Should Chee leave politics?

SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan is adamant he will stay on in politics despite garnering only 38.79 per cent of the votes in the recent Bukit Batok by-election.

But is his string of five losses in close to 25 years an indication that he should leave instead?

CHEE'S SWANSONG

Political analyst Mustafa Izzuddin told The New Paper: "As much as I believe the Bukit Batok by-election was Dr Chee's swansong in his political career, I do not believe he will quit politics, because it has been in his DNA for more than 20 years."

National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser agreed, adding that there are many examples of opposition leaders elsewhere whose tenacity eventually paid off.

"Moreover, he has already invested much time and energy in politics and it'd seem like a waste to his cause (to exit politics)," he said.

But Dr Mustafa, a fellow at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute, remains sceptical about Dr Chee's chances of being elected into Parliament.

DOUBTFUL HE WILL STRIKE PARLIAMENTARY GOLD

"As much as one has to applaud the determination of Dr Chee to keep going despite losing every time he has contested, it is highly doubtful that he will strike parliamentary gold eventually.

"It will take an extraordinary turn of events, both politically and economically, for Dr Chee to make it into Parliament under the current circumstances of entrenched one-party dominance," he explained.

Associate Professor Eugene Tan from the Singapore Management University, on the other hand, saw a possibility with a caveat: Dr Chee needs to make a "substantive change".
 

 CHARACTER IS PERMANENT

But he quickly added: "I don't think a leopard will ever change its spots."

He said: "This is someone who's trying to milk voters' sympathy. He was trying essentially to reinforce that he has been persecuted - not only him, but his entire family has had to suffer, and so that's why he's deserving of people's support."

POWER HUNGER

The law don said he also saw Dr Chee's hunger for power in the by-election.

When the People's Action Party (PAP) incumbent MP David Ong resigned, Dr Chee was the one who decided he would contest in the by-election.

"He made the decision on his own accord. Unless he did a CEC (central executive committee) meeting over the phone," he said.
 
 ELECTION NOT ABOUT PARTY OR EVEN VOTERS. IT WAS ALL ABOUT CHEE.

Calling SDP Dr Chee's alter ego, he said: "The election was not about the party, or even the voters. It was all about him."

Political experts pointed to what they felt is a more pertinent question: Should Dr Chee continue to be the SDP's main man?

GOING FORWARD, DOES SDP WANT TO REMAIN A CHEE-CENTRIC PARTY?

Said Dr Mustafa: "The decision SDP has to make is whether they would want to remain a Chee-centric party or look beyond Dr Chee, with others fronting the party, going forward.

"While one can foresee SDP contesting Bukit Batok SMC again in future, it is less certain at this point whether it will be Dr Chee who will stand there again in the next election."

Prof Tan said: "To put it bluntly, despite what is generally regarded as a good showing, Dr Chee should really examine if he's the best person to lead the SDP."

http://bit.ly/1QVZsSD

He loves the adulation of man.

Residents or supporters? These people knew his 'thank you' route in advance and are all lined up to wait for his arrival.

How much of what you see is real?

According to Chee Soon Juan, he was running against the media and state machinery (see here: http://bit.ly/1YfO9dO).

Why CSJ lost according to Bilahari Kausikan in a facebook status:

The primary reason CSJ lost is CSJ. I did not know the PAP has lost every SMC by-election since 1981, as stated in this article . If this is true then the reason CSJ has given for his defeat is clearly rubbish as other opposition candidates must have faced the same factors and won. This defeat ought to give the SDP a lot to think about. Can they ever win as long as CSJ is party leader? I doubt it as an egomaniac will always become the main issue.

https://www.facebook.com/bilahari.kausikan/posts/1742399902684098

Chee Soon Juan in his own words: No I haven't changed.

Chee Soon Juan a changed man? Not according to himself.

He said he has not changed. Only your perception of him has changed.

And why has your perception of him changed?

Because he has been working full-time to change your perception of him.

Which is very consistent with his character of lying and deceiving. 
 
Not only has he not changed, he is also not sorry about his past.

Chee told Wanbao he was not sorry about his past. He said he has no regrets about his past.

