Exercise to refresh PAP not undertaken because of GE, says Desmond Lee

SINGAPORE – The People’s Action Party wants to recruit more widely as Singapore becomes more diverse, and it hopes to attract activists and even potential candidates who come from a broader cross-section of Singapore, said PAP assistant secretary-general Desmond Lee about the move to refresh the party.

The Refresh PAP exercise was also driven by the need to adapt to a fast-changing environment, and not sparked by the upcoming general election, he added.

Mr Lee was responding to questions from journalists about whether the ruling party’s exercise to refresh itself was undertaken to prepare for the upcoming general election, due by November 2025.

The Refresh PAP exercise, which took place over the past six months, culminated in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s promise at

an event on June 8 for the party to engage more widely and communicate better with Singaporeans.

“The preparation to win the hearts and minds of Singaporeans, to persuade them of the many things that we need to do under Forward Singapore, persuading them about the trade-offs that we need to address in order to put Singapore in a sustainable, forward-looking posture are things that are done the very day after the last GE,” Mr Lee told reporters at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre. “It’s not that this is the beginning of the process.”

Instead, the exercise is part of the party’s efforts to better communicate with Singaporeans, and also to better organise itself internally, “to be able to embrace and encompass a greater diversity of aspirations, goals and needs within this broader tent of the PAP”.

This is because greater diversity means not only opportunity for progress but also the potential for new fault lines as well as old ones to surface, for which both the Government and the party must hone their skills to converse and help the people to converge on a decision with give and take, he said.

Internally, this means bringing “more diverse voices into the party as activists and certainly... to look out for people who can serve Singaporeans in different capacities, including, if appropriate, as candidates”, said Mr Lee.

Externally, the party is also looking to better meet the concerns of Singaporeans, and a major move to this end is the formation of two new groups within the party focused on mental health and climate action.

Mr Lee said these two issues came to the fore during the Refresh PAP exercise, and also over the years in conversations with activists and Singaporeans.

While the party’s MPs have already been championing causes in these two areas, the new groups, to be set up in the coming months, will allow PAP to better focus its efforts, he said.

Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Health Janil Puthucheary, who will chair the mental health group, said the group is looking to bring together all those in different domains, whether it is the health, social, or community space, and to consult widely with those with expertise so that “what we push for is informed by good science”.

West Coast GRC MP Rachel Ong, who will co-chair the group, said one of the things it is looking at is lowering the age of consent to 18 for those who need mental health services, as well as more support for young people between the ages of 14 and 16.

The group is also looking into how to ensure equitable insurance coverage, as those diagnosed with mental health issues are typically not covered by insurance.

Ultimately, the PAP hopes to make common cause with those who care about these issues to inform its policy work and so that it makes better policies, said Mr Lee.

The party’s refreshing comes amid the fourth-generation political team’s ongoing work to enact the plans in

its Forward Singapore exercise,

which seeks to renew the social compact as society becomes more diverse and the external environment more challenging.

To accomplish this, the PAP must ensure that the party itself is future-ready, energised and better able to organise itself and communicate with Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.

A common consensus that has emerged through this engagement with 2,300 activists, friends and partners is also a desire for the PAP to remain a pan-national movement which unites Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.

“We don’t cater to specific demographic groups, we don’t cater to specific ethnic groups,” he said.

“We want to cater to all Singaporeans, and we want to continue to be seen by Singaporeans and be felt by Singaporeans as a pan-national movement, where all Singaporeans can get represented, and their interests are addressed.”