(29 Aug 2012)
SDP Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan says that Singapore needs alternative democratic leadership to avert a disaster brought about by the PAP's immigration policy.
Fellow Singaporeans,
The Prime Minister's National Day speech, while rich in style offers little in substance. The PM has, perhaps not surprisingly, failed to address in a meaningful way the pressing concern that Singaporeans have which is the immigration policy.
The flooding of our country with foreigners has given rise to serious consequences for our society which the people want addressed.
Yet, Mr Lee Hsien Loong stays silent on this point, choosing instead to harp on anti-foreigner online comments by Singaporeans. The Prime Minister just doesn't get it.
He doesn't get it that the influx of foreigners have caused our wages to fall especially for those in the lower income brackets and the cost of living to rise.
He doesn't get it that foreigners are competing with our children for places in schools and entrance into our universities.
He doesn't get it that foreigners are driving up HDB prices to insane levels that Singaporeans cannot afford and that such prices have created a bubble that when burst will cause havoc to our economy.
He doesn't get it that it is the Government's abject mismanagement of the immigration policy that has produced an opposite and equal reaction from Singaporeans.
He doesn't get it that people are angry because Lee Kuan Yew threatens that if Singaporeans don't procreate, the Government will replace us with foreigners. He places the blame on the falling birthrate on the people without so much as to examine the PAP's policies that have driven Singaporeans to put off starting families and have more children.
Singaporeans are a tolerant people. We've always been that way. We recognise that the majority of us are descendants of immigrants. We welcome and accept foreign peoples living among us and working in our country.
But no people in this world will accept a government that imports foreigners with the view of replacing locals and make them a minority in their own country.
Maybe, Mr Lee understands all this. He and his ministers cannot be that blind. It cannot be that they don't understand the hardships that their immigration policy have brought on the people. But they're going ahead with it because the move will enlarge the tax base and bring in cheap labour for GLCs, and these will mean greater revenue for the government which will, in turn, translate into higher salaries for the ministers.
Make no mistake, the PAP is conducting a dangerous experiment of trying to create a global city by replacing Singaporeans with foreigners.
If the experiment succeeds, then Singapore, as we know it, will be no more. We will be an island collection of various enclaves of Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Malaysians, Vietnamese, etc.
Singaporeans will form just a minority of what will look like an organisation with competing interests and nationalities rather than a nation and a home for Singaporeans. Gone will be the Singapore that we grew up with and have known all our lives – the comfortable familiarity of Singlish, the quaint mix of the various Chinese dialects, the cultural heritage of our Malay history and the rich contribution of our Indian and Eurasian brothers and sisters.
But if the experiment fails, we will have a failed nation-state on our hands and it is us Singaporeans who will be left to hold the baby. PAP Ministers, having made their millions, will be little affected by the upheaval.
The people are aghast and dead worried at seeing what is happening to our home. Our fathers and sons, our husbands and brothers put ourselves in harms way by performing National Service to defend this country which we now see being sold to the highest bidder.
Talk is cheap. The people are tired of empty words and promises. We are tired of being lecture to and talked at. While the the Prime Minister makes a good show of wanting to engage the people in a National Conversation, it continues with its draconian immigration policy and its ham-fisted, autocratic ways.
No, the people want action - clear, decisive action from the Government to stop and reverse the immigration process. Anything less is unacceptable.
But how do we ensure that our population increases? We have alternatives. If only the PAP will listen. Listen to the people, listen to the alternatives of the Singapore Democratic Party. We have what it takes to tackle the problem. But it cannot be solved if the PAP listens only to its own voice.
The people want transparency and accountability, and the only way that we can get that is for the PAP to stop its control of the print and broadcast media, to stop censoring views and the alternative policies of the SDP.
The people want to reform the election system. We want fair and free elections, where by-elections, be they in an SMC or GRC, are not the privilege of the Prime Minister to call but a right of the people to demand.
We want the Public Order Act abolished and our rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and speech restored.
We demand these because we are the citizens of this Republic of Singapore and we will not be treated otherwise by this or any other Government.
The present strategy of replacing local Singaporeans must stop. And the only way for Singaporeans to do this is to work for change - democratic change, so that an alternative political leadership can rise and take our nation into a better and more secure tomorrow, a tomorrow that belongs to us Singaporeans.
The people are looking for an alternative. They want leadership. They seek democracy. Unfortunately, they are not going to get these from the PAP. The PM's National Day Rally speech has made this abundantly clear.
This is where the SDP comes in. We stand ready to serve.
