At the recent People's Action Party (PAP) rally held in December 2014, the PAP amended its constitution for the first time in 32 years. Below are the new PAP Party objectives (Article II of its Constitution):
(a) To preserve, protect and defend the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Singapore (no changes);
(b) To safeguard the freedom, and advance the well-being, of Singaporeans through representative and democratic government (no changes);
(c) To uphold a multi-racial and multi-religious society, where people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs live harmoniously together as fellow citizens, and deepen our national identity and commitment to Singapore (slight changes);
(d) To sustain a vibrant economy which creates good jobs and better lives for all, and enables every Singaporean to achieve their full potential;
(e) To build a fair and just society, which encourages individual effort and family responsibility, while ensuring community and government support for the vulnerable and less fortunate;
(f) To strengthen an open and compassionate meritocracy, with opportunities for Singaporeans to develop skills in diverse fields, active support for those who start off with less, and ladders to success at every stage of life;
(g) To develop a democracy of deeds, where citizenship embodies both rights and duties, and nurtures a sense of collective responsibility and community action;
(h) To represent and serve all Singaporeans responsively and responsibly, attentive to immediate concerns, focused on long-term challenges and opportunities, and governing with integrity and honesty.
The change in constitution indeed reflects the “left-of-centre” shift by the PAP in how it views the Singapore society, something that DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam alluded to in a Straits Times interview last year.
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