SDP’s Chee to address issue of income disparity if elected in Bukit Batok
SDP’s candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election Dr Chee Soon Juan said he will raise issues of poverty among the people if he is elected as MP. Photo: Wee Teck Hian
SINGAPORE — The plight of those living on the edge of poverty is an issue Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan hopes to raise in Parliament if he wins the Bukit Batok by-election.
Speaking to reporters yesterday after distributing bags of necessities, including cooking oil and sugar, to low-income households at a block in Bukit Batok Street 21, Dr Chee said the wide income disparity was an issue “very dear” to his party.
“We’re just about one of the most expensive cities here, and yet ministers pay themselves such humongous amounts and ... you see all this poverty here. It’s something which we want to address,” he said.
Just over a week ago, Dr Chee announced he would contest the by-election in the Single Member Constituency, after former Member of Parliament David Ong resigned on March 12 over an alleged extramarital relationship.
Dr Chee said he has been walking the ground and meeting residents at coffee shops and blocks, and during house visits.
“This is the second time around. In (the 2015) General Election, we’ve already come here to get to know the residents. So, we’re (looking) into making sure we cover as much ground as we can,” he said.
All the party could do, he added, was to keep up the consistency ahead of the by-election, which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said would be called “in due course”.
“We don’t have the advantage. We don’t know when the election is going to be held,” Dr Chee said, adding that the SDP is planning social programmes for Bukit Batok residents to “uplift their quality of life”, with details to be revealed soon.
Last Monday, the People’s Action Party went public with its choice of lawyer Murali Pillai as its candidate, a day after Dr Chee announced his candidacy.
Barring the National Solidarity Party (NSP), which said earlier this month that it was studying the situation carefully and would make an announcement in due course, other opposition parties have decided not to contest the seat.
On this, Dr Chee said the SDP was not in contact with the NSP: “Each party has to make up its own mind. We’ve expressed our desire to want to see at least a one-on-one contest with the PAP because anything else would dilute the opposition vote.
“This was our concern in the past. It still is our concern. But we cannot stop other parties from wanting to contest as well.”
He added that his party colleagues and volunteers are focused solely on building democracy in Singapore and ensuring that the people have a voice in government.
“We’re not working in a democratic society. There are so many obstacles that we have to face, that we have to clear, but this is where (there is) that whole never-say-die, never-give-up attitude (of his party and volunteers) that I’m so proud of,” he said.
