'We are a truly multi-racial slate of candidates': PSP touts diverse Nee Soon GRC team

With four out of five candidates contesting in Nee Soon GRC hailing from ethnic minority groups, the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) isn’t afraid to tout its multicultural lineup during its Constituency Political Broadcast this evening (July 6). 

PSP’s Sri Nallakaruppan, Taufik Supan, Kala Manickam, Bradley Bowyer and Damien Tay are taking on the People’s Action Party (PAP) in the constituency.

Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam will be defending his turf together with Louis Ng and Faishal Ibrahim, as well as new faces Carrie Tan and Derrick Goh. 

“We are a truly multi-racial slate of candidates and when elected as MPs, it would be a proud moment for Nee Soon as well as Singapore,” Nallakaruppan announced at the start of the broadcast. 

“It will show that we have come of age as a nation after almost 55 years of independence and that we are being identified as Singaporeans rather than being defined by race.” 

Manickam concurred, stating that the party will "reinforce the principles of being Singaporean”, including multiculturalism by way of the country’s ethnic groups coming together as one united people. She added that PSP will also advocate “a fundamental shift from the dominant power to the masses for equity and equality”. 

Tay, the only representative from Singapore’s ethnic majority, similarly called for Nee Soon’s entrustment to serve them in Parliament as a team that represents a diverse and inclusive society. 

On his end, Taufik touched on the issues that plague the Malay community, pledging to find ways to overcome problems such as education, inequality, discrimination and poverty. 

“We want to ensure that if there are jobs available in the market, Singaporeans should be given priority and more stringent measures must be taken to help Singaporeans and the minority community,” he stated. 

PSP has been pretty steadfast in its call for stronger multi-racial representation in the past.

Addressing queries over why he’s fielding many minority candidates, party chief Tan Cheng Bock had said: “Forget about the race, look at the person and assess him. And if you feel that he is capable and that he will look after you, just forget about the race and be proud of the fact that we are now all Singaporeans ready to serve each other.”

In an Ask Me Anything session on Instagram, PSP’s Tanjong Pagar GRC candidate Terence Soon also offered a cheeky response: "I’m ready for a non-Chinese PM."

ilyas@asiaone.com