SDP - Bukit Batok By-Election 2016

Please vote of SDP if you think the following is true;

- the Ministers are overpaid for their level of competency and performance
- World best paid PM is over the top in terms of compensation for a small country where citizens lose their jobs, retrenched in the midst of their career
- the government encourages cheap foreign labour to hide poor productivity over the last 10 years
- that your CPF funds have been mismanaged and you are not getting the returns that you should get
- People Association is the campaign and finding arm of the PAP
- that there should be a safety net for all Singaporeans who have contributed to this country
- that Singaporeans must know what is happening in Temasek and its performance should be examined by an independent body
- there is inherent conflict of interest when the country cannot find anyone more suitable to run the country's one of 2 sovereign funds except for the PM's wife
- The salary scale of the public service, the People Association and NTUC must be published to ensure good governance
- The Elections Dept must not come under the purview of the PMO but by an Independent body appointed by PSC.
- To reopen the case of 8 deaths in SGH and undertake a full inquiry
- No party in power should use taxpayers' funds or state funds to bribe voters

Helping the weak aunties in Bukit Batok:

(On April 3): Visited Mdm Veeramah this morning and brought her some groceries. She lives alone and drags herself around the floor because one of her legs is amputated. She rents her room out to a foreign worker and sleeps in the hall. She tells us she survives on the rent of $500 she collects.

“If no rent, no money lah” she says, “government no help.” She mentioned she had once approached Halimah Yacob for assistance. “But talk, talk no help.”

Mdm Veeramah is just one of the many residents living in poverty in Bukit Batok, indeed throughout Singapore. I find it hard to accept that in a country that boasts of the most number billionaires and millionaires per capita, we still see such poverty in our midst. Help me get into Parliament to speak up for them, for us.






(On Mar 21): I met this ah ma during the walkabout yesterday at BB. She was cleaning tables at a coffee shop. She told me that she worked 8 hrs a day, six days a week (she gets 4 days off a month) - that's 48 hrs a week compared to the standard 44. Her salary? $1,050/mth or $5.50/hour. An elderly lady doing a backbreaking job for 48 hrs a week for such wages - this is wrong on so many levels. It's people like her that keeps me going and speaking up; she is why I'm standing in the BB by-election.






(On April 21): Lending a helping hand.

Listening to the uncles in Bukit Batok:

(On Mar 26):




(On Mar 27):




(On April 25):

Selfies, selfies and more selfies!

(On Mar 27):




(On April 3):




(On April 9):




(On April 24):

Meeting and greeting Bukit Batok residents, on their way to work in the morning, at the Bukit Batok MRT Station:

On April 5 morning:





On April 13: Good morning! Team SDP @ Bukit Batok MRT Station.

Uncles giving thumbs ups and more uncles

On April 14:




On April 17:




On April 20:




On April 5:




On April 5:




On 24 Mar:

Happening right NOW : At about 6.50pm, April 25, Monday evening.

Dr Chee and Team SDP at Bukit Batok MRT Station greeting the evening crowd.

Here are some pics from yesterday's (Sunday, 24 April) ride-about. The sky was mercifully cloudy, and we got to meet many BB residents who were up and about. Before we started off, a young boy came up and said: "Are you Soon Juan?" "Yes, I am," I replied. "Chee Soon Juan?" he wanted to be sure. "Definitely," I assured him. Turns out that daddy who was nearby had told him about the by-election and he just wanted to say hello. We shook hands and he waved goodbye. Something tells me he's going to grow up just fine.

Continue on 24 April:

CSJ's Facebook, 26 April 2016:

Visited a playground in BB over the weekend and came across some BBQ pits that were in a state of derelict. Lizards and ants were all over and the pits were full of shells, left over pieces of food and even a prawn head. That's one way rats survive and multiply. Cleaning and maintenance of facilities require manpower and, thus, funds which are borne by residents. This is why before we keep building facilities, we should consult with residents and not commit their funds to wasteful infrastructure that are under-utilised and poorly maintained - especially in such economically uncertain times.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全 [Admin] Facebook on 26 April 2016: Translation in Chinese and Malay (of comment and pictures shown above).

上周末在走访武吉巴督时, 看到有些呈现荒废状态的烧烤炉。充满了蜥蜴和蚂蚁，里头都是剩下的食物，甚至一个大虾头。这也是老鼠靠着生存繁衍的一种方式。清洗和维护这些公共设施需要人手，因此，这些资金最终还是由居民来承担。这就是为什么我们在建筑任何设施之前，应该先和居民们协商，而不是利用他们所提交的资金,擅自建造设施,在维修不足或经营不善之后,因而造成浪费。尤其是在目前这样经济不确定的时期,更是需要如此。


Sempat berkunjung ke sebuah taman permainan di BB pada hujung minggu lalu. Terjumpa beberapa tempat BBQ yang kelihatan usang. Terdapat cicak dan semut yang berkeliaran termasuk juga sisa-sisa kulit kerang, kulit udang dan lain-lain lagi. Ini menjadi sumber makanan tikus mondok untuk hidup dan membiak. Penjagaan dan pembersihan tempat ini memerlukan kakitangan dan juga kewangan dari dana yang dibiayai penduduk. Oleh kerana inilah, kita harus berhati-hati untuk membangunkan apapun kemudahan yang baru tanpa merujuk kepada penduduk yang lebih tahu keadaan sekeliling mereka sebelum menggunakan apapun dana sumbangan mereka sendiri untuk prasarana yang baru tapi gagal dijaga dengan baik setelah dibangunkan - lebih-lebih lagi dalam masa-masa ekonomi yang semakin muram ini.

http://yoursdp.org/news/bukit_batok..._to_make_it_an_election_issue/2016-04-26-6119


Bukit Batok upgrading covered by URA, wrong for Murali to make it an election issue

On 26 April 2016

by Dr Paul Tambyah, Member, Central Executive Committee, Singapore Democratic Party






The SDP would like to reassure voters of Bukit Batok that all government agencies are non-partisan and will work with whoever is elected as MP for Bukit Batok SMC. The URA has a draft master plan which covers all the planning areas in Singapore.

In their brochure of the draft master plan for Bukit Batok published in late 2013, they highlighted several key developments some of which have already been successfully completed. These include:
- an extension of Bukit Batok Hillside Park,
- new parks in west Bukit Batok,
- a new park connector along Bukit Batok West Avenue 2,
- a new cycling network as well as the construction of new roads in Bukit Batok west area,


If and when elected, Dr Chee Soon Juan and the new Bukit Batok Town Council will work closely with the URA to ensure the implementation of these plans.

All the Home Improvement Projects will also proceed without disruption as these works are either already underway or the contracts have been signed and funds allocated. The SDP-run Town Council will ensure that these projects are completed.

Any additional plans that the SDP Town Council proposes to the relevant government agencies will only come after in-depth consultation with the residents. We will do this by holding forums and meetings with residents. In other words, the SDP will work from the ground-up instead of the using the PAP's high-handed top-down approach.

To say that major improvements will come only if the PAP candidate is elected is unethical and could even be a contravention of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Section 59) which prohibits parties or persons from bringing undue influence on voters.

The SDP feels that it is more important to address the pressing needs of the residents instead of rushing into projects which place a significant burden on tax payers who are already stretched by cost-of-living issues.

The funds could be put to better use such as looking after the healthcare, senior care and educational needs of Bukit Batok residents.

Dr Paul Tambyah
Member
Central Executive Committee
Singapore Democratic Party