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SDP gunning for millennial votes, hopes to champion young people’s issues

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is looking to target millennial voters to help shore up its chances in the next General Election.

The Singapore Democratic Party's Dr Paul Tambyah and Mr Robin Low greeting residents at Ghim Moh Food Centre on Sunday (Nov 3) morning.

The Singapore Democratic Party's Dr Paul Tambyah and Mr Robin Low greeting residents at Ghim Moh Food Centre on Sunday (Nov 3) morning.

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SINGAPORE — The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is looking to target millennial voters to help shore up its chances in the next General Election.

Speaking to the media during a walkabout at Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre on Sunday (Nov 3), SDP chairman Paul Tambyah said that there is a “new generation of voters in Singapore, the millennials, who feel that some of their concerns are not being addressed”.

“There is a push for people to keep being employed and one of the downsides of keeping older people in the workforce is that there are fewer opportunities for young people to come up,” he said.

“The nature of work is changing, the cost of living is going up, the cost of raising kids, the cost of buying your first home — these are real issues facing young people.

“I think they would appreciate having people who are able to speak up for them in parliament.”

At their previous walkabout in Yuhua in August, SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan said that they were “seriously considering” fielding younger candidates for the next General Election.

When asked on Sunday whether the SDP would be fielding a bigger proportion of younger candidates at the next election, Dr Tambyah did not give a direct answer, except to say that the average age of SDP candidates would “probably go down at least by a year or two”.

Sunday’s walkabout at Ghim Moh would be SDP’s last major one for 2019, unless Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong calls for an election before the year ends.

Since launching its election campaign in February this year, Dr Tambyah said the party has been doing house visits every week at the five constituencies it said it will be contesting for the next election, namely Marsiling-Yew Tee, Holland-Bukit Timah, Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang and Yuhua.

These are the same five constituencies the party contested in at the previous election in 2015.

The election must be held before April 2021. Political pundits had previously told TODAY that the fourth quarter of this year and the April to June period are two likely windows.

If the election is not called this year, Dr Tambyah said that the party will continue conducting house visits in 2020.

Dr Chee Soon Juan greeting residents at Ghim Moh Food Centre on Sunday. Photo: Raj Nadarajan /TODAY

Other SDP stalwarts were also at Sunday’s walkabout, including Dr Chee and vice-chairman John Tan.

A new face spotted is Mr Robin Low, a 44-year-old entrepreneur.

Mr Low joined SDP in March this year, along with Mr Benjamin Pwee. They were both previously from the Democratic Progressive Party.

Mr Low said that he joined SDP as it is a party where its members are “not only passionate, but also have a purpose (of bringing) democracy to Singapore”.

He has previously volunteered for other political parties, including the Workers’ Party and the Singapore People’s Party.

When asked what issues he would like to advocate for, he said: “I want Singapore to be a more inclusive society, not just to look at easy solutions like donations to support the marginalised, but one that actually addresses the policies which are the root causes of inequality.”

Related topics

Singapore Democratic Party Chee Soon Juan Paul Tambyah General Election millennials vote Politics election campaign SGVotes2020

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