Singapore Democrats

Dear All SDP Candidate,

Thanks you all for putting up a brave heart in this election. Please continue your good gound work and provide us a platform to express our concerns and our voices.

You will be remembered in our heart.

A resident in Yuhua
Simon Lim

I was at the SDP lunchtime rally and it left a great impression in me. The talents that the team has, the conviction, the spirit is really good. 13.6% vote swing towards SDP just shows that SDP on the right track. Keep on fighting!!

PS : I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'd really love to see the oppositions consolidate their talents and challenge the incumbent party in the next GE.

Thank you for stepping forward. Don't give up. Work hard for 2016 and 2021 elections. Lincoln lost his first election but stayed the course, and shaped and changed the course of a nation. Mandela sat in jail for years but he brought about the reconciliation and healing in a hurting nation.

Never neglect your community, grassroots and community service. Know the locals in your community.

Know their names and about their concerns.

Show us in Holland Bukit Timah that what you lack in resources, you make up in heart, compassion, wisdom, courage. We could see the sincerity of your candidates in Holland Bukit Timah and Yuhua. It is your strength.

Please speak for those who have not been a voice to speak. Please speak and act for those who have fallen through the crack.

Take care

I look forward to see you in action in the next 5 years and in the 2016 elections.

Yeah, didnt get in the Parliament.

But they will definately hear SDP from the outside!

SDP have definately made them a little more humble, however that's not quite enough. Next time!

Well, at least we got one funeral, this time!

Thank you, SDP, for fighting hard to be our voices. To me, you guys have won our hearts and minds. I have alot of respect for what everyone in SDP has done, not just for this GE, but all this while. Please continue to do what you guys are best at and let us all stand united as one people, one nation. You have made alot of us feel truly Singaporean, so don't give up. You have my 110% support.

I too, look forward to seeing the team back in the 2016 elections.

A resident in Bukit Panjang.

I was at you rally at boat quay and left with such a great impression! You guys are truly amazing and i can see you really care for the people with your sincerety! You result does not reflect your true passion, but its ok i am not a statistic kind a guy myslef, unlike some minister all they can think about are stats!!! CANT SEE BEYOND THAT!

2 things i woudl like to part with:

1. There is always 2 teams in a national team set up, one the main team the other a reserver team, i Think our current PM knows nothing abt football, dont blame him keep looking at stats! I am a qualified coach so if you guys need any help in childrens program let me know!!!!

2. This one might not sit well but i have to be honest,some of you guys need to learn how to give a speech! No point having all the academic qulifications but cant speak fluently its important if u want to get the message across! Sorry!

Michelle you hv the pulse of the people!
vincent you have the heart!
Mr PAUL the wisdom !
AND DR CHEE THE LION THAT LEADS! I admire you sir!

THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING ME BELEIVE AGAING IN DEMOCARCY!!!!!

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you at SDP for putting up a most professional and principled campaign amongst all political parties.
You are most constructive in terms of new proposals, be it on economic restructuring, healthcare, town management, etc. You are most exemplary in terms of focusing on issues, sticking to peoples’ problems, not smears or insinuations. You are most innovative in running the campaign – top marks for rally set-up, sales booth and the use of new media. You presented a most credible slate of candidates – highly qualified individuals with passion and humility.
Congratulations for your uplifting performance in this GE – a strong testimony to the improved party image, which has been so wilfully mis-constructed by the mainstream media. The excellent work from this GE is evident to all and with sustained efforts electoral success WILL come sooner rather than later!
SDP, you have been our true voice of conscience, and an inspiration to many. Please continue to engage Singaporeans and maintain your community outreach. With an SDP growing from strength to strength, things can only get better for Singapore !

Continue to build on what you have created from the past 2 GE in Sembawang. I believed you will have a even better results in next GE.

How could you say that you are disappointed??The result clearly shown that SDP have improve significantly even with limited resources.That for me is a WIN.

From now till the next elections is far away just like waiting another WorldCup.But with time,SDP should make presence felt.With so many professional coming forward to render assistance,SDP should not let it go to waste.Recruiting of members are also an essential tools for the objectives.

But from my observation,I've found out that the communication between members of the SDP organisation was not pretty good.Maybe due the lack of people,many were seen burn out.One who have to take many responsibility were bound to be out of focus.But on that level,I was amazed that SDP have come out on top.

Conclusion,SDP should start the ball rolling soon.Thanking the many supporters and volunteers is a good start.Appreciate them and from there,you could see people coming in for the SDP cause.The heat of the GE is still warm.Take advantages of the professional coming forward b4 the warmness is gone.

