Which 2 Candidates from WP East Coast Team to Take Up Remaining 2 NCMP Seats

With Li Lian indicating that she would reject the NCMP offer. The 3 NCMP seats will goes to Mr Dennis Tan, 45, who garnered 42.48 per cent of the votes in the single-seat ward of Fengshan and 2 candidates from the East Coast GRC Team of Mr Gerald Giam, 37, Mr Leon Perera, 44, Mr Daniel Goh, 42, and Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36 which garnered  39.27 per cent, the 3rd best result by the opposition.

Leadership Renewal Important for WP As Well

At the party level, the election outcome was a setback in terms of possible party renewal. We'll have to think about what is the appropriate way to move forward, because we still need some renewal of the leadership ranks sooner or later. Ms Sylvia Lim, Party Chairman Will this leads to in-fighting within WP ? 

Important and Tough Decisions for Party Chief

• Which 2 Candidates Do You Think Can Best Represent Us in Parliament? 
• Will this lead to party split given the strong credentials of all 4 WP East Coast Candidates?

Candidate A: Gerald Giam Yean Song 严燕松 (Age: 37)

Posts in WP:

• Member, Central Executive Council
• Chair, Media Team

Education:

• Master of Science (International Political Economy), Nanyang Technological University
• Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering), University of Southern California, USA
• GCE ‘O’ Levels, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

Background:

• Marital Status: Married to a chartered accountant. They have two children together.
• Occupation: Non-constituency Member of Parliament and IT Solutions Architect

Gerald Giam Yean Song has been a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) since 2011. He contested the 2011 General Election as part of a five-member WP team in East Coast GRC, which received 45.2% of the vote. He was subsequently chosen by the WP CEC to be an NCMP. Gerald has continued frequent interactions with East Coast GRC residents through weekly house visits and other outreach activities, to gather feedback from residents and assist them with their concerns.

Since 2011, Gerald has delivered more than 50 speeches in Parliament and asked over 150 parliamentary questions, querying the Government on public concerns including healthcare, public transport, housing, CPF, employment and population policies. During the Population White Paper debate in February 2013, together with his fellow WP MPs, Gerald presented the WP’s alternative population policy and debated with several Ministers to advance these proposals. In November 2013, he tabled an Adjournment Motion on healthcare affordability, where he proposed several ways to ease the financial burden of healthcare on Singaporeans while containing costs in the healthcare system. Some of his proposals were subsequently implemented by the Government. Gerald’s speeches in Parliament can be found on his blog at http://geraldgiam.sg.

Gerald is an IT solutions architect, and has worked in various professional roles, as an IT project manager, service delivery manager and senior consultant, in local and multinational consulting firms (including Avanade, a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture). He has also served as a foreign service officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Candidate B: Daniel Goh Pei Siong 吴佩松 (Age: 42)

Posts in WP:

• President, WP Youth Wing

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Master of Social Science (Sociology), National University of Singapore
• Bachelor of Social Science (Sociology), National University of Singapore

Background:

• Marital status: Married with one son.
• Occupation: Associate Professor, National University of Singapore

Daniel Goh is Associate Professor lecturing at the Department of Sociology, NUS, where he is Deputy Head of Department and Convenor of the Cultural Studies Programme. He researches and publishes on political sociology, cultural and urban studies, race and multiculturalism, and religion. He was born into a Roman Catholic family and grew up attending Catholic schools. He decided to pursue a social science degree, even though he was from the science stream and loved physics. He could not shake off questions about politics, economics and society inspired by the democratic revolutions in Asia in the late 1980s.

Daniel has been a supporter of the WP since 1988 when he attended his first political rally in Eunos. His father, a worker who rose through the ranks to become a manager, taught him the virtues of labour and the rights of the labourer. His mother, a nurse, taught him charity and kindness. He saw these ideals expressed by the WP. He started helping with WP during the 2011 General Election and had worked with MPs Chen Show Mao and Lee Li Lian. Daniel and his wife are extremely proud parents of their infant boy and they currently live in Braddell Heights HDB estate. He thinks aloud at https://www.facebook.com/danpsgoh.

Candidate C: Mohamed Fairoz Bin Shariff (Age: 36)

Posts in WP:

• Member, The Worker’s Party Youth Wing Executive Committee

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History, NUS
• Masters of Arts in Southeast Asian Studies, NUS

Background:

• Marital Status: Married with 3 children
• Occupation: Recently resigned from his position as Associate Librarian, Content & Services with the National Library Board to participate in the General Elections.

Previously a claims officer at NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative Ltd, Fairoz joined the Singapore Discovery Centre Ltd in 2013 as a Senior Education Executive, where he developed National Education Learning Journey and outreach programmes for post-secondary and tertiary students. He was then also concurrently lecturing at UniSIM’s School of Social Sciences. As an Associate Librarian at the National Library, he researched and wrote articles on Singapore’s history for the library’s HistorySG portal. He was also a member of the library’s internal review panel.

When he is not working, Fairoz is busy looking after his daughter and two sons. He strongly believes that fathers have to play a very active role in a child’s life and development.

Fairoz was introduced to politics during the 2001 General Elections when he was a resident of East Coast GRC, which was won by the incumbent through a walkover. His frustrations at not being able to exercise his right to vote turned him into a firm believer of the need for an alternative voice in Singapore. He firmly believes that a political environment which allows for open debate is healthy for the well-being of Singapore.

Candidate D: Leon Perera 贝理安 (Age: 44)

Education:

• Anglo-Chinese School, Hwa Chong Junior College, Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University (Double First)

Background:

• Marital status: Married, with a daughter and son
• Occupation: CEO of an international business research and consulting agency

The son of primary school teachers from neighbourhood schools, Leon worked in the Singapore Economic Development Board before entering the business research and consulting field. He co-founded an international research consultancy in the year 2000. The firm, where he now serves as the CEO, operates in 9 countries and works primarily with Fortune 500 Multinational Companies. Leon regularly contributes views on economics and business to local, regional and global media outlets, having been interviewed in print, radio and television media. He has also spoken at various business conferences and seminars.

A firm believer in the importance of the civil society sector in every country, Leon has served in a voluntary capacity with several charities and Non-Profit Organisations in Singapore, dating back to the mid-1990s. Leon is a member of the Economic Society of Singapore, the EDB Society and the Singapore Institute of Directors.