is followed enthusiastically by local and international Media. The Reform Party is definitely ‘on the map’. I have now achieved one of the 5 goals I first set myself as leader which was to see our long term future assured.
I recently had lunch with ex-NMP Mr. Siew Kum Hong who informed me that RP had, “changed the political landscape in Singapore”. These are very encouraging and positive words! RP has indeed changed the landscape and it was your hard work that made that possible. Maybe now is a good time to remind ourselves of how we in The Reform Party and our supporters go about changing landscapes. We don’t move earth by dynamiting it; that is for others. Nor do we sit around and wait for the landscape to evolve; that also is for others. We change that landscape by intelligently applying constant and consistent pressure and by working together as a team. In this way each individual’s seemingly small effort is effectively harnessed to produce great change. It might not be as dramatic as the Fire and Brimstone technique of the old style opposition politics you have been used to but it certainly works.
Now as we move into practical election campaigning with very little time available to us, your voice (and your ability to move landscapes) will become more vital than ever. Now is the time when we must all ask a little more of ourselves and those around us to finish the next stage of what we set out to do. I have mapped out below I0 areas where the smallest action you take now can have a major impact when combined with the actions of everyone else. I ask you to look through the list and see if there is an area that is a good fit for you personally. Please let us know by email or call the office line. But please do something. (Do not respond by Facebook message)
Thank you all once again. Remember don’t think that your voice is so small that it isn’t heard or appreciated. I can assure you that it is heard. Not only by me personally, but by the Reform Party at large and also by the country which is now truly sitting up and listening. Don’t think that you are only one person and can’t make a difference. You can! Should 10 of you who would not normally be active decide to participate in one or more areas because of this plea there will be a significant and noticeable shift. With 30 of you we will move mountains!
1. Attend the Annual Conference and Members’ meeting
This year we will not be holding an annual dinner as it will divert time and effort needed for campaigning. Last year’s dinner was such a marvelous success how could it possibly be bettered? The answer to that is to wait and see the celebration party we hold for you after the GE.
However, I do plan to call a conference on the 8th May 2010 which will function as a general meeting to time with one year of my leadership of the party. At this meeting we will take the pulse of the membership and your feedback on our work so far. Specifically we will be asking for your views on proposed amendments to the constitution, our manifesto, various elements of our election strategy and proposed candidates. This meeting will be closed with no press and will be strictly members only. I never forget that I am here to serve our members and I hope that as many of you as possible will attend so that I can ensure that I best represent you. When the notice goes out I would ask you to respond as quickly as possible so that we can organize effectively. Please join the party now if you want to be represented.
2. Help us hit our Membership target
Another goal I set myself was to increase membership with a target of 100 members. Our membership, thanks to you, is now strong and 6 x as large as it was when I took up the helm. Now look at those figures again and remind yourself how long those other parties have been in existence (30 and 25 years). That really puts our achievements in perspective. This much in just one active year, yes, ONE YEAR! So give yourself a pat on the back and if you are not yet a member take strength from the numbers and sign up. If you are a member please help us to grow by bringing in your friends and family.
3. Raise your voice for RP
WP is seen as having a large membership but I am reliably informed that many members live overseas and that WP is good at looking bigger than it is. There is a lesson to be learnt from this. RP despite all its efforts and growth has a tendency to look smaller than it actually is and it is distressing to see The Reform Party referred to in the press as, ‘a tiny Party’. We need to change this perception so that New is not seen as equated to Minority. So I ask you all to make your voice heard particularly in the new media. Specifically when we post a note on Facebook about a seminar, or a walkabout, or an Open House, or an interview I’m giving, or a debate I’m appearing in, or news of our legal clinic and other initiatives then please use the ‘share’ function to spread that notice over the internet. If 10 of you pick it up and share it, it will spread virally, yet we should have about 40 internet literate and active members so we can do much more. There is no need to comment if that makes you uncomfortable, just share the link/message. It is so difficult to get positive coverage in the MSM and I have worked so hard to develop a relationship with the journalists and organizations and it is a pity to think that those precious column inches and video footage are being squandered. We are creating the buzz but it is being allowed to fizz out and this is an area where you can’t actually take a back seat if we are to be effective. Please be proud of your Party and speak up.
