Most Valuable Party approved as new political party in Singapore
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Mr Chia Yun Kai said the Most Valuable Party will likely go it alone in the next General Election, instead of forming alliances with other parties.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE - The Most Valuable Party (MVP) is Singapore’s newest political party, having received approval from the authorities eight months after its application was filed.
This brings the total number of registered political parties here to 21.
A notice published in the Government Gazette on the evening of Dec 18 said the party was registered under the Registry of Societies on that same day.
The party was founded by restaurant owner Chia Yun Kai, 32, who joined the political fray earlier in 2025 in the lead-up to the May general election.
Mr Chia told The Straits Times that he had sent in the application in April. Although the party’s official status took some time to materialise, he said he welcomed the move, which would give his party legitimacy.
“The intention all along was to create something official... and now that things are, we welcome more people to join us.”
Mr Chia had made public his intentions to contest East Coast GRC with his own party in the 2025 General Election, but wound up contesting Pasir Ris-Changi GRC under the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA)
The opposition coalition, comprising the Singapore Justice Party (SJP) and Singapore Malay National Organisation, garnered 32.34 per cent of the votes against the PAP.
MVP’s registered address is a unit at Icon Village – a mall in Tanjong Pagar – which houses Mr Chia’s mala eatery.
The Registry of Societies website states that the average processing time under the normal registration process may be two months or more.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which oversees the registry, confirmed that the application was received on April 11. The Writ of Election was issued days later on April 15, with Nomination Day set for April 23.
Responding to queries from ST on the processing time, MHA said the registry evaluates every application carefully.
“(It) must satisfy itself that the proposed society will have proper management and governance, will be used for lawful purposes, and will not undermine Singapore’s national security or interests before approving its registration,” said the ministry.
Mr Chia declined to reveal the current number of party members, as well as their identities.
He added that MVP would likely contest as a standalone party in the next election and “put up a good fight wherever we’ll be at”.
Mr Chia is no longer a member of the SJP, confirmed SDA chief Desmond Lim, as he had submitted his resignation following the May 4 election “to pursue his political ambitions”.
When told of MVP’s status as an official political party, Mr Lim said: “Congratulations and best wishes for his political endeavours!”
Forming a society requires at least 10 founding members, and requires paying an application fee of $300 or $400.
Documents required in the application process include the society’s Constitution, written in English, as well as any letters of approval or support from relevant stakeholders where necessary.
In the case of a political association, membership is restricted to only Singapore citizens, and such groups cannot be affiliated with any organisation outside of Singapore that is considered contrary to the country’s national security or interest.
Over the years, a number of new political parties have been registered, including Red Dot United (RDU) and Singapore United Party (SUP) in 2020, and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) in 2019.
The three newest parties had all contested in the latest election, albeit in losing efforts.
The PSP burst onto the scene in 2020, doing well enough in West Coast GRC to secure two Non-Constituency MP spots as the best losers in that election.
It struggled to repeat its showing in 2025 and saw its overall vote share decrease.
In May, RDU fielded the second-highest number of opposition candidates,
The SUP, formed after the 2020 election, contested only Ang Mo Kio GRC at the recent polls. It garnered just over 10 per cent of the vote, and its five candidates lost their election deposit.
