Leaders of the SDP are presently in Kuala Lumpur to attend a conference this weekend that will coincide with the ASEAN summit scheduled from 24-27 April 2015.
Chairman Jeffrey George, Vice-Chairman John Tan, Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan, Assistant Treasurer Jaslyn Go, Media Liaison Mansura Sajahan and Young Democrat Tay Yuanqi are representing the party at the conference themed Regional Integration in Asia: What Can We Expect from the ASEAN Community?
The conference is organised by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD).
Dr Chee will speak at two sessions, the first of which he will address ASEAN's failure to build a regional community of democratic nations.
He is also scheduled to talk about the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) project which aims to form a single market that will encourage the open flow of labor across the region.
Dr Chee will raise the concerns of Singaporeans who are already under tremendous and unfair pressure from the influx of foreigners under the PAP's lax immigration policy.
Under such circumstances, planning for an even greater flow of workers into Singapore under the AEC programme is the height of folly and recklessness.
A survey shows that 80 percent of the people in the region said that they preferred to come work in Singapore should the opportunity arise. Opening our immigration gates further is a recipe for disaster.
Singaporeans have toiled to build Singapore into what it is today. It is unconscionable that the present set of ministers risk all the sacrifice that the people have made by bringing in yet more foreign workers into our already crowded city.
The PAP has yet to put in place a policy that puts Singaporeans first when it comes to employment. And yet, it claims that the AEC will provide Singaporeans “greater opportunities”, oblivious to the hardship that its foreign workers policy is causing the people.
The SDP will continue to raise the concerns of the Singaporean people about their jobs and we will make this matter the focus of our campaign in the upcoming GE.