SINGAPORE - Holland-Bukit Timah GRC incumbent Vivian Balakrishnan has launched the first salvo against the Singapore Democratic Party, saying that its policies would set Singapore "on the road to Greece".

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Dr Balakrishnan said his team will show, over the next nine days, that the SDP has copied policy prescriptions that have already failed elsewhere. His PAP team will face off against a SDP team led by party chief Chee Soon Juan at the polls.

The SDP has proposed several economic measures, including having a minimum wage, raising personal income taxes for the top 1 per cent of earners, and increasing social spending.

On those proposals, Dr Balakrishnan said: "The SDP will set us on the road to Greece, and it is the duty of my team to awaken Singaporeans to the dangers of such policy prescriptions."

The anchor minister for the group representation constituency, Dr Balakrishnan's teammates are Minister of State Sim Ann, 40, DBS Bank managing director Liang Eng Hwa, 51, and lawyer Christopher De Souza, 39.

They are challenged by a SDP team comprising Dr Chee, 53, compliance auditor Sidek Mallek, 55, healthcare administrator Chong Wai Fung, 45, and National University of Singapore professor Paul Tambyah, 50.

Dr Balakrishnan said his team is "quietly confident" because of their "solid track record".

He added that he is glad to go up against the SDP again, but noted that all the previous opponents have either moved or left politics.

In the 2011 election, his PAP team won the GRC with a vote share of 60.1 per cent against a SDP team.