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Tag: SDP

  • Neo Swee Lin: Bukit Batok Sould Give Chee Soon Juan A Chance

    Neo Swee Lin: Bukit Batok Sould Give Chee Soon Juan A Chance

    this year’s Life Theatre Awards theme was “Future Perfect”. Lim Kay Siu & I went dressed in SDP colours, because for us, a perfect future for our country would be one where there was more opposition in Parliament. I thought long and hard if this was the right platform for this. I think it is. What other platforms do we have? (what do YOU think?)

    As artists, we should stand up for what we believe in. I learnt from playing Soh Lung Teo in Cooling Off Day that everyone should be involved in politics, that we should be unafraid. Life, Art, Politics are all part of the human experience. I shed tears when I spoke to GoH Baey at the after-party, because I felt a little bit chastised. He was kind, but felt that this was not the right platform for what I did. I’m still not sure if he is right.

    All I know is, I am very passionate about my beliefs, and I hope that the voters in Bukit Batok will do the right thing. Be brave! You have a beautiful estate, I visit it often because my late mother’s ashes are interred in Bukit Batok, I am a stone’s throw away.

    I have no doubt Murali is a good man too, but now is the time to give Chee Soon Juan a chance. He will do good for you, I promise you. I believe in him. You should too. (please re-share if you like: nomination day is today!) ‪#‎nowisthetime‬

     

    Source: Neo Swee Lin

  • 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

  • Likely Bukit Batok Candidates Work The Ground

    Likely Bukit Batok Candidates Work The Ground

    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

  • 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

  • Chee Soon Juan: Said Zahari Was A Gentleman

    Chee Soon Juan: Said Zahari Was A Gentleman

    Just learned that Said Zahari has passed away. Said was a journalist and led the fight for press freedom in Singapore before he was detained under the ISA in 1963. He remained imprisoned for 17 years.

    I met Said on a couple of occasions. He was every bit the erudite gentlemen that people said he was, never the dangerous communist the PAP said he was.

    My condolences to the family.

     

    Source: Chee Soon Juan