A mayor in #Singapore earns S$660,000 per year, on top of a S$192,000/year MP’s salary/allowance. Even my most politically switched-on friends cannot tell me clearly what a mayor actually *does* these days.
For those who have expressed surprise about us having mayors at all, yes, we do indeed have mayors. Five of them: cdc.org.sg/office-of-the-… 
Mayors are heads of the Community Development Council, which are part of the People's Association (a statutory board). The idea is that CDCs organise grassroots and community initiatives, do welfare work, etc. pa.gov.sg/our-network/co…
But with the Ministry of Social and Family Development setting up Family Service Centres and Social Service Offices and continuing to integrate the way social services are delivered, there are questions as to whether there's too much overlap.
Okay, since I'm procrastinating, let's pivot to other #Singapore-related mayor talk...
Long long time ago (but not really that long lah, SG not that old) there used to be a City Council of Singapore, responsible for providing water, electricity, gas, roads, street lamps, etc.
Long long time ago (but not really that long lah, SG not that old) there used to be a City Council of Singapore, responsible for providing water, electricity, gas, roads, street lamps, etc.
1957 was the first year in which the City Council was fully elected. These were the results, as reported by The Straits Times on 22 December 1957: eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Dig…
The mayor elected in 1957 was Ong Eng Guan, then the treasurer of the PAP. Ong ran for City Council in Hong Lim and crushed the competition: out of 4,790 votes, he got 3,918 to his Liberal Socialist opponent's 810.
Ong was born in Malacca but grew up in Batu Pahat in Johor. He went to university in Melbourne, Australia, then came to #Singapore. He was an accountant who was fluent in English, Hokkien, Mandarin, and Malay. He became mayor at the age of 32.
*Becoming* mayor was not without drama. On 23 December 1957, Ong Eng Guan went to City Hall for the inaugural meeting of the new City Council. But instead of attending the meeting and being elected mayor, he kena arrested alongside 3 other PAP councillors and 14 supporters.
What happened?
On 23 December, PAP fans gathered outside City Hall to cheer Ong Eng Guan and the other elected PAP councillors. Some super enthusiastic ones started setting off fireworks. When the police ordered them to stop, Ong came to the supporters' defence, amid scuffles.
On 23 December, PAP fans gathered outside City Hall to cheer Ong Eng Guan and the other elected PAP councillors. Some super enthusiastic ones started setting off fireworks. When the police ordered them to stop, Ong came to the supporters' defence, amid scuffles.
I love this article describing the scene (which is extremely worthy of dramatic adaptation): eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Dig… While scuffles and shouting went on outside, people were inside waiting. It was eventually announced that there was no quorum and the meeting could not proceed.
But as the chamber was clearing, Ong and the three other PAP councillors burst in—they'd been released w/o charge after police checked their identity cards. Ong insisted the council be called into session again, even though some tried to explain that it was unconstitutional.
(Let us pause for a moment to appreciate this gem the journalist included in the article 👇🏼)
DAVID MARSHALL WITH A HUGE HAMMER IN HIS BUSH JACKET, WHICH HE USED TO WAVE TO HIS WORKERS' PARTY SUPPORTERS
DAVID MARSHALL WITH A HUGE HAMMER IN HIS BUSH JACKET, WHICH HE USED TO WAVE TO HIS WORKERS' PARTY SUPPORTERS
Eventually Ong Eng Guan was persuaded to give up his insistence for the council to reconvene on 23 December 1957, and announced that the meeting had been rescheduled to the next day, 24 December.
But that's not all! After he was elected mayor, Ong Eng Guan then declared that he would *not* wear the mayoral regalia, nor stay at the mayoral mansion. His comments on why he was rejecting them were 🔥🔥🔥 eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Dig…
Ong Eng Guan in 1957, on rejecting mayoral regalia and mansion: "I do not believe in these trappings of office. We are living in a revolutionary Asia, and we, the people of #Singapore, are a part of the Asian revolution. >>>
>> We do not want to follow the centuries-old tradition of the British mayors. We do not want to live or dress differently from our people. We do not want to see the chains of colonialism and the mantle of despotism worn by the representatives of the people in this City Council."
Ong quit the City Council in 1959 to run in the Legislative Assembly elections, where he won with the largest margin in the election. The City Council was dissolved that same year and abolished in 1965.
After that election for the first fully elected Legislative Assembly, Ong Eng Guan was made minister for national development, but he quite quickly fell out of favour with the PAP. He was expelled from the party in 1960, a little over a year after the 1959 election.
After his expulsion and resignation from the Legislative Assembly, Ong Eng Guan contested the subsequent by-election in Hong Lim as an independent, and won. He formed the United People's Party, but the party didn't do well in the 1963 election; he was the only one elected.
Ong Eng Guan resigned from the Legislative Assembly in 1965 and practically disappeared. It was reported in the book "Prominent Figures Of The World Fujian Communities - The Singapore Chapter" that he'd died in 2008 at the age of 83. asiaone.com/print/News/Lat…
