Paul Tambyah is a better choice for the by election

There was an article posted in TRE claiming that Paul Tambyah would make a better candidate in Bukit Batok. I must agree with the assertion but not necessarily the arguments. Some commentators were questioning the intent of the author, Jeremy Chen, who was once an SDP member but fell out with the party and wanting to drive a wedge between the two top SDP leaders.

Paul Tambyah is a good man and a very safe candidate for the by election. He is less controversial and has the credential and stature to be a PAP minister if he chose to join the PAP. He is a big cut above many of the ministers in the govt.

The very decision for Paul Tambyah to join the SDP is telling enough to say that he not only shared a lot of things with Chee Soon Juan but also is there to support him. No one can drive a wedge into their relationship. There is chemistry and mutual respect in the two men and Paul Tambyah would be fully behind Chee and supporting him fully in this by election. Don’t have any doubt about it.

Paul Tambyah is a very comfortable and secure man, in all aspects of his life and will be doing very well in what he is doing now. He is likely to defer to allow Chee to have a go at this by election knowing how hard and how much effort Chee has put into his political cause. There is no need to put up a case on why Chee is better or Paul is better as a candidate for the Bukit Batok by election.

Chee is no push over. And despite his controversial history and relationship with the opposition parties, deep down, the opposition camp knows that Chee is the right man to stand in this by election. There is this unspoken respect and admiration for Chee and what Chee has done as a politician. And no worthy or honourable opposition politician would want to go into Bukit Batok to spoil the broth for Chee literally.

And if elected, Chee would create a real impact in parliament and the politics of Singapore like you have never seen before. He would stand out, even if as a solitary representative of SDP, as the de facto opposition leader if in parliament. You will hear him, see him and not to miss him as a leader in the opposition camp. The opposition bench would gain more respect and weight if Chee is with them and working in unison with them in parliament.

There is no candidate today in the opposition camp that is the equal of Chee Soon Juan in the ability to articulate a political cause or a political issue in parliament. There is no one that has the same stature internationally and domestically as Chee Soon Juan as an opposition politician.

Like him or against him, Chee Soon Juan stands a head above the crowd.