SINGAPORE: If the People’s Action Party (PAP) needs to win more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats in an election, it shows a “serious problem” in the robustness of the ruling party's processes as well as Singapore's political system, said Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh on Sunday (Apr 27).
“I believe that you have good people in various political systems, and even if you have a parliament with one-third of it comprising opposition MPs, you will have a government that is free to address the problems of the day and problems of tomorrow,” said Mr Singh.
In Singapore, constitutional amendments require the support of a two-thirds majority in the House, which means at least 64 out of the 97 Members of Parliament to be elected in the upcoming polls on May 3.
“But if the prime minister is saying ‘no, with 60 per cent of the vote, we need 90 per cent of the seats, and only then we can govern properly if not, you weaken the PAP’ – I think we have a very weak PAP already to begin with, if that is their position. So that can't be the case.”
Mr Singh was responding to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's rally speech in Chua Chu Kang on Saturday night, where he said that voting in more opposition candidates into parliament could mean losing potential officeholders and weakening the PAP government.
Mr Wong also said that voting for more opposition was akin to taking risks with Singaporean lives and Singapore’s future.
On losing potential office holders, Mr Singh said people have other ways to serve the nation, pointing to the PAP’s Aljunied GRC candidates in the 2011 General Election as examples.
The WP won Aljunied GRC that year, making it the first Group Representation Constituency to fall into opposition hands. They did so at the expense of a PAP slate which included then-Foreign Minister George Yeo.
“Mr Yeo – I have full respect for him – has continued to serve Singapore in so many different ways,” Mr Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a walkabout in Jalan Kayu SMC.
He also cited labour chief Ng Chee Meng, who was part of a losing Sengkang GRC team in GE2020; and is now contesting in Jalan Kayu SMC.
“I'm not taking anything away from him or being snarky, but he's got his heart for workers. So the PAP trampoline, the way our system is organised, will not prevent good people from serving the country in many different capacities,” he said.
Mr Singh also addressed questions on Malaysia-based Singaporean Islamic preacher Noor Deros. He has come into the spotlight after authorities took action against foreigners for interfering with the elections by urging Singaporeans to vote along religious lines.
Mr Noor made several demands of political parties in Singapore, in Facebook posts that mixed race, religion and politics. He also claimed to have met the Workers’ Party.
When asked why his party had not addressed Mr Noor's claims earlier, Mr Singh said the WP had already done so “very promptly”.
“I mean, if someone really comes along and says, ‘I’ve got the WP MPs on my side, and I'm going to run my ideas through them’ – anybody can say that,” said the party's secretary-general.
“The question is, will the Workers’ Party MPs do it? We will not. We will exercise our voice in parliament today on behalf of all Singaporeans, in a multi-racial context, in a secular context.”
On Sunday, asked for his view on Community Development Councils (CDCs), Mr Singh said these entities had helped look after Singaporeans when they were first organised, with issues such as job insecurities.
“All these things have gone to different agencies, but they are still around. So the CDC nomenclature is due for a serious relook,” said Mr Singh.
As for CDC cash vouchers, he said they could be issued under other government agencies such as the Finance Ministry.
“I can call it MOF vouchers and that would still be a legitimate transfer from the government to Singaporeans,” he said.
Asked about the salaries paid to mayors who head up the CDCs of five different districts, Mr Singh declined comment, saying it was not an issue of jealousy.
Mayors earn S$660,000 (US$502,200) a year, according to a White Paper on ministerial salaries in 2012. The sum hasn't changed since.
“The issue is that we can do this, we can continue rendering the services that the CDCs render, without the current system,” he said.
Workers' Party Jalan Kayu SMC candidate Andre Low (centre) greeting diners at Fernvale Hawker Centre and Market with former WP chief Low Thia Khiang (left) on Apr 27, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
Mr Singh was accompanied on Sunday by WP's Jalan Kayu SMC candidate Andre Low as well as WP chair Sylvia Lim.
Mr Low told the media that the Allianz-Income saga, which his election opponent and NTUC secretary-general Ng is in the spotlight for, was “representative of a broader issue with the way governance is done in Singapore today”.
On Sunday morning, former NTUC Income chief Tan Suee Chieh published an open letter to Jalan Kayu SMC voters, calling on them to ask Mr Ng to “provide a full explanation of his reflections on the Allianz-Income affair”.
German insurer Allianz had attempted to purchase a majority stake in local insurer Income, but was blocked by the government last October.
“It's just one of many missteps that our previous administration has had over the last parliamentary term,” said Mr Low, before urging Jalan Kayu SMC residents to read Mr Tan's letter and form their own opinions.
