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AT LEAST five MPs have confirmed their retirement from politics with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the past week.
Three are MPs known for their close ties to the Chinese ground. They are Mr Ang Mong Seng, 61, Mr Chan Soo Sen, 55, and Dr Ong Seh Hong, 48.
The other two are Dr Ahmad Magad, 58, and Mr Ong Kian Min, 50.
Over the weekend and last night at his Meet-the-People session, Dr Ong informed his grassroots leaders and party activists at Marine Parade GRC of his impending retirement.
The five names follow upon that of two others - former Cabinet ministers Yeo Cheow Tong and Lee Boon Yang - who have previously indicated publicly their intention to retire.
They are making way for more than 20 new faces from the People's Action Party (PAP) who will don party whites in the upcoming general election.
The retirement of Mr Chan of Joo Chiat, a third-term MP and a former President's Scholar; Mr Ang, a third-term MP at Hong Kah GRC; and Dr Ong, a second-term MP, heralds the exit of the generation of hua xiao sheng - or Chinese-educated - MPs.
Mr Ang, with Mr Ong Ah Heng, 67, MP for Nee Soon Central, and Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, 61, an MP for
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, who are both also expected to retire, are three of four Nanyang University (Nantah) graduates now in Parliament.
The fourth is Hougang MP and Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang.
Meanwhile, Mr Chan and Dr Ong have also made their impact as bilingual MPs who championed causes of the Chinese community in Parliament. They have been strong advocates of Chinese language and culture.
Mr Wong Chin Nai, president of the Singapore Chinese Physicians Association, in particular, paid tribute to Mr Chan's 'tireless' work in representing the profession.
'Just this month, Mr Chan helped to highlight in Parliament the problem of TCM medical certificates not being recognised by the public service,' said Mr Wong. 'We hope the younger MPs will learn from his example.'
One question the retirement of this batch raises is whether there remains a need for a specially defined category of Chinese-educated MPs to represent the concerns of older, Chinese-speaking Singaporeans.
The absorption of vernacular schools into the English-stream schools since the early 1980s means this group that now represents an estimated 15 per cent of the citizen population is fast shrinking.
Their concerns, with those of younger bilingual Singaporeans passionate about Chinese culture, could find voice in a newer crop of bicultural MPs such as Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and Senior Minister of State (Education and National Development) Grace Fu, who spent part of their education in Chinese-stream schools. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself did so for 12 years.
Chinese clan leader Lee Peng Shu believes that while the retirement of the
Chinese-educated MPs represents the 'passing of an era', what Singapore needs more of are those with 'new ideas to help Singapore succeed in this complex world'.
'So whether or not you graduated from Nantah or Chinese schools should not be the focus,' he said.
That said, the Chinese-educated MPs 'hold some important values that younger MPs would do well to learn from', he added. 'Humility is one. Also, the ability to see the bigger picture and place society's interests over personal interests.'
The ruling party knows all too well the importance of the Chinese-speaking ground. In 1991, when the PAP lost three constituencies to Chinese-speaking MPs, its leaders concluded that the party might not have been listening to the Chinese-speaking ground.
So even as the hua xiao sheng leave the scene, their jie ban ren - or successors - such as Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng, 40, are more than willing to take up the torch.
He concedes that MPs like himself from Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools cannot replace the older ones in terms of experience. 'In terms of upbringing and exposure, we are quite different,' he added.
'But those who have attended SAP schools, like myself, have a better appreciation of the sentiments of the older
Chinese-educated Singaporeans. I do try my best to champion in Parliament the causes they care about.'
On what he has learnt from his elders, he recounted how every time he meets Mrs Yu-Foo, 'she would always say to me, 'Yam Keng, you must speak up for Chinese language and culture''.
'I can really sense the passion in her and other Chinese-educated MPs, and it rubs off on the younger MPs,' he said.
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