Dr Chee Soon Juan, the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, wrote in a Facebook post on Friday morning (Apr 22) that he had come across a report online and while he had found it to be “straightforward,” there was one part that he appeared to strongly disagree with. He then posted the excerpt from the article that had “caught his eye”.
“But it’s important to state that while the opposition parties have always been great at pointing out the inherent flaws within PAP or its government policies, they’ve scarcely offered solutions, and thereby reasons, why they might be a better representation of Singapore.”
Dr Chee took exception to the online article about his party congratulating Finance Minister Lawrence Wong after he was chosen last week to head the People’s Action Party’s fourth generation of leaders.
The piece in question had been published in Goody Feed, an online news site, on Apr 17.
The SDP leader insists: “If any opposition party has taken pains to offer solutions, it is the SDP.”
He pointed to “a whole series” of SDP policy papers containing “detailed and comprehensive plans from healthcare to climate change to population growth, and everything in between – to take Singapore forward”.
For reference, he linked his post to the SDP site where these policies may be found.
Furthermore, he added, “many” of SDP’s ideas have been followed and implemented by the PAP, including those concerning education, foreign talent, and wealth tax, “all in just Feb/Mar this year”.
He said the Goody Feed article was an example of “an unfortunate stereotype” that has a negative effect on the country and added that “Singaporeans need to be better informed about the opposition”.
“Goody Feed’s view of opposition parties merely criticising the PAP while not offering solutions is an unfortunate stereotype that does a disservice to all who strive to promote democracy in this country.
“While I encourage online news sites to report on political developments in Singapore (goodness knows we need more, not less, of it), I hope that such inaccurate observations are corrected and not perpetuated.”
/TISG
Chee Soon Juan: ‘PAP will criticise our ideas only to adopt them eventually’