President

Koh Choong Yong 许俊荣, 36
choongyong@wp.sg

Choong Yong runs his own IT consultancy company started in August 2004. Previously, he worked in an MNC consulting company for two years and a local IT company for five years, holding positions from System Analyst to Director of Operations.

Between his work as Assistant Honorary General Secretary (1994) and Academic Liason Co-ordinator (1995) in the Computer Science Society under the Computer Science Department of NUS, he obtained a BSc (Info Sys & Computer Sc).

Politically, Choong Yong was “born” in the year 2006 when he attended his first rally and discovered that the truth is not what the mainstream made it out to be. He embarked on small research projects to find out information about certain workings in Singapore and was disappointed to find many unfavourable decisions made without the consensus of the people.

He recently learnt about the Peak Oil problem and wishes to help to spread information about this to the people, hoping to lessen the impact of the problem with it occurs. Knowledge empowers the people. He believes that “information is out there, it is just not evenly known”.

Many people in Singapore rely too much on the mainstream media and do not think critically when confronted with a piece of news or public announcement. Others don’t even bother to read what is being reported. Choong Yong hopes to be the bridge between the maze of data available and the common man. He hopes to bring awareness to the masses, so that information can be more evenly known. Armed with knowledge, the people can make better informed decisions for themselves.

Vice President

Ng Swee Bee 黄瑞美, 28
sweebee@wp.sg
Swee Bee works as a personal assistant in a local company and was formerly a pre-school teacher. She holds Diploma in Psychology and a Diploma in Pre-School Education (Teaching). An Hougang resident since birth, she lived there throughout the entire period under a Workers’ Party Member of Parliament. She saw for herself that the quality of a constituency under a non-PAP MP is not necessarily worse off. Swee Bee joined the Workers’ Party in 2003, hoping to be more involved in social activities through HGCC activities. Later on Swee Bee became more involved in other areas. Swee Bee realise that although there is very thin line between politics and social activism as both aim to serve and benefit the populace as a whole, political action is necessary to effect political changes and policies.

In 2006 General Elections, Swee Bee was the election agent for Hougang candidate and Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang.

Swee Bee feels that a political party, especially a Singapore opposition party, should not always be looked upon with suspicion of one that politicises everything to gain political capital. She sees Workers’ Party playing a pro-society and community role albeit not being a welfare organisation.

She also believes that renewal is an essential and critical process for any successful organisation. Similarly for Workers’ Party to continue working for our vision for Singapore, it is important that Workers’ Party brings in good people who will be our future leaders.

She is married and her hobbies are cycling and dragon boating.

Secretary

Bernard Chen Jiaxi 陈家喜, 23
bernardchen@wp.sg
Bernard is currently an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), majoring in History. He graduated from Temasek Polytechnic in 2008 with a Diploma in Leisure & Resort Management with Merit and also received the Club Managers’ Association (Singapore) Prize. Bernard is currently the President of NUS History Society.

Bernard joined the Workers’ Party in June 2006 and was subsequently given the opportunity to serve the party as a committee member of the Workers’ Party Youth Wing. Subsequently, he was elected as the Secretary of the Workers’ Party Youth Wing in August 2008 after a one-year stint as the organising secretary of the Youth Wing. In particular, he assumed ownership of his pet project, YouthQuake, which is a series of forums that seeks to be an effective and open platform for youths to present their ideas and to educate and empower young Singaporeans to bring about positive social change. Besides active involvement in the Youth Wing, Bernard is also learning the ropes in the main organising department of the Workers’ Party and sat in the 2009 National Day Working Committee and the planning committee that oversaw the Workers’ Party 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2007. Bernard is actively involved in the North-Eastern Area Committee (NEAC), assisting in the party’s efforts to reach out to residents in Aljunied GRC, Hougang SMC, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Tampines GRC.

Bernard is also involved in civil society and was one of the main organisers behind the student campaign championing for fairer transport concession fares for tertiary students from late November 2008 – March 2009.

Describing himself as a non-violent reformer to the weaknesses of the capitalistic, paternal and materialistic society, he seeks to achieve a just, compassionate, righteous, fair Singapore society via the parliamentary process. Bernard’s guiding mission in life is to put power, wealth and opportunity in the hands of the many, not the few. At the end of the day, Bernard serves the common good, and hope to leave this nation better than the one that he inherited from his parents.

