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Dinner
guests discussing plans for 2008
Jufrie
Mahmoud addressing the audience
Leong
Sze Hian making a point
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SDP
makes pledge to fight cost of living in 2008
Singapore
Democrats
30 Dec 07
At
its New Year gathering yesterday, the SDP told friends and
supporters that it was gearing up for a campaign in 2008 against
the PAP's politics of greed and exploitation.
Noting
how the price for everyday commodities have risen beyond the
means of working Singaporeans, party secretary-general Dr Chee
served notice that the Singapore Democrats would not take the
matter lying down.
Such an exploitative posture taken by
the ruling party must be resisted, he said, and the people must
not adopt the mindset that they are powerless to do anything
about it.
The dinner was attended by more than 50
persons, several of whom were at the Centrepoint Shopping Centre
earlier in the evening in a black-shirt protest against a recent
slew of price increases.
Assistant secretary-general Mr
John Tan started the evening off with a political trivia quiz and
handed out some token prizes.
Dr Chee then welcomed the
dinner guests and noted several new faces. He encouraged them to
get more involved in the work of building up democracy and
helping the SDP to speak up for the people.
Dr Chee also
said that there was little to celebrate in the coming New Year as
the future of many Singaporeans looked uncertain and economically
more burdensome.
A few attendees voiced their concerns
about the continuing state of economic affairs in Singapore and
suggested ways of countering the Government's policies.
Opposition stalwart, Mr Jufrie Mahmoud, pointed out that
the Internet should be used even more effectively to spread news
about the PAP and to empower Singaporeans.
He said that
the traditional means of selling party newspapers was expensive
and labour-intensive while the Internet was a much cheaper means
of reaching out to the people.
He advised that the
Singapore Democrats make a concerted effort to spread the word
about its website which, according to him, carried much
information that Singaporeans should not fail to read.
To
this end, activist Mr Yap Keng Ho suggested that a shorter URL
for the SDP website be found. He also recommended that the party
acquire a printing machine to produce flyers cheaply rather than
going to traditional printers.
Financial analyst and
commentator Mr Leong Sze Hian added that rather than talking
about high principles, flyers should contain easily digestible
facts and statistics for the general population. He suggested
that the CPF, unemployment rate, HDB prices, and ministerial
salaries be the key issues.
Mr Leong also mentioned that
Singaporeans had to contend with low wages because foreign
workers were willing to accept such wage levels.
Writer Mr
Alex Au then sarcastically suggested that foreign workers should
be brought in to work and taxed while Singaporeans could then be
paid to reproduce and remedy the problem of the falling
birthrate.
Another dinner guest criticized the Government
for assuming a profit-making approach to governance in Singapore.
"If all we care about is making money at the expense of our
social well-being," he said, "then our future is going
to be troubling."
Dr Chee then rounded up the
discussion by appealing to the audience to make a commitment not
to remain silent in the coming year and actively contribute to
the fight against PAP exploitation.
"Whether
it is volunteering your time, finances, or skills, please help us
in our campaign so that we may all live in a just and democratic
Singapore," he urged Singaporeans.
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