Ravi Philemon has explained to his supporters that he chose to join the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) because of its values.
He added that he a longstanding relationship with Mr Chiam See Tong, and his wife Ms Lina Chiam, who now head the SPP.
This is Mr Philemon’s full post on Facebook:
“I have always been a fan of Mr Chiam See Tong, and from the time I was with TOC, have had very good relationship with the Chiams. My personal friendship with Jeannette was one major reason why I eventually decided on another Party than the one headed by the Chiams.
Now together with Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, Osman Sulaiman and Bryan Long, I have decided to start afresh with the Chiams. Not because I have some misgivings about the political party that I have previously been associated with. (With whatever little resources they have and under tight constraints, they are up against a behemoth.) But because the other Party has decided to walk a certain path in trying to defeat the Goliath. Neither is wrong, but one is more innovative than the other and having a preference for change, the innovative approach appeals more to me,
In my opinion, Mrs Lina Chiam has carried herself well since she was appointed as NCMP. She has spoken up on several issues, challenging status-quo – the latest being the Bill on alcohol restrictions – and I can align myself with that.
Values like loyalty to people I trust and causes that I believe in are important to me. Also, even if I may have switched from ‘HTC’ to ‘Samsung’, I still remain within the same ‘Android’ ecosystem. It is not like I have jumped to the ‘iOS’ one.
Mr Chiam is a living legend and I am happy that I now have the opportunity to strengthen his hand.
(Picture from the year 2012, when I had the privilege of celebrating my birthday with the Chiams.)”
51-year-old lawyer, Ms Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss had lost a bid to become NSP president in party polls held in January.
She left along with former council members, which include Ravi Philemon, 46, and Bryan Long, 37, and party member Osman Sulaiman, 39.
So far, all have submitted their applications to the SPP, except for Mr Osman, who says he will do so shortly.
