What happened to David Ong’s $24m master plan for Bukit Batok?: Chee
Chee Soon Juan addresses reporters at Keming Primary School. Photo: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo Singapore
The gloves came off on Nomination Day (27 April), as Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan questioned what had become of former Bukit Batok MP David Ong’s $24 million master plan for the ward.
Speaking to reporters after being officially confirmed as a candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election, Chee noted that Ong had proposed extensive upgrading plans for the constituency during last year’s General Election. These had included childcare centres and a new hawker centre.
“What I want to ask the PAP now is: what happened to this project? Were those just promises to entice voters, and then you do something else, worse, do nothing else after the GE? That must be made clear.
This is where Mr Murali needs to address this issue….you don’t just discard $24 million of projects and then make promises, and when the by-election comes, forget all about that and say, I’ll give you $1.9 million.”
Video by Jeremy Ho
The People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate for the by-election on 7 May, K. Muralidharan Pillai, held an exhibition on Sunday (24 April) showcasing the PAP Jurong-Clementi Town Council’s $1.9 million neighbourhood renewal plans for Bukit Batok. The lawyer said that the plans could only be carried out if he is elected as MP.
Chee took issue with this too, questioning if Murali’s desire to serve the residents of Bukit Batok was genuine. “What he should be saying is that, I want to be your MP, but I will abide by the people’s wishes. If I am not elected, I will ask the successful candidate, the MP to carry on this programme. That is truly caring, genuinely caring for residents.”
The father of three also pledged to be a full-time Member of Parliament if elected. “The clear difference here, is that every morning when Mr Murali wakes up, his first destination would be his office. When I wake up every morning, my first destination is Bukit Batok…and that’s when you’re going to have that MP who will be with you, who will not just be there to speak up for you, to fight for you.”
