[SINGAPORE] The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) questioned National Development Minister Desmond Lee’s track record in its final election rally on Thursday (May 1), with the opposition party’s secretary-general Leong Mun Wai claiming that Lee was “sticking to the old script” and not offering any solutions on Singapore’s public housing issues.
The PSP, on the other hand, has provided solutions to the problems of rising public housing prices, long waiting time for new flats as well as the lease decay issue for flats in parliamentary debates, said Leong, who is one of the party’s two Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP).
“Singaporeans should assess Minister Desmond Lee based on whether he has concrete solutions to the three problems. He has not announced so far,” said Leong at the rally at Jurong West Stadium.
Leong’s comments come a day after Lee, who is anchoring the PAP team in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, issued a statement saying that he had addressed national housing issues on multiple occasions over the election campaign period.
Leong is part of the PSP team contesting in the West Coast-Jurong West GRC alongside party chairman Tan Cheng Bock and fellow NCMP Hazel Poa. Rounding out the team are two first-time candidates, silat practitioner Sumarleki Amjah and legal counsel Sani Ismail.
In her speech, Poa also addressed housing issues, noting that the government’s move to launch 12,000 new flats between 2025 and 2027 with shorter waiting times of under three years was “hugely inadequate”.
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“The government should be more aggressive about building flats with shorter waiting times, so that our young couples can start families earlier,” she said.
She also refuted the PAP’s view that PSP’s Affordable Housing Scheme – where buyers of new flats are not charged the land cost until they sell their flats on the resale market – was a “raid” on the national reserves as the land returns to the government when the lease ends after 99 years.
In his statement on Wednesday, Lee had said that the new housing model introduced in 2023, which categorises public houses into Standard, Plus and Prime, would keep flats in choice locations “within the reach of young Singaporeans”.
The government was exploring more public housing options for higher-income young couples and singles, said Lee.
Meanwhile, Dr Tan refuted claims that PSP was anti-foreigner in his rally speech.
“If there are positions our Singaporeans cannot fill, we have to take in able foreigners… because they can contribute. But when they are here, they must impart their knowledge… to Singaporeans,” he said.
Stronger opposition
The PSP candidates also argued for a stronger opposition in Parliament in their speeches.
Responding to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s comments that Singapore needs a strong ruling party but not a strong opposition, Leong said that the two are “not mutually exclusive”.
He pointed out that although the ruling party had lost ministers such as George Yeo and Ng Chee Meng in previous elections, it was still able to pass laws such as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act and to raise the goods and services tax.
Leong added that while a losing PAP candidate can still return to contest in the next elections in a “safe” GRC, a losing opposition candidate “may be lost forever”.
Calling on residents to vote for the PSP, Leong said that he and Poa had gone through five years of “probation” as NCMPs and were now ready to serve as elected MPs.
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