SDP Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan says that Singapore needs alternative democratic leadership to avert a disaster brought about by the PAP's immigration policy.
Fellow Singaporeans,
The Prime Minister's National Day speech, while rich in style offers little in substance. The PM has, perhaps not surprisingly, failed to address in a meaningful way the pressing concern that Singaporeans have which is the immigration policy.
The flooding of our country with foreigners has given rise to serious consequences for our society which the people want addressed.
Yet, Mr Lee Hsien Loong stays silent on this point, choosing instead to harp on anti-foreigner online comments by Singaporeans. The Prime Minister just doesn't get it.
He doesn't get it that the influx of foreigners have caused our wages to fall especially for those in the lower income brackets and the cost of living to rise.
He doesn't get it that foreigners are competing with our children for places in schools and entrance into our universities.
He doesn't get it that foreigners are driving up HDB prices to insane levels that Singaporeans cannot afford and that such prices have created a bubble that when burst will cause havoc to our economy.
He doesn't get it that it is the Government's abject mismanagement of the immigration policy that has produced an opposite and equal reaction from Singaporeans.
He doesn't get it that people are angry because Lee Kuan Yew threatens that if Singaporeans don't procreate, the Government will replace us with foreigners. He places the blame on the falling birthrate on the people without so much as to examine the PAP's policies that have driven Singaporeans to put off starting families and have more children.
Singaporeans are a tolerant people. We've always been that way. We recognise that the majority of us are descendants of immigrants. We welcome and accept foreign peoples living among us and working in our country.
But no people in this world will accept a government that imports foreigners with the view of replacing locals and make them a minority in their own country.
Maybe, Mr Lee understands all this. He and his ministers cannot be that blind. It cannot be that they don't understand the hardships that their immigration policy have brought on the people. But they're going ahead with it because the move will enlarge the tax base and bring in cheap labour for GLCs, and these will mean greater revenue for the government which will, in turn, translate into higher salaries for the ministers.
Make no mistake, the PAP is conducting a dangerous experiment of trying to create a global city by replacing Singaporeans with foreigners.
If the experiment succeeds, then Singapore, as we know it, will be no more. We will be an island collection of various enclaves of Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Malaysians, Vietnamese, etc.
Singaporeans will form just a minority of what will look like an organisation with competing interests and nationalities rather than a nation and a home for Singaporeans. Gone will be the Singapore that we grew up with and have known all our lives – the comfortable familiarity of Singlish, the quaint mix of the various Chinese dialects, the cultural heritage of our Malay history and the rich contribution of our Indian and Eurasian brothers and sisters.
But if the experiment fails, we will have a failed nation-state on our hands and it is us Singaporeans who will be left to hold the baby. PAP Ministers, having made their millions, will be little affected by the upheaval.
The people are aghast and dead worried at seeing what is happening to our home. Our fathers and sons, our husbands and brothers put ourselves in harms way by performing National Service to defend this country which we now see being sold to the highest bidder.
Talk is cheap. The people are tired of empty words and promises. We are tired of being lecture to and talked at. While the the Prime Minister makes a good show of wanting to engage the people in a National Conversation, it continues with its draconian immigration policy and its ham-fisted, autocratic ways.
No, the people want action - clear, decisive action from the Government to stop and reverse the immigration process. Anything less is unacceptable.
But how do we ensure that our population increases? We have alternatives. If only the PAP will listen. Listen to the people, listen to the alternatives of the Singapore Democratic Party. We have what it takes to tackle the problem. But it cannot be solved if the PAP listens only to its own voice.
The people want transparency and accountability, and the only way that we can get that is for the PAP to stop its control of the print and broadcast media, to stop censoring views and the alternative policies of the SDP.
The people want to reform the election system. We want fair and free elections, where by-elections, be they in an SMC or GRC, are not the privilege of the Prime Minister to call but a right of the people to demand.
We want the Public Order Act abolished and our rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and speech restored.
We demand these because we are the citizens of this Republic of Singapore and we will not be treated otherwise by this or any other Government.
The present strategy of replacing local Singaporeans must stop. And the only way for Singaporeans to do this is to work for change - democratic change, so that an alternative political leadership can rise and take our nation into a better and more secure tomorrow, a tomorrow that belongs to us Singaporeans.
The people are looking for an alternative. They want leadership. They seek democracy. Unfortunately, they are not going to get these from the PAP. The PM's National Day Rally speech has made this abundantly clear.
This is where the SDP comes in. We stand ready to serve.
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