SINGAPORE — In its first rally at these hustings, the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) rolled out a list of grievances it has against the ruling party’s policies, with the Central Provident Fund (CPF), the Population White Paper and the educational system featuring prominently.

Candidate Harminder Pal Singh said the SDA’s stand on the CPF was “very simple”: Singaporeans were promised their hard-earned money at the age of 55, but now have to wait increasingly longer.

Saying that Singaporeans have told him that they may never be able to stop working because the Minimum Sum keeps increasing, he proposed that they be given the option to get their money back from the age of 55.

Mr Sunny Wong, another member on the SDA’s slate for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, questioned whether the Government thought Singaporeans cannot handle their finances at that age. “Are we idiots? Are we stupid? No, we’re not,” he said.

In his brief address to supporters last night, SDA chairman Desmond Lim took up the cudgels against immigration, citing how crowded the trains have become over the years and offering a bleak vision of the rights of local-born citizens should the population reach 6.9 million.

Adding to the issue, Mr Wong said the party was not against foreign talent, but was concerned about competition for jobs: “We’re against those here who take the jobs away from us when our locals actually have the capabilities (needed).”

The SDA also wants to see changes in the educational system, with its call to do away with streaming one of the few policy alternatives emerging from its rally at Pasir Ris Park, which was delayed for almost 45 minutes because of “lighting issues”.

“We need to abolish (these) systems of testing that are making our population divided,” said Mr Singh, who added that those who do well academically “have a ... sense that they’re better, and on the other side, those who don’t do well are losing their self-esteem”.

The SDA yesterday also criticised Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin for his Facebook comments in July about old folks who collect cardboard for a living and how some may “treat it as a form of exercise”, according to a student project.

Relating his observations overseas, SDA candidate Arthero Lim said: “I hardly see the situation (in China as) I have seen in Singapore — old folks with sicknesses (who) cannot afford medication and have to clean tables, work as cleaners, push cardboard.”

The SDA is expected to host another two rallies during this campaign period. Amanda Lee