SDA’s Lim to champion opposition unity if elected MP

SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) candidate for Punggol East, Mr Desmond Lim, wants to be a champion for opposition unity, if he is elected as a Member of Parliament.

Mr Lim on Wednesday disagreed with Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang’s point that it may not be workable to have all opposition parties coming together.

At WP’s by—election rally on Tuesday night, Mr Low had said the opposition is a complex camp with different leaders and political beliefs.

Mr Lim told reporters after his walkabout on Wednesday morning that the SDA is an example of how opposition unity can be achieved.

The alliance comprises the Singapore Justice Party and the Singapore Malay National Organisation.

However, Mr Lim acknowledged that it will be difficult — at this point — to achieve unity because there are parties which are not interested.

He said there need to be some common ground and compromises among the opposition parties.

The SDA chief cited the invitation by the Reform Party to speak at its rally on Thursday as an example of how opposition parties can work together.

Mr Lim said: "There’s nothing to be surprised (at). He may have his reasons, but I thank him for his good gesture.

"However, because I’m running out of time, my main priority now is to focus on the election campaign, door—to—door visits. And I have replied to his email and said that I wished him all the best.

"Although we are competitors, I think we are friendly competitors. I think that should be the culture —— a gentleman’s campaigning."

The SDA chief on Wednesday also uploaded several new video clips as part of his online rally.

Addressing the issue on housing, Mr Lim proposed pegging home prices to the median salary of young Singaporeans between 20 and 30 years old. This will motivate couples to get married early and have children, he said.

In addition, the push for lower property prices should not only be for homes, but for businesses too. Mr Lim suggested rentals for businesses to be capped depending on locality and space.

He said landlords setting their rentals within the cap should also be given special tax rebates.

The SDA online rally received 150,000 views in less than 48 hours after its launch.

— CNA/al