Character is permanent. Chee Soon Juan could not be trusted in the past. And he still cannot be trusted now.

Threats of terrorism but Chee Soon Juan's SDP wants to abolish ISA and slash defence spending

The Doer vs the Talker: who do you prefer to be your MP?

Chee Soon Juan is the talker. That is why he is holding rally after rally. Two rallies already with one more coming and you bet there will be another one before cooling off day.

He's only interested in talking. He's not interested in listening to what residents have to say.

Murali, on the other hand, is the doer, the one who works quietly to get things done, to help residents, to meet their needs.

He has in place a job placement programme in place for Bukit Batok.

And now he has turned his attention also to healthcare working in partnership with The Good Life Cooperative.

Chee Soon Juan goes on and on about the costs of living and he asks to be voted in so that he could go to parliament to talk about cost of living .

Murali, on the other hand, gets down to doing real work to reduce costs, in this case, cost of healthcare.

One is a doer who identifies the needs and work to find solutions to meet the needs.

The other is a glib talker who pretends he is concerned for your needs.

Who do you prefer to the your MP?

And the fox to the farmer: "Hire me to look after your hen house. I have the perfect plan."

Assassinated by his own past

Historical facts are not smear. Historical facts represent the truth concerning Chee.

Chee's character is defined by the history of his own deeds.

His character is assassinated by his own past.

Even his own party member and leader, Paul Tambyah, could find no defence for him except to declare that one should not question Chee's character and to make an astounding statement that a person is not defined by their actions or words.

As astounding as the statement is, it is also an admission that Chee's words and actions were not honourable. Hence the need to separate his deeds from his character. What a joke.

Paul Tambyah did not deny any of the facts that had been presented concerning Chee's past because he could not.

Why did Chee talk about wanting 'clean politics' that make no personal attack?

Not because he is an honourable man but because his closet is full of skeletons and of course he did not want any of these skeletons out in the open.

What Chee Soon Juan is proud of

Heckling then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong during the general election in 2001 is one of the things that he is proud of.

Backstabbing his mentor, Chiam See Tong and wrangling SDP from his mentor is another deed he is proud of.

According to Chee Soon Juan, SDP is his best 'CV'.

Then he must surely be proud of how he came to be the secretary-general of SDP.

Back in 1995, he backstabbed his mentor, Chiam See Tong and wrangled the party, founded in 1980 by Chiam, from him. Chiam was then expelled from the party.

Chee really wanted Chiam to lose his seat in Parliament because after Chiam's ouster, he wrote to the Speaker of Parliament to inform him and to ask for any further necessary action to be taken!

What is this 'further necessary action'?

The Constitution says that an MP who loses membership of the party he represented in a general election automatically loses his seat in Parliament.

However, Chiam contested the action of SDP in court. He won and kept his seat until the next general election when he left SDP to form SPP.



His character is so bad that Dr Paul Tambyah made a desperate plea to people not to discuss his character and made the most ridiculous and astounding statement ever from a doctor. 

 The character of Chee Soon Juan is like a disease. Too much exposure to this disease can affect one's ability to think clearly and intelligently.

Frankly speaking, the good doctor should quit SDP before he finds that he is defined by Chee Soon Juan's and SDP's actions.

Chee Soon Juan a changed man?

In an interview with Wanbao, he said that he was proud of his past deeds and there was nothing to be sorry about. 

If he is proud of his past, then he is still the same Chee Soon Juan . He has not changed one bit. 

There is no basis for change if one does not feel sorry about anything. There is no basis for change if one is proud of one's past.

If the past is something to be proud of, why does Chee Soon Juan work so hard to portray himself as a changed man?

Because he knows that Singaporeans will not accept the Chee Soon Juan that they knew from the past.

In order to win votes, he knows he has to portray himself differently to make himself acceptable to voters. But that portrayal is just a deception.

Character is permanent.

Chee Soon Juan has not changed and his mission has not changed. 

His mission is to fight for his liberal idea of democracy. Bukit Batok is not his concern. Bukit Batok is just an opportunity to him, a chance to get into Parliament for his mission. 

Q: On what you said about how Dr Chee has changed his image, but inside he hasn’t changed, would you be concerned if he were to be elected?

