Tin Pei Ling
Encyclopedia
Tin Pei Ling is a Chinese Singaporean who is one of five Singapore
People's Action Party
(PAP) Members of Parliament for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency
. She is in charge of the MacPherson
ward.
Besides being the youngest MP in Parliament, she was also the PAP's youngest candidate in the Singapore general election, 2011. She is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Ulu Pandan Youth Executive Committee for the Young PAP (YPAP), the PAP's youth wing, and a member of the Community Development Welfare Fund Committee.
She is married to Ng How Yue, the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.
alongside former prime minister Goh Chok Tong
among others. Having been a member of the Ulu Pandan branch of the Young PAP for 7 years, she was fielded by the PAP as a candidate to attract the "unpredictable" youth vote through social networking sites.
On election day, the PAP took Marine Parade GRC with 56.65% of the votes, defeating National Solidarity Party's team led by Cheo Chai Chen Goh Chok Tong admitted after election that Tin Pei Ling's youth and negative image perceived by the public was a "factor" for the People's Action Party's weaker performance this elecion compared to their 72.9% win in 1992.
On 1 June 2011, she announced on her Facebook
account that she had resigned from her business consultant job in Ernst & Young
, where she had worked for 4 years. She said the decision was made in order to focus on her responsibilities as full time MP in her MacPherson ward and the Marine Parade GRC.
A widely-circulated Facebook photo of her "act cute" pose with a Kate Spade
-branded gift from her husband, also led to widespread accusations online of ignorance, materialism and privilege. When asked if there was a policy she would change, she replied that there were no policy that she felt strongly against. When asked what her "greatest regret" was, she said it was not having brought her (still living) parents to Universal Studios Singapore
.
Some Singaporeans were concerned that as an "undeserving [candidate]," she had a high chance of being elected "not on [her] own merit, but rather on the back of established MPs" since the 5-member PAP team would be voted in or rejected as a group under Singapore's Group Representative Constituency system.
The public's online hostility towards her was so great that her team comrade Goh Chok Tong defended about his team member in the press. He said he had taken Tin Pei Ling in when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
had offered her to be fielded as a candidate in his GRC. He had accepted her as he did not think Tin Pei Ling was a weak candidate. He dismissed the online criticisms as "distortion" and even though "some sound bites of her which pitted her as a rather light-weight person", it was just "a superficial view". He still believed that she "would work very hard", "[could] reach out to the young, and the not so young," that he "would like her to do more to help the old people in MacPherson," and that she would become "a good MP in due course".
on 6 May stating Tin Pei Ling had violated the state-mandated cooling-off period 24 hours before polls by posting a Facebook comment on Seah crying during her walkabout. When questioned, Tin replied that one of her administrators, Denise He, had posted the comment under her account and that Denise had meant to post in her own capacity from her phone, but had forgotten to log out of Tin's account. The NSP team was advised by the Elections Department to file a police report before the Elections Department could investigate. Investigators for independent Singaporean news blog Temasek Review
noted that according to Tin Pei Ling's publicly available nomination forms on the Election Departments website, Tin Pei Ling was listed as the sole approved moderator/administrator of her Facebook profile. The Singapore Police have confirmed that a police report has been lodged against her. Under the Singapore Parliamentary Elections Act, canvassing on Polling Day and Cooling Off Day is prohibited and the offence carries a fine or imprisonment or both.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
(PAP) Members of Parliament for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency
Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency
Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency is a six-member Group Representation Constituency located in the central, eastern and north-eastern areas of Singapore. The constituency consists of a section of Bedok, Chai Chee, Geylang, Kaki Bukit, Kallang, Kembangan, Marine Parade, Mountbatten,...
. She is in charge of the MacPherson
Macpherson
MacPherson or Macpherson can refer to:*Clan Macpherson, a Scottish clan*MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co.*MacPherson strut, a car suspension system*MacPherson, Singapore*Macpherson Stadium -In sports:...
ward.
Besides being the youngest MP in Parliament, she was also the PAP's youngest candidate in the Singapore general election, 2011. She is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Ulu Pandan Youth Executive Committee for the Young PAP (YPAP), the PAP's youth wing, and a member of the Community Development Welfare Fund Committee.
