SDP chief Chee Soon Juan to contest again in Bukit Batok

Singapore — There was a flurry of activity by political parties over the last weekend following Phase 2 of the relaxation of circuit breaker measures on Friday (June 19). And the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was in the thick of it, too.

Its Secretary-General, Dr Chee Soon Juan, was at a walkabout in the Bukit Batok Single-Member Constituency on Sunday (June 21).

He had contested there in a by-election in 2016 against the People’s Action Party’s Murali Pillai and had received 38.8% of the vote.

On Sunday morning, a live video of Dr Chee was posted on his Facebook page. It had him saying that it was “good to be back” in Bukit Batok and that “like it or not, for the next three weeks, Bukit Batok, you’re going to see this face smiling at you”.

This was a reference to the shirt worn by the SDP members who were with him. Each shirt  had an image of Dr Chee’s face on it, which he described as a “Bob Marley, Rastafarian kind of image”. It also had the SDP logo and the words “Chee Soon Juan for Bukit Batok”.

Following his walkabout, Dr Chee took to Facebook to declare that he was “out with my party mates this weekend at all the constituencies we’re contesting”.

The SDP Chairman, Dr Paul Tambyah, visited Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, an indication that he is poised to run there again. In the 2015 elections, Dr Chee and Dr Tambyah had led a four-member group against the PAP team. The SDP team received 33.38% of the vote.

New SDP members Min Cheong and Alfred Tan were at the Ghim Moh Road Market and Hawker Centre on Sunday (June 21), a day after Dr Tambyah held a walkabout there.

The SDP members gave out flyers to the public. These had the party’s “4Y1N” slogan. The  “yes” is for suspending the Goods and Services Tax, introducing retrenchment benefits, providing income for retirees and putting people first. The one “no” is on the Singapore population growing to 10 million.

The party is also eyeing Yuhua SMC, Bukit Panjang SMC and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

The next General Election must be held by April 14 next year. /TISG