[SINGAPORE] The Workers’ Party (WP) pitches itself as a responsible opposition, but it will not take responsibility for proposals that “turned out wrong”, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat on Sunday (Apr 27) as he lashed out at Singapore’s largest opposition party during a televised roundtable ahead of the May 3 general election.
Chee, who leads the People’s Action Party (PAP) team in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, said the WP had, for example, recommended the government build much fewer HDB flats, when the resale market for public housing was soft before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“Now imagine if we had listened to what the Workers’ Party had proposed, taken their advice, stopped building BTO (Build-To-Order) flats ahead of time, more Singaporeans will have to wait longer for their flats,” he said.
“Fortunately, we did not listen to that advice.”
He noted that the government built ahead, and even amid pandemic-related disruptions, was “working very hard” to build more than 100,000 flats to meet demand.
Meanwhile, “they like to claim credit for policies that are implemented by the PAP”, Chee charged.
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He accused the WP of imitating PAP policies and positions, with improvisations that are “an occasional half step to the left or to the right, depending on how the wind blows because they want to score political points”.
“If you examine some of their proposals carefully, many of their proposals actually don’t work. Their positions have been inconsistent, whether on GST (goods and services tax), on housing, on fiscal policies that eventually would end up eroding our reserves,” he said.
Giving another example, Chee said the WP had called for the removal of the statutory retirement age, as suggested by party chair Sylvia Lim at its rally the day before.
The minister said the intentions may be good but end up “unintentionally causing more problems for the people you are trying to help”.
This is because with the retirement age, employers cannot dismiss workers before they reach that age, Chee said.
The PAP takes a different approach – for example, Senior Employment Credits help encourage employers to hire senior workers.
He said Singapore has stayed exceptional because its politics is unique and “enables good government and sound policies”.
The question, he said, is whether Singapore can continue to uphold these standards and remain exceptional in this turbulent world.
Geopolitics and economy
The 80-minute roundtable featured Chee and four opposition members: WP first-time candidate Michael Thng; Red Dot United (RDU) secretary-general Ravi Philemon; People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR) secretary-general Lim Tean, and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) first-time candidate Stephanie Tan.
The first segment on geopolitics and economy focused on the individual parties’ proposals to combat the impact of trade tensions and US tariffs.
Amid the decline of the era of free trade, Lim said, Singapore has to cooperate with regional partners instead of relying on the US.
Tan also noted the need to build up local enterprises and innovate.
One way to strengthen domestic capabilities is by reducing the cost of doing business in Singapore, such as issuing national guidelines on rent increases for commercial properties, she said.
Philemon expects RDU’s proposal to cut the GST from 9 per cent to 7 per cent will “immediately put more money into the pockets of people, and people will feel more confident, and they will consume more”.
Thng said that Singapore is still part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Republic can seek deeper relationships with nations that remain friendly.
He noted opportunities to double down on industries that may have become more price competitive as a consequence of the trade war, such as the semiconductor industry.
Chee said that businesses, while worried about tariffs, are even more concerned about the uncertainty.
“So they are unable to make investment decisions and hiring decisions, and this would then have an impact on the job market and on our workers,” the minister said.
Chee, who is also Second Finance Minster, noted that a large part of the 2025 Budget is to help companies and workers stay competitive in the medium to longer term, on top of helping Singaporeans and business to cope with immediate concerns. He also noted there is a ministerial task force focused on growing the economy. “We have to look at reconfiguring our trade links, our supply chains, but importantly also to seek out new opportunities for our companies and our workers.”
Singapore also benefits from having a “very strong international reputation” built up by the PAP since independence.
Cost of living
Addressing the view that the hike in GST contributed to inflation, PAR’s Lim said there was “absolutely no need for the GST hikes in the midst of a huge storm”, especially since Singapore had a budget surplus in 2024.
Lim said the government receives enough revenue to finance the free healthcare, education and school meals in PAR’s proposals.
Philemon said the budget surplus in the past two years could finance his party’s proposal for a “citizen’s dividend”.
“Wealth is not taxed enough,” he said, noting the perception that the GST is aimed more at ordinary Singaporeans than at the wealthy and big companies.
Meanwhile, WP’s Thng said the GST was a “wrong tool used at a wrong time”. “We believe then and believe today that there were other methods, and there were other pathways to get the revenue we needed,” he said.
PSP’s Tan said her party also has proposals to increase revenue for the government, such as a levy for Employment Passes, and its Affordable Home Scheme, where HDB will no longer need to pay land costs used for BTOs into the past reserves.
Responding, Chee said that Singapore imports what it consumes, hence it also imports global inflation – something it cannot stop.
To counter this, Singapore maintains a strong Singapore dollar, which has helped mitigate the impact of imported inflation.
The government also had the assurance package and provided cost of living support, he added.
Chee said the PAP’s view is that the current generation’s needs should be covered by this generation, hence it should not borrow or gamble on savings and reserves of future generations.
“This is why we decided to raise the GST. It was a difficult decision… because no government or political party likes to raise taxes, but we had to do so because we needed the additional revenue to support the healthcare needs of our seniors in an ageing population,” he said.
Immigration
On immigration, the candidates were largely of the view that Singaporeans should be prioritised even as they acknowledged that foreign talent is necessary.
Thng said it was necessary to ensure the immigration policy “lifts Singaporeans and not sidelines them”, and one suggestion to achieve this is to ensure “more deliberate skills transfer between foreign talent and our local workforce”.
Asked how WP’s proposal differs from existing frameworks, such as the Complementarity Assessment Framework, he said there are ways to ensure the transfer is measurable. For example, the government could require companies to invest in training for potential local employees or put in place mentorship programmes pairing local and foreign employees.
Tan said PSP has suggested strengthening the Fair Consideration Framework, which requires employers to consider the workforce without discrimination, as well as to impose a “modest” Employment Pass levy and quota.
Lim said that PAR “will insist” for employers to be permitted to hire foreigners only if they can show that no Singaporean is capable of doing a job.
Philemon noted that the US and Canada have legislation to ensure citizens are preferred over foreigners during employment, adding that this is what the party is calling for.
Chee said the government understands the concerns of workers but that Singapore needs to stay open to welcome complementary global talent.
What the PAP will focus on, he said, is to put workers first by ensuring they remain relevant and employable, as well as to strengthen safety nets – and this is achieved through its strong model of tripartism, a “hallmark of the PAP government”.
No monopoly
Wrapping up the session, participants gave a two-minute pitch on why Singaporeans should vote for them.
Philemon said RDU is calling for “a new social compact, collective prosperity, citizens dividend, a comprehensive housing reset, caring healthcare and civil liberties”, in the face of growing inequality.
Lim asked Singaporeans to consider if they think their life will be better five years from now, if they continue to vote for the PAP.
Tan said PSP does not oppose for the sake of opposing and has supported the PAP government in passing legislation “when it is in the national interest”.
Thng said it was more important than ever – amid the growing global uncertainties – to build a system that will get the policies right.
“In this context, there is far less margin for error and to get it right, we need more perspectives,” he said.
Singapore needs more voices to ensure that blind spots are not missed, and mistakes not made.
“And if we accept that no one has a monopoly on good ideas, which I think we all do, then maybe none of us should have a monopoly in Parliament,” said Thng.
Chee said he agreed that “there will not be a monopoly”.
“There’s no chance of the government having a blank cheque, but we must also not give the opposition a free pass,” he said. “Make the PAP work harder, but also make the opposition work harder for you.”
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