In Brief:Two rally sites designated

Medical professor Paul Tambyah

Two rally sites designated

An open field and Bukit Gombak Stadium have been designated as rally sites for the Bukit Batok by-election.

However, there are no rallies today.

The field is along Bukit Batok Industrial Park A, near hospitality institute Shatec, while the stadium is next to Bukit Gombak MRT station.

The police, which released the list of rally sites yesterday, said election meetings can be held at the sites between 7am and 10pm from today until next Thursday.

In a statement, police encouraged the public to take public transport to the rallies, as large crowds are expected to turn up.

Motorists near rally sites should also be prepared for traffic diversions or lane closures.

Police also urged those attending rallies to assemble at and disperse from the sites in an orderly manner, and warned that they would not hesitate to take action against anyone who is unruly or who commits any offence.

Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones are banned at rallies for public safety reasons. Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park is also off limits for public rallies until after Polling Day next Saturday.

Polling station details out

Bukit Batok residents can cast their votes from 8am to 8pm on Polling Day next Saturday at their assigned polling station. A notice posted yesterday on the Government Gazette online listed the addresses of all nine polling stations in Bukit Batok.

They are located at six Housing Board void decks, one HDB pavilion, and the canteens of Bukit View Secondary School and Bukit Batok Secondary School.

In addition, there are 10 polling stations overseas which will open as early as a day before Polling Day.

Why Chee, not Tambyah, was fielded

Medical professor Paul Tambyah yesterday shed light on why his party chief Chee Soon Juan was chosen to stand in the Bukit Batok by-election instead of him. Both men were part of the Singapore Democratic Party team that got 33.4 per cent of the vote in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC during the general election last September.

But eight days after news broke on March 12 that a by-election would be held, Dr Chee was announced as the SDP's candidate.

Yesterday, referring to earlier speculation that he might run, Dr Tambyah told reporters during the nomination proceedings that people had asked why he had not been fielded.

He said: "We went on the first few walkabouts. One or two people know who I am, mainly the doctors, some of the educated people who read online media."

But when it came to Dr Chee, he said, "all the hawkers knew who he was. They wanted to take a picture with him." He added that Dr Chee has been in politics for more than 20 years, and has a "never say die" attitude that resonates with people.

Dr Tambyah also shook hands with Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the nomination centre, and they chatted briefly.

Charissa Yong

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 28, 2016, with the headline In Brief:Two rally sites designated. Subscribe