I look forward in being a part of SDP strength.For now,I'll say well done to all in SDP.

There are a lot of improvements which need to be made by the SDP following the election.

1) James Gomez said that door to door campaigning is old style. Yes in the future, it will be. However for now the personal touch is important. Sylvia Lim went to 500 blocks before winning Aljunied. Yaw Sin Leong was introduced to all the residents in Hougang personally before being placed up as a candidate. Michelle Lee was well received by the public. Her door to door campaigning would help soften the image of the SDP.
2) The workers party has built up very strong grass roots and branding. SDP needs to also do so. Example would be to move the free services like the legal clinic to the areas you wish to contest.
3) I tried convincing some colleagues to vote for SDP. However the older generation feels that Dr Chee has betrayed Chiam See Tong. It would be prudent to apologize publically to Chiam See Tong or at least acknowledge that he has built the party etc. This would boost Dr Chee Soon Juan’s standing among the public.
4) Start highlighting the issues with the estates which are being contested by the SDP in the next election. Let it be not known that the SDP only comes about during the elections. The issues need to be documented, example dirty estates, old folks, poor bus services. Place them up on the web too.
5) The SDP under Chiam had benefited due to JBJ been overtly aggressive in public. This wins some hardcore supporters over but not the elections. The WP has now ironically done so in reverse to the SDP and has done well in the elections. The SDP should put aside protest for the next 5 years.
6) Acknowledge Low Thia Kiang feat of taking Aljunied. He has done the alternative view parties an immense favor. The PAP lost ministers and now Aljunied is almost impossible to win back unless Low makes a huge mistake.
7) The PAP is likely going to have a lot of leverage in the west in gerrymandering. There is likelihood that the concept of weak GRC but strong SMC would be overturned since the GRCs have done quite poorly in relations to SMCs. In the east its difficult to switch here and there and they might have to sacrifice some single wards to save the GRCs. In the west it’s likely to become Holland Bukit Panjang again and turn the task of winning the GRC again almost impossible. Hence the SDP really needs to consider where you want to stand in the next election.
8) The alternative parties should split the constituencies up now post election so that there would be a clear indication on where you would stand in the next election. Should the constituency be redrawn and candidates could be cross fielded
9) Invite like minded parties to merge wit the SDP. The reform party and the socialist front come to mind. Kenneth has come to the SDP defense before though he needs to be more refined. Chia li Teck is also a good candidate.

1) The best use of online media. Here if Temasekreview falls off. SDP should consider creating a clandestine news and analysis portal with friends overseas.
2) Image has improved tremendously from the last election with larger crowds for rally and more support especially online websites gunning for a SDP win. Obviously this has translated into more votes.

1) The PAP is shaken by the Aljunied defeat. It’s likely to be weaker over the next 5 years. It has always really been a one person party. The person passed away recently and hence the party has begun its fall.
2) Inflation is likely to skyrocket regardless of what they do. They benefitted when India and China were importing inflation. Now that the 2 countries are exporting inflation, the pinch is likely to be stronger. The foreign influx from India as China before is likely to decline as wages go up there and Singapore no longer is cost competitive. Hence any desperate attempt to retain manufacturing is going to fail. However in the west of Singapore manufacturing is a big item and calling for its end would carry votes away from the SDP.
3) The younger generations are likely to vote SDP. Hence the SDP needs to keep the appeal to them without upsetting the older generations.

Where do we sign up?

Dearest SDP,
First and foremost i would like to congratulate you on a superb campaign and thank you for being a strong and positive voice for those of us who have been unable to express our concerns and also for those of of us who have not been listened to.
To all of you, i tip my hat in admiration and adoration.
Your messages and speeches throughout the campaign were inspiring and i believe a clear and concise msg was sent to the PAP and its leaders. To have made their leader admit their mistakes and ask forgiveness was a victory in itself.That itself will always be a major victory.
Although disappointing, the results have personally given me hope that the tides are in motion, and eventually major change will come to our country, and we shall soon be able to truly call ourselves a democracy, rather than being called as such by the PAP when people like myself feel as if we are living in a monarchy, or in some people's personal game of monopoly.
Once again, thank you, and please do not give up the fight to leave no Singaporean behind.

yours,
A truly inspired supporter.

Based on the outcome, its about time SDP looks at leadership renewal.

