Singapore Democrats
#SDPNOW – The Way Forward. That’s our slogan for the coming general elections. It was unveiled yesterday at the launch of our campaign.
Information packs were given out to the audience which contained our message to voters, house visit campaign card, information on how to donate and volunteer, and a copy of our party newspaper, The New Democrat.
Our campaign message lays out the issues that confront Singaporeans and points out that Mr Lee Hsien Loong had broken his 2015 GE promise of taking care of Singaporeans by increasing prices and fees over a slew of items.
“The indifference of this government to suffering is disturbing. It is a government that has lost its way, utterly bereft of moral values,” it reads.
Our message also identifies the party’s ideals and values, laying out our vision of a just and free Singapore: “We must find our way back. We must find our nation’s heart again because a people without a heart is a people without a future. The SDP is committed to changing this by building a future of promise and hope for Singapore.”
Chairman Paul Tambyah started the ball rolling at the launch yesterday, pointing out that “SDP is a party with a clear ideology that puts people first over profits. It is a constructive party with a tenacity and a commitment to democracy and justice.”
As far as opposition cooperation is concerned, he added, “We are happy to work with other parties in our goal for a freer and more democratic Singapore.”
There were also impassioned calls for donations and volunteers as the party looked to step up our activities in preparation for the upcoming polls.
“We’ll need three to four hundred campaign workers to help us work the ground and perform other election functions,” Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan said.
Vice-Chairman John Tan laid out the campaign plans. These include the updating and re-launching of several policy papers in areas such as cost of living, housing, and healthcare; a pre-election rally at Hong Lim Park in September; and the publication of the SDP’s town council plans.
A standing room only crowd attended the event with the audience enthusiastically agreeing with the speakers’ calls for political change.
We want to thank the Mandarin Orchard staff for their quick response to our request to increase the original seating capacity of 250. Another 50 seats were added with later arrivals having to stand.
We also chartered a bus to pick up participants who might have missed our announcement of the change of venue (due to a last minute cancellation) and proceeded to the original venue at Eunos Ave 3.
Encouragingly, there were many young faces in the crowd, several of whom were university, JC and polytechnic students. One of them asked about the SDP’s policy on climate change.
This bodes well for the party as we continue to reach out to Singapore’s youth and to excite them about the party and our plans for our nation’s future. Two separate groups have invited Dr Chee to speak at their gatherings.
TeamSDP came through with flying colours after the mini-crisis when the original event space was abruptly cancelled. We were given less than 24 hours to pull off the event and we did it with grace and determination.
We’re off to a good start. GE 2019, here we come!