WP new faces call for education, quality of life improvements
WP candidate for East Coast GRC Leon Perera (left) shaking hands with supporters after the party’s rally in front of Block 4 Boon Keng Road. Photo: Robin Choo
SINGAPORE — Singapore has done well, but it can do better if the ideas put forward in the Workers’ Party’s (WP) manifesto are taken on board.
Echoing this point at a rally on Boon Keng Road last night (Sept 3), several of the party’s new faces for the General Election highlighted the long working hours of Singapore workers and the education system as areas that need addressing.
Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) candidate Ron Tan, who kicked off the rally, harked back to the goal set by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, when he was Prime Minister, for Singaporeans to attain a Swiss standard of living.
Citing an article earlier this year by The Straits Times, which said that Singaporeans work the longest hours compared with the rest of the world, he said: “So we must ask Mr Goh, where is our Swiss standard of living?”
He added that despite the already long hours put in by Singaporeans, the Government is pushing citizens to do more and prioritise growth, or “life will not get any better”. This focus on growth, he said, means people neglect the “important things in life”, such as time with families.
Noting that the WP’s manifesto calls for greater efforts to be made to achieve a balanced family life, Mr Tan added: “We believe that a fulfilling family life is not only vital for the well-being of individual Singaporeans, but ultimately contributes to stronger family and communities.”
In its manifesto, the party has called for regulations to mandate flexi-work arrangements, based on certain conditions. The party also called for childcare leave to be extended from the current six days to 12. Mr Tan also called for more childcare and infant care centres to be built, so that parents can get better support.
On education, the WP’s MacPherson Single-Member Constituency candidate Bernard Chen used his personal example to make his case for a system that caters to all. He told the crowd that he did poorly during his A- levels, but later secured a place at the National University of Singapore and the University of Oxford. Saying that although he had a chance to restart his education after stumbling, most Singaporeans would not.
More must be done for people like him, he said, adding that “we must not have an education system that sends the wrong message to late bloomers”.
In making his point, Mr Chen also turned to the party’s manifesto, citing its proposal for a 10-year Through Train School Programme, which scraps the Primary School Leaving Examination in favour of a decade of preparation for their first major examination at Secondary 4.
Two other new faces — Mr Terence Tan and Mr Leon Perera, who will contest in Marine Parade GRC and East Coast GRC, respectively, and who took to the stage last night — aimed broadsides at Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin for the comments he made earlier this year about old folks who collect cardboard for a living.
In a post on Facebook, Minister Tan, who had gone on a walkabout, said that though many of those he had met while on a community visit collected cardboard to make ends meet, some said they did so for exercise, or because they preferred to do some work rather than sit around even though they did not need the money.
The WP’s Mr Tan used the Government’s active ageing push to take a shot at Minister Tan. Mr Tan said that with Singaporeans living longer, “we should be thankful, the PAP (People’s Action Party) says. Active ageing, they say. Some even actively age, apparently exercising with cardboard. We should thus have faith in the PAP, they say”.
Another common theme taken up by the new faces was the need to end the domination of the PAP. Ms He Ting Ru, who will contest in Marine Parade GRC, urged voters to vote for the Opposition for the future of their children, while East Coast GRC candidate Mohamed Fairoz Shariff charged that Singapore is “very imbalanced” politically.
“We live in a Singapore where the PAP’s dominance in Parliament has allowed it to easily push through unpopular policies without these policies being properly and thoroughly deliberated,” Mr Fairoz added, citing how the Population White Paper was endorsed by the ruling party despite objections by WP Members of Parliament.
