An acid test was carried out in Punggol East by-election for the Population White Paper. There is a clear result that voters there reject the Paper’s recommendations. Should the PAP government implement the recommended policies or give it a second thought? Will it be another misguided 20/20 foresight?
The
PAP government should think twice before implementing policies and measures in
the Population White Paper. This is
because the Paper was rejected by voters in the recent Punggol East by-election
directly or indirectly depending how you read it.
First,
DPM Teo Chee Hean openly challenged and criticised Workers’ Party for its
silence on key issues, namely foreign workers and population. WP chief Low Thia
Khiang gave his reply in front of 8,000 rally participants on 23 January 2013
and Today newspaper had the following report:
<It is not true that the Workers’ Party (WP) has not taken a position on major issues; rather, it is the People’s Action Party Government that has turned a deaf ear to its views and suggestions, said party chief Low Thia Khiang as he hit out at Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean’s charge that the WP “has avoided taking a stand” on national concerns.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Teo, the PAP’s First Assistant Secretary-General, said the WP had stayed silent on important issues such as “population or foreign workers where tough trade-offs are needed”.
At the WP’s final rally yesterday, Mr Low pointed out that he had spoken on the foreign manpower issue during the Manpower Ministry’s Committee of Supply debate last year. He had called for the tightening of the Dependency Ratio Ceilings for foreign workers to be industry-specific so as to minimise the fallout for small-and-medium enterprises in sectors that fewer Singaporeans want to work in.
The WP had also devoted a chapter in its 2011 party manifesto to population and immigration, Mr Low said, reiterating his party’s stand that immigration policies should be aimed at improving the lot of Singaporeans.>http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/wp-spoke-pap-didnt-listen-low
And
now majority of voters in Punggol East say NO to the PAP. Punggol East may be just a single
constituency but at least it is representing the desire of many Singaporeans
who are not happy with the population and foreign workers policies.
In
fact, when you look at the points raised by the PAP candidates Dr Koh Poh Koon
and the supporting and last minute policies announcements by the government,
one can conclude that the PAP is bringing the Paper to voters in advance. These policies include property cooling
measures, new MRT lines, more marriage and family subsidies and leave for
husband, elderly care etc.
Three pillars and
three values
From
his campaign, Dr Koh might have access to the Population White Paper before
many of us. He talked about his three values: Hope, Family and Action in his
first rally.
In
the white paper, you will find three pillars for a sustainable population:
Hearts, Hopes and Home. Comparing to Dr
Koh’s “action, hope and family”, it looks similar. Perhaps, this is the message the PAP wants to
bring to voters before releasing the white paper. If Dr Koh won the
by-election, the PAP can then claim some recognition and acknowledgement from
the by-election. Unfortunately, it failed. Not to forget the person chairing
the press conference for the release of white paper is no other than Teo Chee
Hean.
If
we look back at the debates and issues raised in the by-election, many of them
are covered in the white paper:
Chapter 2
Sustaining a core Singaporean population
Marriage
and parenthood policies: improved and enhanced packages for married couples and
for husbands were announced. We also saw
better housing policies for married persons.
Chapter 3 Creating
Good Opportunities for Singaporeans
“Creating
opportunities and good jobs for our people” was questioned in opposition
rallies and campaign.
“Helping
businesses restructure and move up the value-chain” was another topic
criticised by the oppositions.
“Helping
low-wage workers and older workers” was also raised by the oppositions. The
present framework is not working and needs change.
“Bringing
Singaporeans home” is an effort of Contact Singapore but it is not getting
desired result.
Chapter 5 A High
Quality Living Environment
What
is “best place to live”? There is no
more mention of Swiss standard of living.
During
the by-election campaign, the PAP government announced several new and
important transport, housing, and health care changes.
Many
of the key points and suggestions in the Population White Paper were brought
forward to hopefully improve the winning chances of Dr Koh. However, it did not materialise.
Implementation of
white paper against people’s wishes
Now
the white paper is out. Punggol East
voters had rejected it but the PAP still wants to implement it. (The PAP still
controls 80 of 87 parliament seats).
Should
the PAP review and improve the white paper or just goes ahead without
considering the voters’ decision? How
many more times can the PAP ignore the wishes of Singaporeans?
Perhaps,
they want to wait until 2016 General Election to make some changes and say “I
am sorry” again. Will the sorry work in
favour of the PAP in 2016?
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