Towards GE 2016 – What the opposition parties are doing.
SDP is probably going to hold weekly protests at Hong Lim Park? Who needs political rallies when you have Hong Lim Park?
After SDP’s taste of success in instigating SMRT PRC strikes and further heavy involvement in 6.9m Gilbert Goh protest, they are now going to support their ally Anwar by holding a protest in Hong Lim on 12 May in “solidarity with the Malaysians”.
SDP and Anwar’s political party are allies. Read below from SDP Website:
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http://yoursdp.org/news/singapore_democrats_meet_anwar_ibrahim_s_daughter/2008-10-29-540
Singapore Democrats meet Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter
Singapore Democrats
Leaders of the Singapore Democrats met with Ms Nurul Izzah Anwar, MP from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat, last weekend. Ms Nurul Izzah, who is the eldest daughter of Malaysia’s Opposition Leader and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was in Singapore last weekend with her fellow MPs to give a talk at NUS Law School on the future of Malaysian politics.
Over coffee, Ms Nurul spoke about what she thought were the causes of the turn in favour for her party in the recent general election. She also spoke briefly about the conditions and the key role her father played in denying the ruling coalition Barisan National two-thirds majority in the Malaysian Parliament.
The MP for Lembah Pantai also intimated to the group how civil societies and political parties worked together in Malaysia. Groups such as SUARAM (Voice of the Malaysian People) and the Malaysian Bar Council provide training to political party members.
She noted that many NGOs in Malaysia are committed to speaking up against government repression. These NGOs work together with opposition figures and parties to further the cause of freedom, human rights and democracy for their fellow citizens.
“We are going to continue to work hard to become the government and to make sure that democracy in the country takes root,” the 27-year-old MP said.
Ms Chee Siok Chin said that the parties talked about NGOs and opposition parties in the countries on both sides of the causeway working more actively together.
“I feel that there is much room for closer cooperation between the two camps and that democrats in the two countries should strengthen our ties,” Ms Chee said. The SDP and PKR expressed a desire to foster better cooperation between the two parties.
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http://yoursdp.org/news/keep_up_the_struggle_anwar_tells_young_democrats/2009-08-31-1231
Keep up the struggle, Anwar tells Young Democrats
Keep up the struggle. Those were the words of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim as we joined him on stage at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) rally at Permatang Pasir, Malaysia.
The SDP’s Young Democrats (YD) were there at the invitation of Angkatan Muda Keadilan (Keadilan Youth Wing), to observe the recently concluded by-election – which the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) won handily.
Upon arrival at the PKR campaign operations centre at Taman Samagagah we met Mr Tian Chua, Member of Parliament and Strategy and Information Chief of Keadilan, and followed him on his campaign trail.
Mr Khalis updated Mr Chua about the situation in Singapore and the continuous harassment of opposition members and activists by the Government. Mr Chua, who was himself detained under Malaysia’s ISA, said that Singapore too must work towards true and real democracy.
He encouraged the YD to keep up with our work. He said: “It is important for youths to be part of the struggle.”
We also had a chance to meet with Mr Shamsul Iskandar, Keadilan’s youth chief. Mr Shamsul said that he was glad to know that SDP members and other activists are still pushing for change and reform even though there are many obstacles.
We were also introduced to a few other youth wing state leaders, among whom Mr Sim Tze Sin and Mr Chua Jui Meng (former health minister under the Malaysian Chinese Association).
During the rally later that night PKR deputy youth chief, Mohd Faris Musa, introduced us to the crowd and praised the Singapore Democrats for daring to take on the PAP.
The highlight of the evening was when we introduced ourselves to the Leader of the Opposition, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Mr Anwar, who told us not to concede defeat and to keep up the struggle.
Mr Shamsul left us with these parting words: “PKR will always be supporting SDP in its journey. We always identify ourselves with groups that dare to challenge oppressive regimes. We hope to have more of such exchanges between the SDP and PKR in the future.”
The YD delegation was also invited to attend the Malaysia Youth & Students Democratic Movement (DEMA) 10th Annual General Meeting in Kajang, Malaysia. DEMA is a national student movement organisation formed to push for human rights and a democratic society in Malaysia.
The exchange between the YD and DEMA was fruitful. When told about the reality of the political situation in Singapore, many of them expressed their concerns and reiterated their solidarity with our struggle for democracy.
Many of the DEMA’s members were keen to find out more about Singapore’s current political situation as well as the activity level of our youth and student movements here.
We also learned that youth groups in Malaysia faced obstacles put in place by their government in their struggle for human rights and democracy, not unlike our situation in Singapore.
Leaders of DEMA, Mr Lucas Yap Heng Lung and Mr Ryan Gan, expressed their desire to see more exchanges and to establish closer ties with the Young Democrats.
We all agreed that it is vital for our youths and students to play a bigger role in the political and activism scenes in our countries. History has shown that political change is always aided by the active participation of society’s youths and students.
The YD aims to continue to network with other similar organisations or movements in the region and beyond. This is crucial in our work for freedom, justice and equality.
Jarrod Luo, Muhd Khalis and Mohd Shamin are members of the Young Democrats.
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