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SDP’s Chee to address issue of income disparity if elected in Bukit Batok
Updated: 11:32 PM, March 27, 2016
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 on Sunday (March 27)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.
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.
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.
SDP’s Chee to address issue of income disparity if elected in Bukit Batok
Updated: 11:32 PM, March 27, 2016
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 on Sunday (March 27)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.
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.
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.
