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Tag: Chee Soon Juan

  • SDP Social Programme For Bukit Batok – We Are One, We Are Bukit Batok

    SDP Social Programme For Bukit Batok – We Are One, We Are Bukit Batok

    SDP launches We Are One, We Are Bukit Batok, a social programme for the SMC should SDP get elected in the by-election.

    The SDP’s mission is not only to manage the housing estate well, we also want to cultivate a successful town.

    But what is a successful town? It is one where the pavements and lift-landings are not only kept clean but also where residents develop a unique sense of belonging. It is a place where members of the community and the town managers put our minds together to make the estate a real home – a home where neighbour greets neighbour, the better off lend a hand to help lift up those in need, and friends look out for one another.

    Dr Chee said: “I don’t want to be just an MP, I want to be that spark, that catalyst that brings out the best in the people of Bukit Batok, to inspire everyone to reach for their best, to appeal to the better angels in all of us and to discover that side of our community that we didn’t know we had so that we can build a compassionate town, a town that will, dare I dream, become the model and one day spread to all of Singapore.”

    The programme includes the following initiatives the SDP has spelled out for Bukit Batok:

    Hearts for Bukit Batok

    This project endeavours to create a caring community for our elderly and low-income residents. Under this programme, households in Bukit Batok will be encouraged to adopt a needy family in the community by contributing their time and/or resources to the family’s well-being. This will bring the Bukit Batok community closer together and forge strong bonds between fellow residents. It will enrich the lives of both the receiver and the giver even as we recognise that our humanity is inextricably bound together.

    The SDP will also set up and manage a trust fund that will raise funds to assist Bukit Batok’s elderly poor with monthly stipends or food vouchers. If elected, Dr Chee will use his MP’s allowance to assist 10 low-income families.

    Wong Hwee Lin is presently a Private Tutor, who has extensive experience in teaching. She possesses a Master of Arts in SocioCultural Anthropology and was nominated for a Teaching Award in 2009.

    Ms Wong will coordinate Hearts for Bukit Batok.

    Pathfinder

    This project aims to create an environment conducive for students to build confidence and develop their potential. It is a place where students come together discover themselves, explore their interests and talents, or simply find someone to listen to them. Pathfinder will also provide subsidised private tuition for students from lower income families.

    Rajakumari Ashukumar (Kumari) is presently an allied educator and pursuing a degree in biomedical science.

    Ms Kumari will coordinate Pathfinder.

    Dollars and Sense

    This initiative assists residents who are facing financial difficulties and are looking for advice in resolving their financial problems. Financial experts and planners will meet with residents either individually or in small groups.

    Mr Tan Kin Lian is currently the President of the Financial Services Consumer Association. A qualified actuary, Mr Tan was the CEO of NTUC Income from 1977 to 2007.

    Mr Tan will facilitate Dollars and Sense.
    Legal Lifeline

    Staffed by lawyers, the Legal Lifeline provides the first step of assistance to low- income residents who are in need of legal advice. We have at least 7 lawyers who have volunteered to run the legal clinic at this point in time.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Chee Soon Juan: SPH And MediaCorp Editors Must Be Even-Handed In Coverage Of Bukit Batok By-Election

    Chee Soon Juan: SPH And MediaCorp Editors Must Be Even-Handed In Coverage Of Bukit Batok By-Election

    This was the front page of last night’s Lianhe Wanbao showing two very contrasting pictures of Mr Murali and I. Through the decades I’ve often been portrayed in a less-than-favourable manner (to put it mildly) whenever it comes to presenting me face-to-face with my opponents.

    I hope that this will not be the trend of reportage in the coming by-election.

    I appeal to the editors at SPH and MediaCorps to be even-handed.

    I do not consider Mr Murali as anything other than a worthy opponent and I hope that BB voters will get to see a fair representation of the both of us before they choose which person they want to be their MP.

    ‪#‎NowIsTheTime‬

     

    Source: Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全

  • SDP Will Contest In Bukit Batok By-Election

    SDP Will Contest In Bukit Batok By-Election

    The SDP will be contesting in the Bt Batok by-election which we expect will be called soon.

    Our campaign team has been activated and we will work very hard to be the people’s voice in Parliament and continue to be the Competent, Constructive and Compassionate party that Singaporeans want to see.

     

    Source: Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)

  • SDP: PAP Clearly Violating MOE Policy Of Maintaining Apolitical Schools

    SDP: PAP Clearly Violating MOE Policy Of Maintaining Apolitical Schools

    Singapore Democrats

    In 2009, the Straits Times reported that Minister for Law K Shanmugam had warned his party members in an editorial in Petir, the PAP’s newsletter, that “younger voters can erode its dominant position should the party fail to convince them that Singapore…needs a strong leadership and a political system that allows for effective and speedy decisions to be made”.

