Reform Party calls on PAP to widen social safety net and include all Singaporeans in growth
February 27th, 2010 | 
Author: Written by Our Correspondent
In its latest press release on 23 February 2010, the Reform Party issued a call on the PAP to widen the social safety net in Singapore and include all Singaporeans in the growth of the nation in response to the latest announcements made by Finance Minister Tharman in his Budget speech.
While Mr Tharman waxed lyrical about boosting Singapore’s labor productivity and increasing investments in R&D, he made no mention of providing an adequate social safety net for Singaporeans, especially those from the lower income group.
Though GST was raised from 5 to 7 per cent in 2006 ostensibly to “help the poor”, the income gap between the rich and the poor in Singapore has widened considerably over the last few years saved for the years 2008 and 2009 due to the decrease in the earnings of the rich caused by the global financial crisis.
In fact, Singapore is the most unequal society among the thirty most developed nations in the world if Hong Kong is taken out of the equation.
The situation is exacerbated by the ruling party’s liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies which are making lives difficult even for the middle class.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, the relentless influx of foreign workers into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards of living.
The Reform Party opined that “the social safety net is very meagre compared with other economies at a similar stage of development yet far from improving our economic performance this has damaged it.”
While the ruling party can well afford to lose billions of dollars in failed overseas investments via its two sovereign wealth funds, it has been especially stingy with Singaporeans.
It has always claimed that providing more social welfare benefits will create a “crutch mentality” in Singaporeans, thereby retarding their competitiveness.
The Reform Party felt that “there is increasing evidence that very high levels of income inequality are correlated with undesirable outcomes in terms of a whole range of indicators of a society’s well-being.”
It calls for a series of measures to enlarge the social safety net for Singaporeans such as reducing the taxes on the less well-off, introducing a minimum wage, investing in a basic universal health insurance to replace Medisav, introduce universal, free and compulsory education from pre-school to secondary level, privatize Temasek and GIC to distribute equity back to Singaporeans and dismantle the GLC structure in order to adopt a more pro-active competition policy.
It is highly improbable that the ruling party will dare to implement these changes as they will undermine their power base.
Singapore’s political system has been engineered by the ruling party deliberately to perpetuate its political hegemony of which control of the economy is essential.
Unless Singaporeans vote out the ruling party from power one day, it will be impossible for any other political parties to reform Singapore’s obsolete political economy which will have lasting repercussions on the future development of the nation.
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10 Responses to “Reform Party calls on PAP to widen social safety net and include all Singaporeans in growth”
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Maybe RP should have been more specific. Safety net should be for SINGAPORE CITIZENS ONLY.
It’s sad that PAP had conveniently included permanent residents (who are in fact foreigners) as Singaporeans in attempts to conceal facts and deceive the public.
Would you consider Zhang Yuan Yuan a Singaporean? One thing I’m sure of is that she considers herself a loyal citizen of China.
Mind you, again and again, Hong Kong is not a country but a city so; cease the comparison between Hong Kong and Singapore! Just look at this shitynerd’s budget announcement, defense occupies the highest expenditure among all ministries and born and bred Singaporeans spending 2 and the half years serving this ungrateful country. Do Hong Kong people face this type of unbearable burdens in their endeavors for prosperities and achievements in lives? If Hong Kong can be considered in all international ranking on par with all independent countries then, Taiwan should be even more qualified for consideration as it has maintained a “FULL ARMY” liken to Singapore for several decades! I am waiting for this bunch of million-dollar idiotic nerds to justify the above statement! A bunch of sycophantic nerds whom only know how to butter-up to the “giant” without integrity and dignity!
Only this shitty-nerd of the miw whom can proclaim loudly and vociferously to the international communities that Singapore is a city and not a country so as to promulgate his party’s selfish political agendas! What a bunch of shameful and contemptible wrenches!
Let Singaporeans decide when they retire, how they use their CPF monies.
We have been ‘taken hostage’ by PAP for too long, by just holding on to our CPF monies they can manipulate almost all aspects of our life.
Maybe we should ask our MP whether Singapore is a city or country. Or we can ask one of them in FB.
