SINGAPORE : Mr Desmond Lim, assistant secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), has been studying the balance sheet of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

"Whoever wins the election will take over the assets and balance amount of the current town council," he said at a walkabout in the constituency that his unnamed six-member team is contesting.

Mr Lim told Today that if his team won, he would use the sinking fund - whose amount is "very huge" to improve the towns of Pasir Ris, Sengkang and Punggol.

His list of programmes - that include lift-upgrading, building covered linkways to MRT stations and lobbying for neighbourhood libraries - were drawn up based on residents' feedback, Mr Lim said.

He has also crafted a document resembling a manifesto for his campaign in the constituency. Its main points: To bolster family ties, "maximise opportunities for all Singaporeans" and build a more compassionate society.

Asked about the similarities between his election agenda and the People's Action Party's (PAP) manifesto, Mr Lim cited a construction analogy where the SDA was the "quantity surveyor" while the PAP was the "architect".

This raised the eyebrows of Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, leader of the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC team.

"Since they agree with us, I would encourage them to come and join our grassroots organisations to help to build a better Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC," said Mr Teo on Sunday at the opening of a senior citizens' corner in Sengkang.

"In fact, it's a remarkable admission that they don't have a vision or plans or ideas." - TODAY Singapore Votes 2006: Channelnewsasia.com special coverage >>>

Desmond Lim and his colleagues cruised through the streets of Pasir Ris today, in their white truck outfitted with a blaring loudspeaker and white SDA flags.  Seeing them stop just outside Loyang Point, which is at Pasir Ris Drive 2, I badgered my father into parking there so I could check it out.  We found them in the food court, going from table to table, and my dad and I sat ourselves down at a table near to where he was, so he'd come talk to us.  He had with him the balance sheet of Pasir Ris-Punggol, and here are the figures he showed us: the Town Council of Pasir Ris-Punggol has $139 million in funds, and a surplus of $7.4 million.  There is a sinking fund of $125 million.  Channelnewsasia glosses over these figures in the above article by simply saying he called it "a huge sum", as if he didn't have the exact numbers down in black and white already to back up his claims with.  He used the balance sheet to tell us how SDA would carry out upgrading programs in Pasir-Ris Punggol if elected, and complained about how the media had given no coverage to his raising of this issue at his rally the night before. 

Interestingly, he also pointed out a withdrawal of $10 million accredited under 'Termination of Fund Manager'.  He claims the Town Council refused to explain this withdrawal to him.  He called this his 'weapon', which I found vastly amusing.  Regardless of whether or not something fishy is going on, calling something 'my weapon' is just funny.

Desmond Lim also told me that what his party needed was more independent volunteers.  He alleged that at the Jalan Besar polls at the 2001 elections, he spotted the handicapped and the elderly being influenced in their vote, with those assisting them pointing at 'PAP' on their polling cards.  He said there was a need for more independents to monitor the going-ons, and limit instances of cheating.

I wished him all the best for the elections and told him I'd put what he said on my blog.  He then said he'd uploaded the PPTC balance sheet onto his website if I needed it, but I haven't been able to find that so far.  Oh well, make what you will of the whole business.  Me, I was just interested to meet and talk to an Opposition candidate for the first time.

I might attend a PAP rally at Potong Pasir tonight.  A friend asked me if I wanted to help usher, etc., like he's doing, as he's been contacted by YoungPAP to help out.  He said I just need to bring my NRIC because the police need to know who's doing what.  I said sorry, because firstly even showing people to their seats at a PAP rally seems to go against my principles, and secondly registering with the police as a PAP aide is rather forbidding.  I half wish I'd taken him up on his offer though, it would have been interesting to have an insider's perspective for a night.