Singapore Democrats

Singapore Democrats

Can anyone say with a straight face that the Singapore Democrats talk only about human rights issues and neglect pocket-book ones? Even a cursory glance at this website will show clearly that issues such as health care costs, CPF savings, public transport fares, etc are regularly addressed.

In fact, we don't just talk about them. We have been at the forefront of taking action against the escalating prices of goods. The Tak Boleh Tahan campaign in which SDP leaders were involved, crystallizes in many ways what we stand for.

The protest outside Parliament House was aimed at bringing home the point that the high cost of living is a crushing burden on working Singaporeans.

In addition we have been out in force distributing flyers to raise awareness about our ideas on how to keep living costs affordable.

In 1996, we took on the Government over the issue of escalating healthcare costs – and won. We demonstrated that Tan Tock Seng Hospital wrongly billed its patients. Then health minister George Yeo – in what remains an historical development – apologised for the error and the hospital subsequently reviewed and revamped its billing system.

The media went into overdrive to ensure that this news did not enter the public mind. It did this by focusing on a typographical error that Dr Chee had made that was, at best, tangential to the issue at hand. The SDP could not be seen to have bested the PAP.

Apart from healthcare costs, the plight of working Singaporeans and SMEs remain high on our agenda. In fact during the general elections, we zeroed in on pocket-book issues such as the minimum wage, retrenchment entitlements, and the Singaporeans First Policy and continue to do so today.

The reason why the wider public does not realise the extent to which we focus on bread-and-buttter issues is because the mass media censor much of what we say and do. A good example is their refusal to report our proposals for this year's Budget and our May Day messages in years past.

That said, we must also reiterate that it is important to bring up human rights matters. Human rights and bread-and-butter issues form the two sides of the same coin. In order for us to talk to the people about pocket-book issues, we need freedom of speech. Without this freedom we cannot effectively communicate with the people what they most concerned with.

Bread-and-butter issues are like fish. Human rights issues are the fishing rods that help to catch the fish. It is always easier to tell the people that they can be given more fish. But that only further enslaves them to the system of repression and patronage.

Democratic leaders must equip the people to catch their own fish and in so doing work to empower them to lead lives free from servitude and fear, free to develop their potential and to live in dignity.

 
More on: Misconceptions about the Singapore Democrats 
Misconception No. 1: SDP not interested in elections
Misconception No. 2: SDP working through "extra-legal" means
Misconception No. 3: SDP does not offer alternative ideas
Misconception No. 4: SDP an extremist party that advocates breaking laws

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