GE2025: Singapore Democratic Party launches Sembawang town plan, calls for mayor positions to be abolished

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday (Apr 26) launched its plan for Sembawang, including co-working spaces in the town and storage spaces in void decks for residents.

Speaking at a rally at Evergreen Primary School on Saturday night, SDP's Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) candidate Dr James Gomez laid out the plans for the town and said residents have been facing "unresolved issues".

"The SDP's way, or we like to call it the people's way, recognises that infrastructure alone, without the inclusion of the community or the heart, is meaningless," he added.

"For SDP, a town is more than concrete and corridors, it's about community, dignity, and shared purpose."

Eight people spoke at the rally, including SDP's candidates in Sembawang and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRCs, party chairman Paul Tambyah and party chief Chee Soon Juan.

The school is in Sembawang West SMC, where Dr Chee is in a straight fight with the People's Action Party's (PAP) Ms Poh Li San.

In the party's third rally in as many days, Dr Chee also addressed comments from Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Ms Poh about him moving to Sembawang West SMC from Bukit Batok SMC.

He invited both PAP candidates to breakfast on Sunday morning and asked them to "turn their attention back to the issues" that voters care about.

SEMBAWANG TOWN PLAN

Dr Gomez said the Sembawang town plan will "serve as an outline" to other constituencies in SDP's "northern strategy". 

Last month, the party said it would embark on such a strategy for the General Election – it is contesting in Sembawang West SMC, Sembawang GRC, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC.

“We call the plan putting the heart in the heartland," said Dr Gomez.

“The implementation of the plan is our commitment to you – community-driven vision that reimagines how we live, work, connect and care for one another in this place we all call home."

He said many of the proposals came from the residents' ideas. They are: 

1. A bike management storage system to keep bicycles secure and sheltered.

2. Storage spaces in void decks to ensure corridors and stairwells remain clutter free. They also include lockers for online deliveries.

3. Co-working spaces with wifi, air conditioning and seats, for quiet study, work or meetings.

4. Install more seating areas in accessible locations.

5. Lifts on all major overhead bridges.

6. Mindfulness and wellness centres for youths and working adults.

7. Nature planning and mapping of green spaces.

8. Demand action to keep coastal waters clean.

9. Support for those who care for stray cats, dogs and other wildlife, including micro-chipping initiatives.

"A reminder all these proposals came from you, the residents, and have one simple principle – that a town must be people-centric, that a town belongs to its residents, not to the PAP real estate political portfolio," said Dr Gomez.

BREAKFAST WITH PAP?

Dr Chee, who spoke last at the rally, also invited Mr Ong and Ms Poh to have breakfast with him at Woodlands Mart on Sunday morning.

"Let’s talk over a cup of kopi (coffee) about how we can improve the residents' lives, instead of continuing with what they’re doing. Voters expect better from them.

"Let's show Singaporeans the best side of politics and the best side of our parties. Elections are a serious and solemn exercise of the people's choice of who they want as the members of parliament, and candidates should comport themselves to the occasion."

On Thursday, Mr Ong said at a PAP rally that Dr Chee needed to give voters a better explanation for why he "abandoned Bukit Batok to come to Sembawang West".

The SDP chief had staked an early claim to recontest Bukit Batok SMC, where he lost in GE2020. After the SMC was absorbed into Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, Dr Chee moved to Sembawang West SMC.

SDP’s candidates on Friday defended Dr Chee’s move to Sembawang West, with SDP candidate Ariffin Sha pointing out that the PAP also moved ministers to other constituencies.

Mr Ong said on Saturday morning that there is “nothing wrong” in making political calculations and switching constituencies as long as candidates are upfront about it to voters. 

Going forward, he said the focus should be on policy ideas instead.

At the rally on Saturday night, Dr Chee said: "After nine years of immersing myself and establishing a bond with the community there, I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't feel the pain of seeing the constituency disappear.

"Through the years, I had fought for the residents on municipal issues, mainly to do with safety matters that I found absolutely appalling."

He added: "You don't work at a place for nearly a decade, put in your heart and your soul, and not feel it when they rip it from under you."

He also highlighted the various events he had organised for residents in Bukit Batok, adding that "none of the money came from public funds".

Dr Chee said that when he met Ms Poh last month, she came across as "rather affable" and that impression had not changed.

"I may disagree with her on her stance on certain issues, but I don't let that disagreement stray into my views of her as a person," he said, adding that he was surprised when his sincerity was "questioned".

Dr Chee said his SDP team has visited every HDB block in the constituency since he first announced on Mar 23 that he would run there.

“ABOLISH” MAYOR POSITIONS

At the rally, SDP's Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC candidate Jufri Salim called for the five mayor positions to be abolished.

Asking the crowd if they knew who their mayors are, he said: “They show up for ribbon cuttings, get paid six figures a year, while we are all trying to figure out how to pay our next utility bill. 

“What a striking contrast. Now, we say, once again, abolish the mayor positions.”

Their salaries could be used to support seniors and students, provide housing grants and fund mental health services, Mr Salim said. 

Mayors earn S$660,000 (US$502,200) a year, according to a White Paper on ministerial salaries in 2012.

In 2017, the independent committee set up to review political salaries noted that the benchmark had increased since 2012, and recommended adjusting the salary levels of political appointment holders to match the benchmark.

However, the government decided not to make any changes, and political salaries have not been adjusted since 2012, according to the Public Service Division's website. 

CLIMATE CHANGE

During his speech, Professor Tambyah proposed that the Chinese-Malay-Indian-Other (CMIO) model be removed. The CMIO race model is an administrative tool for the government to manage policies around race.

Prof Tambyah also called for the implementation of a minimum wage, saying that it will ensure salaries can provide basic essentials and migrant workers will not get “exploited” for lower wages. 

“The SDP has campaigned for a living wage for 20 years. We've been told that it will cause widespread unemployment. But actually, you know what?

"The PAP has employed the progressive wage model, which is actually a minimum wage in disguise, but there has not been widespread unemployment.” 

Prof Tambyah spent most of his speech talking about climate change, calling on the government to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. 

“This should be done in a long-term and sustainable way through stopping the investment in coal burning facilities," he said.

“We also call for the transition of Singapore from a heavily oil and gas dependent economy to one which becomes a regional leader in renewables. We have the technology, we have the human capital … to make this possible," he added.

The SDP chairman also called for a moratorium on "all forest cutting activity, including the secondary forest", he said, adding that the environmental impact analysis needs to be taken "more seriously". 

“We have only one planet and one tiny island nation.

"We need to work together as one people, regardless of race, language or religion, to protect what we have been given, to be good stewards of what we have, to ensure that we do not allow the destructive forces of the fossil fuel industry to literally consume us to death. We owe it to future generations,” he said.