4. Join a Committee/CEC
Recently SDP and NSP made a splash with announcements of their large CECs but most commentators suggested that those CECs actually comprise the majority of the total number of their active membership. Not forgetting that they have been around for 25 + years. We have a much larger membership as I said, but our constitution only allows for a 10 person CEC and one SG so we cannot make a splash about this number. We do often invite those who wish to be CEC in the future to sit in on CEC meetings and I plan at the conference, to put to all our members a proposal to change the constitution to allow for a greater CEC size. Meanwhile we can make a splash with the number of attendees on walkabouts and we can grow our committees. Please look at the committees we currently have (listed on the last page) and see if you could join one and make your membership more active. If none of the committees appeal to you then form your own!
5. Help with Party HQ
Justin Ong and some friends have worked very hard on physically decorating the office by re-painting it. In particular the ex-darkroom is no longer painted black but a sunny yellow. This is a large room suitable for forums and seminars etc and is of course available for all party events. The Reform Party has paid for new furniture, I have had the carpets steam cleaned and hired regular cleaners. What we need now are people with a good eye to put up notices and other information in a visually attractive way so that visitors, particularly prospective new members and visiting media get a good impression and can access the information they need. If you have skills in this area that you can offer please come forward. The largest room is also available for hire for non-party related events.
6. Sell the Newsletter: The New Dawn
Obtaining a license to print and sell a newsletter was not easy and then producing and translating all the articles but thanks to an amazing combined effort we did achieve it. We now have our first newsletter and are looking for sellers. Each seller gets a copy of the permit to keep on his/her person as I know some of you worry about legality. In addition you get to keep 50c from each letter sold. How it works is that you pay $1.50 for each newsletter you take, sell them on at $2:00 and keep the profit. Some of you find putting money up front off-putting so now thanks to a generous donation we have $200 worth of newsletters to give away free to sellers to help get you started. Please contact Tee Seng who is head of the newsletter committee. The newsletter also needs contributors and translators.
7. Help with the Website and other New Media
As with the newsletter getting a website up was a major milestone and thanks is due to the talented designers and developers who donated their time. The website needs suitably qualified people to upload articles and post notices. We also need contributing writers, copywriters, photographers and translators so please come forward if this is an area where you can help.
One thing that RP lacks is an aligned blog or blogger. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over this as we are so young but it would be good to have some writers on our side.
8. Join in the Election Campaign
We have formed a new committee specifically to organize the election campaign. If you are interested in helping and have skills and experience, than please join this committee or our walkabouts. On the actual walkabouts we split into teams with specific tasks. The more teams the more ground we cover. We need people to meet and greet, post pamphlets, conduct the surveys and polls on walkabout and to collate the results after, to sell the newsletter and membership and to take photographs. There is also plenty of scope for help behind the scenes for those with experience. For all of you who have an opinion on where we should be campaigning then please send your input directly to the election committee for greatest effectiveness. Please remember we can’t cover the whole Island for next GE. Together we have shown we can change landscapes but we cannot yet perform miracles. So, if you want to see us campaign in your area then you need to help us to help you. Get a grassroots organization going, find out what the issues are or join a committee or follow the other initiatives here to grow the party and available candidates. If you are well informed or already active in your area then consider standing.
9. Stand!
With the amendments to the political representation laws we have an opportunity now to grab several NCMP seats. You can be sure that the other opposition parties will be making the most of that opportunity. Of course we will still be fielding our main SMC and GRC seats but here is an unparalleled opportunity to back up the Reform Party MP’s with NCMPs. If you have been thinking about standing then now is your chance. Like the lottery we won’t stand a chance of winning without entering and these NCMP seats will be up for grabs. If we don’t get them someone else will do so don’t let them go to waste. Contact me for more information on candidate section procedures.
10. Get involved with fund raising.
We need to raise $60,000 for the election campaign and a dedicated fund raising team is needed to push fundraising to the next level. There is not so much time left and a lot of money to be raised but we have plenty of ideas and I believe we can do it.
To all my dear earth movers and landscape shifters,
Thank You.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Secretary General,
