Andrew Loh
Mr Teo Ser Luck has been a very busy man. After winning in the 2006 General Elections as part of the People’s Action Party’s team for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, he was immediately appointed Parliamentary Secretary (Parl Sec) for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). He was then 37-years old.
Since then, his star has been shining – and rising.
In 2008, he was appointed Chairman of the Young PAP (YP), the ruling party’s youth wing, replacing his MCYS minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who had held that post. In that same year, he was promoted to Senior Parliamentary Secretary for MCYS.
In the Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle in March this year, Mr Teo was given the position of Mayor for North East Community Development Council, taking over from veteran PAP MP, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed. The portfolio of Parl Sec for the Ministry of Transport was added to Mr Teo’s basket.
Mr Teo is also the Chairman of the National Youth Council and is the adviser to the Asian Youth Games 2009 and Youth Olympic Games 2010 committees. He is widely credited for Singapore’s successful bid for the YOG 2010 and for being involved in the F1 bid as well. As Chairman of the Sporting Culture Committee (SCC), Mr Teo has also been put in charge of overseeing the $650 million Sports Hub project, which would be the Republic’s largest sports and leisure development and be situated on a 35-ha site on the outskirts of the business district.
The former General Manager of DHL Express Singapore was selected as a Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum and Outstanding Young Alumni by his alma mater, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.
Politics aside, Mr Teo founded the Triathlon Family Club, an online triathlon community, and the Safe Cycling Taskforce, an advocacy group for the safety of cyclists.
His impressive resume makes one wonder how he finds time to perform his MP duties – and to find time for his family.
Since becoming the Chairman of Young PAP, he has been very active in wanting to canvass views and provide platforms for younger Singaporeans to express themselves. Mr Teo, who attained his Bachelor of Accountancy in 1992 from NTU, has now focused his energy on engaging youths – online.
To achieve this, the Young PAP has revamped its website to facilitate more interaction and information flow. But the launch of the new site ran into a “slight miscalculation” and had to be postponed. This was because of a video which the YP had created and which was supposed to be part of the launch. It had not been cleared by the Media Development Authority (MDA). All films created in Singapore have to be approved by the MDA before they’re permitted to be screened. Apparently, the YP did not know this.
Hiccups aside, Mr Teo and the YP are to be applauded, despite skepticism of the sincerity of their aims from some quarters. It is good to see members of the ruling party reaching out to Singaporeans, nonetheless, and this can only augur well for political engagement.
Having said that, however, there are questions about whether the ruling party and its youth branch are ready for robust engagements. Already, one criticism is directed at Mr Teo’s comment that views in the P65 blog, which now has a new crew of eight writers, “are to steer clear of supporting a political party.”
“The p65 blog is to allow other young people to share their views,” Mr Teo said, “which are non-partisan, neutral and can be constructive criticism of policies.” One wonders how a blog, which was started after the 2006 General Elections and which writers were 12 PAP MPs, and launched with much media publicity then, could be “non-partisan” and “neutral”.
One of the new writers, Nazir (his full name was not provided on the blog), is a committee member of the Young NTUC. Khartini Khalid helps out at Meet The People Sessions, while not much is known about Fredric Fanthome, Julian Hong, or Vikram Nair.
Even its two editors are mysterious – their names are not listed on the blog site and little is known about their backgrounds. One of the two editors of the site, Mr Tang Ho Wan, told Today that none of the eight writers are “affiliated to the Young PAP”. Given how closely organizations such as the NTUC is affiliated to the ruling party, Mr Tang’s words are not entirely reassuring.
It would be good if the site could provide more information on its members.
Perhaps what the newly-revamped P65 blog hopes to do is similar to the blog site by the Workers’ Party supporters, called The Hammersphere. Although The Hammersphere does not claim to be non-partisan – declaring itself “a blog for supporters of The Workers’ Party of Singapore” – it nonetheless hopes to be a “gathering place for everyone who supports the Workers’ Party”. The blog was created in March 2007 but has been rather dormant for the most part since. Its last entry was in April this year.
The other political party which has a site created by its supporters is the Singapore Democratic Party. Called “Friends of SDP”, it however is not a blog but a Facebook group. The group currently has 322 members and meet up regularly for chats and discussions.