Reading is the greatest joy of Bernard’s single life and as a Christian, he believes in using my time to study and understand the Word of God.

Executive Committee Member

Frieda Chan Sio Ping 曾小玶, 33
friedachan@wp.sg

Frieda graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with double majors in Social Work and Sociology in 2000. During her undergraduate years, she joined the Democratic Socialist Club (DSC), a campus socio-political awareness group, where she was elected the Assistant Organising Secretary. She also represented Singapore at the Korea-ASEAN Future-Oriented Cooperation Youth Exchange Programme in 1998/1999. In 1999, she went on an exchange programme to Hong Kong University (HKU) with a team to observe the development of social service structure and support.

Her meeting with Dr. C.K Law (associate professor of the HKU Department Social Work and Social Administration and a Legislative Council member) sparked off her interest in appreciating the relationships between policy making and livelihood issues.

Recoginising the dire need for the community to develop and multiply resources for self-help, she founded Life! Community Development Ltd (LCD), a registered charity and VWO, with a group of experienced community development workers in 2004.

Frieda believes in having “Unity in Diversity – Each piece of the jigsaw is unique and equally valuable to the construction of the picture. It is the same with nation-building.”, she reinforced.

She is also excited in developing young people in becoming Servant Leaders.

Executive Committee Member

Koh Chee Wei 许志伟, 30
cheewei@wp.sg

Chee Wei is currently working as an academic programme consultant in a private educational institution. His job scope includes identifying the needs of his clients and recommending them the appropriate courses for academic advancement. He enjoys his work and finds it fulfilling as he is able to assist his clients in choosing the right paths in their careers. He develops excellent communication skills by dealing with clients from all walks of life and exceeds performance expectation consistently.

He joined Workers’ Party in 2006 after realizing that ordinary citizens like him need to participate more in political discussion. The challenge that we face in our society is that there are too much emphasis on economic development but somehow other areas which are also important to the general well-being of its citizens are being neglected.

Although there are Government schemes in place to lighten the hardship faced by some of the poorest, he feels that more can be done. For implementation of better policies, diverse views must be sought and Singapore needs to move towards a mature democracy with the ruling party and the opposition parties well represented in the Parliament. He hopes to see at least 10 to 15 opposition politicians elected into Parliament in the next few General Elections. He views his involvement in the Workers’ Party as part of national service and contribution to the society at large.

During his spare time, he loves to catch a movie in the weekends and read books based on inspiration topics. He also enjoy hanging out with close friends from his schooling days.

Executive Committee Member

Nathaniel Koh Kim Kui 许金桂, 25
nathanielkoh@wp.sg
Nathaniel Koh is a fourth year student in Singapore Management University (SMU) pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Information Systems Management) with a second major in Political Science.

In September 2007, he was elected as a student leader to the executive committee of the SMU Students’ Association, and in January 2008, he began his one-year term of office as its Honorary Finance Secretary.

Since 2000, Nathaniel has been an active member of Toastmasters International, a world-wide organisation dedicated to helping people improve their communication and leadership abilities. He has served in various leadership capacities namely, Division Governor, Area Governor, Club President, and Club Vice-President for Education.

Executive Committee Member

Jamilah Bt Md Lufti Lim, 21
jamilah@wp.sg
Jamilah graduated from Republic Polytechnic earlier this year with a Diploma in Biotechnology, and is now currently a full-time operations executive with an education company.

A firm believer of freedom, justice and fairness (oh, how clichéd), Jamilah expressed interest in joining the WP after interviewing Ms. Sylvia Lim for a school project. She joined as a member soon after schooling.
She feels that the values and philosophy of the Worker’s Party are in line with hers, as well as believing in the notion that an opposition’s presence is essential to the continued progression of any country, especially when the lives of people are being put into the hands of those who would supposedly run the country they call home.

A people-person, Jamilah enjoys observing social and societal relationships amongst human beings, and dabbles in philosophy, psychology and politics. Having been involved in the latter since 15 by frequenting internet forums, she has taken a back seat role in watching its movement in Singapore over the years, and has particularly noted the lack of freedom of expression with much disdain. Somewhat jaded and disillusioned at the prospect of the lack of a bright future for politics in Singapore, she decided to enter the WP Youth Wing because of the interest to actually put her money where her mouth is. “Every little bit counts”, she figures, with a shrug.

The main issues she has lies in education, political apathy amongst youths (also known as Generation Y) and the regulation of the lives of Singaporeans.

