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THE STRAITS TIMES
Tham Yuen-C
Senior Political Correspondent
SINGAPORE – The People’s Action Party wants to recruit more widely as Singapore becomes more diverse, and it hopes to attract activists and even potential candidates who come from a broader cross-section of Singapore, said PAP assistant secretary-general Desmond Lee about the move to refresh the party.
The Refresh PAP exercise was also driven by the need to adapt to a fast-changing environment, and not sparked by the upcoming general election, he added.
Mr Lee was responding to questions from journalists about whether the ruling party’s exercise to refresh itself was undertaken to prepare for the upcoming general election, due by November 20
25.
The Refresh PAP exercise, which took place over the past six months, culminated in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s promise at an event on June 8 for the party to engage more widely and communicate better with Singaporeans.
“The preparation to win the hearts and minds of Singaporeans, to persuade them of the many things that we need to do under Forward Singapore, persuading them about the trade-offs that we need to address in order to put Singapore in a sustainable, forward-looking posture are things that are done the very day after the last GE,” he told reporters at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre.
He added: “It’s not that this is the beginning of the process.”
Instead, the exercise is part of the party’s efforts to better communicate with Singaporeans, and also to better organise itself internally, “to be able to embrace and encompass a greater diversity of aspirations, goals and needs within this broader tent of the PAP”.
This is because greater diversity means not only opportunity for progress but also the potential for new fault lines as well as old ones to surface, for which both the Government and the party must hone their skills to converse and help the people to converge on a decision with give and take, he said.
Internally, this means bringing “more diverse voices into the party as activists and certainly... to look out for people who can serve Singaporeans in different capacities, including, if appropriate, as candidates,” said Mr Lee.
Externally, the party is also looking to better meet the concerns of Singaporeans, and a major move to this end is the formation of two new groups within the party focused on mental health and climate action.
Mr Lee said these two issues came to the fore during the Refresh PAP exercise, and also over the years in conversations with activists and Singaporeans.
While the party’s MPs have already been championing causes in these two areas, the new groups, to be set up in the coming months, will allow PAP to better focus its efforts, he said.
The party’s refreshing comes amid the fourth-generation political team’s ongoing work to enact the plans in its Forward Singapore exercise, which seeks to renew the Republic’s social compact as society becomes more diverse and the external environment more challenging.
In order to do this work, the PAP must ensure that the party itself is future-ready, energised and better able to organise itself and communicate with Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.
A common consensus that has emerged through this engagement with 2,300 activists, friends and partners is also a desire for the PAP to remain a pan-national movement which unites Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.
“We don’t cater to specific demographic groups, we don’t cater to specific ethnic groups,” he said.
“We want to cater to all Singaporeans, and we want to continue to be seen by Singaporeans and be felt by Singaporeans as a pan-national movement, where all Singaporeans can get represented, and their interests are addressed.”
Tham Yuen-C
Senior Political Correspondent
SINGAPORE – The People’s Action Party wants to recruit more widely as Singapore becomes more diverse, and it hopes to attract activists and even potential candidates who come from a broader cross-section of Singapore, said PAP assistant secretary-general Desmond Lee about the move to refresh the party.
The Refresh PAP exercise was also driven by the need to adapt to a fast-changing environment, and not sparked by the upcoming general election, he added.
Mr Lee was responding to questions from journalists about whether the ruling party’s exercise to refresh itself was undertaken to prepare for the upcoming general election, due by November 20
25.
The Refresh PAP exercise, which took place over the past six months, culminated in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s promise at an event on June 8 for the party to engage more widely and communicate better with Singaporeans.
“The preparation to win the hearts and minds of Singaporeans, to persuade them of the many things that we need to do under Forward Singapore, persuading them about the trade-offs that we need to address in order to put Singapore in a sustainable, forward-looking posture are things that are done the very day after the last GE,” he told reporters at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre.
He added: “It’s not that this is the beginning of the process.”
Instead, the exercise is part of the party’s efforts to better communicate with Singaporeans, and also to better organise itself internally, “to be able to embrace and encompass a greater diversity of aspirations, goals and needs within this broader tent of the PAP”.
This is because greater diversity means not only opportunity for progress but also the potential for new fault lines as well as old ones to surface, for which both the Government and the party must hone their skills to converse and help the people to converge on a decision with give and take, he said.
Internally, this means bringing “more diverse voices into the party as activists and certainly... to look out for people who can serve Singaporeans in different capacities, including, if appropriate, as candidates,” said Mr Lee.
Externally, the party is also looking to better meet the concerns of Singaporeans, and a major move to this end is the formation of two new groups within the party focused on mental health and climate action.
Mr Lee said these two issues came to the fore during the Refresh PAP exercise, and also over the years in conversations with activists and Singaporeans.
While the party’s MPs have already been championing causes in these two areas, the new groups, to be set up in the coming months, will allow PAP to better focus its efforts, he said.
The party’s refreshing comes amid the fourth-generation political team’s ongoing work to enact the plans in its Forward Singapore exercise, which seeks to renew the Republic’s social compact as society becomes more diverse and the external environment more challenging.
In order to do this work, the PAP must ensure that the party itself is future-ready, energised and better able to organise itself and communicate with Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.
A common consensus that has emerged through this engagement with 2,300 activists, friends and partners is also a desire for the PAP to remain a pan-national movement which unites Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.
“We don’t cater to specific demographic groups, we don’t cater to specific ethnic groups,” he said.
“We want to cater to all Singaporeans, and we want to continue to be seen by Singaporeans and be felt by Singaporeans as a pan-national movement, where all Singaporeans can get represented, and their interests are addressed.”
