GE2025: PAP West Coast-Jurong West team plans easier social service access, cost-of-living help
The PAP team contesting West Coast-Jurong West GRC elaborated on plans to refresh ageing infrastructure and help families cope with the rising cost of living. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE – The PAP team contesting the new West Coast-Jurong West GRC wants to make it easier for residents in rental flats in Taman Jurong, Boon Lay and Nanyang to access social services, said Mr Desmond Lee, the area's incumbent PAP MP, on April 23.
Now that the three estates are in the same constituency, it may be easier for the MPs to advocate for these residents and link them up with national schemes that provide financial assistance, such as ComLink+. The Taman Jurong ward had previously been part of Jurong GRC.
Speaking at a press conference announcing the party's p lans for the GRC, held hours after it was confirmed that the PAP would face the PSP at the upcoming polls, Mr Lee said the PAP hopes to do more to ensure national schemes benefit residents in the area.
'For example, ageing is an issue that runs through the whole nation, but in certain parts of our estate, we have seniors, including low-income seniors, and we feel the need to bring Age Well SG from a national level hike onto the ground in a very integrated way,' said Mr Lee, who is Minister for National Development.
Age Well SG is a national programme led by MOH, MND and MOT to support seniors to age well in their homes and their communities.
The PAP team contesting West Coast-Jurong West GRC also elaborated on plans to refresh ageing infrastructure, bridge generational gaps and help families cope with the rising cost of living.
Mr Lee, who is also the Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, also cited work that has been done in the past five years, such as the Gift-A-Family initiative which pairs individuals with vulnerable families in Boon Lay.
The existing scheme aims to provide families with opportunities and resources necessary to overcome their challenges and meet their aspirations, by working with social workers to, for example, identify courses and programmes they can attend.
Programmes that may be sponsored include those for upskilling, enrichment and tuition. The sponsorship requests will then be matched with donors and sponsors.
'So it's not (just) to donate, contribute, or (having) a big company giving resources and volunteers, but to be able to journey with individual families,' he said.
If elected, Mr Lee said he plans to expand the initiative to other areas within the constituency, such as Taman Jurong and Nanyang. The scheme also has the potential to be expanded nationally, he said.
During the press conference, Mr Lee did not respond to questions on the PSP's challenge for the PAP team to engage them in a policy debate.
He said instead that the PAP will focus on unveiling their plans for the area, which outline the party's track record for the past five years, and what the party is committed to doing to improve residents' well-being and their livelihoods.
He added that residents should also ask contesting parties about their plans for the constituency.
'I can't say for a fact, but I imagine that every incumbent, whether the ruling party or the opposition, would roll out some initiatives,' he said, adding that some programmes would be government-funded, while others would not.
'So I think you can ask the opposition whether they have such programmes too. Can't imagine they don't,' he said.
Singapore goes to the polls on May 3. Candidates will start campaigning in earnest from April 23 for nine days before Cooling-off Day on May 2.
Besides Mr Lee, the PAP slate includes Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Education Shawn Huang, three-term MP Ang Wei Neng, orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak and lawyer Cassandra Lee. All were present at the press conference.
They will be facing off against the opposition PSP's A-team, which includes its top three leaders – former PAP stalwart Tan Cheng Bock, party chief Leong Mun Wai and vice-chair Hazel Poa. The other two candidates are head of packaged food and business development Sumarleki Amjah and in-house legal counsel Sani Ismail.
During the press conference, Mr Lee introduced nine key areas which his team will focus on for the next five years if elected.
This includes helping households cope with the cost of living by supplementing national programmes with local support schemes, ensuring good jobs for job seekers by organising more career and skills fairs in the community and championing families through family-centric events.
On the infrastructure front, neighbourhoods will undergo revitalisation and new sports and fitness facilities will be built. These include a new Clementi Stadium set to be completed by 2030, along with the former West Coast Recreation Centre, which will feature softball and baseball fields.
Mr Lee said the refreshed plan announced at the press conference builds on the previous plan launched in 2020, while taking into account the new electoral boundaries changes that have brought together most of Jurong West town within the West Coast-Jurong West GRC.
Said Mr Lee: 'You'll see that these nine pillars are centred around our residents and communities and the needs that different groups of residents face.'
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