Not quite a barbed Bukit Batok BE yet

by Hamzah Omar Yaacob

MR MURALI Pillai playing a simple tune on the piano in a resident’s house, and Dr Chee Soon Juan producing heartfelt videos featuring his family. The Bukit Batok by-elections are being fought over who is the man of the people… or more accurately, the man of Bukit Batok.

One would’ve imagined there’d be some chatter on national issues, given the economy’s poor showing lately, and the recent conclusion of Budget 2016 Parliamentary debates. There have been the usual calls by Dr Chee for retrenchment insurance, and Mr Murali has said that he would give residents employment help if elected, but no exchanges between the two.

And, with about 32 per cent of residents living in one- to three-room rental flats, little has come up on national policies to help the poor, though both candidates have vowed to help needy families. Mr Murali held a carnival for 360 low-income households earlier this month, while Dr Chee held a food distribution drive. Dr Chee’s efforts drew a swipe from Mr Murali who said: “If you were to deliver goods to their houses, one would have to assume what they want.” The carnival allowed each household to use 30 points to redeem groceries of their choice.

But if anything, the fight has been civil, with both aspiring candidates choosing to tug at the heartstrings of residents, rarely electing to fire salvos at each other. It’s easy to forget that both are heavyweights in their respective fields.

Mr Murali is the head of commercial litigation at law firm Rajah & Tann. He is no outsider to politics, given that he was fielded for the PAP’s ‘suicide squad’ to contest Aljunied GRC during the 2015 General Elections (GE2015); the team came close to retaking the constituency from Workers’ Party (WP), with 49 per cent of the vote. Dr Chee, on the other hand, is a prominent human rights activist who drew large crowds to Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) rallies in GE2015, after several years out of electoral action because of run-ins with the law. Many analysts said the 2015 elections marked a turning point for Dr Chee, as he sought to portray himself as a mellow, less strident personality.

This by-election seems to mark a continuation of this down-to-earth Dr Chee, who is choosing to focus on local concerns over much broader issues like human rights and civil liberties. When he first announced his candidacy in March, he chose to prioritise town council management and weeks later announced a town council transition team.

However, at the SDP’s unveiling of social programmes for Bukit Batok residents on Friday (April 22), Dr Chee said economic needs and human rights are inextricably linked. He added that one needs to “communicate in ways Singaporeans can understand”.

The programmes, dubbed “We are One, We are Bukit Batok”,  includes initiatives such as Pathfinder, which will be helmed by allied educator Rajakumari Ashukumar, 23, and seeks to give tuition to low-income students and hold educational events like science fairs and drama lessons. There is Legal Lifeline as well, a programme staffed by lawyers who will give residents legal advice. An initiative encouraging households to adopt a needy family called Hearts for Bukit Batok will be led by a private tutor Wong Hwee Lin, 42, and will also include a trust fund to help such needy families.

Former NTUC Income CEO and 2011 presidential candidate, Mr Tan Kin Lian, will facilitate a programme called Dollars And Sense, which will dispense financial advice for residents. At the unveiling, he threw his weight behind Dr Chee, saying that while not an SDP member, he would help Dr Chee get elected.

Said Mr Tan: “We do need to have an active Parliament that can discuss issues that the people face, and I believe Chee Soon Juan is passionate about such matters.”

While Mr Tan will bring financial expertise to the programme, Dr Chee’s plans on the whole seemed to lack structure.  Asked for more details like how he would go about funding these programmes or who he would rope in, Dr Chee couldn’t give definitive answers. Without a grassroots network in Bukit Batok or sources of funding, he might be hard pressed to sustain programmes. But, he said “money only goes so far” and that he ultimately hopes to bring “dedication” to the neighbourhood and people “will come forward”.

Said Dr Chee: “What we want to do as far as Hearts for Bukit Batok is concerned, is to bring people together and from there, encourage an organic development of people reaching out to others.”

