GE2025: Pritam says PAP candidates with NTUC ties can continue helping workers even if not elected

Straits Times

26-04-2025

GE2025: Pritam says PAP candidates with NTUC ties can continue helping workers even if not elected
SINGAPORE - Labour chief Ng Chee Meng and NTUC assistant secretary-general Desmond Choo, who are contesting single seats at the general election, can continue helping workers even if they are not elected, WP chief Pritam Singh said on April 26.
Taking aim at NTUC's close relationship with the PAP, Mr Singh urged voters to vote for WP's Jalan Kayu candidate Andre Low and its Tampines Changkat candidate Kenneth Foo instead.
Mr Low will square off against the PAP's Mr Ng in Jalan Kayu at the May 3 polls, while Mr Foo will go up against Mr Choo from the ruling party in Tampines Changkat.
Mr Singh said at WP's second election rally, held at Temasek Junior College in Tampines, that Mr Ng and Mr Choo will probably continue working in the labour movement if they do not get elected.
If so, the two PAP candidates will continue serving workers with the help of ' rank-and-file unionists and workers who are truly the backbone of NTUC'.
Calling the labour movement a 'guaranteed trampoline' for losing PAP candidates, the Leader of the Opposition said Mr Ng and Mr Choo can still lobby the government because of the 'symbiotic relationship' between NTUC and the PAP.
'It is the safest trampoline for a politician anywhere in Singapore, and maybe anywhere in the world, but you must be a PAP candidate to earn the right to bounce on it,' said Mr Singh in a speech rounding off the rally, which lasted nearly three hours.
Union work is not easy, he added, and rank-and-file unionists push hard for better workers' rights because of their passion for workers.
'I thank them for that ,' he said.
'So, Singapore, let us help the PAP candidates in Jalan Kayu and Tampines Changkat, who are the top leaders in the NTUC, to be full-time NTUC union leaders .'
This, Mr Singh said, would save them from spending time in Parliament and managing town councils.
'We need to give the PAP candidates more time for their NTUC work, so they can come up with new ideas, or maybe even implement WP ideas,' he added.
Earlier, Mr Singh took a swipe at a social media site that touted Mr Ng's role in driving the launch of the new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme - a policy on which the WP said it has also made a difference .
The scheme gives payouts to lower- and middle-income adult Singaporeans who have lost their jobs for reasons such as retrenchment and business closure .
Mr Singh also hit out at what he said was a lack of substance and specifics in the PAP's 2025 election manifesto.
For example, he cited the lack of details about proposals to tackle housing affordability, the decaying lease of Housing Board flats , and the roll-out of the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) , which will give owners of older flats a chance at 'going en bloc' before their leases run out.
Mr Singh said m any families are buying resale flats with 60 or 70 years left on the lease, at prices nearing or even surpassing $1 million.
'These families need more details about Vers before their resale flats start to lose value... What does the PAP manifesto say about this concern? Nothing at all.'
He said WP, in comparison, has advanced many practical proposals in its manifesto that deal with issues such as high rental costs for businesses and more flexibility for seniors using MediSave, the national medical savings scheme.
'Singapore is a far more complex society (now), and it will always need fresh thinking. Yet we have a PAP manifesto without specific policy ideas. I believe it is because PAP wants Singaporeans to sign a blank cheque,' he said.
Mr Singh said Parliament needs rational, responsible and respectable debate, and 'not a rubber stamp', arguing that voting in PAP candidates with ties to NTUC would not make a difference.
He cited the proposed $2.2 billion sale of home-grown insurer Income Insurance to German multinational Allianz, which was called off after the deal came under public scrutiny.
Mr Singh noted that no PAP labour MP filed questions or spoke during the debate in Parliament when the issue surfaced.
'Elected PAP MPs who champion NTUC... should fight hard in Parliament when NTUC issues are raised, particularly issues that Singapor eans are concerned about.'
Mr Singh said WP's candidates, if elected, will work hard on the ground and look after the town councils in the constituencies they are contesting.
He added: 'Tampines wins, Tampines Changkat wins, Jalan Kayu wins, Singapore wins, everybody wins.'
At the end of this speech, Mr Singh responded to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's comments at a press conference earlier in the day that delved into Facebook posts by two Malaysian politicians and an ex-ISA detainee.
The posts were blocked for attempting to interfere in Singapore's election.
They - along with a Malaysia-based Singaporean religious teacher, Mr Noor Deros - had spotlighted several opposition politicians in social media posts. These politicians include WP vice-chair Faisal Manap, who is leading the party's Tampines GRC team.
Mr Singh said: 'My colleagues and I categorically reject the involvement of any foreign element whatsoever in our domestic politics. Singapore is our business. Nobody else's.'
He added: 'I passionately believe in a race-neutral Singapore, where we are judged not by our race or the colour of our skin, but by our deeds and our common humanity.'
Mr Faisal , who was moved from Aljunied GRC, made a similar pledge to voters.
'I am a minority candidat e, a Malay/Muslim. Regardless, I will serve the residents of Tampines GRC - regardless of race, language or religion - equally and to the best of my ability ,' he said in his rally speech.
Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.