It looks like the race is on for the hearts and minds of young Singaporeans. All these online initiatives by the political parties and their supporters bring a breath of fresh air to the PAP-dominated mainstream.
Although the views online may have been perceived as being mostly anti-PAP (especially on socio-political blogs and forums), one would hope that members of the establishment would be more robust in engaging netizens – unlike the government portal REACH, which prefers to stay in its own corner.
Another hope, perhaps, is for the engagement to go further than being “safe”, as Mr Teo insinuated in his remarks about such online endeavours having to be “non-partisan” and “neutral”.
As the Prime Minister said in his swearing-in speech in 2004:
“We should have the confidence to engage in robust debate, so as to understand our problems, conceive fresh solutions, and open up new spaces.” (MFA)
There is nothing wrong in being partisan.
As for Mr Teo himself, he is to be congratulated for the new initiatives he has come up with as Chairman of the Young PAP to engage younger Singaporeans. And in this too he looks to have surpassed his predecessor, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
As for the success of the newly-constructed YP website and the P65 blog, it is left to be seen.
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Nah .. I don’t think it’s going to take off. How do you even discuss HDB, CPF, GIC, TH, ERP, COE, etc ..without being politcal?
Most likely, their going to blog the same old ..happy crappy fun blogs
So how is he related to the Lee’s ah? We all know that this type of super duper rise are reserved for Lee’s because only the family has the capability for such tremendous caliber… as MM has said.
Politics aside, Mr Teo founded the Triathlon Family Club, an online triathlon community, and the Safe Cycling Taskforce, an advocacy group for the safety of cyclists.
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I guess we must be extremely worried because cyclists groups are clearly not “politics aside”, as the well known saying goes
“You may be well-behaving, but there may be other people whom you come across when you cycle who may stop you, may want to debate with you and that may attract a crowd, and therefore will result in problems the police want to avoid.”
Can anyone recall if Teo S L spoke up for lesser mortals in parliament, in public ? And of course doing it with passion and conviction.
If not, he is just another stooge with no independent thoughts. Definitely another poor choice by his PAP masters as a future political leader.
Frankly, it is a forgone conclusion for Singapore’s future, because pathetic PAP leadership cannot be entrusted to select inspiring leaders for the future.
I just visited the so call revamped P65 website. I don’t like it compare to this web page. Easy to read and straight forward. Their’s too chim for me to read and go into it. Only for them!!!
“Since becoming the Chairman of Young PAP, he has been very active in wanting to canvass views and provide platforms for younger Singaporeans to express themselves.”
==========================
The above could not be further from the truth. The p65 blog was a BIG flop. Now he is getting others to do the blogging for him and his fellow MPs!!!
His replies to comments from netizens to his once-in-a-blue-moon blog postings reveal that he is highly intolerant of dissenting views.
The Asian Youth Games which he helped organised was also a failure.
He tries too hard to talk like LHL and LKY. I don’t see any special talent in him. If he is the sort of leaders S’poreans are going to get….then we are in BIG trouble!!!
Teo Ser Luck seems to be the latest rising star of the P65 cohort.
He may even be the top few ministers in time to come.
He is also one of the youngest MPs and our PM Lee has said that he is grooming someone in his 30s to be the enxt PM!
Being given the mayor post is crucial here as he will be tested of administrative and operational ground level matters as CDCs deal mainly with problems arising from the ground.
Hopefully, he will not change like Vivian and George who came on early strongly but faltered in the end stage.
“His impressive resume makes one wonder how he finds time to perform his MP duties – and to find time for his family”.
All this shows is the complete dearth of talent/capable people to fill these varied positions. It is not a credit to Mr Teo but a discredit to the ruling party. They are obviously unable to find other people below 40 to do these different jobs.
When you stretch a person so much, something has to give: either his health, quality family time or, more likely, the quality of his work. How can he possibly do justice to so many positions?
It will only leave a good impression on me if he allows healthy debate to transpire. Alternative and dissenting views should be sought and analyze and the public should be educated why these views were not taken by the government. We also need proofs that existing policies has worked. P65 or Reach should be close down. The PAP are free to visit TOC anytime they want to read about the alternative viewpoints. In real democracy, we will always have different views and approaches to certain issues. Now is not the time to be indecisive. We have to decide whether this current government is relevant in the future. They had done well in the last 40 years. It’s time we move to the next lap and be the great nation we were destined to become.