He himself will start by giving up part of his MP allowance, about $16,000 a month, to help out 10 needy families.

How much exactly? Dr Chee said: “It really depends on their needs.”

Two days later, the PAP machinery kicked into action, proposing a $1.9 million Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) project. It will include a multi-generation fitness park, a jogging track with distance markings to enable residents to train for IPPT, and a series of covered walkways and ramps. Other programmes to address social issues will be announced before this Wednesday’s Nomination Day, Mr Murali said.

Mr Murali’s proposed programme was conditional. If you don’t vote the PAP, no NRP. He said: “We will only have the mandate to carry on if we are returned at the next by-election. If we don’t have the mandate then we won’t have the ability to carry on, because we will not form the town council.”

Is Mr Murali holding an infrastructure carrot in front of Bukit Batok residents? Perhaps not entirely. The project doesn’t involve the entire constituency, only those in Blocks 140 to 149 of Bukit Batok West Avenue 4, or 640 of the 12,000 households (about five per cent) in the constituency. Three other neighbourhood renewal programmes have been completed, while one is still ongoing.

Unexpectedly, the SDP didn’t come out guns blazing to condemn the plans and cast the PAP as unfair to opposition wards. Instead, in its response, it highlighted the need for greater consultation, saying it would do things differently by holding “void-deck forums”. But most strikingly, it said: “As for linkways, the SDP’s stand is that any responsible MP would ensure such basic necessities are available to the residents and not made into an election issue”.

In other words, the SDP is trying to re-assure voters that their infrastructural needs will be taken care of, regardless of party colours.

In this case, the SDP has gotten help from an unexpected quarter: the Workers’ Party. WP MP Pritam Singh published a note on his Facebook page, which was subsequently re-published on The Independent, saying that after the 2011 elections, the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council checked with HDB if the NRP project at Eunos Spring could go ahead because of a change of Town Councils.

Said Mr Singh: “The answer was YES. In addition, we were free to determine if we wanted to change the proposal of the previous PAP-run Aljunied Town Council with regard to the NRP upgrading plans – that’s the nature of the NRP and how it works. A Town Council then seeks resident’s feedback and proposes a plan for residents to approve (requires 75% approval).”

“I have no doubt HDB will not withdraw NRP funds committed for the NRP at Blk 140-149 Bukit Batok West Ave 4, regardless who wins, based on the post-2011 precedent of Eunos Spring. It would be opening itself up to a judicial review of administrative action in Court if it did.”

Ultimately, the SDP has an uphill battle to convince voters that it can deliver the goods or at least maintain the status quo. The purse strings are held by the G, which is at liberty to exercise its discretion, as it did in the past when, all things being equal, opposition wards are stuck at the back of the upgrading queue. Also, it has not been in charge of a town council since 1997, when it held seats in Bukit Gombak SMC, Nee Soon Central SMC, and when Mr Chiam See Tong helmed Potong Pasir SMC before leaving SDP in 1994.

In any case, bad blood tells. The Chiams are upset that a photograph of the lawyer and his former protege at The Online Citizen’s Face-to-Face forum in 2010, appeared in a June 2015 article for the SDP’s newsletter. They are making it clear that it was not a mark of endorsement. Dr Chee, in the meantime, is shrugging off their misgivings as a “distraction”.

Sparks have yet to start flying. But embers are smouldering.  Will things get hotter after Nomination Day, tomorrow? Stay tuned.

Need to catch up on all that’s leading up to the Bukit Batok by-election? Here are some related articles:

• Bukit Batok BE: An electoral race that will shed light on race
• Bukit Batok residents reveal their thoughts on Murali, Chee, and David Ong
• Bukit Batok: The next go-to destination
• By the way, this Bukit Batok by-election…

 

Featured Image by Natassya Diana and Sean Chong.

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The post Not quite a barbed Bukit Batok BE yet appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- Hamzah Omar Yaacob