Chee blames ‘state machinery’, media for Bukit Batok loss

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will sit down and go through the results of the Bukit Batok by-election in the coming days, and it will also continue its work in the constituency, reiterated party chief Chee Soon Juan yesterday.

Dr Chee lost the election to the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Mr Murali Pillai, winning 38.8 per cent of the votes on Saturday. The SDP held a thank-you parade yesterday morning with Dr Chee and party leaders being driven on a lorry around the estate.

Speaking briefly to reporters at West Mall after the parade, Dr Chee said the party will continue its outreach in Bukit Batok as it has in Marsiling-Yew Tee, Holland-Bukit Timah and other constituencies it contested previously, to “see how we can serve residents as well and for them to get to know us better”. But it also depends on whether their activities that require physical space are permitted by the town council, Dr Chee added.

Before Nomination Day, the SDP had announced its intention to hold a health event in the constituency, and had written to Jurong-Clementi Town Council for permission. The event, which the party had hoped to hold on April 30, did not materialise.

The party’s circuit around the constituency yesterday lasted about an hour. “It’s been a good campaign, as I said, we gave it all we had and I think all the attention should go to our members,” said Dr Chee.

On Saturday night after the by-election result was announced, Dr Chee, who had his best showing in an election yet, had said he wanted to remain in Bukit Batok single-member constituency (SMC) in the next General Election, but that it also depended on whether the electoral boundaries change.

He also said the PAP had campaigned on “faults” and newspaper headlines, and that his opponent was not just Mr Murali, but included the media and the “state machinery”.

Yesterday, Dr Chee noted that the economy, the Central Provident Fund system, and Temasek and GIC are “still issues that Singaporeans should be very worried about” and “must pay attention to”.

“But how do you get the message out to them? As I said it boils down to the political system, including the media as well. Our work is not done ... It’s a process, it’s a journey,” he added.

This is the fifth constituency that Dr Chee has contested after Marine Parade GRC (1992), MacPherson SMC (1997), Jurong GRC (2001) and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

Previously, he garnered between 20.3 and 34.9 per cent of the vote as a candidate in a single-seat ward or as part of an SDP team contesting in a GRC.