On her part, she has attempted to incite interest in the subject amongst youths in internet forums frequented by them, and also to engage in dialogue via more serious forums online, and possibly, offline as well.

By joining the WP, she hopes to gain valuable experience by dabbling in politics for real and also to lend a sincere hand in helping and watching the Party grow.

Jamilah hopes to pursue a degree in Political and Social science in the near future and hopes to have a part in nation building some day.

Executive Committee Member

Chelsea Lu Miaoling 卢妙伶, 26
chelsea@wp.sg
Chelsea currently runs an online florist with her sister. She started her career in the real estate sector in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur since 2003, after completing her Diploma in Marketing from Nanyang Polytechnic. Thereafter, she pursued her Business degree (majoring in Human Resource Consulting) in Nanyang Technological University and worked as a human resource executive after graduation.

After attending one of the YouthQuake sessions in 2008, she was introduced to the Workers’ Party Youth Wing and volunteered to help out at the annual Christmas party for Hougang residents (a grassroot event organised by HGCC). She enjoyed the experience and continued to volunteer at weekly house visits, Night Hammer sales and other activities. She hopes to contribute her time and efforts in social activities / issues for the betterment of others.

She believes that everything happens for a reason, even if you cannot immediately figure out or understand why it happened. She also shares the “Starfish Story”, where she believes that if we all (young people) adopt the mentality of making a difference for one other person, the cumulative effort of all would result in a significant difference for many people (Singaporeans).

In her free time, she enjoys her volunteer work with several societies and organisations, as she gets to interact with different types of clients and engage those who need a helping hand and a listening ear.

Executive Committee Member

Alfred Ng Boon Huat 黃文發, 30
alfred_ng@wp.sg
Alfred grew up with his elder sister and father as his parents were seperated and his mum took care of his younger brother. He grew up not knowing that he has a mother and younger brother until primary school when his parents got back together. He was not close to his mum and younger brother at that time as favoritism was practiced. Things got better when another younger brother was born when Alfred was 13. He did not have a wonderful childhood but it made him humble and independent.

He studied at Li Hua Primary, Ang Mo Kio Secondary, and attended Nanyang Polytechnic. He obtained a Diploma in Hairstyling from Hair Academy Kadus, and a Diploma in Counselling and Psychology from The Academy of Certified Counsellors.

Alfred is currently working as a customer service officer at a security company. Prior to that he was working as a hair stylist. He changed the path as he wishes to do hair styling as a hobby and enjoys having his weekend offs.

Alfred was first introduced to The Workers’ Party by TT Tan (Tan Thuan Tong). TT introduced Alfred to non-political activities of WP which he felt comfortable with. He joined the WP initially to contribute to the community in a ‘charitable’ way. Now he hope that the activities that he engages in will be ‘promoting’ the party to those that may have misconception about the opposition.

He believes that all contributions make a difference and also believes that actions speak louder than words. He hopes that ideas/promises should be carried out to avoid disappointment for people with expectations.

He enjoys having meals with friends, chatting, ktv and mahjong.

Executive Committee Member

Aaron Peng Jian Xiong 彭建雄, 25
aaron@wp.sg
After Aaron Peng completed his National Service in June 2007, he spent many hours reading articles online. One thing led to another, and somehow he wound up reading on the General Elections of 2006. As his constituency was a walkover, politics was really the last thing on his mind. All this while, like most of his friends, he felt that the highly paid Government will take care of everyone as long as one works hard.

Yet it was at this time, (the astronomical increase in ministerial pay, the rise of GST to 7%, the impending transport hike in 2007 and the possibility of CPF hold-out age to 65), he started to read up on various forums and blogs, and realized that it really isn’t a bed of roses for everyone out there, despite the rosy reports from the media, and despite the economy being at its golden age.

It is at this time that Aaron decided to join the Workers’ Party. It is his wish that his friends and the people around him will slowly grow more politicized and eventually engage him in local affairs, and to slowly stifle the political climate of fear in Singapore.

Executive Committee Member

Tan Thuan Tong 陈传忠, 32
tttan@wp.sg
Thuan Tong joined WP just after 2006 GE. He was motivated by the slate of candidates WP presented in that GE.

Thuan Tong believes that it may not be in the country’s interest for any single party to hold power as the government over a long period of time. He sees WP to be able to provide a credible and quality alternative and hopes to contribute to the WP, helping to make it stronger.