[h=1]Five new faces help present WP’s election manifesto[/h] [h=2]“Singapore does not need blind economic growth; we need compassionate and equitable growth,” the 47-page Workers’ Party manifesto states.[/h]
- POSTED: 29 Aug 2015 14:37
- UPDATED: 29 Aug 2015 20:25
(From left): He Ting Ru, Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, Gerald Giam, Daniel Goh, Leon Perera and Kenneth Foo at the launch of WP manifesto. (Photo: Goh Chiew Tong)
SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party (WP) has launched its General Election manifesto which calls for a national minimum wage, improved participation of women in the workforce, and a through-train option for students to skip the Primary School Leaving Examination, among other measures.
The 47-page manifesto, which carries the party’s slogan of “Empower your future”, was presented on Saturday (Aug 29) at a press conference fronted by WP central executive council member Gerald Giam and five fresh faces.
Corporate lawyer Ms He Ting Ru and sociologist Dr Daniel Goh were recently introduced as potential candidates for the party in the coming General Election. Mr Kenneth Foo, a public education manager at the Singapore Cancer Society; former associate librarian Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff and Mr Leon Perera, CEO of a research and consultancy firm, are also understood to be potential – though not yet officially announced – candidates.
Notable by their absence was WP chief Low Thia Khiang and chairman Sylvia Lim. Mr Giam said the purpose was to give the younger members a chance to present the manifesto. “WP operates as a team,” he said. “The manifesto is something that many people on the panel have been working on.”
The manifesto, the result of four years of research according to Mr Giam, is divided into six chapters.
The first chapter, “Focusing on the Singaporean Core”, proposes tackling the structural problems that are stopping young couples from having children. This can be done, said Dr Goh, through more financial support, better family care leave and a less stressful education system.
Another proposal is to achieve 1 per cent resident workforce growth – which would offset the need to grow the foreign workforce beyond current levels, said Dr Goh.
This is possible through improving the participation of seniors and women aged 30 and above in the workforce, via accelerated job re-design, and targeted training and job-matching schemes to raise their confidence, he said.
“This will result in a projected population of 5.8 million in 2030,” the manifesto states. It also adds: “Singapore does not need blind economic growth; we need compassionate and equitable growth.”
BETTER RETIREMENT ADEQUACY NEEDED
The second chapter, “Confident Workers and Enterprises”, asserts that Singaporeans do not feel confident enough to take career or entrepreneurial risks, because they lack substantial savings and are just making ends meet, said Mr Perera.
“There is an urgent need to enhance our retirement adequacy system,” he said. The manifesto includes suggestions for monthly CPF payouts to start earlier, and to link CPF Life and Silver Support payouts to inflation.
Also proposed: A mandatory unemployment insurance scheme that employers and employees contribute to - as well as a national minimum wage.
Mr Perera said, the idea is to set a minimum wage at a level that would not lead to job destruction, but to peg it to average household spending on basic needs, and phase it in over time for companies to adjust. He noted that in other countries, the arguments have are “not against setting a national minimum wage, but against setting it too high”.
If properly implemented, it should foster a greater sense of economic security, as well as induce more people to return to the workforce, and offset the “hidden costs” of safety nets and transfer payments needed to help the low-income, said Mr Perera.
Chapter three on “Aspiring Students and Families” talks about helping Singaporeans to realise dreams through strengthening education, welfare and healthcare policies, said Mr Fairoz.
This includes having a more holistic education system, and a 10-year through-train option for parents who wish to bypass the PSLE. “Late-bloomers can then learn at their own pace," Mr Fairoz said.
Also called for: A review of subsidies and Medisave usage caps for the treatment of chronic diseases.
A NATIONAL TRANSPORT CORPORATION
Mr Foo said chapter four, on co-creating a “home city”, included proposals on making public housing more affordable by delinking land costs from HDB flat prices.
The party is also calling for a National Transport Corporation to own and manage rail and bus assets, audit operators’ performance standards, and set fares.
Chapter five, “Governance for solidarity”, talks about ensuring accountability and that people’s voices are heard, said Ms He. Proposals here include abolishing the Group Representation Constituency system, strengthening the criminal justice system, replacing the Internal Security Act with an anti-terrorism law, and easing media controls to be balanced with new hate-speech legislation. The final chapter is on “Active Diplomacy, Confident Defence”.
Acknowledging that many of the proposals were not new in themselves but “refinements to government policy”, Mr Giam said: “We are not in the business of wholesale throwing out everything the Government is doing – I don’t think that is responsible, and it’s not very wise.”
“The value we bring is not just bright new ideas - you can find these in a lot of places, including academics. The value we bring as a political party is, we study ideas, we talk to people on the ground, we understand the ground, and we push through those ideas in Parliament,” he added.
“Without a sizeable slate of credible opposition MPs, you can’t expect a lot of these ideas to be pushed through.”
Asked about Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s comments earlier in the day – that Singapore “would be sunk” if the Opposition won many GRCs and combined to form a coalition government – Mr Giam said: “We are not aiming to take over government. Nor are we looking to form coalitions with other parties at this point in time. We are just focusing on the 10 constituencies we’re contesting.
“But we don’t buy the argument that the PAP is so indispensable that no one can ever replace them.”
At the press conference, the WP also announced the launch of a mobile app, Workers' Party News, which will include press statements and candidate profiles.
The full manifesto is
available here.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/five-new-faces-help/2084514.html
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