PM Lee: Yes, I would be concerned. Because it will mean that there is somebody that’s being elected who is able to just gloss over bad things which have been done, and which he has not come to terms with or acknowledged, and he’s now presenting himself as a new man – reinvented – and yet, unchanged, and unregretful and unrepentant.

And I think it’s not possible, if you are a changed person, well then there must be a basis on which you say: ‘What I did previously, I regret, I’m sorry, I now resolve to go in a different direction, I resolve to be a different sort of leader.' But here he told the Wanbao: ‘I don’t regret anything which I did, all my crazy history, I’m proud of what I had done, and I am what I am’.

But actually, he is not what he is, because what he says is one thing, but the reality is quite different, and what he did yesterday at the rally, allowing his colleagues to hit at David Ong in a most unbecoming manner, and then he comes along in benign, almost beatific way, and say: ‘We must not hit people who are down, that’s very bad, anyone can make mistakes – even good people,’ I think it shows that his character has not changed.
                                 
                            **********************************************************

 Because his mission is really to fight for his liberal idea of democracy, he appears wherever an opportunity presents for him to try to get to Parliament. That is why in every election that he has contested in the past, he has gone from one constituency to another, appearing only during election time and completely disappears once he has lost. 

The interests of the residents are not his concern. The constituency is just a stepping stone for him to go to parliament.

Hypocrisy Exposed!

Talk is cheap! It's performance, not promises. Deeds, not words. 

Bukit Batok Here I Come

He promised to make Bukit Batok the model town that will be the envy of Singapore.

He has no new proposals to make that is not already done. He is unable to say how he would make Bukit Batok the envy of Singapore.

But he kicked off his campaign with a demand: a demand for all the blueprints from URA and HDB for Bukit Batok.

And then he declared that if elected he would push for all of PAP's projects to be done in Bukit Batok.

Thus will Chee Soon Juan transform Bukit Batok into a model town - with PAP projects and plans. 

Is Chee Soon Juan relevant to Bukit Batok then?

Does it make sense to take the PAP projects from a competent PAP town council to give to Chee Soon Juan to implement?

Then he declared that he would be a full-time MP. 

He will be doing everything himself. He will not outsource anything, including help for residents.

He thinks working with voluntary welfare organizations is outsourcing help. Does he understand that needs can be very complex and often it takes a whole community to help people?

This leads you to wonder if he knows what helping people entails.

When you  think that you can do away with a team, when you think that you can do away with voluntary welfare organisations, when you think that you alone will be able to help people, in all likelihood, you have never helped anyone before and you don't know what it takes to help people.

When you don't even begin to understand what it takes to help people, then clearly you are not a suitable person to help people. 

He wants you to think that being a full-time MP will make him a great MP. 

That's because he brings with him no contributions or ability that he can boast of that will make him the best person to run a town council, no relevant work experience he can draw on to convince you that he is the best candidate. 

 
He thinks it is humanly impossible for anyone to hold a full time job and still be able to serve people well as an MP.

But what does he know about juggling different responsibilities and time management when he has no full-time job?

He forgets that all our ministers and ministers of state have a very heavy load at their various ministries and are still able to serve their residents well.

The measure of a good MP is not his first destination in the morning.

The measure of a good MP is firstly his integrity, ability, competency, dedication and time management, how sincere he is in serving people, how well he listen to his residents, how keen he is in discerning their needs and how creative and resourceful he is in rendering help, in mobilising volunteers and the community to come together to work for a good cause and more.

But integrity is clearly lacking in Chee Soon Juan. 

When caught in a difficult situation and having to give an answer STRAIGHTAWAY with no time to think of the best answer, Chee's first instinct is to lie.

On Nomination day, SDP had prematurely put up their banners before nomination was announced thus violating the rules of election, and had to take them down.

Instead of admitting that a mistake was committed, Chee Soon Juan said that he was 'just trying it out'.

That's just unbelievable! And re-LIAR-able as well.

It confirms that character is permanent.  

If Chee Soon Juan really cares for the residents of Bukit Batok, why hasn't he come up with some plans for them? 

Because by his own admission, his mission is to change the system in Singapore, to fight for his brand of liberal democracy. 

