Tan Cheng Bock personally invites Singaporeans to sign on as polling and counting agents

Progress Singapore Party (PSP) leader Tan Cheng Bock has personally invited Singaporeans to take on the “important” duty of ensuring a properly conducted election process by signing up as election polling and counting agents, in a Facebook post published today (23 Oct).

Last Friday (18 Oct), the PSP put out a call for volunteers to join the party as polling or counting agents. Polling agents are required to be present at polling areas to ensure the smooth election process while counting agents are responsible for counting the votes that pour in at each electoral ward.

Echoing his party’s call on his personal Facebook page, Mr Tan asked volunteers to step forward and highlighted what an important responsibility it is to ensure a properly conduction election process. He appealed:

“Dear fellow Singaporeans. The right to vote is important. You can play a crucial role in ensuring that the electoral process is properly conducted. Be a volunteer and experience the voting and counting process at Polling and Counting centres.

“Volunteers need not be a member of any political party to participate in this process. I would like to warmly invite you to consider volunteering for this. This is an important responsibility that we all should have.”

Dr Tan is the very first ex-ruling party parliamentarian to start his own opposition party in Singapore’s history. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayer Rajah Single Member Constituency (SMC) from 1980 to 2006.

A beloved politician, Dr Tan gained the highest margin of victory for the PAP in his last election as a PAP candidate in 2001, with 88 per cent of votes. During his time with the PAP, he also mentored younger politicians like Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, and Manpower Minister Josephine Teo.

In the coming election, Dr Tan will be clashing with his former party as the leader of the PSP. The PSP’s election preparation efforts, including an islandwide walkabout covering all 29 wards in Singapore that took place late last month, are ongoing as the next GE nears.

“I cannot just base the manner I’m going to fight this election on my old style” – Tan Cheng Bock

PSP focuses on cost of living, healthcare, retirement, and education as election nears