We will be opening our doors to the public every Tuesday from now on.

The first open house will take place on 17 May 2011 and here are the details.

Where: 397 Jalan Besar #02-01
When: Every Tuesday (except public holidays), 7.30 to 9.30pm

Landmarks: Lavender Food Square and Eminent Plaza. The NSP HQ is right across, along the row of shophouses.

If you’re keen to volunteer or be part of NSP, do come by — we would love to get to know you, and have a chat about what we can do together!

My friends, my fellow Singaporeans,

We may have lost an election but tonight we have rediscovered something so much more valuable – the pride of being Singaporeans.

My fellow party members and I began all of this because we felt that we needed to speak up not just for you, but also ourselves.

The competition has been robust; sides were taken and things were said. But now that the contest is over, we must come together as one country and work to build that future we want.

When we choose our leaders, we ask of them not just their industry but also their judgment. We may not always agree with our government, but it is our responsibility to engage them in intelligent debate so that policies made in our name serve the common good.

Tonight our hearts are with Mr Low Thia Kiang and the Worker’s Party. They have made political history in Singapore and they have made us proud. For the next 5 years, we will depend on them to be our voices in Parliament. We are comforted that we will be well represented.

The great joy we feel at the election of the Worker’s Party is matched only by our profound sadness at the exit tonight of two great men from the political scene.

We want to pay tribute to Mr George Yeo, the outgoing Foreign Minister. Not since the tenure of the late Mr S Rajaratnam has anyone defined our foreign policy like Mr Yeo. A soldier, a scholar, a statesman. And to top it all off, a perfect gentleman. We hope that he will consider a run for the Presidency later this year. We believe he will be another peoples’ President and we cannot think of a better person to continue representing us to the world.

We also want to express our gratitude to Mr Chiam See Tong who together with the late J B Jeyaretnam fought for ordinary Singaporeans at a time when it was much tougher for opposition politicians. Mr Chiam, all Singaporeans owe you a debt of gratitude and we salute you. We will carry on the work you began.

And so my friends, in closing I just want to remind all of you that while the votes have been cast and tallied, the work has just begun.

We know the kind of Singapore we want – we have been talking about it for months now. The time for talk is over; lets get it done.

Sincerely,
Nicole Seah
NSP Candidate for Marine Parade GRC
GE 2011

Update: The police have advised us that we cannot have a gathering at the previously-mentioned location without a permit. Please disseminate.

Last night in a rally held in Mountbatten SMC, the incumbent MP for the ward, Mr Lim Biow Chuan from the People’s Action Party charged that his opponent, Ms Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss from the National Solidarity Party does not have a presence in the community and has not been seen by residents. We strongly challenge Mr Lim’s statements and reiterate that having lived in and around Mountbatten all her life, Ms Chong-Aruldoss has served in various capacities in the community before stepping up to contest Mountbatten SMC as a parliamentary candidate. While it is a fact that Jeannette only entered the public eye over the past few months, she has been active in her church council and her estate’s management council, and has steered a pro-bono legal clinic aiding Singaporeans facing hardships for many years.

On our campaign trail, we have covered more than 80% of the HDB blocks in the precinct. We also have a notable presence in private condominiums, having visited at least 6 and conducted several townhall meetings. We have also actively engaged residents living in landed property via cycle-thons. Our visits to common spaces such as the Kampong Arang market and Old Airport Road food centre are well-documented, and the stall-holders know us well. A recent article in The New Paper tracked down a hawker, whom Jeannette subsequently contacted after reading about his plight. The gentleman had raised the issue of inflation and had spoken out against the PAP’s attempt to have hawkers pledge against price increases despite rising business expenses.

Two days ago, the NSP unveiled its five year community plan for Mountbatten which is entitled, “Reviving the Katong Spirit”. While we have worked out a plan which does not merely focus on the “hardware” of physical infrastructure, but also on building the “heartware” for the community, Mr Lim is bereft of such plans. Ms Chong’s outreach activities as well as the constituency plan are all testament to Ms Chong-Aruldoss’s outreach efforts in the community; a point which Mr Lim chooses to conveniently overlook.

What Mr Lim Biow Chuan is good at is downplaying his opponent’s public service and inflating his own. While eager to boost his shabby track record, Mr Lim has claimed undue credit for himself. He has incorrectly attributed national infrastructure planning, such as the three Circle Line MRT stations which fall within Mountbatten, to the effort of the Town Council which he runs, by mentioning these stations in his rally speech. We note that the blueprint for the Circle Line precedes the incumbent’s entry into politics. Going forward, we urge Mr Lim Biow Chuan and the PAP government not to politicize urban renewal and national infrastructure plans. By extension, the constituents of Mountbatten should not have their votes held ransom by promises of future upgrading plans, which are funded by the tax-payers’ money.

In the five years as a MP, Mr Lim has spoken up on very few occasions in Parliament on issues that concern the welfare of his constituents, choosing instead to act simply as a municipally-interested town council manager whose plans do not go beyond the upgrading physical infrastructures. We are disappointed that as the incumbent MP for the ward, Mr Lim Biow Chuan has done a less than satisfactory job in helping the needy elderly of Mountbatten.

Instead, Mr Lim Biow Chuan has attempted to boost his public image by distributing hand-outs such as cash and vouchers as one-off gifts on special occasions such as Chinese New Year celebrations. We question the source of these funds and ardently disagree with this method of income redistribution. The NSP regards these hand-outs as temporary relief to bad governmental policies, as these measures does not tackle the root cause of the problem. We believe that this instead causes needy residents to become unnecessarily dependent on hand-outs which do not alleviate their plight nor solve their problems permanently. Instead, better calibrated policies need to be put in place to replace policies which have not worked. In order for change to happen, we need a true voice to speak up for Singaporeans in Parliament, and the National Solidarity Party represents this choice.