Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan plans to contest for the Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) again in the upcoming general election and will be holding fundraising dinners at his restaurant, Orange & Teal, until Feb 26.

Dr Chee, who had previously contested in Bukit Batok SMC, lost to PAP MP Murali Pillai during the 2020 general elections.

The former had garnered 45.2 per cent of votes, while Pillai received 54.8 per cent.

In a video posted to Facebook on Wednesday (Feb 19), Dr Chee criticised Singapore's existing approach to education and immigration while laying out SDP's alternative policies.

Suggestions such as scrapping the Primary School Leaving Examination and reducing class sizes to 20 students per teacher were brought up during the over eight-minute clip.

"There is no new, bold thinking to tackle the problems that our society faces," said Dr Chee.

"The PAP will not reform itself. Singaporeans will have to step in to get the job done. And there is no more crucial, more urgent time than this coming election."

The SDP chief also asked supporters to purchase tickets to his restaurant's fundraising dinners at Rochester Mall to "support [his] effort to win the Bukit Batok seat" during the upcoming elections.

The dinners are only open to Singapore citizens and reservations can be made for slots via the restaurant's website, starting at $100 per person, according to the post.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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