SDP announces social programme for Bukit Batok
SDP chief Chee Soon Juan (second from left) with party vice-chairman John Tan (centre) along with (from left) Rajakumari Ashukumar, Tan Kin Lian and Wong Hwee Lin. Rajakumari, Tan Kin Lian and Wong will coordinate different aspects of the party’s social programme for Bukit Batok. (Photo: Sharlene Maria Sankaran/ Yahoo Newsroom)
Building a compassionate and successful town in Bukit Batok that could be a model for the rest of Singapore is what the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) aims to do should it win the upcoming by-election for the ward, said party chief Chee Soon Juan on Friday (22 April).
To help achieve this goal, the SDP will implement a four-prong social programme, entitled “We Are One, We Are Bukit Batok”, which was unveiled at a media conference.
The four initiatives - Hearts for Bukit Batok, Pathfinder, Dollars and Sense, and Legal Lifeline - will target different segments of society, such as the elderly, low-income residents, students and those in need of legal or financial assistance.
Under the Hearts for Bukit Batok project, for instance, Bukit Batok households would be encouraged to adopt a needy family in their community, while the Pathfinder initiative will promote holistic development for the area’s youth.
Chee said: “We’ve been listening and… assessing what (the residents’) needs are. We’ve got programmes for the elderly, programmes for the lower income and programmes for the youth. And we have programmes for those who might get into financial difficulties and for those who are faced with legal problems.”
Coordinating these projects would be private tutor Wong Hwee Lin (Hearts for Bukit Batok), 42, allied educator Rajakumari Ashukumar (Pathfinder), 23, as well as former NTUC chief executive and 2011 Presidential Election candidate Tan Kin Lian (Dollars and Sense), 68. None of the three are SDP members.
Asked how the SDP would fund these initiatives, Chee said: “I will contribute part of my MP allowance to be able to at least kick-start some of these programmes and then go out and raise funds, either privately or through corporate sponsorships, to ensure that these programmes are adequately funded and executed.”
