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www.straitstimes.com Published on Dec 17, 2010
The Straits Times
Opposition figures air key issues at dialogueSix leaders united
in call for more opposi tion voices in Parliam ent
By Jeremy Au Yong & Kor Kian Beng
SIX opposition leaders came together for a dialogue last night,
giving an early glimpse of where their
parties stood on key national issues.
Topics like housing and the role of the media got an airing,
alongside a wide range of other matters
from the Internal Security Act (ISA) to national service.
And while the political parties differed slightly on some
issues, there was clear consensus on their
rallying cry: Get more opposition voices into Parliament.
Throughout the 21/2-hour session at the Quality Hotel in
Balestier, the different opposition leaders took
turns calling for change and taking jibes at the People's Action
Party (PAP). Often, these calls were met
with cheers or applause from the largely partisan crowd of 350
that showed up.
Socialist Front secretary-general Chia Ti Lik, for instance,
called for the PAP to be given a 'black eye'.
Answering a question about HDB prices, he said: 'The changes
have to be made and the changes can
only be made if we give the PAP a black eye at the next general
election.'
The forum, titled Face To Face, was organised by socio-political
website The Online Citizen (TOC) to
mark its fourth anniversary.
It was also to provide a platform for political parties to
outline their respective positions on key issues
ahead of the next general election, said Mr Ravi Philemon, a TOC
writer.
It was the largest meeting this year of politicians from
different political parties. Five of them held the
post of secretary-general in their parties: Mr Chiam See Tong of
the Singapore People's Party (SPP);
Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP); Mr
Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform
Party (RP); Mr Chia Ti Lik of the newly registered Socialist
Front; and Mr Goh Meng Seng of the
National Solidarity Party (NSP).
The Workers' Party (WP) was represented by its central executive
committee member Gerald Giam, a
former member of the TOC team.
TOC said it sent an invitation this month to the PAP
headquarters and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
but did not receive any response.This is the second forum
involving political parties within a month. The National University
of Singapore
Society organised one on Nov 19 which was not open to media
coverage.
That one was attended by five parties, including the PAP which
was represented by Holland-Bukit Timah
GRC MP Christopher De Souza.
The audience at last night's forum comprised opposition members,
political bloggers and observers,
and undergraduates.
Yesterday's dialogue was divided into three parts. The first
focused on economic and social policy, the
second on civil liberties and the third on political issues.
As expected, housing issues dominated the economic section with
the discussion focused primarily onaffordability.
A question posed to each of the six panellists was how they
would solve the price conundrum, given that
a lowering of prices would leave current flat owners
unhappy.
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NSP's Mr Goh called on Singaporeans to discard the idea that the
HDB flat is an investment. Rather, he
said, they should think of it as a home.
SDP's Dr Chee said that a solution could be found if only the
Government would share more information
about HDB building costs.
During the section on civil liberties, the discussion turned to
the Internal Security Act.
On this matter, all six were unanimous in saying that the law
had to go.
Said Mr Chiam, who is also MP for Potong Pasir: 'It's a bad law
because it's arbitrary. You give full
power to somebody without any appeal. It's dangerous. I think we
should all gather strength and ask for
the ISA to be repealed.'
Given the recent troubles in the Singapore Democratic Alliance
which Mr Chiam's SPP is a member of, it
was perhaps a little curious that the matter of opposition unity
was barely touched upon last night.
Though postgraduate student Elvin Ong, 25, asked a question
right at the end about how parties would
avoid three-cornered fights, most preferred to focus their
closing statements on their respective party
strategies.
Only Mr Chia of the Socialist Front addressed the issue.
He said: 'By the very fact that we have come together for this
forum, all of us wish to be able to work
together and put up a united front... Our guns are pointing in
one direction, and that is the PAP.'
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Copyright 2010 Singapore Press Holdings. A ll rights
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