In his own words, he is not interested in people. He is only interested in changing the system in Singapore.  

In an interview with Zaobao in 2010, when asked if he regretted entering into politics, he said he had no regrets because fighting for democracy is 'bigger and pressing mission'.

This also explains why in all the elections in which he has contested, he has gone from constituency to constituency or GRC. 

 
People are not his concern. Fighting for democracy is. The constituency or GRC is just a stepping stone for him to try to get into Parliament to achieve his mission. 

Chee admitted to receiving foreign funds

So how did Chee Soon Juan manage to raise a family of three children with a homemaker wife when he does not have a job all these years?

In the Zaobao interview in 2010, Chee was asked if he was bankrolled by foreign money.

The reporter had to ask the question 7 times in different ways to get the answers. Chee was evasive and after much probing, said that he received 'research grants' to do research on 'different things'.

That Chee refused to specify the type of 'research' he was doing during the interview was very telling.

Here's a partial transcript of the interview:

Q: People may find it hard to think you can keep a family, just on books.
A: Whatever I can live on. Sometimes we get help, I mean not help lah. People, relatives and so on and so forth. It does get into a, a...

Q: So people are wrong to say you've been getting money?
A: I don't know, where do you get this. People keep saying. I don't..

Q: If they are wrong, then I can write that they are wrong. I'll say they are wrong.
A: No, I mean, I've always write as an academic, you get research, you apply for research grants. I've gone overseas. I've got some awards for writing. Had stints overseas where fellowships that kind of thing. These things all helped a bit. I write research grants that kind of thing.

Q: Research on democracy?
A: er, other things lah. Not just, different areas as well.

Q: Which areas? Psychology?
A: Sometimes they are all related, human behavior, different things.

.
.

http://bit.ly/1XWIsRL

FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY OR FIGHTING FOR THE RESIDENTS OF BUKIT BATOK?

In an interview with Zaobao in 2010, Chee Soon Juan was asked if he regretted going into politics.

“Absolutely not. I’m not saying this to sound like some hero. I really do love teaching and research, that’s my first love. But to fight for democracy for Singapore, now that’s a bigger and more pressing mission. I have no regrets whatsoever,” he said.

By his own admission, Chee is in politics to fight for democracy. That is a bigger and more pressing mission to him.

What kind of democracy is he fighting for? Whose definition of democracy is he fighting for?

So you think he cares for the residents of Bukit Batok?

Bukit Batok, for Chee, represents an opportunity for him, another chance to get into parliament where he can voice his ideas of 'democracy'.

That is why he has no concrete plans for Bukit Batok beyond the empty rhetoric of "We are One. We are Bukit Batok".

And that is also why Sadasivam Veriyah, the SDP candidate who stood in Bukit Batok in 2015 had to make way for him.

Does Chee Soon Juan know what it takes to help people?

He will not outsource help for residents to voluntary welfare organisations if elected because it is not right, he said. 

So he will be a full-time MP and do everything himself. A one-man operation working as hard as he is campaigning now. He thinks that is enough to help people.

He wants to push for PAP projects. Is Chee Soon Juan relevant?

Chee Soon Juan said that if elected he would push for all of David Ong's proposals to be implemented.

Let's try a little logical reasoning here.

- CSJ has been unemployed for many, many years.
- He has no work experience whatsoever to speak of.
- His only experience is in writing books about himself and democracy, and talking.

He wants to take over the PAP projects from Jurong-Clementi Town Council.

Think about this.
Between an unemployed man with no work experience at all, and Jurong-Clementi Town Council with their track record having already implemented 5 NRP in Bukit Batok, who will you trust to carry to completion David Ong's proposals?

Jurong-Clementi Town Council of course.

Would you remove a competent, proven team and give their projects to an inexperienced team that is confused over money and the projects?

Chee has just made himself irrelevant and redundant. 

He really only wants to go to Parliament to talk about democracy and Bukit Batok represents just an opportunity to him. 



One cannot help but recall his proposal to Workers' Party during the Punggol East by-election in 2013 when he suggested a partnership with WP where WP would run the town council while he made speeches in parliament. Haha

Chee Soon Juan declared that if elected, he would be a full-time MP.

