Ravi Philemon And Michelle Lee Form Political Party - Red Dot United

In a virtual press conference on 29 May 2020, political veterans Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee announced the formation of a new political party - Red Dot United. Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee shared the goals for their party, and explained the need for another credible voice in Singapore's political landscape.

Instead of joining existing parties, Red Dot United was created because there is distinct space in Singapore's political landscape for their party to bring new perspectives, ideas and methods. There is also a need for a party to keep asking hard questions and to seek solutions. With Red Dot United, Singaporeans will therefore have another good choice to consider for future elections.

The main roles of Red Dot United will be filled by Ravi Philemon who will be Secretary-General, and Michelle Lee who will be its Chairman. Red Dot United intends to be a party with a long-term view, and not just for the election season.

Instead of forming a party that is personality-driven, Red Dot United will shift the focus to politics centered on right policies to take Singapore forward. Another goal will aim to make politics enjoyable, even for people who are not interested in politics. Red Dot United will also have a focus on engaging the youths.

Red Dot United currently consists of 12 members, ranging from ages 25 to 55. The members are a good mix of open-minded individuals with political experience, as well as professionals such as medical practitioner and business owners. While the growth of its membership will be calibrated, Red Dot United is open to all Singaporeans as it is not an elitist party that will restrict membership.

Red Dot United believes in openness, transparency and accountabilty, and this was demonstrated by how Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee had earlier spoken to various opposition leaders of their intention to create this new party. Red Dot United is also open to having alliances in the future as Singapore can benefit from this collective intelligence.

Refuting claims of Singapore being saturated by political parties, Michelle Lee explained how other democratic nations, some with similar population size as Singapore, have multiple political parties who hold seats in their Parliaments. In this way each political party will have its own clear identity and ideas, and bring Singapore forward.

Speaking on their intention to contest this General Elections, Ravi Philemon said the party intends to and has the resources to do so. But he said there will be things to consider. Something which comes to mind includes the need to call for an election before Covid19 is over.

But given the PAP's repeated calls for an election, Red Dot United will be writing in to the Registry of Societies (ROS) to expedite the registration of its party.