They billed it as "history in the making".
On Monday evening, the Singapore Democratic Alliance released its "political rally" video on YouTube after announcing last week they would not be holding political rallies in Punggol East and instead rely on "online technology" to spread their message to voters.
In the six-and-a-half-minute video, SDA chief and by-election candidate Desmond Lim said he may not have won at the last general election but said he’s still “here talking to you and reaching out to you because I still believe in the cause.”
“If you want democracy, then why restrict the voices in parliament to two? Where is the system of checks and balances with two dominant parties in action?” asked Lim, wearing his party’s new green polo T-shirt.
Saying that “big names’’ cannot guarantee loyalty and performance, Lim said what counts when the fanfare is over, is the “individual”.
The start of the video shows the SDA’s Harminder Pal Singh reading out the Singapore pledge before introducing Lim. He said the SDA was the first party ever to hold an online rally.
Lim told media that his party will produce around ten of these "rally videos".
Reception to the video has been lukewarm.
Within two hour of the video going up on the party’s YouTube page, there were slightly over 300 views. There were also 300 "dislikes" compared to 31 "likes" as of 9.20pm on Monday evening.
A second video, which saw Lim answering questions sent in by viewers, was released later in the evening.
Lim said using something different such as online technology to spread the party’s rally message signified “SDA’s confidence in not being intimidated to follow the norm, (and) rather, to make calculated decisions that set us apart and gets the job done.”
The SDA's by-election campaign has been far from smooth. Over the weekend, controversy surrounding the party's youth volunteers and their meal and transport allowance led to the party issuing a statement saying it was "no crime".
In the 2011 general election, Lim lost his election deposit after only garnering 4.5 per cent of the votes.
Watch the video here.
The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit an all-time high of 321 at 10pm on Wednesday, crossing into the "hazardous" range, according to data from the National Environment Agency (NEA).