SDP plans Chee campaigned with a slogan of "Now Is The Time", and his campaign used technology and social media widely. By 21 April, he had put together a team of four to, within the first 100 days of a victory, advise the SDP on how to take over from the PAP and run the new town council for the SMC. Chee also pledged that the SDP wanted "to surpass current levels of performance of PAP-run town councils". By 29 April, the SDP had established a transition team of 13; they were to ensure that said town council "[worked] without a hitch, all from Day One". Chee also stated that he would personally manage the operation of the town council without managing agents, with the SDP aiming "to set new standards for transparency and accountability in town council governance." The SDP announced on 23 April that, if Chee won, residents of Bukit Batok SMC would be provided with four social schemes: •
Hearts for Bukit Batok, where needy families would be 'adopted' and supported, including with a trust fund. Chee also said that he would use part of his salary as an MP to help 10 families. •
Pathfinder, a program providing youths with books, fairs, and sports, as well as subsidized tuition for the poor. •
Dollars And Sense, a financial clinic. •
Legal Lifeline, a clinic for legal advice.
PAP plans On 24 April, Pillai revealed a $1.9 million plan by the PAP-run Jurong–Clementi Town Council, which was managing Bukit Batok SMC, to upgrade infrastructure around Blocks 140 to 149 in the SMC, saying, "If we don't have the mandate, then we won't have the ability to carry on because we will not form the town council." In response, Chee criticized pending upgrading plans as a "knee-jerk reaction every time an election [came]" and asked for an update on the $23.6 million upgrading plan for Bukit Batok SMC announced by Ong during the
2015 general election. Pillai replied that some projects in the $23.6 million plan were already "fully executed", while others were ongoing or "in the pipeline"; he also claimed that the $1.9 million upgrade was a component of the plan. Later, after Pillai said that the $1.9 million would be disbursed regardless of the party of the by-election winner; Chee said that he would continue with Ong's masterplan while proposing new additions including zebra crossings and covered walkways. On 26 April, Pillai unveiled his
manifesto focusing on the three domains of employment, social mobility and the elderly. On employment, Pillai proposed a program to help the unemployed find jobs faster. On social mobility, he said that volunteers would "inspire children from low-income families to aim high to succeed in life". A "health cooperative" would be implemented to help "sandwiched families" by increasing medical literacy and subsidizing consumables for the elderly. Additionally, he also proposed an "emergency button scheme" for "elderly living alone" to alert "neighbours or community volunteers" of a need for help. In the following days, Pillai pledged to establish a new eldercare centre to "help provide more therapy services and daycare services". He also elaborated on his initial plans: for social mobility, he stated a hope that his volunteer youth mentorship program would eventually be accessible to all residents and be introduced in schools; while for the unemployed, he planned on "leveraging on community contacts within the pool of community volunteers and Bukit Batok residents, and also [his] own business contacts" to help residents secure jobs. At his final rally, Pillai said that if he were elected, he would propose in Parliament to tighten the criteria for receiving employment passes and raise Eldershield insurance payouts for the disabled.
Campaigning On 27 April, Chee pledged that if elected, he would be a "full-time MP", claiming, "...every morning when Mr Murali wakes up, his first destination will be his office. When I wake up every morning, my first destination is Bukit Batok." In response, Pillai said that he would "always put Bukit Batok residents' needs above [his]". He also replied that PAP MPs were able to balance having a "day job" alongside their MP status; while a "team approach" was needed as constituents could not be served by a single person. At the SDP's rally on April 29, several SDP speakers criticized
David Ong for his resignation, accusing him of thus failing to serve residents of Bukit Batok SMC; in response, Chee declared that people should "leave Mr Ong alone" and not "kick a man when he's down". The next day, Chee further said that he would "stop" SDP members from attacking Ong for the rest of the by-election period. On 3 May, Chee claimed that, despite having earlier considered his opponent to be Pillai, they were "turning out to be everybody else except him" while Pillai was "not saying anything"; multiple serving ministers had commented on or responded to Chee during the by-election. Several PAP politicians also questioned Chee's ability to perform the role of an MP, claiming that he had not had a "full-time job" for several years. In response, Chee said, "I've been working every single day to not just keep the SDP together but build it up, and to think and propose and write about ideas for Singapore." Certain other PAP members praised Pillai's character and history in Bukit Batok while questioning Chee's character and his past, resulting in Chee calling for the PAP to cease its "personal attacks" and "stop the gutter politics", and instead focus on policies and issues. In contrast, as of the next day, Pillai had not commented on Chee's character, instead emphasising house visits and in-depth discussions of his proposals with residents. On 4 May, Chee said that his party's "comparative advantage" would be evident in Parliament, where he could make a "qualitative difference", challenging ministers to "justify their positions" on issues. He accused Singaporean ministers of "[having] not been challenged intellectually", claiming that they were thus able to make "motherhood statements and things that [did] not really make a lot of sense". Amongst the national issues he promised to champion were the
Central Provident Fund (CPF), financial assistance for the elderly, fixing and extending the progressional wage system, and retrenchment insurance. On the retrenchment insurance scheme, Chee proposed that employed workers pay a fee for inclusion into the scheme, in exchange for a staggered form of monetary support for the 18 months after retrenchment. Additionally, he said that Singapore needed to "pay a lot more attention" to immigrants for fear that they were "not properly vetted". == Bukit Batok SMC ==