Singapore Democrats
Party activists were at the Marsiling housing estate this morning to meet and greet residents. Several residents welcomed us with warm smiles and readily opened their doors as we went door to door to let them know that we cared about their concerns.$CUT$
“We want to update you on some of the things that we’ve been doing,” our volunteers tell them. “But more important, we want to do something about the extremely high cost of living that everyone in this country is so concerned about.”
A delivery-truck driver complained about the ERP along the CTE. “There are two gantries in operation at around 6pm. I have to pay $1 at one gantry and $1.50 at the second one,” he said in Mandarin, “That’s $2.50 everyday just to go home. Where’s the reason?”
Another man, a civil servant in his 50s, said that the Government is failing the people. “I voted for the SDP the last time but I cannot join you because of my position. But don’t worry, I’ll help to spread the word about the SDP,” he assured us.
A middle-aged female resident mentioned that there are too many foreign workers in Singapore. “If we cannot depend on our own people to work, then why have a country at all?” she said.
The changing political mood among the people is reflected in the way they respond to the SDP.
An indication of this trend is the unprecedented number of residents who signed up to volunteer or to receive our e-newsletter. We will be catching up with our newly registered friends for coffee soon.
We informed residents of our alternative policies and that the SDP has concrete ideas of how we can better control the quality of foreign workers coming in to work in Singapore, lower healthcare costs, and reduce HDB prices.
We also took the opportunity to inform residents of the Mohd Isa Bursary Award where we are giving out bursaries of $300 to $500 to students from needy families. A few families said that were interested and would apply. (Click here for more information.)
Even as we gain momentum in our build-up towards the next general elections due by 2016, there is still much to do and many residents to reach out to. We intend to step up our ground campaign and will need help from you, our fellow Singaporeans.
We can change Singapore for the better but only if all our friends and supporters pitch in. So sign up today and get involved! Many of our friends in the Sembawang GRC have.