Chee should make way for newer breed of credible party stalwarts such as Vincent W who clearly won all hearts and souls during this GE.

Chee should now pass the Sec General baton to Vincent W to lead SDP in its next leg.

Chee should seriously consider this for the betterment of the party if SDP wants to go forward.

Dear SDP, please organise a forum for your supporters so we can air or share our own analyses with your organisation. On the whole, the campaign was well fought and I must say the image created was impressive. But there were issues that were not well addressed and must be highlighted. If we can participate in this weekend's forum, please let us have the details. Many people want to join or help your party grow and move to next phase.

SDP, I am still too heartbroken to write too much especially on this blog. 24 hours after the elections results were announced, I finally broke down and cried: How could Singaporeans reject such a stellar team at the polls?

Intellectually, I can accept the results. If you remember, this was exactly the kind of outcomes I predicted. But my hopes started soaring - perhaps quite uncontronce the campaigns started and when the 11 SDP stars truly started shining brightly, enough to blind us.

Vincent is a true superstar!

But, SDP, you are still the most improved of any party, and disproportinately so compared to the general vote swing away from the ruling party. (The WP and SPP fared only marginally better in the seats that they contested than the general swing of votes away from the PAP, while in the NSP only managed to approximate almost exactly the general vote swing away from the PAP.)

Thus, I am making this appeal to all 11 of the SDP candidates: please don't abandon us at this time becaues THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

I will be contributing further to the post-elections analyses when I have properly recovered.

I think there is an estimate of around 2-300 volunteers for SDP for this election. This group of volunteers will be quickly dissipate if there is nothing to hold them together.

In special regards to Sembawang GRC volunteers. I have created a facebook page called "The Lalang". Lalang has the significance of being a strong lifeforce and yet humble.

http://www.facebook.com/SembGRC

See you there

The Workers Party campaigned on wanting to work towards a First World parliament, and one of the 5 points they clarified on the subject was constitutional accountability, though not exactly using the same words.

But they meant the same thing.

The remaining 4 points were redundant if they had used the words - and meant - "constitutional accountability".

Additionally, they campaigned on wanting to hold the PAP government accountable.

(Funny how they campaign as if they were the SDP, but in Parliament, are more likely to conform as closely as possible to the PAP - based on their track record - by distinguishing themselves just enough from the PAP to fool Singaporeans that they are actually doing the job of an opposition party.)

The Workers Party now has to account for this:

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/09/low-thia-khiang-on-insight-report-for-hougang-constituency/

[Quote]

"When a PAP candidate loses the election, he is appointed or will remain as “Adviser” to the grassroots organisations. He heads the Community Club (CC) and nominates or endorses members of the Residents’ Committee (RC) whose activities are co-ordinated and routinely administered by the PA which is funded by government budget.

At the party level, he is in charge of the PAP’s branch in the constituency which is closely affiliated to the PAP Community Foundation (PCF). The PAP party office is usually located inside the premises of PCF, which is registered as a charitable organisation and runs pre-education classes for residents in the ward. The PCF premises are granted “concessionary rent” by the HDB.

To summarise, when a PAP candidate loses the election, he goes to the CC under the umbrella of the PA and to his party office under the PCF, where he can conduct meet-the-people sessions in a proper office in air-condition comfort.

Now, when a WP candidate loses the election, he has to, quite simply put it, ‘roam the streets’ if he wishes to continue extending his reach in the ward." - Low Thia Khiang, Workers Party Hypocrite

[Endquote]

Now that the only 'opposition' voices in Parliament so far have been confirmed as Workers Party ones, Low Thia Khiang and the rest of the Workers Party MP-elects have to account for what they are going to do about this. (Three out of the six, or 50%, of the Workers Party MP-elects are lawyers; this would normally be no problem for them):

1. Is the Workers Party going to fight - in Parliament or outside of it, which they can do right now - for their own losing candidates to set up office in air-condition comfort in the Peoples Association (PA)?

2. If the Workers Party is now the sole representative in Parliament of Singaporeans who did not vote for the PAP - 4 out of 10 of them, close to half of all Singaporeans - will they now also fight for the right of Singaporeans who stood for elections under another party's ticket, lost, but nevertheless want to continue being a voice for Singaporeans in those constituencies that they lost in the air-condition comfort of PA offices?

Time to bring the Constitution in:

Article 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore states:

"All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law."

What that means is that all candidates who stood for elections - PAP ones or anyone else under any other party's ticket - are also equal under the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.

