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Let’s have a contest of ideas, not gutter politics, says Chee

SINGAPORE — Instead of the “gutter politics” seen in past elections, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan wants to see a contest of ideas in this election.

Dr Chee Soon Juan (fourth from left), SDP sec-gen, arriving with fellow candidates and supporters at the Assumption Pathway School nomination centre, on Sept 1, 2015. Photo: Robin Choo

Dr Chee Soon Juan (fourth from left), SDP sec-gen, arriving with fellow candidates and supporters at the Assumption Pathway School nomination centre, on Sept 1, 2015. Photo: Robin Choo

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SINGAPORE — Instead of the “gutter politics” seen in past elections, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan wants to see a contest of ideas in this election.

Dr Chee, who is standing in Holland-Bukit Timah with infectious diseases expert Paul Ananth Tambyah, 50, nursing home administrator Chong Wai Fung, 45, and compliance auditor Sidek Mallek, 55, said he was looking forward to the campaign. He spoke to reporters after the party filed its papers at the Assumption Pathway School nomination centre.

“We’re looking forward to a good contest, a contest of ideas ... We don’t want any of the gutter politics that have gone on in the past,” said Dr Chee, 53. “We want to campaign on things Singaporeans really care about, and that’s their housing, their population issues, their cost of living. These are things people want to hear us bring up, and these are things we’re going to campaign very hard on.”

He also called for an end to name-calling.

“Everybody has done things in the past, let’s not continue this way,” he said. “Let’s raise the level of politics, let’s have a more mature political system where we focus on civilised debate, where we get into talking about substantive issues in an intelligent manner.”

Asked if he was a changed man, Dr Chee, who last contested in 2001 and was discharged from bankruptcy in 2012, said: “What’s changed is the perception of me, and how that has come about is the advent of social media. Before that, the media could paint anything (they) wanted about me, and that was very difficult for me to counter. With the opening up of new media, perceptions have begun to change.”

The party had introduced its candidates last week in a series of press conferences, without revealing where they would stand until yesterday.

Besides Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC), SDP’s candidates will stand in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC and the Bukit Panjang, Yuhua and Bukit Batok Single-Member Constituencies.

Asked if the SDP felt the ground was sweet in Holland-Bukit Timah, Professor Tambyah said the feedback from its outreach there was that “a lot of ideas the SDP talks about resonate with the residents”.

“They may demographically be different from residents in other areas, but they still have the same concerns — concerns about their children’s education, about healthcare, immigration, overcrowding and the Central Provident Fund,” said Prof Tambyah, the SDP’s minority candidate in the GRC.

The SDP’s Bukit Panjang candidate, 34-year-old account manager Khung Wai Yeen, said he represents and is able to identify with the working class, such as home owners who must pay off their home loans for the next 25 years.

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