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Tag: SDP

  • Sidek Mallek And John Tan Unveiled By SDP

    Sidek Mallek And John Tan Unveiled By SDP

    The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) unveiled two more candidates on Thursday (Aug 27), psychologist John Tan and auditor Sidek Mallek.

    At a press conference at its party headquarters in Ang Mo Kio, SDP candidate Dr Paul Tambyah introduced the two new candidates to the media, without revealing where they will be standing.

    Dr Tan, 54, is the vice-chairman of SDP. He is married with three children. Mr Sidek, 55, is a compliance auditor, and is married with four children.  While Mr Sidek is a political newcomer, Dr Tan was part of SDP’s Sembawang GRC team in 2011. SDP’s Sembawang team won 36.1 per cent of the vote, losing to the PAP team led by Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

    The party has already introduced four other candidates for the polls: healthcare administrator Chong Wai Fung, 45; accounts manager and former Navy staff sergeant Khung Wai Yeen, 34; sales director Jaslyn Go, 42; and National University of Singapore Yong Yoo Lin School of Medicine professor Paul Tambyah, 50.

    This means the SDP, which will contest Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRCs, and the single-seat wards of Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok and Yuhua, has revealed six of its 11 candidates.

    The SDP, which launched its campaign in January, has said that it would champion issues relating to the cost of living, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Minimum Sum, as well as the country’s growing population.

    The September 11 election will also be the first that Dr Chee is set to contest since 2001. He was unable to run in 2006 and 2011 as he was declared bankrupt after failing to pay $500,000 in damages for defaming then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong during the 2001 General Election. He was cleared of bankruptcy in 2012.

    Several opposition parties have begun making formal introductions of their candidates.

    The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) has confirmed its line-up for the single-seats of Hong Kah North, Mountbatten and Potong Pasir.

    The Workers’ Party (WP) has introduced eight candidates at its headquarters at Syed Alwi Road, while the Reform Party (RP) introduced its slate for West Coast GRC and Radin Mas SMC on Thursday.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • SDP Chief, Chee Soon Juan, Calls For Clearer Campaign Rule

    SDP Chief, Chee Soon Juan, Calls For Clearer Campaign Rule

    Clearer campaign rules could have been put out earlier to ensure a level playing field for political parties, said Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan yesterday as the party introduced two new candidates at its headquarters.

    Referring to new conditions introduced by the Singapore Police Force for the upcoming General Election (GE), Dr Chee, who spoke to reporters after the SDP introduced Ms Jaslyn Go and Professor Paul Ananth Tambyah as candidates, said the party would have no problem complying with them.

    One of the two new permit conditions bar the concealment of faces on stage during election rallies. The other prohibits Central Executive Committee members and candidates of each political party from speaking at the rallies of other parties.

    Party chief Chee Soon Juan said the SDP has no intention of doing so, but other opposition parties may have wanted to speak at one another’s rallies. He also said the party had printed posters for the elections, but new requirements were issued that it now has to address, without going into detail.

    The SDP also wanted to have decal advertisements on a rented private bus to transport candidates during the nine days of campaigning, but it has dropped the idea of a “campaign bus” after the lack of clarity on the applications needed and a shortage of time. “These are things that (are) just not helpful at all to conduct truly free and fair elections,” Dr Chee said.

    Prof Tambyah and Ms Go were introduced by SDP chairman Jeffrey George. Both candidates have been active before the 2011 GE, although Prof Tambyah joined as a member only in the past fortnight after leaving human rights group Maruah. Ms Go, who runs a construction company with her husband, joined the party in 2007.

    Prof Tambyah, 50, has been active with the party for a decade and spoke at the SDP’s rally in Boat Quay in 2011. He said he could not contest then as his father died that year. Ms Go, 43, said she was not ready in 2011 and has since walked the ground to understand concerns of the public. Representing the party at conferences and events has also helped build her confidence, said the mother of two, who was an emcee at the SDP’s rallies in 2011.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Jaslyn Go Drawn To SDP Over Education And Cost Of Living Issues

    Jaslyn Go Drawn To SDP Over Education And Cost Of Living Issues

    Mother-of-two Jaslyn Go began working during the school holidays from the age of 12, travelling from her home in Bukit Merah to a Paya Lebar garment factory to earn S$5 a day.

    She began working part-time from Secondary Two at McDonald’s, but juggling work and studies took its toll. She ventured into the working world after her O-Levels, doing sales and marketing mainly in the automobile industry.

    Ms Go said yesterday that she has also personally experienced challenges facing small and medium enterprises, running a construction company with her husband since 2004 that now hires 30 people and has an annual turnover of S$2 million.

    Her children are aged 12 and 10, and Ms Go said she feels strongly that education policies should encourage children to enjoy the process of learning.

    “Do we actually want our kids to grow up in this kind of stressful environment (today)?” she said.