The People's Association (PA) is a public institution funded by all Singaporeans; it is not funded by the PAP's party coffers to serve only its own party objectives. As a publicly funded body, it is the Peoples Associations's (PA) job to provide administrative services equally under the law.

Will the Workers Party be acountable, and constitutionally so as per their own objectives to work towrads a First World parliament, be constitutionally accountable on this matter?

Or are they going to spend the next five years in Parliament, after having prostituted from the decidedly anti-PAP votes to get their hands on the $15 000/mo MP allowances, signalling their acceptability to the PAP and continue to not oppose them in any important way?

I tell people that SDP is worth listening and worth the time to reconsider to join and make Singapore a real pure democracy nation for our future Singaporeans.

Terima kasih / thank you to all citizens whose comments and heartfelt sharing really inspire me in national politic. Keep researching and keep commenting guys and gals.

have you ever consider 'Letter writing" for the resident,with renting a place where you have contested?with the power of new media,some of those "tai chi" cases can be feature in the alternative press.It may even improve the resident's lives with the pressure.

Perseverance and an indomitable spirit are the ingredients that makes successful politicians.

Congratulations for so quickly picking yourself up and make preparation for GE-2016.

The same candidates that have picked their constituency of choice should remain in the same constituency in preparation for GE-2016 - and do not allow any labels such as "hopping opportunists" to stick.

Work the ground diligently for the next five years, and perhaps success will happen in the next GE - as had happened to WP Desmond Choo who worked the ground alongside his Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang.

It is unfortunate that SPP Lina Chiam did not succeed as she failed in her ability to connect with her constituents, some of whom were dragged from other PAP wards during the PRE-Election gerrymeandering of electoral boundaries.

The SDP "11 Star Candidates" for GE-2011 should continue to publish their ideas and opinions to all bills and policies put up by the PAP - as if they are already MPs.

The "SDP-11" - or more - should be given key shadow ministerial roles immediately, so that proper focus are given to the respective ministries, while giving these "SDP-11" the preparatory experience towards holding office.

Well dear SDP, a 13.6% improvement in vote share compared to the next best SPP's 8.9% uptick is not a result to be sneezed at at all, I shouldn't think. To take 40% of the vote away from cabinet minister Vivian from a standing start in Holland-BT, the heartland of his fellow elite lord high ying-yangs, is a pretty remarkable effort if I may say so. There's nothing to be ashamed of there at all. You kept me (and I'm sure Balakrishnan as well) on tenterhooks all evening long.

Your rallies were magnificent (particularly at the CBD), your organisation spot on, you won the intellectual argument hands down on TV, online and at the hustings. So why aren't you triumphantly taking your rightful place in Parliament then? Simply put, the SDP had the voters' hearts and minds but the PAP had them by the balls - and perforce they had to follow. Realpolitik rears its ugly head again. It was never going to be easy to uninstall the work of 50 years of relentless propaganda, was it? I think we all knew that in our heart of hearts but hope does spring eternal.

Right, that's all over and done with, water under the bridge now, let's pick ourselves up and reboot. Despite his 81 seat margin The Man is wounded, his weaknesses exposed and he knows it too. All that hardcore gerrymandering, pink ICs handed out like candy and deliberate disenfranchising of the overseas Singaporean voter yielded only a paltry 60% of the electorate. He should be nervous and sweaty because that was in truth a very poor showing. Let's learn the lessons of why we did not quite connect with the Sembawang voter (again!) and why Teo Ho Pin, despite his shortcomings as an MP, still managed to carry 2/3rds of his electorate against Alec Tok.

By and large you done good SDP, so thanks go out to all the usual suspects, Dr Chee, Siok Chin, Ghandi, Jufri et al ,without whom none of this week would have been possible. In particular, I would like to extend my thanks and admiration for the wonderful wit and oratorical skill displayed by Vincent Wijeysingha (always a pleasure to listen to), the charm and intelligence of Michelle Lee (surely the thinking man's pin-up) and the tireless effort of pretty lady Jaslyn Go (quietly hovering in the background making sure that things went smoothly).

I expect the 2016 election to be a whole new ball game given the high probability of LKY throwing in the towel so there's still everything to play for. Leonard Cohen's words spring to mind: "Today we take Manhattan, tomorrow...well...tomorrow we take New York!"

