NSP Unveils Its Latest Vision...

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) has unveiled its vision for new Singapore:

“To be bold and beautiful in our thoughts, our words and our deeds,” said Secretary-general Ms Hazel Poa.

She was speaking at NSP’s outreach event, titled ‘Own Your Future – Tomorrow Starts Today, last Sunday at Hotel Royal @ Queens. The event, which proposed to be a team-building/recruitment exercise, featured party members introducing the various committees within the party and setting the goals and objectives these committees and the party as a whole hopes to achieve. The conference saw a turn-out of around eighty people which included party members, volunteers and members of the public who wanted to know more about the party’s agenda.

Ms Poa, kick-started the three hour long affair by setting the new party mission, goals and direction. She reflected that the past General Election dispelled the notion that all Singaporeans are politically apathetic and called Singapore, since that period, a “country in transition, a nation of people ready to take a bigger role in shaping the future course of our country.”

However, she questioned, what is the future course of Singapore?

“If we move along the current trajectory, what can we look forward to? A bigger population? Higher GDP? 1% real wage growth? Rising costs of living? Greater income inequality? Pushing our children to get better grades, so that they can be more competitive in finding a job, then spending more and more time to make more and more money to pay for more and more expensive roofs over our heads?”

“Singaporeans are not mere economic digits”, affirmed Ms Poa, “We are human beings with diverse needs beyond the physiological and financial. We need a country with a balanced system that recognizes our needs in other areas instead of pushing us along a path of greatest economic efficiency in the immediate term.”

So, keeping this in mind, what is the kind of future that we want for Singapore? One whose people are bold and beautiful, declared Ms Poa.

To be bold is to speak up, stand up and not fear failures, she elaborated, while beauty is categorized as balnce, compassion, respect and contribution to society. In keeping with this vision, Ms Poa released the NSP’s revised mission statement, core values and policy positions of the 24-year old party.

New policy positions

The NSP, as evidenced by its mission statement and core values, proposes to be people first, uphold national interest over party interest and be ‘bold and beautiful’. Ms Poa said that their policy positions, though still works in progress, will support this vision of a bold and beautiful Singapore.

“To encourage a society to be bold, we need a solid foundation of physical and financial security”, she stressed, “For only when basic needs are met, can we aspire to be more. A thriving economy is thus still very important but not the only thing that is important.”

NSP new policy positions are as follows;

Ensure that economic policies that promote free enterprise, reward individual effort and aim for better quality of life for all;

• To review laws to achieve a better balance between public order and civil liberties;
• Ensure that manpower policies protect both employers and employees from abuse and ensures fair compensation and practices;
• Ensure that the education system offers greater diversity and opportunities, and adopts global practices;
• Offer subsidies in education, healthcare and housing to ensure affordabilty and peace of mind for the lower-middle income population;
• Taxation system: strike a better balance between encouraging enterprise and reducing inequality.

“Our policy committee will be developing our positions and proposals more comprehensively over the next four years.”, Ms Poa added.

“The future is what we make of it.”

Besides the policy committee, NSP also used the event as a platform to introduce their other working committees which include the law committee, the outreach committee, the Malay bureau, the Indian bureau, the communications committee and the party’s youth wing.

Mr Tony Tan Lay Thiam, head of the policy committee, commented that his team will be looking into reviewing current and proposed policies as well as formulating the party’s responses to them and proposing alternatives when necessary. He emphasized that the committee will ‘think long-term and act long-term’.

The policy committee plans to hold various activities from June 2012-March 2013 such as policy debates and mock parliamentary debates.

Likewise, the outreach committee, which aims to engage citizens and render assistance to those in need, has several projects lined up such as rice distributions, garage sales, a free haircut drive, and grassroots level outreach events in addition to their weekly walkabouts and other activities.

The communications committee, on the other hand, is designed to handle operations between the media and party members. This includes public relations, coming out with internal media, such as newsletters, and marketing and branding, which Mr Praveen Velu, head of the team, candidly admits “lags behind other political parties” such as the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and Worker’s Party, who have their own “style and swag”.

The Malay and Indian Bureaus, as their titles suggest, will take care of addressing problems faced by their respective ethnic groups, while the youth wing aspires to educate the public on political youth wings and, obviously, engage the youth themselves.

The law committee debuted at the event as well. Headed by the Vice-president of the party, Ms Jeannette Chong Aruldoss, the law committee intends to provide information on the intent, effect and implications on law and legislature, spark public interest and engagement on laws as well as provide legal advise for Singaporeans who cannot afford the costs, through a free legal clinic.

These goals will be achieved, Ms Aruldoss expressed, by reviewing current and proposed laws, and by providing a rounded commentary and supplying informative written materials. She added that her team will undertake the necessary legal research and will also look at the legal framework of other countries for a more balanced perspective.

Ms Aruldoss concluded the session by echoing her secretary-general’s parting words and the slogan for the day: “The future is what we make of it. Own your future. Tomorrow starts today.”

Article credits: The Online Citizen