Looking to Serve? Here's How You Can Volunteer and Donate to Your Favourite Political Party

The morning after the election result was announced, I got up at 6am, had my “water parade” and recited the pledge while standing on my bed in “Sedia position”.

*Cues MP Gan Siow Huang’s speech*

The latest Singapore General Election has sparked the inner patriotism in some of us.

If you are looking to serve the people politically (or a chance at getting customised Razer gadget), you can look to contribute to your favourite political party.

There are two ways you can contribute to your favourite political party. You can either make a donation or a more hands-on approach by being a volunteer.

Do note that one of the main criteria is that you have to be a Singapore citizen.

Volunteering for Political Parties

It is heartening to see more people involved in politics in Singapore. Some of us are probably at the age where we start seeing our friends become an active volunteer for various political parties.

Here’s a compilation of how you can volunteer and the type of roles that they are looking for:

How Much Will You Be Paid for Volunteering at Political Parties?

We initially thought that volunteers at various political parties were given an allowance for the amount of hard work that they put in.

After much investigation, we realised that these volunteers were volunteering to serve the needs of Singaporeans and for the cause, they believe in. They receive no monetary reward in return.

Political Donations Act

If you are looking to donate, in support of your favourite political party, here are some rules and regulations to take note of.

The Political Donations Act prevents Singapore’s domestic politics to be affected by foreign intervention. This means that funding of candidates and political associations needs to come from a fellow Singaporean.

Political associations and candidates are only allowed to accept donations from permissible donors. For a donation of less than $5,000, the donor can remain anonymous.

There are also three groups of people who will need to file donation reports periodically with the Registrar of Political Donations when they make a donation:

• Political associations
  (All political parties registered under the Societies Act, and any organisation that is related to politics in Singapore)
• Any person who is or desires to be a candidate of any election and his election agents
• Donors who made donations or a donation with a total value of $10,000 or more, to a political association in a calendar year.

The Registry of Political Donations

The Registry of Political Donations administers the Act and it is located within the Elections Department.

Here are the contact details: