GE2015: Chee Soon Juan slams 'gutter politics' in first speech
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader Chee Soon Juan has hit out strongly at what he perceives to be “personal attacks” on him by the People’s Action Party (PAP).
The 53-year-old spoke at a political rally for the first time in 15 years when he took to the stage on Thursday night at Choa Chu Kang Stadium. He was ineligible to contest the last two general elections as he was an undischarged bankrupt during that period.
Chee believes that the PAP is trying to portray him as a “liar, gangster and psychopath” ahead of the upcoming elections, where SDP will field 11 candidates.
“Their idea is to attack me and see if I respond and whether I defend myself. If I do, they will attack even more and by the time we are done with the nine days of campaigning… they will have achieved their objective, which is to prevent me and my colleagues from talking about the real issues and more importantly, to distract you, the real voters, from the real problems that you face,” he asserted.
In recent days, the SDP had been criticised for its “tax and spend” policies by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, who leads the PAP team in contesting Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) against Chee’s slate.
Balakrishnan further intimated that SDP’s proposed ideas involving minimum wages and healthcare, amongst others, would set Singapore “on the road to Greece”. Sim Ann, another member of the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC team, also spoke about Chee’s run-in with former mentor Chiam See Tong.
Lawrence Wong, who will lead PAP’s Marsiling Yew-Tee slate against SDP, then referenced an incident in 1996 when Chee was fined for contempt of Parliament on a “live” television debate on Wednesday.
Chee described the PAP’s tactics as “gutter politics” and decried them as having lost touch with the people on the ground, as he addressed the crowd in three different dialects and all four national languages.
Firing salvos at PAP policies
While all the other SDP candidates also gave speeches, the loudest cheers of the night were reserved for Chee, who repeatedly reinforced the point that the SDP can be the people’s voice in Parliament.
He spoke in a calm, measured tone about how the high costs of living and influx of foreign workers has contributed to a “stressful lifestyle” for Singaporeans, asserting that their “financial and economic threat is a direct result” of PAP’s policies.
“This double whammy of the rising costs of living and the stagnation of wages on the other hand was borne out of PAP policies [which] is making life extremely tough,” he stated, citing several past surveys on how much citizens save and the country’s overall cost of living.
“It is the same dismal outlook for our younger Singaporeans, including graduates. For them, the future looks anything but hopeful.”
Punctuating his speech with anecdotes about elderly cardboard collectors and how his family chooses lower-priced ice-cream brands while shopping because of the high cost of living, he reiterated that Singaporeans needed to vote for the SDP if they want to “have a say in shaping their future”.
Chee painted the picture of a bleak future if there were no alternative voices in Parliament.
“This is a party that has so many millionaire ministers that they don’t know what it is like to be poor,” he declared. “They are completely out of touch with the real Singapore. There is nothing more dangerous than a government that is out of touch with reality.
“Imagine the nightmare of waking up next Saturday morning after Polling Day and finding out that PAP has again won all the seats. Then think of all the problems you face... and then think that you have no one to speak up for you on these issues, that you don’t have a voice in Parliament.
“I want political leaders who serve the people, not just themselves,” he said.
