Yesterday night saw just one party continuing the good fight in the lead up to polling day this Saturday in the Bukit Batok by-election. Relentlessly pummelled by savage rebukes and attacks on his character, the Singapore Democratic Party’s candidate and chief Dr Chee Soon Juan is clearly the underdog in this fight.
His main opponent is still Murali Pillai, the running candidate for the ruling People’s Action Party — but it seems that everyone except him has barraged personal attacks on Dr Chee. Like we pointed out yesterday, Murali has the advantage of several people in power doing the dirty work for him — so much so that it seems like it’s a little overkill. Even the Prime Minister of Singapore got into the game, and his words mean a lot.
It was yesterday evening too that Dr Chee came up on stage to deliver a triumphant speech that proved that his spirit remained undaunted by the PAP’s verbal salvos.
“The PAP continues to attack my character. They’ve called me all sorts of names: cheat, liar, gangster, traitor, psychopath, they’ve sacked me, jailed me, sued me and made me bankrupt. But I’m still standing.
The taunts, the insults, the punishments, the attacks have been unrelenting. But I do not bow to those who mock me nor will I bend to those who attack me. I will not kneel before them because one cannot stand up for one’s principles, for one’s beliefs and for one’s people on bended knees.
As long and as hard as the struggle has been, I walk with my head held high. I can do this because it doesn’t matter who the PAP says I am. What matters is God knows who I am, my wife and my children know who I am, and, most important, I know who I am.
And because that which does not kill you, makes you stronger, I have grown stronger with every attack.
As my children get older they begin to understand what’s being said about their father in the newspapers and on TV. I want to tell them this.
An Lyn, E Lyn and Shaw Hur, as you watch this rally at home, I want to tell you that there are many things in life that I want to teach you as a father. But the most important lesson that I can impart to you is that we don’t ruin others in order to rise up, we don’t step on others dreams in order to fulfill ours, and we don’t ridicule others for not being like us.
Instead, we lift up our friends, we extend a hand to strangers and we forgive our enemies. We do what is good so that others may see the goodness in our hearts and want for themselves what they see in us. That is character. I want you never to forget this lesson.”
