'Dig deeper, ask WP for details'
DPM Wong says voters should ask how WP will implement its manifesto
By Rachel Chang
DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng called on voters yesterday to look beyond attractive proposals in the Workers' Party's (WP) manifesto and ask the opposition party for a detailed explanation of how it plans to implement the ideas.
'Like in all brochures that companies put out, you have to drill down to the details,' he said on the sidelines of a community event in Bishan. 'What do they mean by the specific recommendations?'
He cited, for example, its call for HDB flat prices to be pegged to the median income of eligible buyers, and for flats to be affordable enough so mortgages can be paid off in 20 instead of 30 years.
'If you want to pay the mortgage in 20 years, does it mean you have to pay a higher sum every month?' asked Mr Wong. 'And if you fix the (buying) price at the median income, will there also be restrictions on the sale (price)?'
Such proposals might look and sound 'attractive', he said, but more detailed information was needed from the WP.
'When people look at all these items (in the manifesto), they should look into the details and ask for a better explanation on how these policies can be implemented,' he said when asked by reporters to comment on the manifesto, which the WP released on Saturday.
He added that HDB property prices are pegged at an affordable rate: 'If they can't afford it, then you would not have 90 per cent of Singaporeans owning HDB homes in the first place.'
Mr Wong, who oversees immigration policy, also responded to WP criticism on the influx of foreigners in recent years.
The party said, among other things, that the number of foreigners augmenting Singapore's population should be moderated to allow for infrastructural improvements to 'catch up with the huge population increase of the last decade'.
Mr Wong argued that the rapid economic growth in the years before the 2009 global financial crisis created jobs which had to be filled: 'If you don't have enough workers, what will happen to the companies that need them?'
He noted that the Government has been encouraging companies to boost productivity as a means to lessen the need to rely on foreign workers. But such measures 'need to be done in a manner that companies can cope with. It can't be done in one year, in one step'.
But Mr Wong, the People's Action Party's (PAP) first assistant secretary-general, declined to comment on other WP immigration proposals, such as a points-based system to assess those applying for permanent residency and citizenship.
'I am here today at a function to communicate with my residents, not to promote or criticise the Workers' Party manifesto,' he said.
The event was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the PAP Community Foundation. Mr Wong handed out scholarships to 28 students from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC who are attending polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education. The scholarships, for students from low-income families, come from a $3.1 million fund the grassroots put together.
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DPM Wong says voters should ask how WP will implement its manifesto
By Rachel Chang
DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng called on voters yesterday to look beyond attractive proposals in the Workers' Party's (WP) manifesto and ask the opposition party for a detailed explanation of how it plans to implement the ideas.
'Like in all brochures that companies put out, you have to drill down to the details,' he said on the sidelines of a community event in Bishan. 'What do they mean by the specific recommendations?'
He cited, for example, its call for HDB flat prices to be pegged to the median income of eligible buyers, and for flats to be affordable enough so mortgages can be paid off in 20 instead of 30 years.
'If you want to pay the mortgage in 20 years, does it mean you have to pay a higher sum every month?' asked Mr Wong. 'And if you fix the (buying) price at the median income, will there also be restrictions on the sale (price)?'
Such proposals might look and sound 'attractive', he said, but more detailed information was needed from the WP.
'When people look at all these items (in the manifesto), they should look into the details and ask for a better explanation on how these policies can be implemented,' he said when asked by reporters to comment on the manifesto, which the WP released on Saturday.
He added that HDB property prices are pegged at an affordable rate: 'If they can't afford it, then you would not have 90 per cent of Singaporeans owning HDB homes in the first place.'
Mr Wong, who oversees immigration policy, also responded to WP criticism on the influx of foreigners in recent years.
The party said, among other things, that the number of foreigners augmenting Singapore's population should be moderated to allow for infrastructural improvements to 'catch up with the huge population increase of the last decade'.
Mr Wong argued that the rapid economic growth in the years before the 2009 global financial crisis created jobs which had to be filled: 'If you don't have enough workers, what will happen to the companies that need them?'
He noted that the Government has been encouraging companies to boost productivity as a means to lessen the need to rely on foreign workers. But such measures 'need to be done in a manner that companies can cope with. It can't be done in one year, in one step'.
But Mr Wong, the People's Action Party's (PAP) first assistant secretary-general, declined to comment on other WP immigration proposals, such as a points-based system to assess those applying for permanent residency and citizenship.
'I am here today at a function to communicate with my residents, not to promote or criticise the Workers' Party manifesto,' he said.
The event was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the PAP Community Foundation. Mr Wong handed out scholarships to 28 students from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC who are attending polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education. The scholarships, for students from low-income families, come from a $3.1 million fund the grassroots put together.
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