NUS don Tambyah may contest poll under SDP banner

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) conducted house visits near Senja LRT Station last night (July 30), where National University of Singapore academic Paul Tambyah said he is in the process of joining the party, raising the possibility of him contesting in the coming General Election (GE).

Professor Tambyah, who fielded questions from the media with SDP chief Chee Soon Juan by his side, gave no details on the potential faces the SDP would field in the three Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and three Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) it is eyeing.

Prof Tambyah, who has long been associated with the SDP, including speaking at the party’s rallies, said he is currently only a party activist because he is handing over his duties at human rights group Maruah. Maruah does not allow members of political parties to join it, and Prof Tambyah said he had informed Maruah president Braema Mathi that he could leave the group — gazetted as a political association here — before the GE. 

Meanwhile, the SDP confirmed it would not contest in Tanjong Pagar GRC in the coming GE as a number of other opposition parties have expressed interest in contesting there. The GRCs the SDP is eyeing are Holland-Bukit Timah, Marsiling Yew-Tee and Sembawang, while the SMCs are Yuhua, Bukit Panjang and Bukit Batok. The houses that close to 30 SDP activists and members visited last night fall under Holland-Bukit Timah.

Prof Tambyah said the SDP would attend the meeting of opposition parties on Monday as what opposition parties want is to give Singaporeans an alternative. “It will be important for everybody to understand what is the best way to give Singaporeans an alternative, to provide a check and balance and perhaps even to ensure we deny the People’s Action Party a two-thirds majority in Parliament.”