Dr Tan Cheng Bock stands on his conviction and NOT on party loyalty

Read how Dr Tan Cheng Bock stood up against what is right. He stood on his conviction and let conscience be his guide. He was torn between party loyalty and doing what is right. Read some extracts of what he did from this article posted at SMA website.

http://www.sma.org.sg/smj/4004/articles/4004ia5part1.html

I was torn between party loyalty and my strong convictions on the Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP) concept. I believe that those who want to serve must fight for a place in the House. Accountability is important, yet the NMP has no constituents to answer to. I voted against my party in the House and received a warning. This was not the first nor last time that I voiced issues which were considered ‘controversial’. In the debate on Foreign Talent, I asked the government to tone down its repeated messages on the need to draw in foreign talent as they did not go down well with Singaporeans in these difficult economic times.

Perseverance and determination are important to push you to do what you believe in. I fought many years for CPF to be used for tertiary education before it was finally allowed. I convinced the Ministry of National Development (MND) to let Singaporeans park their cars for free in HDB estates on Sundays and public holidays, to promote family togetherness. Till today I still receive warm "thank you’s" from those who remembered. Also, I was overjoyed when the government did away with the monolingual and extended labels for our students.

I have always believed in a multi-racial society, hence I expressed my desire for the twinning of Special Assistance Programme (SAP) Chinese schools with national schools to promote interaction between students of different races. I have not had much success in this but I will continue trying. In the latest parliamentary debate, I was so disturbed by the constant use of the term "Chinese Elite" that I called for the dropping of this divisive label. 1st DPM Brigadier General (BG) Lee Hsien Loong has promised to look into this.

Many friends thought I would be a "one-term MP" after my first frank press conference and maiden speech in Parliament. I had accused the government’s education policy of creating class divisions. Then Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Dr Goh Keng Swee took a cutting of the newspaper headline to the House, slammed the paper down and rebutted point by point all that I had said. I was wounded and speechless. Older MPs advised me to lie low, but I was determined to convince him that the policy was wrong. At the next sitting, I brought a stack of books from my daughter, who was in Primary Three, and put them on the rostrum. I started blasting the ministry on the way the textbooks were written and on how streaming would stratify our society into monolingual, extended and normal Singaporeans. The reply from DPM was less searing but still memorable. I felt better that I had redeemed myself.