It will only leave a good impression on me if he allows healthy debate to transpire. Alternative and dissenting views should be sought and analyze and the public should be educated why these views were not taken by the government. We also need proofs that existing policies has worked. P65 or Reach should be close down. The PAP are free to visit TOC anytime they want to read about the alternative viewpoints. In real democracy, we will always have different views and approaches to certain issues. Now is not the time to be indecisive. We have to decide whether this current government is relevant in the future. They had done well in the last 40 years. It’s time we move to the next lap and be the great nation we were destined to become.
BTW I love your blog!
sorry…he’s just a poster boy for the incumbent government…trying hard to be a teacher’s pet! His only trick in the bag…alway gives politically correct replies…stay clear from controversies! No fire in the belly!
TSL is a Hum-bug!!!!!!! Period!
blackfeline,
Totally agree with you on your assessment of Teo. He is just a pretty face mascott of PAP….nothing more
well ronin…dont u think it’s great the old P65 is now defunct(ed)? Let’s knock them off for spewing rubbish!
i first came across him in election speeches, he was new candidate in the last election. he stood out not because of anything but he was very crude with his rebuttals on oppositions and after his speeches, he was in frenzy and kept shouting “PAP No. 1, Pap No. 1″ non stop in front of PM, SM and ministers. I was irked by his non stop shouting… some how i think this man will go far, not because of anything, he really sucks very hard.
what they are looking for are yes men who would bark for them and TSL had shown he could bark very hard and well in front of management (his masters).
the guy i really admire, does not resort to barking is our finance minister but of course he would never be the PM. he is quite talented, most of the budgets all done by him and in the past PM delivered his work in budget speeches.
When khaw came, he said he is buddhist and doing meditation etc.. painting himself as compassionate etc but then later, he turned the guns on citizens by removing subsidies, raising medical insurance and implementing means testing.
what this hybrid regime needs is YES-MEN. if you are NOT YES-MAN, you are relegated to benches and slowly shipped out. As you can see, a few who had voiced and fought hard for citizens are relegated, and by the election, out of sight. You can ask me, I can name him but what for…
TSL to me, is an ambitious man trying to climb, anyway… he served 1 term already, he can be living off his $3M dollar pension after. it is a win win for anyone, even if he does not become the next PM. but he could end up as DPM and just echoing YES YES YES and No 1 No 1 No 1.
It’s kind of funny.
When they say they want to engage the public in health debates, then why is it that not a single PAP Minister or MP or member has dared to participate directly in public forums that are critical of the Govt using their real names
Is it not that they don’t even have the guts & substance to venture into unknown territory but rather remain within the safe confines of their own blogs controlled by themselves ? Do they not see the real need to defend themselves robustly instead of only knowing to hide behind the Shit Times in manipulating public opinion ?
@ 15) , thanks for sharing your views of Teo S L.
I agree with those who view him as merely a poster boy. But now I realise he can also bark the loudest …..LOL
One thing for sure, if by chance the loudest barking dog is fielded in a One on One at the next GE, he will be wagging his tail and licking instead…..
Chee SJ can’t engage even one Teo Ser Luck. Chee should go out of business a long time ago.
Ok, maybe Dr Chee is not as talented as Teo but I would never trust one who sucks up, in fact I despise such a person. This type of people would sell his own mum off for the title and the money.
“Chee SJ can’t engage even one Teo Ser Luck. Chee should go out of business a long time ago.”
You must be kidding me… P65 blog which previously manned by MP, NMP already go out of business and now replaced by Dr FeelGood blog run by some unknown specially-selected peanuts. At least SDP site still standing and updating.
Making use of other countries’s plight to praise Singapore (of course, it is fact praising the PAP, not that we stupid). The below sound familar ?
“As national day draws closer, I am once again reminded of how blessed I have been to be able to enjoy the privilege of being born and bred in Singapore (:”
I expecting in no time, they are able to rival those blogs of North Korea which specialise in praising their leader and writing how wonderful and utopia life under the dynasty.
