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Straits Times
01-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
GE2025: SDP targets NTUC-PAP relationship in final rally
SDP chief Chee Soon Juan speaking at the rally in Evergreen Primary School on May 1. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE – The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) took aim at the relationship between the ruling party and the labour movement NTUC during the party's final rally on the last day of hustings on May 1. The SDP argued on Labour Day that the interests of local workers were not truly championed under the current labour union structure and that, if elected, it will advocate for better rights for employees and greater distancing between PAP and NTUC. The rally at Evergreen Primary School, part of Sembawang West where SDP chief Chee Soon Juan faces PAP's Poh Li San for the single-seat, saw 10 candidates, including Dr Chee and chairman Paul Tambyah, speaking in the final hours of the nine-day campaigning window ahead of polling day on May 3. In his speech, Sembawang GRC candidate Damanhuri Abas said NTUC's role as a labour movement is to ensure checks and balances between workers and employers, but he added that it was too closely aligned to the ruling party. 'The PAP has timed this election to end on Labour Day at the May Day Rally. The PAP leaders showcased the partnership that has served them, but have they served you?' Mr Damanhuri said, referring to the May Day Rally speech, which Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivered earlier in the day. Fellow candidate James Gomez said the SDP will push for workers to have the freedom to form and lead their own unions without interference. 'We will seek to disentangle NTUC from the PAP. It should remain independent and clear on protecting the workers' interest,' said Dr Gomez. The night's penultimate speaker, Dr Tambyah, defended SDP's proposal for a single-payer healthcare system to replace current schemes like MediShield Life and CareShield Life. He said that consolidating the schemes into a comprehensive insurance scheme would free up funds, which can be used to support primary care more effectively. Dr Tambyah was responding to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who on April 26 challenged the SDP to elaborate on its proposal to reform the healthcare system. Mr Ong is running for re-election in Sembawang GRC. Dr Tambyah acknowledged that the SDP's plan will result in job losses for administrators who oversee the existing healthcare schemes, but said it will make room for more medical professionals and lower healthcare costs. A single-payer system would serve as the largest purchaser of medical services and be able to negotiate lower prices, pushing costs down, he said. Dr Tambyah drew comparisons to how pharmaceutical service providers today lower their prices to secure Government contracts, such as for vaccines and other tenders. 'I invite Mr Ong to read our healthcare paper in detail and perhaps debate us on it,' he added. Dr Chee, who was met with the loudest cheers of the night, wrapped up the rally by accusing the PAP of targeting him with 'poisonous rhetoric', which he said has exacted a heavy toll on him. He also criticised the GRC system , saying it had hindered his years-long push for a seat in Parliament – the latest being the removal of Bukit Batok SMC, where he had contested in the past. In his nearly 30-minute speech, Dr Chee detailed numerous examples of being shunned for being 'politically radioactive', such as his firing from the National University of Singapore and other jobs. SDP chief Chee Soon Juan and other SDP candidates at the end of the SDP rally in Evergreen Primary School on May 1. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO He blamed the 'vitriol and hateful rhetoric' from the ruling party, whose leaders had sued him in the past – forcing him into bankruptcy, which ruled him out in the 2006 and 2011 elections. Dr Chee said: 'They sack you, then they say you don't have a job. They sue you, then they say you are bankrupt. 'They take away your constituency, and then they say you abandoned it.' Reflecting on the current campaign, he said : 'I'm tired, but not defeated. This campaign has been long. 'It has been intense, but every step of the way I have tried to speak to your minds with reason, to appeal to your hearts with truth, and to stir your spirit with the hope of what can be.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ahead of polls, Singapore opposition party PSP unveils 78-page manifesto calling for GST cut, MP asset declarations and major policy reforms
SINGAPORE, April 6 – The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) today launched its 78-page election manifesto, calling for major policy reforms including reducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to 7 per cent and requiring all MPs to publicly declare their assets. CNA reported that the manifesto outlines 61 policy proposals, many of which were previously raised by the opposition party's Non-Constituency MPs (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa in Parliament and its 2020 manifesto. 'Your vote is critical in this election,' PSP chairman and founder Tan Cheng Bock was quoted saying, describing the manifesto as the product of nearly two years of work. 'It will decide whether we continue to have credible and responsible elected opposition MPs who keep the PAP in check.' Leong, re-elected as party secretary-general in March, defended the proposals as 'well-researched and carefully considered,' calling it unfair for the government to claim the opposition offered no alternative solutions. To address rising living costs, PSP also proposed exempting essentials like rice and milk formula from GST, introducing rent control guidelines for commercial properties, and centralising hawker centre management with capped rental rates. On healthcare, PSP called for the government to fully cover premiums for MediShield Life and CareShield Life, lower healthcare costs through centralised drug procurement, and provide confinement cash gifts for new mothers. Housing proposals included the Affordable Homes Scheme – which defers land cost payments until resale – more flats built ahead of demand, allowing singles to buy flats from age 28, and a rental scheme for young Singaporeans in central areas. The party suggested 15 governance reforms, such as a Freedom of Information Act, mandatory asset declarations by MPs, closed-door hearings for government-linked investment companies Temasek and GIC, ministerial salary reform, and abolishing the Group Representation Constituency scheme. On jobs and wages, PSP reiterated its call for a S$2,250 (RM7,420) minimum living wage, a higher Employment Pass (EP) salary threshold, an EP quota and levy, and strengthened protections for local workers under the Fair Consideration Framework. To support families and retirees, the party proposed simplifying over 60 support schemes, introducing caregiver allowances, expanding MediSave usage, boosting mental health services, and increasing payouts under the Silver Support Scheme. In education, PSP advocated for a through-train model making the Primary School Leaving Examination optional, a shift towards alternative assessments, smaller class sizes, more vocational university admission routes, better student mental health support, and limits on foreign student scholarships. In the 2020 general election, PSP contested nine seats and narrowly lost in West Coast GRC while securing two NCMP seats.
