WP – What has become now of a party that was the champion of
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WP – What has become now of a party that was the champion of the underdogs?
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.
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WP seriously disappointed me. They have been really low profile since the 2006 elections. They did not really go on the web to engage the younger generation. If only they established a web page which is as vibrant as TOC or Temasek Review.