She is married to Ng How Yue, the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Grassroots background
Prior to the formation of the 17th Young PAP Executive Committee marked by the 2011 elections, she was formerly assistant treasurer for YoungPAP (YPAP) and a representative for the Ulu Pandan branch.Nomination and election as MP
In the 2011 general election, Tin was selected as a candidate for the Marine Parade GRCMarine Parade Group Representation Constituency
Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency is a six-member Group Representation Constituency located in the central, eastern and north-eastern areas of Singapore. The constituency consists of a section of Bedok, Chai Chee, Geylang, Kaki Bukit, Kallang, Kembangan, Marine Parade, Mountbatten,...
alongside former prime minister Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...
among others. Having been a member of the Ulu Pandan branch of the Young PAP for 7 years, she was fielded by the PAP as a candidate to attract the "unpredictable" youth vote through social networking sites.
On election day, the PAP took Marine Parade GRC with 56.65% of the votes, defeating National Solidarity Party's team led by Cheo Chai Chen Goh Chok Tong admitted after election that Tin Pei Ling's youth and negative image perceived by the public was a "factor" for the People's Action Party's weaker performance this elecion compared to their 72.9% win in 1992.
On 1 June 2011, she announced on her Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
account that she had resigned from her business consultant job in Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
, where she had worked for 4 years. She said the decision was made in order to focus on her responsibilities as full time MP in her MacPherson ward and the Marine Parade GRC.
Online backlash
Her selection as a candidate for parliament in 2011 resulted in a large online backlash, especially amongst young Singaporeans. Throughout the campaign, Tin Pei Ling garnered negative attention due to her perceived immaturity to become an MP, and allusions were also raised as to how her husband's position had opened doors for her into politics.A widely-circulated Facebook photo of her "act cute" pose with a Kate Spade
Kate Spade
Kate Brosnahan Spade is the co-founder and namesake of the designer brand, Kate Spade New York .- Early life and beginnings :...
-branded gift from her husband, also led to widespread accusations online of ignorance, materialism and privilege. When asked if there was a policy she would change, she replied that there were no policy that she felt strongly against. When asked what her "greatest regret" was, she said it was not having brought her (still living) parents to Universal Studios Singapore
Universal Studios Singapore
Universal Studios Singapore is a theme park located within Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island, Singapore. It was a key component of Genting's bid for the right to build Singapore's second integrated resort. On 8 December 2006, the Singapore government announced that the consortium had won the...
.
Some Singaporeans were concerned that as an "undeserving [candidate]," she had a high chance of being elected "not on [her] own merit, but rather on the back of established MPs" since the 5-member PAP team would be voted in or rejected as a group under Singapore's Group Representative Constituency system.
The public's online hostility towards her was so great that her team comrade Goh Chok Tong defended about his team member in the press. He said he had taken Tin Pei Ling in when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
had offered her to be fielded as a candidate in his GRC. He had accepted her as he did not think Tin Pei Ling was a weak candidate. He dismissed the online criticisms as "distortion" and even though "some sound bites of her which pitted her as a rather light-weight person", it was just "a superficial view". He still believed that she "would work very hard", "[could] reach out to the young, and the not so young," that he "would like her to do more to help the old people in MacPherson," and that she would become "a good MP in due course".
Cooling-off day controversy
Nicole Seah from NSP team in Marine Parade GRC filed a complaint to the Elections DepartmentElections Department
The Elections Department is a department of the government of Singapore that oversees the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections and presidential elections. It sees that elections are fairly carried out and has a supervisory role to safeguard against electoral fraud...
on 6 May stating Tin Pei Ling had violated the state-mandated cooling-off period 24 hours before polls by posting a Facebook comment on Seah crying during her walkabout. When questioned, Tin replied that one of her administrators, Denise He, had posted the comment under her account and that Denise had meant to post in her own capacity from her phone, but had forgotten to log out of Tin's account. The NSP team was advised by the Elections Department to file a police report before the Elections Department could investigate. Investigators for independent Singaporean news blog Temasek Review
Temasek Review
The Temasek Review Emeritus was a socio-political blog and one of the alternative media that emerged in Singapore in the 2000s. Though it declared itself to be neither "pro-Opposition" or "pro-Government", the Malaysian newspaper The Star recognised it to have Opposition sympathies...
noted that according to Tin Pei Ling's publicly available nomination forms on the Election Departments website, Tin Pei Ling was listed as the sole approved moderator/administrator of her Facebook profile. The Singapore Police have confirmed that a police report has been lodged against her. Under the Singapore Parliamentary Elections Act, canvassing on Polling Day and Cooling Off Day is prohibited and the offence carries a fine or imprisonment or both.