SINGAPORE — Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan is seeking to raise funds in an unconventional way — by putting on an apron and making mashed potatoes for sale.

Dr Chee acknowledged himself that his “Chee-sy” mashed potatoes — which are going for S$100 per order over this weekend —  are the "most expensive... that you will ever eat", but he said all the proceeds will be used to fund his party’s grassroots campaign at Bukit Batok, the single seat ward where he contested unsuccessfully in the recent General Election (GE).

The sale starts from Friday (July 31) and lasts through the long weekend till Sunday, he announced in a Facebook video posted on Tuesday.

The funds would be used for printing flyers, organising events and activities, and meeting residents, among other things, added Dr Chee.

Responding to queries from TODAY on how many orders Dr Chee has received, SDP said that orders have been “brisk” and that they started coming in even before the event started on Friday.

Dr Chee can be seen donning an apron on and holding a wooden spatula and potato masher in his hands in the Facebook video.

He said: “Now, I know that this is going to be the most expensive mashed potatoes that you will ever eat. But I want to assure you that every dollar that I raise from this venture will go towards building and running a Bukit Batok grassroots campaign over the next few years.”

“I know that you can have much more delicious mashed potato from a real chef at a fraction of the price. But I am hoping that with my labour and your generosity, we can start building up funds for the SDP’s work in Bukit Batok,” he added.

In GE2020, the 58-year-old SDP secretary-general had received 45.2 per cent of the vote in Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency against Mr Murali Pillai from the People’s Action Party.

This is the highest percentage of votes Dr Chee has garnered since he entered politics in 1992.

He had tried to organise a walk around the island to raise funds before the GE but the police rejected his application.

The police said his application was rejected due to safe distancing requirements during the second phase of Singapore’s exit from its circuit breaker.

“The rejection of our application further curtails our effort to raise funds for our General Election campaign,” Dr Chee had said about the incident earlier.