It is unrealistic to expand social net which i believe that social help should come from the community instead of government budget. It would be better if the budget use to inspire more creativity from its people. Because of the rigid-control under PAP-regime, individual’s creativity is stagnant.
The government always assumed that the ordinary people shared the same perspective as the government’s policies. Doubts arise when government use its statistical claims on their policies. As most mathematicians know that statistic can be tilted towards to favor one’s representations(causing-misinterpretation by those unknown to statistic), that includes the definition of events/test and the sample size. When the government dis-linked itself from the Singaporeans, it will be the doomed of Singapore. Singaporean must listen to the government and voice their concerns when they have doubts, otherwise the PAP thinks they are on-path with the Singaporeans. PAP(s) are still Singaporean, it is our mandate that allows them to carry out legislation that benefits us and not the policy-maker.
PAP = People action party! I guess the word “people” is for Singaporean and not people from globalization. The middle term, action, i presumed it is not to deny the rights of individual in a “democratic country”. Party is every members of its can control or influences the entire outcome and not an organisational of aristocrats. Or it is the other way? Why the guardian of Singaporeans is criticizing us and praising the immigrants? Are we democratic states/authoritarian states/capitalism state or just an hybrid of all 3?
Don’t worry don’t need to think and vote for PAP for they will solve the problems on low birth rate/aging population/inflations…etc. After all, when they failed to do so, they blamed on Singaporeans. Then they praise themselves for solving the problems and those unsolved is our own problems. Vote with hopes for better future and not vote in fear of the “doomed” scenarios painted by the PAP. Hopes is what brings out the best qualities of the people and fear does the opposite.
Do the PAP ministers deserve their expected 8.8 per cent pay rise this year? reads your polls column. What pay rise? When the poor is getting poorer squeezed left and right. They should rather be downsized, like putting that dinosaur, lky out to pasture. Whatever input he gives is not worth the pay.
One can whine, chide, cajole, plead, request and yet things will not change and if fact it is apparent that it is worsening.
When one deals with a govt that reeks of double-standards,alienated from the commoner,doubletalk,lying,lacking transparency, accountability and flagrantly irresponsible,repressive, intolent of dissenting views n opinions … it is no longer tenable in the interests of the nation that they serve or continue to hold power.
The only motivation for them (incumbent govt) is money and political power. The rest is given lip service.
Singaporeans, wake up and understand this – PAP is a spent party, bereft of ideas, out of touch with reality (rather pretense is more real)unprincipled, unethical and to allow them to rule us again for the next …. is being foolish.
What is sorely needed is electoral reforms, transparency and a two-party system where checks and balances can be incorporated and the govt can be made accountable, coerced into transparency, responsibilty and when and if it happens is there a chance of regaining the lost dignity of Singaporeans.
Qoute:
“It has always claimed that providing more social welfare benefits will create a “crutch mentality” in Singaporeans, thereby retarding their competitiveness.”
Yes i partially agree with the PAPs point of view or where they are coming from. They are trying not to become like USA whereby hundreds of thousands of USa citizen are relying on the welfare fund & not trying to find a job.
But here is another point of view: Due to some of PAPs policies. Singaporeans trying to find jobs are expecting lesser & lesser wage income while cost of living in singapore has seemingly increases by folds…
The recent news of increasing foreign labour levy to cut down the amount of foreign worker intake is a good but very late move…
Since the beginning of this Dynasty, the MIW have been calling themselves PAP… Well it does not take a high IQ to understand what it means… People Action for Party!… It’s definitely not contradicting! It’s just taking 50 years for Singaporean to realise it. Thus doesn’t make the MIW liars… Understand???
Who dare to ask the MIWs in Parliament when will they set up a perpetual Trust fund of $500 million [with dollar to dollar backing by the government for every dollar contributed by the public] as an initial target?
90% of the annual income of the Trust should be used [a] to help the poor and the elderly to pay part of their medical expenses and [b] part of the income should also be used to help top up the public assistance of $330 [the dole] paid to the poor.
Is helping the poor and the elderly with a perpetual Trust fund wrong to do so, and against the MIW’s socialism programmes?
Is it that difficult to set up the Trust fund and is funding of $500 milliona a problem?