Singapore Democrats
Following the mini-campaign at Bukit Panjang the last two weekends over the wet market issue, the Singapore Democrats were back in the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC this weekend to continue its groundwork in preparation for the general elections.
Actually, this is not quite accurate. The SDP has been going around the GRC during weekdays as well to meet with the lunch and dinner crowds and sell The New Democrat.
The SDP will continue to familiarise ourselves to Bishan and Toa Payoh residents because the GRC has not had a chance to vote for more than 20 years due to walkovers.
This means that Mr Wong Kan Seng and team has been getting into Parliament without having to work up a sweat.
But the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Home Affairs Minister, has come under scrutiny recently, first for the security bungle of the century when a limping terrorist suspect, Mr Mas Selamat, walks out of the detention centre in brought daylight and then swims to Malaysia without being detected.
Then there were also the security lapses at the Changi immigration and customs checkpoints where a couple of Singaporeans left and entered Singapore without their passports.
Walkovers have been the bane of Singapore’s politics. The PAP has decimated the opposition and instilled so much fear in the people that opposition candidates are hard to come by, ensuring a PAP victory even before the first vote is cast.
This is why the Democrats have been concentrating its resources in a couple of constituencies including Bukit Panjang and Toa Payoh/Bishan. In fact, it is safe to say that Team SDP has visited every coffee shop and food centre in Toa Payoh and Bishan three times over – and then some.
And just in case the boundaries are redrawn, which is very likely, the Democrats have also been doing its rounds in the bordering housing estates in Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon Gardens and Whampoa.
Surprisingly, sales of The New Democrat have been especially brisk in the Teck Ghee and Kebun Baru areas, places that form part of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s constituency. In fact, there have been more than a few expletives directed at the PAP leaders by residents there.
In the meantime, the SDP will continue to work in Bukit Panjang to highlight the concerns of residents and stallholders there over the continuing saga of the sale of the wet market to Sheng Siong.
The party applied for a permit to speak at Bukit Panjang this morning over the wet-market furore but this was rejected by the police.