The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan said on Sunday (21 June) that he will be contesting in Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the coming general election (GE).
During his walkabout at Bukit Batok West Shopping Centre earlier today, Dr Chee was asked by TODAY’s reporter on whether he would be contesting in Bukit Batok.
He replied, “Confirm, double confirm.”
Dr Chee last contested in Bukit Batok SMC in the 2016 by-election – which took place following the sudden resignation of People’s Action Party (PAP) Member of Parliament (MP) David Ong – where he lost to the PAP’s Murali Pillai, who won with 61.21 per cent of the vote.
He also went live on Facebook earlier, in which other SDP members were seen giving out flyers and wearing T-shirts with the words “Chee Soon Juan for Bukit Batok”.
“Like it or not, over the next three weeks Bukit Batok, you’re going to be seeing this face smiling at you,” Dr Chee said in the video.
He went on to emphasise the Party’s “Four Yes, One No” campaign, which was launched on 28 April to address the immediate necessities of Singaporeans and long-term problems that are faced by the nation.
“There’s an important message that I want to send out to residence here and that is our 4Y1N message,” Dr Chee remarked.
The first ‘Yes’ is a suspension of the GST, in which the party proposes the GST to be cut to zero per cent for the next 18 months.
“That is going to benefit not just consumers, but businesses,” Dr Chee said. “So that we can help to stimulate the economy.”
The second ‘Yes’ is on retrenchment benefits. He pointed out that the Government should provide financial protection for retrenched workers, and suggested paying them an average of 50 per cent of last drawn salary for a period of 18 months.
The third ‘Yes’ is providing income for retirees as Dr Chee proposed to provide S$500 for the elderly who are aged over 65 years old.
“The fourth ‘Yes’ is an important point, we want the Government to put the people first,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, the ‘No’ aspect of the campaign is a rejection of the 10 million population target that is often talked about. The SDP stated in the campaign that it will push to stop the PAP from raising the population in Singapore to 10 million and displacing the PMETs (professionals, managers, executives, and technicians) with foreign ones.
“So four ‘Yes’, one ‘No’. Help us to get the message out, spread it around as much as you can,” Dr Chee concluded his video.