Of course he's got to be a full-time MP if he is elected when you consider that he is currently unemployed. He can't possibly go from unemployed to part-time MP, can he? It just doesn't sound good or right.

"Every morning, when Mr Murali wakes up, his first destination will be his office. When I wake up every morning, my first destination is Bukit Batok. That’s the difference," so said Chee Soon Juan.

And THAT, to Chee Soon Juan, is considered an advantage he has over Murali. Haha

And he completely forgets that our Ministers, Ministers of State, MPs who are also Parliamentary Secretaries all have a full-time job with heavy responsibilities at various ministries and are at the same time serving their residents and managing their estates well.

Since when is the quality of a person determined (solely) by his first destination of the day?

The measure of a good MP is not whether he is full-time or not.

The measure of a good MP is his integrity, ability, competency, dedication and time management, how sincere he is in serving people, how well he listen to his residents, how keen he is in discerning their needs and how creative and resourceful he is in rendering help, in mobilising volunteers and the community to come together to work for a good cause and more.

Character is permanent. It's difficult not to lie when caught unprepared in a difficult situation

When caught in a difficult situation and having to give an answer STRAIGHTAWAY with no time to think of the best answer, Chee's first instinct is to lie.

SDP had prematurely put up their banners before nomination was announced thus violating the rules of election, and had to take them down.

Instead of admitting that a mistake was committed, Chee Soon Juan gave the lame excuse that he was 'just trying it out'.

That's just unbelievable! And re-LIAR-able as well

Why does Chee Soon Juan wants to see URA and HDB blueprint for Bukit Batok?

Chee Soon Juan starts his campaign with a demand - a demand for a progress report for Bukit Batok from PAP.

This man promised the residents of Bukit Batok that he would make Bukit Batok the envy of Singapore. But he has yet to show a single blueprint of his own plans that will make Bukit Batok the envy of Singapore.

Instead he has demanded for a progress report on Bukit Batok from PAP and to see all the URA and HDB blueprints for Bukit Batok. Haha

Seriously, all he needs to do for a progress report of Bukit Batok is to walk around Bukit Batok. Hasn't he been walking around Bukit Batok? What did he see on his walkabout?

Did he see opportunity for himself? Did he notice any needs that need to be addressed? Or any amenities lacking that he would want to put into a blueprint?

And why does he want to see all the blueprints from URA and HDB? Is it because he has no idea of his own how to make Bukit Batok the envy of Singapore?

Paul Tambyah confuses URA plans with NRP plans

Paul Tambyah of SDP is confusing URA master plans with NRP (neighbourhood renewal programme).

OF COURSE URA master plans proceeds regardless of who is in charge of where. City planners do not plan and optimize the use of land scare Singapore by checking the boundaries of constituencies (not forgetting that boundaries can change also).

NRP, on the other hand, are unique proposals of a town council. Such proposals are the result of feedback gathered from residents by the MP and his team of grassroots members and volunteers.

And NRP are implemented by the town council. This means to say whoever is the MP takes charge of their implementation.

Conversely speaking, whoever is not the MP does not have any right to implement any NRP. This is the reason why Murali said he needed the mandate from the residents of Bukit Batok to carry on his plans.

Given the nature of NRP and how it works, it is unethical for a leader of SDP and an eminent doctor to mislead voters by suggesting that PAP will withhold improvements from Bukit Batok if Murali is not elected.

This has absolutely nothing to do with withholding improvements. It's about who is the elected MP because the MP is in charge of improvements.

Is SDP willing to do the hard work and walk the ground for many months like PAP and gather feedback from residents so that they can make meaningful proposals that will improve the life of residents in Bukit Batok?

PAP has revealed their plans. Where are SDP's plans? Where was SDP before the announcement of this by-election? Or is SDP here in Bukit Batok only because there is a by-election?

Lastly, SDP should not use 'lack of fund' as an excuse for not making proposals because NRP projects are fully funded by the government.

The nature of Neighbourhood Renewal Programme and how it works

Murali revealed his plans for Bukit Batok and said that he needed a mandate to carry on the plans.

Some call it a dangling of carrots. Some call it a punitive approach.

