The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) held a public rally at Yio Chu Kang Stadium on the evening of Sunday, 23 September 2001, to spread the word of a long-desired Democrat awakening to Singaporeans. As part of a co-existence initiative - in the belief that civil society NGOs and political parties can and should work for the better good of Singapore - Think Centre lent a small helping hand to SDP.
Attendees on the way to Yio Chu Kang Stadium would not miss seeing the majestic red flags of SDP with the upward-pointing rocket (not to be confused with Democratic Action Party Malaysia's rocket) and circle resting upon a red background, a familiar sight on the political scene since 1984. A large turnout of SDP members and supporters backed up both logistics and moral support.
Many of the thought-provoking topics raised by the poignant array of 6 speakers to the 2,000 strong crowd will become important issues in the General Elections to be expected anytime soon.
Mr Gerald Sng, a member of the Young Democrats (SDP's youth wing), presented a lively posture as the emcee for the evening's rally. He warmly welcomed attendees who took time off their Sunday evening schedule to attend the rally, and introduced the speakers as they came up to the podium one by one, in many languages - English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay and even a few words in Tamil!
The first speaker to kick off the programme was Mr Gandhi Ambalam, a member of the SDP Central Executive Committee (CEC) and a fiery orator who spoke in Tamil. Following that, Mr Mohd Isa and Mr Seow Yong Chew, both also SDP CEC members spoke mainly in Malay and Hokkien respectively.
The fourth and youngest speaker of the evening was Mr Bryan Lim Boon Heng, Vice President of the Young Democrats. While the emcee was introducing him, he told everyone not to confuse him with PAP's Lim Boon Heng (Minister without Portfolio), and this drew laughter. After being garlanded by two youthful supporters, he began with an apology for not preparing a Mandarin speech to be fair to the English-speaking audience, as he had already spoken in Mandarin at Think Centre's "Save JBJ" Rally. Calling upon Singaporeans to stand up against the "PAP bully", Mr Lim highlighted many flaws in the current education system that was putting too much pressure on children, and workers' sufferings in today's Singapore economy. He ended his speech with a challenge to members of Young PAP for public debate and discussion.
Mr Ambalam returned to deliver a speech, in English this time. Among many issues raised, he spoke on the lack of transparency of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) and the lack of representation by National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for Singapore workers, and that the acronyms "NTUC" stood for "Never Trust Union Congress". He commented that the "helicopter vision" of the Cabinet Ministers, who claimed they could visualise Singapore in 50 years ahead with an imaginary "sonar" or "radar" on their foreheads, could not even look 3 years ahead to foretell the impending recession. To laughter from the audience, he said the Ministers should have been the ones to go for upgrading and retraining.
Fifth on the roll was Mr Wong Hong Toy, SDP Assistant Secretary-general. Speaking mainly in Hokkien, he thanked the people for attending the "very expensive rally" which cost SDP about $7,500 in addition to forking out $3,000 for 13 Cisco guards, and proceeded to touch on a variety of bread-and-butter issues that found its way into the hearts of Singaporeans.
At this juncture, SDP Chairman and former MP for Bukit Gombak Mr Ling How Doong was invited to mark the launch of the new SDP manifesto based on the book "Your Future, My Faith, Our Freedom" by Dr Chee Soon Juan, SDP Secretary-general and Director of Open Singapore Centre. As a symbolic gesture, Mr Ling let free a pigeon from a cage with applause from the audience. Members of SDP shouted "Freedom!" as the bird flew up towards the evening skies.
After this ceremony, Mr Ling proceeded to speak on the effectiveness of the foreign talent policy. He questioned why local talent was not as treasured as much as foreign talent even when the two in comparison had about the same qualities and abilities. He cited the example of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) newly hired managing director who was Australian, and suggested a Singapore scholar could have filled the position. The government was also sending a wrong message to Singaporeans that the downturn was their fault because they did not upgrade themselves, although it was rightfully every government's job to provide jobs and keep the economy going.
Next, the emcee proceeded with a request to everyone to stand up and observe a minute of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. lately. The memorial service at National Stadium, which Think Centre sent a delegation to, and the Singapore Swimming Club were not the only places where Singaporeans gathered in sorrow for the victims of devastation. Although it was given no mention by the local media, SDP also catered a short memorial for the innocent souls who lost their lives on Sep 11 this year.
Finally arrived the anticipated moment when Dr Chee Soon Juan took the microphone to delight of the crowd. Speaking in both English and Mandarin, he presented stark truths of Singapore life and our Central Provident Fund (CPF). In a study, Singapore salaries ranked 56 among 59 countries. While the government was deflating the people's salaries to keep the labour costs low, Ministers were paid million-dollar salaries as costs of living continue to rise. He warned that the nation would be in trouble if the recession were prolonged. He told Singaporeans to find answers to why two downturns - the oil crisis of 1972 and the recession in 1985 - spanned 30 years since independence, but there were similarly two recessions in the last three years. Towards the end of his speech, he called upon Singaporeans to walk with the SDP - they wish to do more for Singapore but cannot do it alone!
Before the 3-hour SDP rally came to an end at 10 pm, Dr Chee presented the young generation of SDP - the Young Democrats - YD President Mr Kevin Liew, Mr Bryan Lim, Mr Jonathan Ma, Ms Rages Thamaraikkannan and Mr Gerald Sng. SDP has certainly achieved a considerably uphill feat of injecting much new blood into its ranks, and our future rests on their faith that will evolve into Singapore's freedom.
