SINGAPORE, Sept 10 — Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) secretary-general Desmond Lim last night urged voters to treat the contest at Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency as a referendum for the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) policies such as those in the Population White Paper.
“This election is about whether we agree with the 6.9 million Population White Paper, and the CPF (Central Provident Fund) schemes,” and the time to act against those policies is now, he said.
The six-man team from the SDA is up against the PAP team in the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC led by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
In heated speeches on the final night of the hustings, SDA candidates cautioned against leaving the PAP’s policies unchecked.
Referring to the 2013 Population White Paper’s projection of a 6.9 million population by 2030, Lim said there might be no guarantee that Singapore’s future leaders “would be born and bred locally”.
“We don’t want our own children to become second-class citizens in our motherland,” he added.
Running-mate Harminder Pal Singh repeated a point made in earlier rallies that the party “is open to foreigners so long as they do not break the rice bowl of Singaporeans”.
At the rally held at Pasir Ris Park, the party also sought to convince voters that should it be elected, it is prepared to take over the running of the town council.
Singh assured rally-goers that the party already has a shadow town council in the wings. In the past year, “(the candidates) have been trained in different parts of town council management”, he added.
The party would also “not replace the entire staff, the contractors within the town council, so there (will be) a smooth transition” for the first three years of taking over, said Singh, adding that it aims to have the new town council up and running within 100 days of being elected.
In addition, the party said it would hold monthly district meetings, and promised residents that they would have a say in development and improvement projects within the constituency. Any surpluses from the town council’s accounts would be returned to residents as rebates, said Singh.
Singh added that residents would also get priority when seeking employment in the SDA-run town council. — TODAY