A punitive approach it is not. It is just the way things work.

Or to quote Pritam Singh, "that's the nature of NRP and how it works."

So then, what is the nature of NRP and how it works?

NRP projects are proposals unique to each estate. They are the result of feedback gathered from residents. Each town council makes proposals for NRP based on feedback gathered.

NRP projects are IMPLEMENTED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL.

This means the elected MP is the one who will implement NRP projects. 

Conversely speaking, whoever is not elected as MP has no mandate or right to implement any NRP projects.

That was what Murali meamt when he said he needed a mandate to carry out the plans.

There is also no guarantee that a NRP project proposed before an election will carry on as proposed when there is a change of town council because the new town council is free to change the proposal. Hence the mandate needed.

To quote Pritam Singh,
"..... 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."

Incidentally, Pritam Singh, in reacting negatively to what Murali said, did not realize that he had answered his own questions.

Just how far will Chee Soon Juan go to try to win a seat in Parliament?

Enough to resort to deception by using a photo taken of himself and Mr Chiam to give the false impression that Mr Chiam endorses him as the candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election.

Chee Soon Juan's Math

 

Let's take a minute to try to understand.

SDP has been proposing cuts in defence budget and steadily increasing that percentage as well.

In 2011, they proposed a 20% cut. In 2015, it became 50% !!

If proposing defence budget cut is not bad enough in the face of increased threats and increased defence spending elsewhere in the region and the world, they also proposed increasing the allowance of full-time National Servicemen to a minimum of $1200.

So on the one hand they propose cuts in defence budget.

On the other hand they propose an increase in defence spending through increased allowance.

Can you do that Math?

For the SDP the mathematics is not important. Being populist is more important.

SDP's proposal to cut defence spending

Defence spending in the region has gone up.

Indonesia has increased its defence budget by 2.0% for 2016 to IDR99.5 trillion (USD7.2 billion) according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance. The decision reverses a proposed 1.7% reduction in military expenditure which had been included under the draft budget. (bit.ly/1nvUbLe)

In China, defense outlays are projected to increase 7.6 percent to 954.4 billion yuan ($146 billion) this year after a 10.1 percent rise last year. (bloom.bg/1MDWTnx)

Meanwhile, Australia will embark on a decade-long surge in weaponry and military forces to defend its land, sea, skies and space from Asia's rapidly growing military forces according to ABC net. (ab.co/1pWSac2)

Here in Singapore, the Singapore Democratic Party called for defence spending to be cut by 50%. They had also called for the ISA to be abolished.

In the face of increased defence spending in the region, increased tension in the South China Sea, increased terrorist threat, do SDP's proposals make sense to you?

Chee Soon Juan a reformed politician?

Chee Soon Juan a reformed politician?

A leopard does not change its spots and character is permanent.

Chee's fight for democracy is all about himself and for himself. Hence it was no surprise when he announced himself as candidate for Bukit Batok even though SDP had another candidate, Sadasivam Veriyah, who stood in Bukit Batok in the general election in 2015.

In fact it would be big news and a big surprise if Chee did not contest in this coming by-election.

Chee Soon Juan is SDP and SDP is Chee Soon Juan. Everyone else is just a sideshow.

He is so desperate to get into parliament that he would even use international pressure on the government if he could. It is common knowledge, especially to older Singaporeans, the he travelled all over to denounce Singapore overseas.

And here you have in this photo, what he did In 2009, after President Obama was elected as President of the US. Chee sent a congratulatory video to President Obama in which he also made several accusations against the Singapore government and asked the US President to interfere in our domestic politics.

Character is permanent

According to Jeremy Chen, an ex-SDP member, during the last general election, Chee Soon Juan duped his volunteers into thinking that proceeds from the sale of his book would go to the party. But the money went into his own pockets instead! 

This reminds us of a time in the past when a young Chee Soon Juan was dismissed from the National University of Singapore in 1993 for misappropriating research funds.

Well, what do you expect? Character is permanent. No matter how hard Chee Soon Juan tries to repackage his image, Chee Soon Juan is still the same old Chee Soon Juan. Nothing has changed except the tactics. 

https://www.facebook.com/convexset/posts/10153900641956335