SINGAPORE - Singapore's newest political party Red Dot United (RDU) plans to push for policy changes in areas like housing, healthcare and employment if its members are elected.
In a 12-page charter released on Sunday (June 28), RDU said policy changes in these areas are needed to improve the lives of Singaporeans, and to reduce the anxiety and stress that they face every day.
Founded by former Progress Singapore Party members Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee, the 12-member party has introduced five candidates who will stand in Jurong GRC.
During a call on video-conferencing platform Zoom on Sunday, Ms Lee, who is the party chairman, said RDU wants more flexibility in government policies and to reduce people's reliance on the ruling party.
She said: "What they want is for Singaporeans to give them all the levers of control, so that they alone can continue to operate Singapore (the way)they wish to. They believe that only they have the answers.
"Now, in this age of technological disruption, we cannot continue to rely on others to captain our lives by telling us what we can or cannot do. This reliance undermines our ability to grow as a society."
In its charter, RDU said it will also be advocating policies that will help prepare Singapore for the future, in areas like climate change and population growth.
It added that there is also a need to scrutinise laws like the Prevention from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act as its institutional safeguards have been deliberately left vague to grant the PAP "enormous powers".
Besides Mr Ravi and Ms Lee, RDU's other three candidates for Jurong GRC are theatre director Alec Tok Kim Yam, entrepreneur and author Liyana Dhamirah and legal engineer Nicholas Tang.
The five RDU members conducted house-to-house visits in Clementi on Saturday and distributed about 500 fliers at a market in Jurong West on Sunday.
In the 2015 election, Jurong GRC was the People's Action Party's best-performing constituency, garnering 79.29 per cent of the vote against a team from the Singaporeans First party.
When asked why RDU is choosing to stand in Jurong GRC, Mr Ravi, the party's secretary-general, said it would give Singaporeans "a choice".
He said: "This is about Singapore. It is about giving Singaporeans a choice, in allowing Singaporeans to point the Government towards the directions they would want the Government to take."
