Alex Tan

Alex Tan Zhixiang(陈智祥) is a Singaporean political activist. He was the youngest candidate ever fielded in a General Election in Republic of Singapore history at the age of 23 years old. As a member of the Singapore People's Party, he stood in the Singaporean general election, 2011 in the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency under the Reform Party banner. The team that he was contesting under received 49,779 votes in total, representing 30.67% of total votes cast within the GRC. Tan is also a former editor of Temasek Review, a now-defunct socio-political website that covers mainly anti-establishment views.

Pre-election Donation Drive

As a former editor of Temasek Review, he used the then-popular website to launch a donation drive to raise his Ang Mo Kio GRC team's electoral deposits. Promising to sign IOUs with loaners and emphasizing the importance of democracy in Singapore (uncontested constituencies result in a walkover, he raised $64,000 on the last night before Nomination Day. After winning back his electoral deposits with a 30.67% vote in Ang Mo Kio GRC, he returned the money back to his 37 loaners.

GE2011 at Ang Mo Kio GRC

Tan contested under the Reform Party banner in 2011 as his party, the Singapore People's Party, was not interested in contesting in the Prime Minister's ward. As the main organizer of the 2 party's joint walkabouts, Tan sought the Reform Party's help to contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC.

The Reform Party then "loaned" Alex from the Singapore People's Party to contest in the ward.

In his maiden election speech, Tan underscored the lack of a social safety net for the elderly in Singapore and the influx of foreigners that has diluted Singaporeans' identity.

He also highlighted the lack of transparency and accountability in the national reserves with the ruling People Action Party. Tan questioned Dr Vivian Balakrishnan about statements Balakrishnan had made about the government wealth fund GIC's portfolio having returned to pre-crisis levels, when no statistics or figures were provided to back up the statements.

Wang Peng Fei incident

In July 2011, Wang Peng Fei, a People Republic of China(PRC) student in Singapore made derogatory remarks against a Malay woman in his YouTube video post, and Tan lodged an official police report against him. The PRC student was subsequently expelled.

Complaint and Apology to SBS Transit

In July 26, 2012, Tan wrote an expletive filled email complaining about his trip on one of the company's buses. The email subsequently appeared on social networking sites and local forums. SBS Transit filed a complaint with the courts. Tan apologized for the email, in return for SBS Transit not proceeding with the complaints.

Administrator and contributor at The Real Singapore

Tan is an editor and one of the administrators of the sociopolitical website The Real Singapore that covers mainly anti-establishment views. On 6 Feb 2015, two of its administrators, a Japanese-Australian Ai Takagi and her Singaporean boyfriend Robin Yang Kai Heng, were arrested under the Sedition Act for promoting feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore. Soon after the arrest of the duo, Tan fled to Australia.