Dr Chee Soon Juan launches book to raise funds to discharge his bankruptcy

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Originally Posted by lenghan

Plus the fact that the moderator certainly knows which side of his bread is buttered

To be fair to Steve Chia, he cut off Lawrence Wong too. He had to cut anyone/everyone when time is up, as this forum is highly limited by the program time. Overall, I think the moderator did his job than take sides.

All that any candidates has to say, will be during campaigning, which will be recorded and widely available online for all to view/listen. Each candidate will have their sufficient airtime starting today.

[vincent2982]

Aiya this TV talk is bullshit wayang 1. Only PAP got more time to talk. Other opp is always tio cut off or no chance

[globalcookie]

There are 5 Opposition candidates attending the forum, 2 PAP. If airtime is distributed evenly into 2 halves, than Opp actually got more airtime.

Seriously, that limited time segment, there are very limited things they can say, be it Opp or PAP. The CNA forum was more a fair chance to come face to face and have a mild debate.

There are many many medium for them to express their thoughts and their voices to be heard. Today, there are many avenues, facebook, party portals, youtube, many social media, different websites/blogs that will also repost the news/speeches, etc.

Like Dr Chee said, 20 years ago, there were no online avenue for true voices to be heard while MSM were one sided. That is fair to say.

[Aris]

Originally Posted by lenghan

Plus the fact that the moderator certainly knows which side of his bread is buttered

Of course, that was why it was noted that the PAP had more airtime and were rarely cut of in mid-delivery of their speech.

[Aces]

I think he is the only MP that I ever met in person.. that was the time he start chasing after GCT to ask where is our money haha.

[richardg]

http://yoursdp.org/index/donate/0-12

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GE2015: Paul Tambyah of the Singapore Democratic Party
By Hannah Teoh | Yahoo Newsroom – 1 hour 59 minutes ago


In this series, Yahoo Singapore speaks to potential candidates for the upcoming General Election. Members of Singapore's various political parties have been invited to participate.

Featured here: Paul Tambyah of the Singapore Democratic Party, who was interviewed Thursday, 27 August.

Social justice has always been part of Paul Tambyah’s life.

“I grew up in an environment where we were very aware of social justice issues and the marginalised, and the need to be concerned about these issues,” he said.

His late father was a doctor and his mother is a social worker who advocates for the disabled. As a child, he witnessed many interactions his parents had with disabled young people and their families. "They were always treated with friendship and respect,” he said.

“I got involved with politics because I felt very strongly about many issues - in healthcare, education and social justice issues among marginalised individuals in Singapore."

“If you really want to change policy, you’ve got to be involved in Parliament so that the ministers are held accountable, so that authorities have to be forthcoming with data that is otherwise inaccessible,” he said.

He is part of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) team contesting in the four-man Holland-Bukit Timah GRC against Vivian Balakrishnan, Sim Ann, Christopher De Souza and Liang Eng Hwa of the People’s Action Party.

“The SDP is a party that is strong on social justice. It believes in equality and fairness… We don’t need a natural aristocracy to tell us what to do,” he said.

A senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore and a professor of medicine, Tambyah was a longtime volunteer with the party but could not become a member because he was also active in human rights advocacy group MARUAH, which forbids its members to be members of political parties. He left the group this year to join the SDP.

The real Chee Soon Juan
He chuckles when asked about the perceived negative association with party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan. He relates an incident where he and a fellow academic had a meal with Chee. After the dinner ended, the academic remarked to Tambyah, “He’s normal.” Similarly, Tambyah’s wife commented after meeting Chee, “He’s just an ordinary guy with a deep passion and a strong conviction."

Tambyah stresses that the negative image of Chee was perpetuated by those who felt threatened by him. Chee’s political career includes several lawsuits for defamation and jail time.

"Social media has helped people see Dr Chee without the filters of the mainstream media of the 1990s and 2000s,” Although Tambyah admitted it may be more difficult to change the minds of the older generation, “Anyone younger than 30 who has interacted with Dr Chee, they have a very different impression of him,” he asserted.

Tambyah adds that his mother expressed some concern over him joining an opposition party. He said, “I had to just keep telling my mum, ‘Look, the knuckleduster era is over. We’re no longer in the era where political opponents are locked up without trial.’ So that reassured my mum a little bit.”

The importance of opposition parties in Parliament
As a doctor, healthcare is an issue close to his heart that he intends to champion, if elected. “We have good hospitals, good nurses, good allied health professionals, but so many patients cannot afford basic healthcare.”

An expert in infectious diseases, he also takes issue with the fact that HIV drugs are not subsidised, despite campaigning from social workers and advocacy groups. "The current government believes in the 'many helping hands approach’ where they provide charity for those who need help... but I believe that things such as healthcare and education are a basic human right, and you shouldn’t have to depend on charity," he said.

Tambyah believes that more opposition party members in Parliament will act as a good reviewer for the ruling party’s policies. He cites the example of the People’s Action Party in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, the PAP was the opposition in the Malaysian federal parliament - a time that Tambyah describes as the “golden years” of Singapore - “Those were the years that the HDB launched their massive building campaign, JTC, the Economic Development Board, and you’re forced to come up with really good ideas, because your ideas have to be challenged. And they’re not challenged by seven opposition MPs – they’re challenged by a good number of people who bring many different talents and abilities to the table."

Tambyah added that Singapore’s progress came because they (Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye, E.W. Barker) “had a good, strong opposition keeping them on their toes”

[loveikan]

Thinks SDP rally is at CCK stadium tonight.

[bedoklist]

Actually that night the short discussion shld be in parliament topic then everyone have more time to brainstorm.

[Aces]

I'm quite impressed with his speech. He really talk about my problem and seem like there's solutions. He really speak about the problem that generally we face in our daily life. In fact I feel he is more suitable than most opposition to be in the govt.