A day after the writ for the Bukit Batok by-election was issued, the two men vying to represent the constituency — barring any last-minute surprises come Nomination Day — were out and about on Thursday (April 21), pressing palms and knocking on doors.
Lawyer Murali Pillai, 48, the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) pick to defend the ward in the May 7 polls, visited the homes of residents and went on walkabouts around the constituency, away from the media glare.
His Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) opponent, Dr Chee Soon Juan, 53, was also seen pounding the pavements. Speaking to the media at the Bukit Batok MRT Station in the morning, the SDP chief reiterated that, if elected, his party would inject “transparency and accountability” in the running of the town council.
Apart from the “hardware” in the single-member constituency (SMC), the party will also look into making a “real tangible difference” to the “heartware” — residents’ quality of life, he stressed.
On what distinguished him from Mr Murali, Dr Chee had just two words: “PAP, SDP”. Noting that poverty issues have been “ongoing”, he asked how Mr Murali could make a difference in Parliament on this problem, since he would be another PAP MP in the House.
The “crucial difference”, Dr Chee said, is that he would continue pressing the Government to ensure it is “sensitised to … the plight of Singaporeans”.
He added that while his team has achieved “quantity” in its outreach — it has covered the whole constituency — the party now wants to reach out in a “qualitative” way, by explaining to voters why it is important to send another Opposition voice into Parliament.
On its Facebook page on Thursday, the SDP also posted a new video on the Bukit Batok by-election, as part of a drive that, it said, is “motivated, driven and funded by you, the people”. It called for support and “all the help that we can get”.
The SDP will hold a press conference on Friday to announce details of its social programmes for Bukit Batok residents.
At the Singapore Elections Department (ELD) headquarters at Prinsep Link on Thursday, only one independent hopeful turned up to collect the nomination papers. Neither representatives from the PAP nor the SDP were seen.
Soft copies of the forms can also be downloaded from the ELD website. Nomination Day has been set for April 27.
Private taxi driver Shirwin Eu, who arrived at the ELD about 3.20pm to collect the forms, told reporters that he would “most likely” run in the by-election. It was called after incumbent Member of Parliament David Ong resigned over an alleged extramarital affair.
In the 2015 General Election, Mr Eu, 32, had attempted to contest the Bukit Panjang SMC, but was disqualified after he failed to garner the required signatures to support his candidacy on Nomination Day.
Source: TODAY Online
