SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Party has confirmed they will return to contest in the Marsiling – Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC), helmed by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, in the upcoming general election.
This was announced by the party’s chairman, Dr Paul Tambyah, during SDP’s food rations distribution at 888 Plaza in Woodlands Drive on Sunday, March 30. The party distributed 500 sets of dried goods to residents, such as cooking oil, biscuits, instant coffee, and instant cereals.
“You heard about our ‘northern strategy’ that we talked about last week. And that’s going to be the cornerstone. But as you know, a cornerstone is surrounded by other stones. So it depends on our resources. It depends on our reading of the ground, depends on our interactions with the residents, and also interactions with other political parties,” said Dr Tambyah during a media interview.
“What we want to do is to ensure that Singaporeans are given a choice to choose the best and most credible alternative candidates. So that we don’t give the PAP a blank cheque. We don’t know whether he will stay in Marsiling – Yew Tee,” added the SDP chairman, who will be contesting in the Bukit Panjang SMC.
Sembawang GRC is currently led by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health. At the launch of a community programme for seniors at Bukit Canberra, Mr Ong introduced two new potential candidates to the residents.
“I want to introduce to you two new faces who are new volunteers in Sembawang GRC. Number one is Mr Gabriel Lam (director of Powermark Battery & Hardware), and number two is Mr Mg Shi Xuan (chief operating officer of Shalom International Movers). They don’t live here, so they don’t know much about Sembawang.
“We must help them understand Sembawang. Both of them are small-and-medium enterprise bosses. They operate in a very competitive industry. They must create business opportunities. They must fight and win competitions. They must win customers and take care of their workers,” shared Mr Ong with the residents.
A week ago, Dr Chee announced his candidacy for the newly created Sembawang West Single Member Constituency (SMC). In the previous two elections, Dr Chee contested in Bukit Batok SMC, but it has now been absorbed into the Jurong West—Bukit Batok GRC.
“As you know, my difficulty right now is being new to Sembawang GRC. But I think we make great inroads. As you said, all the residents that came up and said, “Oh we’ve seen your flyers, we’ve seen your message. Now for me, it’s just a dash right up to the finishing line,” explained Dr Chee at SDP’s food rations distribution.
As the general election looms, with many predicting it will take place by mid-year despite the official November deadline, Dr Chee emphasised the importance of leveraging all available resources to ensure the SDP can connect with every single voter.
In the 2020 general election, SDP contested mainly in the western and northern constituencies: Bukit Batok SMC, Bukit Panjang SMC, Yuhua SMC, Holland – Bukit Timah GRC, and Marsiling – Yew Tee GRC.
The Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, which was introduced in the 2015 election, was contested by the SDP in the last two elections. The party secured 31.27% of the votes (31,185) in 2015 and improved on their results in the following election, polling 36.82% (40,690).