No matter how the Straits Times tries to spin , p.65 blog has been an utter failure. failure to connect , failure to defend their views, failure to be a blog. Epic fail. This is the kind of ‘p65 MPs’ we have. LOL!
Dear Forummers
How can one not “suck” to advance in his/her political career? Even GLCs and TLCs are the same.
When you have nothing to show, the only thing to do is to “suck”.
That is why the unkempt Union Chief some time ago told us the story of the “mouse that barks”. Now I realise who he was referring to. LOL.
17) well if you dont believe, check the last election vidoes and you would see TSL shouting “PAP No 1″ continuously after his speeches. And you can see now he is being rewarded for his doyalty.
What i am really interested is to find out how would Mr Teo perform if he DEBATE with Politicians like ANY of our Opposition leaders. I mean raw , impromptu kind of solid intellectually stimulating rebuttals and even I welcome their PERSONAL opinions if they so wish to share with the electorate.
I must say i have a lot of confidence Mr Teo will do well (afterall he is considered by the layman as creme dela creme), but thinking is not as solid as seeing which is the believing.
so, I put this on my wish list for christmas. Mr Teo, I am your fan. Neutrally , diplomatically speaking, Opposition leaders like KJ, Low, Sylvia, Dr Chee etc are also my idols.
May there be live debates for all to assess in public, spontaneous and impromptu stylo.
peace
Ben
Is not doyalty is dogyalty. Yeah.
As long as they give dog food, dog bark and wag its tail, is a good dog yeah.
1) ErniesUrn on August 12th, 2009 1.32 pm
“Nah .. I don’t think it’s going to take off. How do you even discuss HDB, CPF, GIC, TH, ERP, COE, etc ..without being politcal?”
I have a question with respect to the above view.
Erm, is it TECHNICALLY true that anything can be political issue be it
educational, scientific, religious and homologious?
y / n ?
Our politicians debating? Impossible…
Okay it is not fair to compare our politicians with the likes of Obama, but even Ah Bian from Taiwan speaks better than most of ours.
It gets worse when I think of Nathan, I cringe…how does he project a good image of SG during his foreign visits. Surely we can do better….right?
I mean Nathan is supposed to have veto powers against Ho Ching’s reappointment. But did he say anything? So much for TOTAL defence’s economic defence.
President Ong, there’s really a politician who speaks and cares. My respects to him.
“Politics aside, Mr Teo founded the Triathlon Family Club, an online triathlon community, and the Safe Cycling Taskforce, an advocacy group for the safety of cyclists.”
Two of the greatest wayangs…. so he is responsible for all the crappy signs in coastal road, mandai, lck, west coast and a couple of other places. Crap signs.
Recently he went ot Desaru Triathlon to show face with his wife.
Where is SCTF (Safe Cycling Task Force) now????
“Chee SJ can’t engage even one Teo Ser Luck.”
===============================
Singaporekia,
Are you sure or not. Teo can’t debate one on one. Dr Chee would have taken him to the cleaners any time!!!
Julian Hong is an undergraduate at the University of Manchester.
> In the words of a young S’pore Netizen:
Teo Ser LUCK is just trying out his LUCK in Singapore Politics!
> In the words of Phua Chu Kang:
Don’t pray pray…..
Some netizens say, from his surname Teo, he could well be related to DPM Teo Chee Hean (LHL’s army buddy and future S’pore PM?) — as Teo Chee Hean was PAP Talent Scout during 2006 General Election when Teo Ser Luck was first introduced as PAP Candidate.
Hence, very easy to persuade a relative (rather than a stranger) to join the PAP Political Elite. All in the FamiLEE !!!
> As Junior Sports Minister, Teo Ser Luck should be judged by the following:
(a) Dragon Boat Paddlers Drowning Fiasco ( 5 young S’poreans lost their lives)
(b) Lee Bee Wah Ping-Pong Hoo-Haa Hullabaloo.
(c) Asian Youth Games Poor Spectator Turn-Out Fiasco.
(d) Next Year’s Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore — any cock-ups, screw-ups, foul-ups ???
All I have to say is a politician has to show the traits and characteristics of a politician.
Politicians have strong ability to debate.
Lets see…..
33) i dont think they would hold a public debate. all their policies are aimed at raising cost of living and taking care of themselves, would they allow them to be questioned in debates? it is like opening a can of worms ha ha ha
Come on fellas, Teo Ser Luck is ok.