    Mr Shanmugam felt that for the PAP to prolong its power, it needed to “provide greater political education for Singaporeans, in particular, students”.

    Another Straits Times report said that Mr Shanmugam proposed that schools teach “comparative political systems” but to do this in the context of “improving the Government’s effectiveness in reaching out to younger Singaporeans”.

    This is why the SDP applied to the Ministry of Education (MOE) to allow us to conduct talks with students and to present another point of view. The MOE, however, says that “schools are neutral places for learning and not platforms for partisan politics”. The SDP documents here how biased and partisan history and social studies textbook are.

    Educate students about politics, says Shanmugam
    By Zakir Hussain
    Straits Times
    19 December 2009

    For 50 years, the PAP has stayed in power because it has delivered progress to the people, its leaders often point out.

    But Law Minister K. Shanmugam feels younger voters can erode its dominant position should the party fail to convince them that Singapore, more than most countries, needs a strong leadership and a political system that allows for effective and speedy decisions to be made.

    He gave this warning to his party members in an editorial in the latest People’s Action Party bi-monthly magazine, Petir.

    Mr Shanmugam appears to have his eye on the clock when he issued his word of caution, saying no political party had stayed in power continuously for more than 70 years.

    The way for the PAP to outlive this record, he feels, is to provide greater political education for Singaporeans, in particular, students.

    However, he said: ‘The education should not trumpet the virtues of any particular system.’

    Instead, students should be taught, among other things, how political systems work in different cultures, the impact of geographical and social factors on societies and why city states rise and fall.

    ‘This will make people look carefully at the liberal democratic model and help them decide which aspects best suit Singapore,’ he said as he set out how the PAP can communicate better its message that Singapore needs good governance and that only the PAP can deliver it.

    His concern comes at a time when a younger generation of better-educated voters feels the political process and system in a democratic state should be based on the Western model of liberal democracy.

    Mr Shanmugam and government leaders reject the view, arguing that the best systems are those that fit the society they govern.

    ‘Not every aspect can be transplanted in toto across cultures, without regard to different economic, social and geostrategic situations,’ said the Law Minister.

    It is a position he has argued vigorously in favour of in the past three months: first to a group of international lawyers meeting here in October, then the Harvard alumni in Singapore last week, and now, PAP members.

    Mr Shanmugam, who is also Second Home Affairs Minister, said the PAP’s message had resonated with the older generation who experienced the turmoil of Singapore’s early years.

    ‘But the collective memory of this is not as strong among newer generations, whose viewpoints will increasingly influence the political process,’ he added.

    Younger Singaporeans may therefore believe that the Western model of liberal democracy can be adopted without trade-offs, he said.

    ‘Singaporeans are entitled to decide whether they want the trade-offs.

    ‘And if the majority chooses slower development and a lower quality of life, and is willing to accept more tensions within our society in return for changes in the political system, then so be it,’ he said.

    ‘But that choice must be an informed one,’ he added.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • MOE: SDP’s Request To Conduct Socio-Political Talks In School Rejected

    MOE: SDP’s Request To Conduct Socio-Political Talks In School Rejected

    The Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) request to conduct talks in schools to engage youth on socio-political issues has been has been turned down by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

    Responding to TODAY’s queries, an MOE spokesperson said today (Feb 12): “We cannot allow it because schools are neutral places for learning and not platforms for partisan politics.”

    On Feb 2, the SDP had said in a press statement that the party will “approach our schools and educational institutions to initiate a conversation with our youth on national issues that concern them and their future”.

    Titled “Foster, Forge, Future: Conversations With Our Youth”, the initiative was “aimed at bringing politics and policy-making closer to our students, challenging them to engage in thoughtful analysis on issues facing Singapore”.

    In the statement, the party said that “exposure to alternative points of view is essential”, if the “goal is to cultivate independent thinking” among students”.

    “And if the objective is to foster creative thought, injecting open-minded enquiry into the educational system is necessary,” they added. The party said they would write to the MOE as well as secondary schools, junior colleges, polytechnics and universities with the request.

    Two days later, the party said in a post on its website it had been rejected by the MOE, and that the ministry had said schools are neutral places for learning. While the party was “gratified” by this, it said it was puzzled that “history textbooks approved by the MOE for secondary school students are so partisan”.

    According to the SDP, one textbook stated that the late David Marshall, Singapore’s first Chief Minister and founder of the Workers’ Party, was a “weak and indecisive leader”, and that opposition politician Lim Chin Siong “adopted violent strategies through riots and street demonstrations”, among other things.

    It also cited some questions and answers from a self-study revision book for Secondary 2 students “based on the new syllabus by Ministry of Education”, to highlight its point about history textbooks being partisan.

    In its reply, the MOE said that the textbook segments quoted by the SDP in its post “are not from a MOE history textbook”, while the self-study revision book in question is not endorsed by them.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com