Chan Chun Sing: I will be the last person to allow the PA to be politicised

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing. Photo: Yahoo Newsroom

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing on Thursday (14 April) hit back at opposition Member-of-Parliament (MP) Sylvia Lim’s concerns that some members of the People Association’s (PA) were undermining the work of non-ruling party MPs on the ground.

Chan, who is the PA’s deputy chairman, said that the PA was not a partisan organisation and it did not check on the political allegiance of its members and their voting preferences, saying that the latter was “not relevant to our work”.

“I will be last person to ever allow the People’s Association to be politicised,” Chan told Parliament in the Committee of Supply debate.

Lim, the chairman of the Workers’ Party, had on Wednesday (13 April) said that PA activists were being mobilised to campaign for People’s Action Party candidates, and that the Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) - which is a part of the PA - had not replied to her letters when she had requested information about private estate upgrading projects in Aljunied GRC, which the WP held on to in the 2015 General Election.

“An unhealthy culture seems to have developed within some quarters of the PA, who see its role to include advancing the ruling party politically and undermining the work of opposition MPs,” Lim said.

Chan said PA participants were average Singaporeans from all walks of life and that he had personally seen some members taking part in activities supporting both the PAP incumbent and the opposition.

“When I see my own residents, participants of my PA activities, supporting the opposition, I can only ask myself ‘How can I work harder to win them over?’” Chan said.

He said the PA was a statutory board which “executed the directions of the government of the day” as per any other stat board, and did not allow any political activities or canvassing of votes on its various premises.

He also said he would be willing to look at any evidence of partisanship Lim or other opposition members could provide.

“If Ms Lim has any such evidence of wrongdoing, you can let me know, and I guarantee you, I will follow up,” the minister said.

Regarding the specific example Lim gave, Chan said he did not have all the details.

“I’ve heard from both sides on the ground accusing each other of being uncooperative. All I can say is I urge both sides, be it (the) town council or the CCC to always remember to put the interests of the residents first,” he said.

Lim said she welcomed the minister’s “unequivocal public statement that the PA should never be politicised”, calling it a “timely reminder to those who may think otherwise”.

She also asked during clarification time if the PA adopted the government standard operating procedure of replying to MPs’ letters written on behalf of their constituents, to which Chan replied, “The answer is yes.”

Lim had also asked about the PA’s budget for FY2016, which was nearly $900 million, a 34 per cent increase from FY2014.

Chan said the bulk of the increase was not from 2015′s SG50 celebrations, but the starting up of the Pioneer Generation office and capital expenditure on facilities in Tampines and Geylang Serai.