GE2020: I have to join a party that is going to propel me into Parliament, says PSP candidate Ang Yong Guan

General Election 2020 will be Dr Ang Yong Guan’s third outing as an election candidate. And the party that he represents will be the third party that he is campaigning under. 

Ang, who is a psychiatrist and retired army colonel, was officially revealed as one of Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) candidates for the upcoming election at the party’s press conference held on Tuesday (June 23). 

The 65-year-old first stood for election in 2011 as a member of the Singapore Democratic Party. In 2014, he became a founding member and chairman of the Singaporeans First (SingFirst) party, and was a candidate in the 2015 election. 

Hence, people took a double-take when he made his first appearance as a PSP member in April. He has since been seen accompanying Dr Tan Cheng Bock and other PSP party members on walkabouts around Singapore. 

Ang shared that his plunge into local politics was motivated by his dissatisfaction with the direction that the People’s Action Party (PAP) was heading, “especially with the high ministerial pay”. 

Prior to standing for election, Ang was a community leader at Kembangan constituency, helping then-PAP MP George Yeo. 

He shared that when he learnt about the formation of PSP last March, he contacted Dr Tan and in August, he asked Ang for his curriculum vitae. This was when Ang told SingFirst secretary-general Tan Jee Say: “Look, I have to join the party that is going to propel me into Parliament.” 

“And SingFirst was inactive,” he added.

It was during the SingFirst annual general meeting that he officially left the party, and by February, Ang became a PSP member. 

According to Ang, the opposition had gained much momentum in the 2011 election, but this was dented in the 2015 election, as it was also the year that Singapore’s founding father and founding member of the PAP, Lee Kuan Yew, passed away. 

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“There was this groundswell of people who were very grateful to the founding prime minister and they say, okay, now he is no longer around, let’s give it to the son,” said Ang, adding that this was “transferred gratitude” and a reason why PAP managed to gain 70 per cent of the votes during the 2015 elections.

He said that this is evidence that a solid 30 per cent of Singaporeans are standing behind the opposition, hinting that not all who voted for PAP in 2015 were necessarily strong believers in PAP.   

When asked about the differences in contesting this year, Ang said given that it is an e-campaign this year compared to previously where it was a “ground campaign”, the experiences he gained from campaigns past had limited application this year. 

“GE2020 is like going into a campaign with [one of] your hands tied behind your back. This was not the case in 2015,” he explained.   

On the matter of alleged safe distancing breaches over the weekend by PSP members, Tan mentioned that the National Environment Agency (NEA) would withdraw the “wrongdoings” that PSP had done. NEA has since clarified that there would be no fine for PSP members over safe distancing breach. 

Ang said that while PSP will be committed to following the guidelines, he stressed that enforcement must be consistent. “I have my doubts about this, and sometimes the inconsistency will show,” he said.  

kailun@asiaone.com