A real politician is first a real honest citizen. This ltter can inspire more ladiesa dn gentlemen to come forward willingly and gladly to speak up for those voiceless again in our sunshining Singapore.

read details here http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/05/08/nicole-seah-tonight-and-the-next-5-years/

SDP should start a SDP Grassroots in Sembawang GRC as a platform to help the residents. Col Dr Ang can even step up his 2nd clinic in Woodlands. SDP should work with the residents in community work here in Sembawang GRC. Let the residents know that you are serious and sincere in representing them. We want to see you guys around here. You can work with certain well known people in Woodlands such as Dr Tong thean seng a well known doctor in Woodlands. He practiced at Blk 131 Marsiling Rise. He is well connected with the elderly in the Marsiling areas. The elderly that refused to vote for SDP. Everyone knows him and he is not a PAP person. You can get a lot of feedback from him. He has been in Marsiling since the late 70s. A great man and has been my own doctor since I was a baby. He is one of the doctor that have been in Marsiling since the Lorong Fatimah times. I know him very well and he does not like the PAP. SDP seek him out for the Sembawang residents sake.

As a resident of bt panjang, I was surprise that Alec Tok was send to respresent as a candidate. Althought my family did vote for him on only one reason and one reason only that is that we need a alternative voice in the gov. Frankly, I dont know who is Alec tok till the very last minutes that he was announce by your party and this tells me that SDP is contesting for the sake of contesting by sending a person that the residents have not met during your pervious walkabout.

Thru coffee ship talk everyone was saying that if John Tan is the candidate the result would be different or a higher chance to take the SMC. What ALec Tok said after the election was pretty disappionting as he was mentioning that he was lucky to get back his deposit. This is a show of no confident, probably he will vanish till the next election which I hope not.

To me SDP is a party that is filled with people with passion to serve to the people of Singapore, with this fire burning it will ignite the passion of people too, to bring Singapore to the next level. I cannot help but to say this comparing Alec Tok to Nicole Seah, there are truly a lack/discounting factor to vote for the latter.

Please Do not contest for the sake of contesting, send someone with heart for the people, so I can vote for you with conviction.

Hope to see Alec Tok in your nex walkabout in Bt Panjang, as he promise that he will continues to serve resident even he is not elected.

My wife and myself are supporters since 2001. In this elections, we saw the strongest team ever fielded by SDP in Holland Bukit Timah GRC. We thought this is the day but it turned out not.

We felt that the rallies are engaging, the party is well organized, we understood the message the party is trying to bring across, but would the uncles and aunties at Fajar coffeeshop understand?

Most of the opposition political parties in Singapore has about 15-20% of hard core opposition supporters but NOT SDP. Even the comments down here are written by highly educated intellects with great ideas.

Teo ho ping is never an easy opponent to beat at Bukit panjang because he is a local boy, grew up in Bukit Panjang.

After living 8 years in Zhenghua, Segar and Fajar, and had businesses in 10mile juntion and Zhenghua, I feel that SDP should fine tune their approach if we are seriously considering to compete here in the next GE.

I would like to highlight that 8days is just insufficient time to campaign. This should be extended to two weeks to help some Singaporeans digest the manifestos and examine the quality of candidate. Sadly, government will not give any opportunity for exposure in the future.

Power struggle with other opposition parties on GRC and SMC contested contribute to misplace allocation. I am sure SDP would kick out MBT PAP at Tampines GRC.

We have to educate Singaporeans to read and understand SDP manifesto. It should be highlighted with simple numbers.
Eg. GST reduction from 7%-3%. .and NO GST for basic food necessities .Give figures on how much a family will save.

Maybe we need a Gigantic Screen for people to understand manifestos. It is just a better package, not alternate, then PAP. Another example,

Vote PAP u get 2yrs NS, Vote SDP u get 1yr NS
Vote PAP your reservist till 40yr old or Vote SDP your reservist till 30yr.

We need residents to step forward to serve the community. Inject and engage more fun and social activities, benefits, charities and donations drive. We need residents to fill up the stadium and embrace SDP logo and motto. To create awareness and exposure with the community will restore hope and confidence of SDP commitment in the future. It is important to highlight every activity is sponsored by SDP and our guest of honor is always a friend of SDP.

RC is getting old and regimental. HDB premises have PAP kindergartens everywhere. The LIGHTNING logos are a reminder to each young residents of PAP presence. I suggest an alternate helping hand centers, even if u have to rent HDB community space.

Please take full advantage of FB coz these people will be SDP eyes and ears on the ground. Create FB SDP Sembawang, SDP Tampines or SDP Toa Payoh.

I have been supporting SDP since 1997,

Good idea merger with NSP