SINGAPORE - The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has announced two more candidates for the coming election on Friday evening.
They are hospital manager Bryan Lim, 38, who heads the party's ground operations unit and Mr Damanhuri Abas, 45, who until last month was the director of an Islamic college.
SDP chairman Jeffrey George introduced the two without revealing where they will be standing at a press conference the party headquarters in Ang Mo Kio.
Mr Damanhuri said that he has been active in the Malay community for more than 20 years, and wants to address issues in the Malay community. He is married with five children, aged 17 to six years old.
He wants to push for policies to "help singaporeans make difficult decisions in life regarding children".
"My wife works as a teacher... yes it's tough, we went through the period where my first child did not get baby bonus, then two to four have, then five no more. When government announced (baby bonus extended to all children), my wife jokingly said maybe can consider," he quipped.
Mr Lim, who is married with a daughter, said that he comes from a humble background and can relate to the man on the street and their issues, which he intends to raise in Parliament.
"We need strong opposition in Parliament to ensure Government keeps to its promises," he said.
Mr Lim had previously contested in the 2001 General Election. Then 25 years old, he was part of a five-member SDP team that stood in Hong Kah GRC against a PAP team led by former minister Yeo Cheow Tong. The SDP team garnered 20.3 per cent of the votes.
So far, six other SDP candidates have been introduced.
They are compliance auditor Sidek Mallek, 55; psychologist John Tan, 54; healthcare administrator Chong Wai Fung, 45; former Navy staff sergeant Khung Wai Yeen, 34; sales director Jaslyn Go, 43; and National University of Singapore Yong Yoo Lin School of Medicine professor Paul Tambyah, 50.
The SDP has said it plans to contest the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC as well as the single-seat wards of Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok and Yuhua.
The SDP, which launched its campaign in January, has said that it would champion issues relating to the cost of living, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Minimum Sum, as well as the country's growing population.
The Sept 11 election will also be the first that Dr Chee Soon Juan, the party's secretary-general, is set to contest since 2001.
He could not be fielded in 2006 and 2011 because he was declared bankrupt after failing to pay $500,000 in damages for defaming then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong during the 2001 General Election.
He was cleared of bankruptcy in 2012.
