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Constituency upgrading plans will go ahead ‘no matter who wins’

SINGAPORE — If Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan is elected, Bukit Batok residents need not worry about proposed upgrading plans being scuppered as the opposition party will carry them out, SDP central executive committee member Paul Tambyah said yesterday.

SINGAPORE — If Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan is elected, Bukit Batok residents need not worry about proposed upgrading plans being scuppered as the opposition party will carry them out, SDP central executive committee member Paul Tambyah said yesterday.

“The constituency will not be left behind. The People’s Action Party (PAP) has put forward these proposals and the SDP will implement them if this is what the residents want,” said Dr Tambyah at the party’s first rally for the Bukit Batok by-election, which was held at the field along Bukit Batok Industrial Park A.

As the hustings began in earnest earlier this week, the SDP and the ruling PAP have become embroiled in a spat over estate renewal plans in the constituency.

Dr Tambyah noted that after the Workers’ Party won Aljunied Group Representation Constituency in the 2011 General Election, an upgrading programme for the Eunos division carried on without a hitch. “(The plans) will continue regardless of who (the voters) choose to lead them on the 7th of May,” said Dr Tambyah.

Mr Yeo Yeu Yong, who was introduced to the media earlier this month as part of the SDP’s Bukit Batok Town Council Transition Team, also spoke at the rally. Mr Yeo, who chairs Primech Services International, said he will be in charge of the transition team which will “ensure that standards are always demanded and expected”.

Promising “marked differences in the way the SDP runs its town council” compared with the PAP’s, Mr Yeo said: “For a start, we will do away with the managing agents. Instead, the SDP will focus entirely on running the town council directly.” This will not only help the SDP save money in the running of the town council but also allow the town council management team to have direct contact with the residents to understand “real issues and needs of the estate first-hand”, he said.

Several speakers also attested to Dr Chee’s character, in particular his fighting spirit. Dr Tambyah described Dr Chee as someone with a “strong heart” who can serve the residents well.

“The people of Bukit Batok and people all over Singapore know that he is one individual who has been hammered so many times, but he has remained standing because he is committed to the people of Singapore, to work for our well-being and to fight for ordinary people to make Singapore a better place for all of us,” he said.

Noting that Dr Chee is the most viable candidate to serve the residents of Bukit Batok, party volunteer Abdul Salim Harun said Dr Chee has the calibre to serve the residents well. “He is a fighter who has never admitted defeat, even though he has gone through dark times. He has been imprisoned, made bankrupt ... in the course of his political career. Despite all the hardship, he has continued moving forward and nothing has stopped him,” said Mr Salim in Malay. ASYRAF KAMIL

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