He has kept away from the controversal stuff and worked hard on what he is good at. Don’t slam him just because he is a part of the PAP.
I know him and he is really a decent guy.
There’s a saying “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” Do you think Teo Ser Luck has placed his feet in the right place?
HaHaHa, Teo Ser luck a decent guy ?
Heard of this saying, ” birds of a feather, flock together “.
And is Teo Ser Luck serving the nation or his political masters ?
Sorry, I wasn’t following up on him, for CPF Life, Temasek & GIC losses, etc…. he did/say anything about those?
Did he supports those because he must tow party line, poor him…. must be hard on him to tow the party line (For his supporter, I guess it will be the same drama on “I will fight for the minorities when the “time” is right?”, etc, etc.)
Oh, I have take the liberty to find the definition of hypocrite, as follows:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypocrite
hyp*o*crite [hip-uh-krit]
–noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
27) Charles Chee of the DC on August 12th, 2009 10.12 pm
Yup.yes. yeah
Wasn’t he there when the Dragon Boat boys drowned?
But, not a word from him! Being shielded because the party is preparing him for ‘bigger’ things?
35) Mic O mic TSL maybe a decent guy but he was so hungry for power that he would chant PAP No 1 non stop in front of SM, PM and those ministers to get his top flight into the ministry.
Did you watch movies? All the decent guys because of the hunger for glory would turn evil. And with our autocractic regime, he would be forced to be a barking human. and carry out orders from his masters.
Would he dare to fight for citizens? Come on.. give me a break, i am sure you saw those movies and the endings. And you expect TSL to voice and fight for us? ha ha ha you are really a joke.
This TSL joins my cycling group sometimes. Super fit, finished 4 Ironman races. Humble guy. One thing changed my impression. When he rides, he takes care of others not like want to show off . Whatever freaking thing we say he listen, explain and just do his thing. Maybe I don’t like others or papee, but I would back TSL. Respect him because he has done a lot and doesn’t pass judgement
“This TSL joins my cycling group sometimes. Super fit, finished 4 Ironman races. Humble guy. One thing changed my impression. When he rides, he takes care of others not like want to show off . Whatever freaking thing we say he listen, explain and just do his thing. Maybe I don’t like others or papee, but I would back TSL. Respect him because he has done a lot and doesn’t pass judgement”
i have no doubt he may be a wonderful person in life.
unfortunately pap has made it imposible to vote based on the person instead of the party.
if i hate the policies but respect the mp, i still have to vote against the ruling party because history has proven that no amount of internal ‘debate’ have any impact.
i think MP Teo will burn out sooner or later if he take on all these activities wholeheartedly. But it is value for money. Wander if the rest of the cabinet are all multi-tasked liked him.
Now I can believe LSS abt 10 people doing the work of 12…..but does MP Teo actually do the work or do the PAs do all the work?
@ 42) , thanks for sharing your insider knowledge of Teo Ser Luck.
On a personal level to you, he has shown to be helpful, non judgemental, etc, etc.
Let’s look at the national level, since he is Mayor, MP, Perm Sec, etc, etc.
I have several questions for Teo S L which you can convey to him, however one will do for the moment.
Where does Teo S L stand in the event of a freak elections result not in the PAP’s favour and one old fart decides to send in the army ? Please ask him to elaborate.
As I always say, “the fact that you’re busy shows that you’re in business!” haha
The fact that he’s been engaged in many events, activities and portfolios probably explains why he’s been promoted so fast at such a young age. It’s probably also why he’s the chairman of the PAP youths. Youths definitely need a young and energetic leader, so it’s no wonder why he’s been chosen for the job.
43) anonymous TSL maybe a humble guy but when it comes to power and wealth, he can do very different thing. he will still bark yes yes yes.
again you did not watch movies, for power and wealth, a humble guy would bend and bark like a dog if required.
sorry mate… i saw him barking and he looks to be one.
Anybody like this has no backbone, and this is last characteriestic Spore wants if it seriously wants to progress.
49) But Singapore has 82 of that…. and we are progressing despite massive losses.
But who says a humble guy cannot be a YES DOG? Whats the logic?