A young Singaporean, who was too young to vote in the latest election, paid a visit to Dr Ang Yong Guan’s clinic with his mother to personally thank him for contesting the 2020 General Election.
Dr Ang is a retired army colonel and noted psychiatrist with decades of medical experience. He served as the Singapore Armed Forces’ Chief Psychiatrist from 1980 to 2003 and now runs a private practice with Paragon Medical.
Dr Ang’s first foray into politics was with the ruling party – he used to help ex-People’s Action Party (PAP) minister George Yeo and was a grassroots leader at Kembangan. But dissatisfaction with the way the PAP was headed, “especially with the high ministerial pay,” led the psychiatrist to join the opposition.
Dr Ang first stood as an opposition candidate in the 2011 General Election, under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) ticket. He was one of the SDP’s star candidates for Holland–Bukit Timah GRC – a ward which was being contested for the very first time in history. The SDP team lost the contest with just below 40 per cent of the vote.
In 2014, Dr Ang left the SDP to become a founding member of the Singaporeans First (SingFirst) party – a party that was formed by his running mate in Holland-Bukit Timah, Mr Tan Jee Say. Mr Tan was elected secretary-general while Dr Ang was made chairman. The pair led a team to contest Tanjong Pagar GRC in the 2015 General Election but lost the contest with about 22 per cent of the vote.
A few months after the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) was formed, Dr Ang decided to leave SingFirst and join the new political party since he felt SingFirst was “inactive” at the time and because he saw the PSP as the party that could propel him into Parliament.
Dr Ang was fielded in Marymount SMC – a new single member ward that was carved out of the larger Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC ahead of the 2020 general election. He faced off with new PAP candidate and Singapore’s first female general, Gan Siow Huang.
It was a close fight and Dr Ang garnered just under 45 per cent of the vote. It was his best result at the polls since he first joined electoral politics nearly a decade ago.
Dr Ang drew widespread support among Singaporeans. Two of his supporters recently went all the way down to his clinic to thank him for contesting the election. Dr Ang shared on Facebook yesterday (30 July) that a mother and son visited his clinic to speak to him and left heartfelt handwritten notes thanking him for contesting the election since was busy attending to a patient.
Dr Ang shared photos of the notes the mother and son left him. The mother, Mrs Ng who signed off as a “grateful resident”, wrote: “Dear Dr Ang, hello and hope you are doing well. My son and I are residents at Bishan and we just wanted to drop by and say hello!
“Thank you for contesting at Marymount SMC and though it didn’t work out this round, we want you to know that you and PSP have our strong support. Thank you for your commitment to this country. We want more people like you! 3 cheers to you and PSP!!!”
Her son, who also signed off as a “grateful resident”, wrote in a separate note, “Dear Dr Ang, I would like to personally thank you for your commitment to fight for a greater democracy in Singapore. Thank you for choosing the road less travelled and for your relentless struggle. Keep fighting! Best of luck for the next GE. Majulah PSP!”
He added: “P.S. I will be able to vote and voice my views actively next GE.”
Dr Ang wrote on Facebook that the gesture sent “ripples” through his heart. He wrote: “A mother and her son came to my clinic this afternoon. I was busy attending to a patient. They took the opportunity to pen a few encouraging words which sent ripples to my heart.
“Thank you Mrs Ng. Please contact me so that I can get in touch with you and your son to say a big Thank You to both of you personally.”
https://www.facebook.com/angyongguan0023/posts/152159583153291?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCKX2hXqLDjDEyGWzdup6yyEDTSXpOxiLifLRMK2AHHZl0Nsfb-lKp4dSikukN0MShmoYzE3dADcFPdNx6e4dMCL8Ux1SV74s-je2S3FH52Lj4MJyPoCaQTisAp3LCrIK0sqbV1NJB7b3L4AdNgwpCYG596YJKagThuT-go7d2wCXHZPiBMrcWeHDWmXcSPlzZzDedf3AivbzPqvzgH7xJeE6izptn5TKUCrQLH81SZ1gMMVSfmM3oTN5AfjGUok608bYLAha9puAIUoYZRS4DU7lyEjWZsNTJhrV1zT7pjHZyss9DPTUF14cqXoogJAdx7eY7YQXg5uHE3iu16YUA&__tn__=-R