Party Beginnings:The year was 1954. The place: a packed Victoria Memorial Hall, a name which reminded not a few of the 1,500 present of their British colonial masters.
The event: the birth of a new political party.
In a country on the threshold of nationhood, among a people fermenting with anti-colonialism, the People's Action Party was born.
It was a tumultuous start for the party, fighting for a young country's independence. Its chosen path - not war or revolution - but a collective and irrefutable urge for self-determination. PAP members turned up in short sleeves to show their solidarity with the workers who pledged loyalty to a new vision.
The first key office-holders included a group of English-speaking young men, who had been educated overseas. These were Lee Kuan Yew, who was the party's first secretary-general, Toh Chin Chye, the party's first chairman and S Rajaratnam, who later held key ministerial posts in the Government.
The party rallied postal and telecom workers, unionists, school teachers as well as middle-class men and women. The PAP has a clear goal - to build a new country, born of the people, fired by their action and organised by the party.
Party Philosophy: A Socialist DemocracyAlthough the PAP worked with communists in the early days, with anti-colonialism as their mutual platform, we made it clear that the party had a different set of political values.
Over the years, these values have formed the foundation for the country's key policies. The party's preference has been for their ideas to manifest themselves through their policies, rather than be cast in a theoretical philosophy of manifestos.
The party's multi-racial and multi-religious focus can be seen in the equal treatment which all races - Chinese, Malay, Indians and Eurasians - receive in all areas of public service. This includes equal treatment in education, housing, and health. As a party, they also raised funds to to support community and social groups working on education and health across all racial groups.
Politically, the minorities are assured of proportionate representation in Parliament through the Group Representation Constituency, or GRC system set up in 1988. MPs can be elected under single wards or under GRCs, where a group of MPs are elected as a team. Each team must contain at least one MP who is a member of a minority group.
The party's focus on meritocracy can be seen most clearly in the education system, in which one child is ensured of as many educational opportunities as the next child - regardless of his parents' financial status. This is through the many scholarships and bursaries given out for academic excellence.
Party Progress:On the 45th anniversary of the party in 1999, Mr Goh Chok Tong, Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the party since 1992, said: "Let us not celebrate so much past achievements, but prepare ourselves for challenges ahead...Let us inject our Party with a new vitality and drive.''
The party now has 15,000 members. It now have a Women's Wing (set up in 1989) and
Young PAP (the youth wing, set up in 1986). We continue to operate out of a modest headquarters in Upper Changi, on the outskirts of the city centre.
At the polls the party has been returned to power since Singapore became independent. It has won 10 General Elections and the party's two secretary-generals have been Singapore's two Prime Ministers.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the first PM, set the tone by campaigning on practical issues which have a real impact on people's lives, rather than abstract platforms. The 1963 GE was its toughest, with 46.5 per cent of votes coming to the party. Only Mr Lee and Dr Goh Keng Swee, then Deputy Prime Minister, had clear majorities.
From 1968 to 1980, the PAP held all seats in Parliament, with the people
granting us huge majorities at each GE.
Since 1981, there has been at least one opposition MP, but the party has never lost its large majority position.
Over the years, the party's self-renewal has been systematic and planned.
The 1991 election was based on its manifesto, The Next Lap, which saw the second generation of political leaders such as Mr Goh Chok Tong , taking on a bigger role. In that year, we won 60.97 per cent of the votes.
In 1997, the issue of the upgrading of public housing was a key component of the campaign. Singapore 21 - Make it our best Home was its campaign slogan, and the party won 64.98 per cent of the votes.
In the Nov 2001 General Election, the party won 75.29 per cent of the votes, the party highest margin yet.
Each election, some 20 new candidates are trained and fielded. The party continue to attract good men and women to join them to stand and fight for office. Each generation of leaders builds on the progress of the past to continue our march to a better and brighter future for all Singaporeans.
