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Goh Meng Seng

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Goh Meng Seng
吴明盛
Goh during a rally speech at Tampines Stadium in 2011
2nd Secretary-General of National Solidarity Party
In office
2006–2011
Preceded bySteve Chia
Succeeded byHazel Poa
1st Secretary-General of People's Power Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
2015
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
NationalitySingapore
Political partyPeople's Power Party (2015-present)
Other political
affiliations		National Solidarity Party (2006-2011)
Workers' Party (2006)
EducationNational University of Singapore
OccupationDirector of Social Welfare Organisations, Politician
In this Chinese name, the family name is Goh.

Goh Meng Seng (Chinese: 吴明盛; pinyin: Wú Míngshèng) is a Singaporean politician who is a member of the opposition People's Power Party.

Political career

[edit]

Goh contested in the 2006 general election with the Workers' Party in the Aljunied GRC as one of 5 team members.[1] The team garnered 43.9% of the votes, finished as one of the top three non-ruling party district performers and was eligible for a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) position.

Goh left the Workers' Party (WP) in 2006 after the election due to "some Internet postings which had tarnished the WP's reputation"[2] despite being a member of the central executive committee (CEC) and a member of the "A team" of the Workers' Party.[3] He joined the National Solidarity Party and became its secretary-general.[3] Goh contested in the 2011 general election in the five-man Tampines GRC as team leader against the Mah Bow Tan, receiving 42.78% of the votes. [4] Though his team lost, they improved significantly by 11.29% relative to the Singapore Democratic Alliance team that contested in the same district and finished with 31.49% of the votes against Mah in the 2006 general election. [5]

Goh stepped down from his post as secretary-general of NSP after the 2011 election in June 2011 "for a breather and to take stock of his future", went into partisan political sabbatical to help presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian in his bid for presidency. [6] Goh did not contest for any position in the NSP's 14th central executive committee thereafter.[7] Goh Meng Seng left NSP after the 2011 election.[8]

He was shuttling between Singapore, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia after the 2011 election for his consultancy business, from which he continues his political contribution mostly in the form of Facebook postings of political critiques.[9] In a post, Goh courted controversy by suggesting that NSP was 'exacting revenge' on the Workers Party by contesting for Hougang SMC in the 2012 Hougang by-election. [10]

In May 2015, Goh announced that he was setting-up a new political party called the People's Power Party (PPP) barely a few months before the 2015 election. He became the party leader.[11] The application was approved officially in July 2015.[12] The death of Lee Kuan Yew was cited as one of the reasons for Goh's motivation to set up PPP, saying that without Lee's presence, "there's no one else who has such a strong political morality who can control everyone", and checks and balances can only be achieved with separation of powers among Government Institutions and more robust and diverse representation in Parliament.[12] PPP was founded based on the Democratic Ideology of Dr Sun Yat Sen's Separation of Five Powers.

PPP contested in the 2015 Singaporean general election as the youngest party.[13] It only contested the four-seat Chua Chu Kang GRC. [14] The PPP garnered 23.11% of the valid votes. [15]

Goh contested in his final election in the 2020 Singaporean general election,[16] facing against Tin Pei Ling in the contest for MacPherson SMC,[17] subsequently losing 28.26%-71.74% to Tin.[18] In December 2021, Goh was issued a POFMA for peddling fake news that HIV and COVID-19, two viruses from unrelated families could recombine and for discouraging people from taking the COVID-19 vaccine.[19] On 14 October 2022, Goh was issued a POFMA again for peddling fake news that the SARS-CoV-2 XBB variant causes more severe illness and that the dead are piling up in mortuaries, funeral parlours, and crematoriums.[20]

Education

[edit]

Goh was educated at River Valley High School and Hwa Chong Junior College, before going on to the National University of Singapore where he completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Economics.

References

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  1. ^ "singapore-elections.com: Singapore Election Candidates". Archived from the original on 1 May 2011.
  2. ^ "SINGAPORE: Senior WP member quits over Net fracas". Archived from the original on 12 May 2011.
  3. ^ a b "PPP Secretary-General: I will not support WP anymore". The Online Citizen. 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Singapore Elections Department : 2011 PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS". Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  5. ^ "singapore-elections.com : Parliamentary General Election 2006 - TAMPINES GRC". Archived from the original on 1 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Channel NewsAsia - Goh Meng Seng steps down as NSP chief". Archived from the original on 27 June 2011.
  7. ^ "It's time to move on - Goh Meng Seng (with updates of NSP's new CEC)". The Online Citizen. 26 June 2011. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  8. ^ "NSP's Goh Meng Seng to leave party". sg.news.yahoo.com. 24 November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Interview with Goh Meng Seng former NSP Secretary General : Discusses about changes in Singapore and how it would affect the PAP and the opposition parties in Singapore". 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014.
  10. ^ Koh, Hui Theng (25 March 2012). "Goh Meng Seng's 'revenge' comment draws online bashing". www.asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Straits Times - Opposition veteran Goh Meng Seng applies to set up political party". 19 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  12. ^ a b Loh, Ronald (7 September 2015). "PPP's Goh Meng Seng says Mr Lee Kuan Yew's death part of reason behind founding of party". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  13. ^ hermes (11 October 2015). "Might the other opposition parties merge?". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  14. ^ hermesauto (1 September 2015). "GE 2015: People's Power Party team for Chua Chu Kang GRC revealed". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  15. ^ Meixian, Lee (12 September 2015). "GE2015: PAP wins Chua Chu Kang GRC by wider margin". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  16. ^ hermes (28 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Last GE contest for PPP's Goh Meng Seng". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  17. ^ "GE2020: Goh Meng Seng to take on Tin Pei Ling in MacPherson SMC in People's Power Party's sole bid". CNA. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  18. ^ Lau, Jean (11 July 2020). "GE2020 official results: PAP's Tin Pei Ling retains MacPherson with 71.74% of votes against PPP". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  19. ^ "POFMA correction direction issued to Goh Meng Seng over COVID-19 Omicron variant falsehoods".
  20. ^ "POFMA direction issued to Goh Meng Seng, HardwareZone over misleading article about XBB variant". CNA. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
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