THE two candidates vying for the Bukit Batok single seat continue to canvass for residents’ support, as the by-election draws closer.

Both the People’s Action Party (PAP) and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), the only two parties that have announced their candidates, held walkabouts in the constituency yesterday morning.

PAP’s Murali Pillai, 48, distributed a card with his contact details and message: “I pledge to serve you with all my heart.”

He was accompanied by MPs from neighbouring Jurong GRC – Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee and Rahayu Mahzam.

Yuhua MP Grace Fu, who is Culture, Community and Youth Minister, South West District Mayor Low Yen Ling and former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng were also there.

SDP’s Chee Soon Juan, 53, was accompanied by his wife Huang Chih-Mei, sister Chee Siok Chin and party supporters, and handed out cards and his party newsletter New Democrat.

He was overheard telling residents that the by-election could be held in a few weeks’ time.

The vacant seat for Bukit Batok was triggered by the sudden resignation of former MP David Ong last month over an alleged extramarital affair with a PAP member in his branch, who has also resigned from the party.

Last week, the Elections Department said it would update the electoral registers on April 14, in a sign that the by-election could be called later this month.

Yesterday, both the PAP and SDP focused their outreach around the Yong Xing Coffee Shop that made headlines in June last year when it was sold for a record $31 million.

Mr Murali told reporters that he will focus on several areas if elected.

One is employment help. “We have government support like the Social Service Office and e2i, but beyond that, we can galvanise community support as well,” he said.

He will also push for the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) for residents, adding: “There are a number of Bukit Batok flats that have not benefited from HIP yet.”

Seniors who live alone can also get panic buttons in their flats. Mr Murali said he started a panic button installation fund at Paya Lebar and hopes to start a similar fund for Bukit Batok.

Paya Lebar is part of Aljunied GRC where he contested in last year’s general election.

Dr Chee said his top priority, if elected, is to take care of residents and the estate. “I will be doing this on a full-time basis. They will have my undivided attention.”

Besides local issues, he said he will also speak up in Parliament on national issues such as poverty, income gap, cost of living and prices of HDB flats and social mobility.

tohyc@sph.com.sg

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Update: Koh Weng Onn, a 48-year-old security guard, has been charged.

According to The Straits Times, Koh faces three charges, including causing hurt that was ‘racially aggravated’.

The prosecution has requested that he undergo two weeks of psychiatric evaluation at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). 

The case will next be heard on Apr 18.

SINGAPORE – A 48-year-old Singaporean will be charged in court on Monday (April 4) morning over an alleged attack on three madrasah students last Friday.

He is expected to be charged under the Penal Code for committing a rash act and for voluntarily causing hurt. He will face enhanced penalties if the offence is found to be racially or religiously aggravated.

He has been identified as Koh Weng Onn.

The three female students, aged 14 to 16, were making their separate ways to Madrasah Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiah in Geylang around 7.20am on Friday when the man allegedly accosted them near Paya Lebar MRT station.

The school’s discipline mistress Nisha Mohd Hussein had posted on Facebook that the first girl was allegedly kicked on the left thigh, the second was allegedly hit with a plastic bag containing “a heavy item” and the third was believed to have been hit in one of her eyes with the bag.

Police said the man was arrested on Saturday, and on Sunday (April 3), Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said in a Facebook post it was reassuring that police had tracked the suspect down quickly.

But he urged the public to avoid speculation on the attacker’s motives in the meanwhile.

Mr Shanmugam said he had been asked if the incident was an Islamophobic attack.

He had warned about Islamophobia, or prejudice against Islam, two days before the attack and said: “It can be a cancer that destroys the soul of our country. We cannot tolerate that and MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) will act.”

But he also added: “In this case, we do not know the detailed facts, the motives, and should wait for the investigations to be completed.”

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing also denounced the attack on Sunday, and said that Singapore will not condone any kind of attack of this nature.

“Any attack on any student in Singapore is wrong, full stop,” he said.

“You don’t attack people in Singapore in that manner, you don’t attack people because of race, language or religion,” he added.

Mr Chan was speaking to reporters after a closed-door dialogue with religious and community leaders at Khadijah Mosque in Geylang, and said he was encouraged that none of the leaders at the session jumped to any conclusions about the motives behind the attacks.

“As leaders, we would encourage our people to respond and react in a calm and constructive way,” he said. “It shows a certain level of maturity that we can be very proud of as fellow Singaporeans, that we don’t always react to things and try to cast a race, language or religion angle to it unnecessarily,” he added.

Geylang Serai Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle chair Eric Wong said years of having religious leaders of all stripes working together on various projects has forged “a basic understanding and harmony”.

“We should let the police do their part,” he added.

The Catholic Archdiocese said in a Facebook post it was saddened to hear of the attack. “Aggression against anyone for their religious persuasion or ethnicity should never be allowed to take root in a multiracial and multireligious society like Singapore,” it said. “As Catholics, our hearts and prayers are with the three girls and their families, as we stand in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.”

Koh’s older brother, Mr Muhammad Johan Koh, a relief security guard who is a Muslim convert, contacted Today newspaper on Sunday to apologise for the incident, Today reported on its website.

This article was first published on April 03, 2016.
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