PAP, SDP lay out Bukit Batok plans at walkabouts
SINGAPORE — The prospective candidates for the Bukit Batok by-election were out and about yesterday, setting out their plans for residents even though the date for the polls has not been announced yet.
The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Murali Pillai, backed by a posse of current and former Members of Parliament (MP), said his focus will be on helping the elderly, particularly those living alone.
Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan, who started his walkabout in the single ward on Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 shortly after the PAP team, said he will be championing the fight against income inequality if he gets elected into Parliament.
Noting that Bukit Batok is a mature estate, Mr Murali said he plans to support the area’s elderly residents in ways beyond ramping up the installation of elderly-friendly facilities and help from social agencies. He mooted the idea of introducing panic buttons in seniors’ flats and said he will seek to create a stronger community support network with neighbours looking out for the elderly, for instance.
Citing the example of an elderly resident who had to care for her husband, a dialysis patient who had been bedridden for the past five years, he said: “These people may not have the luxury of going down to the branch (to get help), so we need to create a system where we can go to them and look out for them, through neighbours or grassroots volunteers ... That’s what community spirit is about.”
Mr Murali added that he will also push for more housing blocks in the estate to benefit from the Home Improvement Programme. He was accompanied by Jurong GRC MPs Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Desmond Lee and Rahayu Mahzam, as well as Yuhua SMC MP Grace Fu, and Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Low Yen Ling. Former Jurong GRC MP Lim Boon Heng was also seen lending support.
Dr Chee, on the other hand, said he would be tackling “perennial issues” such as income inequality, the cost of public housing, and greater protection for retrenched workers.
“We’ll be using the time we have to reach out to as many residents that we can ...,” he added. “It’s a tough job but no one said that getting into Parliament would be easy ... Singaporeans genuinely want an alternative voice in Parliament and these are issues that they desperately want to address.”
Asked if he is ready for the hustings, Mr Murali said that when the time comes, it would be a matter of him presenting his credentials and experience and leaving the decision “in residents’ good hands”.
