GE2025: Meaningful opposition needed for PAP to govern Singapore better, says Chee Soon Juan

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SINGAPORE – Voters should see through the “propaganda” that the PAP is an exceptional party which does not need an elected opposition to hold them accountable, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan said on April 29.

In his lunchtime rally speech, the opposition politician listed a litany of missteps by the PAP Government in the last few years to urge voters to send the SDP’s candidates to Parliament.

Dr Chee also led the SDP’s call for Singaporeans to reject the PAP’s “fearmongering”, that more opposition in the House would weaken the ruling party’s ability to field a strong team.

Speaking at UOB Plaza a day after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s Fullerton rally on the same stage, Dr Chee cited the PAP Government’s “scandals and screw-ups” to argue that Singapore would be stronger with more opposition MPs.

Among the cases he cited were Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s handling of former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin’s affair, the Ridout Road rentals by Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, the “bungled” SimplyGo roll-out by the Land Transport Authority, and the six-day East-West Line MRT breakdown in September 2024.

Dr Chee also highlighted the $3 billion money laundering case, and remarked that it was why “Singapore is now called the world’s laundromat”.

“Believe me, there are other screw-ups which I can list out, but you have to go back to the office,” he told the downtown crowd at the sweltering afternoon rally.

These incidents showed that the PAP is not the exceptional party it says it is, said Dr Chee, who is standing in the new Sembawang West SMC.

“And if you’re not exceptional, then be humble, don’t demand exceptional salaries,” he said in a 20-minute address. “Most of all, acknowledge and accept the fact that the PAP needs meaningful opposition in Parliament to govern Singapore better.”

Dr Chee said times have changed, and Singaporeans want a more democratic system where the Government censors less and listens more.

He added that it did not look like PM Wong was off to a promising start, and cited how the Prime Minister had called an election just one month after new electoral boundaries were announced.

This sent the message that PM Wong was “cut from the very same, old PAP cloth”.

“When the (PAP) started off, yes, you could say that our first generation of ministers – they were capable and competent,” he said. “But the quality of its present ministers, the younger set of leaders, leaves very much to be desired.”

SDP chairman Paul Tambyah, who also spoke at the rally, said he was puzzled when current PAP leaders said more opposition in Parliament would be bad for Singapore.

He recounted how he learnt survival skills by competing against the world’s best medical practitioners during his post-graduate training in the US.

“I firmly believe that healthy competition can only make someone better,” said Professor Tambyah, as he urged young people to “give the PAP a chance to improve” by voting for opposition candidates on May 3.

Dr James Gomez, an SDP candidate for Sembawang GRC, said it was “nonsense” that the PAP would not be able to govern effectively if there were more opposition MPs.

At a rally on April 27, SM Lee had urged Singaporeans not to vote against the PAP in the hope of getting two or three more opposition MPs into Parliament, as this could lead to a loss of key ministers and put the Government “in some trouble”.

Dr Gomez said such logic was unbelievable, and came from the PAP’s desperation. “Losing ministers will be a problem for the PAP, not for Singaporeans.”

He added: “If (PM) Wong says that his team can only function when given unchecked power, then the problem is not with us Singaporeans, but with the PAP – a PAP that fears scrutiny.”

An effective government is one that has accountability, transparency and debate, with MPs that challenge bad policies, added Dr Gomez, who is SDP’s deputy policy head.

“With SDP MPs in Parliament, there will be no more sleeping on the job,” he said. “If anyone sleeps in Parliament, you can rest assured that the SDP MPs will give them a tight slap of questions that will wake them up.”

SDP’s youngest candidate Ariffin Sha, 27, called on the crowd to reject “the PAP’s fear tactics”, and to picture Dr Chee winning in Sembawang West SMC, Prof Tambyah in Bukit Panjang SMC, and the WP prevailing in Punggol GRC and Jalan Kayu SMC.

“Keep that feeling in your hearts, hear that noise, because on May 3, it will be 10 times louder than this,” he said.

Speaking to reporters after the rally, Dr Chee said the PAP can “stomach losses here and there” and still form a Cabinet.

“The whole premise of PAP’s election message so far is just on fear... Oh you adopt SDP’s proposal, there’ll be retrenchments. You vote for the opposition, you won’t have good ministers,” he said.

“It’s just this kind of fearmongering, it is so stark (compared with) what we’re telling Singaporeans: Go vote with hope.”

Voting SDP won’t affect estate: Party chairman

Later, at SDP’s second rally held at Beacon Primary School, Prof Tambyah assured residents that voting in an opposition party would not affect estate maintenance. 

Citing the opposition-held Sengkang, Aljunied and Hougang constituencies, Prof Tambyah, who is facing off against the PAP’s Mr Liang Eng Hwa in Bukit Panjang SMC, said estates there have continued to develop even without the PAP. 

“You do not need to worry about your estate management if the SDP is elected on Saturday. In fact, the SDP promises to run the town council on our own, without using EM Services, so we can be more responsive to your needs and issues,” he said. 

EM Services is a township management company that manages several of Singapore’s town councils. 

He pointed out that in Bukit Panjang, residents continue to face several municipal-level issues, such as the lack of lift access in older Housing Board blocks. 

Prof Tambyah said party vice-chairman Bryan Lim had encountered a similar issue in Marsiling. Mr Lim was part of SDP’s four-man slate that contested Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC in 2020. 

Prof Tambyah said Mr Lim had organised a petition, writing to the Ministry of National Development for months before residents of blocks 115 and 119 in Marsiling Rise received lift upgrades. 

Residents can provide valuable insight for solutions for municipal issues, added Prof Tambyah.

“This is just another illustration of the need to hold town halls to listen to stakeholders – that’s people like you – to discuss the issues that we can decide on together, for what is best for everyone,” he said. 

While on the campaign trail, SDP candidates, including Dr Chee, have pledged to hold town-hall meetings to address residents’ concerns and shorten Meet-the-People Session waiting times.

Prof Tambyah, a senior consultant of infectious diseases, also hit back at Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s characterisation of SDP’s policy proposals as having a “snowball’s chance” of contributing to a thriving Singapore, saying this description was bizarre. 

In response, Prof Tambyah said Mr Ong may have been referring to a snowball in Greenland, which contains the largest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere, as SDP is “slowly gathering strength, building momentum” and growing into a major force at the polls. 

Prof Tambyah said the PAP has adopted several of SDP’s policy proposals, such as those on universal healthcare and the abolition of education streaming.

 “As an opposition party outside Parliament, we can only make proposals and advocate reform, then wait for our ideas to be copied or watered down by the ruling party,” he said.