User:Gaurav/Nicole Seah


 * This article is a backup of content from the Nicole Seah article, which is currently up for deletion.

Nicole Rebecca Seah Xue Ling (born 1986) is a National Solidarity Party (NSP) candidate for the Marine Parade GRC in the 2011 Singaporean general election. Her young age - at 24, she is the youngest candidate standing in this election - immediately made her a target of media attention, which became increasingly pronounced as her speeches began to go viral on YouTube. She is currently the most popular Singaporean politican on Facebook, having recently recieved more "likes" on the social media website than popular minister for foreign affairs, George Yeo and has surpassed Minister Mentor, Lee Kwan Yew.

Background
Seah studied at CHIJ Katong Convent, Tanjong Katong Secondary School and Victoria Junior College. She graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS), where she was part of the University Scholars' Programme. She works as an executive at Starcom MediaVest Group, a brand communications company.

Seah has been involved in community activities and volunteering since secondary school. Her interest in politics was sparked by a meeting with a destitute woman, who - despite having a roof over her head - had no money for food, and was completely dependent on handouts from charity. While at NUS, she was the managing editor of an online publication called the Campus Observer.

Before the 2011 General Elections, Ms. Seah was involved with the Reform Party (Singapore) since 2009, but left in early February 2011 along with many other party members. She was invited to join the NSP by Goh Meng Seng, then the NSP's secretary-general.

2011 General Election
Seah was announced as a member of the five-person NSP team contesting the Marine Parade GRC in the 2011 Singaporean general election on April 21, 2011. This was the first time an opposition party had contested this GRC since 1992. This was several weeks after the PAP announced that their five-person team contesting Marine Parade GRC would include 27-year old Tin Pei Ling, leading to immediate media attention to the contest of two young women, both contesting parliament seats for the first time. Tin had been facing online criticism since her candidature was announced, and - partially in response to Tin's positioning - Seah's popularity has grown tremendously, according to the Asia Sentinel's Jon Russell, who added that "her popularity [is] testament to many choosing her as their preferred 'youth' candidate in the election". Her popularity has been referred to as "rockstar"-like by the Straits Times.

People have commented that Seah appears to upstage other members of the NSP and of her constituency team. On April 27, former Prime Minister and Seah's GRC opponent Goh Chok Tong complained that "I look at NSP and they appear to have only one person in charge and the four men are leaving it to the young lady to campaign and say all the things". The party is also referred to as the "Nicole Seah Party". Seah responded, "The NSP is all about teamwork. There are many different areas that everyone can contribute and that's how we synergise and bring our talents together to the table."

As a result of a celebrity status, City Chain, a watch retail chain in Singapore, has offered Seah a five-figure sum to endorse watches. Seah has said that she will consider the offer.