    There is now also an overemphasis on paper qualifications, she feels. “In my generation, we are still able to make it without the paper chase. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the younger generations,” she wrote in her biography published on the SDP’s website.

    Her son will be taking his Primary School Leaving Examination this year and she is counting on her supportive husband to look after the children in her absence.

    Ms Go joined the Singapore Democratic Party in 2007, drawn by concerns over the cost of living, she said.

    “I felt strongly about it as a new mother. I was worried for my children, how they were going to … pay for a decent house and having to compete for places in schools, and (for) job opportunities,” she said.

    Jaslyn Go Hui Leng, 43

    Sales director of a construction company co-founded with her husband

    Fact file:

    • Has a certificate in early childhood education and a diploma in sales and marketing

    • Began working part-time from the age of 14 to help her family financially

    • Oversees sales, does training and develops profit targets at the construction company set up with her husband in 2004, that now has 30 staff and annual turnover of S$2 million

    She said:

    “Attitude in life surpasses academic qualifications … The twists that life throw at you can be turned into valuable lessons, they are experiences that books can’t teach you. They certainly brought me to where I am today.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • GE2015: SDP Unveils Two Candidates

    GE2015: SDP Unveils Two Candidates

    The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) officially introduced two of its candidates for next month’s General Election (GE) today (Aug 25), calling for a press conference less than two hours before Parliament was dissolved and the Writ of Election was issued.

    Ms Chong Wai Fung, 45, an administrator at Ren Ci Nursing Home, and Mr Khung Wai Yeen, 34, an accounts manager, were unveiled as two of the 11 candidates the SDP is expected to field. Both of them joined the party as members in 2011, with Ms Chong now holding the post of treasurer.

    Party chairman Jeffrey George and secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, however, declined to specify where the two new faces would stand.

    The SDP had indicated that it would contest in Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee, both four-member Group Representation Constituencies, as well as the Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang and Yuhua single-seat wards.

    Speaking to reporters at the SDP’s new headquarters in Ang Mo Kio Street 62, Mr George said the party would announce its final line-up for each constituency it is eyeing in the coming days.

    By Nomination Day next Tuesday, voters will know all its candidates,

    Dr Chee added. “We’ll do two at a time … right through, we’ll make it known before Nomination Day.”

    In response to a question on whether SDP will take the cue from the ruling People’s Action Party and Singapore People’s Party which, in the past weeks, introduced their candidates in public areas such as hawker centres, Dr Chee said the party also has plans to do so “down at the constituencies”.

    After the hour-long press conference today, two separate SDP teams headed to Bukit Batok and Yew Tee for walkabouts. Ms Chong was among the Bukit Batok group, while Mr Khung went to Yew Tee.

    Next month’s polls will be the first in which Dr Chee is eligible to contest since he last stood in Jurong GRC in 2001, garnering 20.2 per cent of votes. He missed the GEs in 2006 and 2011 as he was a bankrupt.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • SDP Opens New Office At Ang Mo Kio

    SDP Opens New Office At Ang Mo Kio

    The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday (Aug 22) opened its new office at Ang Mo Kio Street 62, saying that it is “good and ready to go” for the election. The political party was previously based in Jalan Gelenggeng.

    The election, which is widely expected to be called in the next few weeks, will be the first time Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan will be contesting after being discharged of bankruptcy in 2012. He was barred from contesting in the previous two general elections (2006 and 2011) due to the charge.

    “I cannot wait to stand,” he said, “To get up on stage and connect with Singaporeans again.” He said his message to voters was that Singapore “can be much better than we are today”.

    Dr Chee said the party will be announcing its line-up “very soon”, saying that the SDP is eyeing five constituencies: Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee, both four-member GRCs, and the single seat wards of Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang and Yuhua. Party leaders said they have continued to walk the ground since after the 2011 election, on top of publishing alternative policy proposals on issues such as housing, healthcare and education.

    Referring to the People’s Action Party (PAP) suite of infrastructural plans announced at the unveiling of its Holland-Bukit Timah slate on Saturday morning, Dr Chee said, “It just sounds very much what you would expect them to do before an election … What is lacking in every PAP-run constituency is that it’s very brick-and-mortar, steel. But where is that X-factor where we can involve the people, not just to upgrade their quality of life, their well-being? And I think all that is missing from Holland-Bukit Timah.”

    On giving up Sembawang GRC to the National Solidarity Party in order to avoid a multi-party fight with the incumbent People’s Action Party, Dr Chee said it was “the most difficult decision we had to make”, and that Sembawang “is very dear to us”. He added that giving way to the NSP on the matter of Sembawang had “released some pressure” in the horse-trading discussions, and that this did not mean that the party was giving up the GRC. “We look forward to the day when we shall return”, said Dr Chee.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com