With the ever-changing social media landscape on the political front, Singapore Democratic Party chairman Dr Paul Tambyah has decided to join in the fray and launched his own TikTok account.
In his first video posted earlier this week, Dr Tambyah introduced himself as the party leader and reminded viewers that he contested Bukit Panjang SMC in the last election. He ended the video by inviting the public to send in questions, which he will try to answer in his next video.
@paultambyah finally, created my own account on tiktok! do send in your questions! #fyp #teamSDP #xyzbca #sgviral #sgtiktok #sgpolitics #singapore #politics #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #foryou #foryourpage #singaporetiktok #political #democrats
But this is not the first time that Dr Tambyah is on TikTok as he had previously been featured on the party’s youth wing account. There were six videos by the SDP’s chairman, and the first was a question on whether he will be taking over from long-time party secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan.
In his reply, Dr Tambyah referred to a book that quoted Singapore’s founding Prime Minister and went on to give credit to his party colleague for his passion since his entry into politics in the early 90s.
“In his book, Tall Order, former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said that Mr Lee Kuan Yew justified the GRC by saying that without the GRC, Teo Chee Hean on his own standing in a single ward might not win against somebody like Chee Soon Juan,” said Dr Tambyah.
“I might be a better infectious diseases physician than Dr Chee but I think there is nobody that can compare with him in terms of dedication, commitment to the people of Singapore ever since the great late JBJ passed away.”
The video that garnered the most views, over 12,000 is a question of whether the party is better than other alternative parties.
“I don’t think the SDP is interested in performing better than other opposition parties. What we need to convince the voters is that we can perform better than the ruling party in terms of providing a better quality of life for Singaporeans, a freer and more democratic Singapore,” explained the infectious diseases expert.
“We are willing to work with anyone in the alternative parties and civil societies and anyone who essentially believes in what we believe in. Which is putting people before profits, wisdom above wealth, and rights before riches.”
In the 2020 Singapore General Election, Dr Tambyah garnered 46.26 per cent of the votes against PAP’s Liang Eng Hwa. The highest that the party has achieved in that constituency ever since they contested it in 2006.