“There's too many unanswered questions and I think Singaporeans at large – not just Jalan Kayu residents – deserve some answers,” said Mr Low.
He later added: “We shouldn't look at singular issues when we decide on an election on who you want to vote for. I think you should look at the performance of the government as a whole when you evaluate the candidates.”
Asked if the issue could still give him an upper hand over Mr Ng in the polls, Mr Low said he saw himself as the “underdog”.
“He is a much more experienced person than me, and I really hope that voters will buy into my message of a different perspective, a fresh perspective,” he said.
"It's very personal to me that he represents a lot of things that I do not like about the way Singapore is governed today."
Mr Low cited as an example the "scholar-general" pathway, calling it over-saturated.
"Also a lack of transparency and accountability - I'm not saying this about specifically Mr Ng, but the administration at large," he added.
"Singaporeans are asking for more accountability, more open communication. We want to know why decisions are being made, not just after they have been made, and just being told to us."
You can watch livestreams of all rallies on CNA's GE2025 site, CNA's YouTube channel and on mewatch.
Continue reading...
“I believe that you have good people in various political systems, and even if you have a parliament with one-third of it comprising opposition MPs, you will have a government that is free to address the problems of the day and problems of tomorrow,” said Mr Singh.
In Singapore, constitutional amendments require the support of a two-thirds majority in the House, which means at least 64 out of the 97 Members of Parliament to be elected in the upcoming polls on May 3.
“But if the prime minister is saying ‘no, with 60 per cent of the vote, we need 90 per cent of the seats, and only then we can govern properly if not, you weaken the PAP’ – I think we have a very weak PAP already to begin with, if that is their position. So that can't be the case.”
Mr Singh was responding to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's rally speech in Chua Chu Kang on Saturday night, where he said that voting in more opposition candidates into parliament could mean losing potential officeholders and weakening the PAP government.
Mr Wong also said that voting for more opposition was akin to taking risks with Singaporean lives and Singapore’s future.
On losing potential office holders, Mr Singh said people have other ways to serve the nation, pointing to the PAP’s Aljunied GRC candidates in the 2011 General Election as examples.
The WP won Aljunied GRC that year, making it the first Group Representation Constituency to fall into opposition hands. They did so at the expense of a PAP slate which included then-Foreign Minister George Yeo.
“Mr Yeo – I have full respect for him – has continued to serve Singapore in so many different ways,” Mr Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a walkabout in Jalan Kayu SMC.
He also cited labour chief Ng Chee Meng, who was part of a losing Sengkang GRC team in GE2020; and is now contesting in Jalan Kayu SMC.
“I'm not taking anything away from him or being snarky, but he's got his heart for workers. So the PAP trampoline, the way our system is organised, will not prevent good people from serving the country in many different capacities,” he said.
ON NOOR DEROS
Mr Singh also addressed questions on Malaysia-based Singaporean Islamic preacher Noor Deros. He has come into the spotlight after authorities took action against foreigners for interfering with the elections by urging Singaporeans to vote along religious lines.
Mr Noor made several demands of political parties in Singapore, in Facebook posts that mixed race, religion and politics. He also claimed to have met the Workers’ Party.
When asked why his party had not addressed Mr Noor's claims earlier, Mr Singh said the WP had already done so “very promptly”.
“I mean, if someone really comes along and says, ‘I’ve got the WP MPs on my side, and I'm going to run my ideas through them’ – anybody can say that,” said the party's secretary-general.
“The question is, will the Workers’ Party MPs do it? We will not. We will exercise our voice in parliament today on behalf of all Singaporeans, in a multi-racial context, in a secular context.”
ON THE ROLE OF CDCS
On Sunday, asked for his view on Community Development Councils (CDCs), Mr Singh said these entities had helped look after Singaporeans when they were first organised, with issues such as job insecurities.
“All these things have gone to different agencies, but they are still around. So the CDC nomenclature is due for a serious relook,” said Mr Singh.
As for CDC cash vouchers, he said they could be issued under other government agencies such as the Finance Ministry.
“I can call it MOF vouchers and that would still be a legitimate transfer from the government to Singaporeans,” he said.
Asked about the salaries paid to mayors who head up the CDCs of five different districts, Mr Singh declined comment, saying it was not an issue of jealousy.
Mayors earn S$660,000 (US$502,200) a year, according to a White Paper on ministerial salaries in 2012. The sum hasn't changed since.
“The issue is that we can do this, we can continue rendering the services that the CDCs render, without the current system,” he said.
Workers' Party Jalan Kayu SMC candidate Andre Low (centre) greeting diners at Fernvale Hawker Centre and Market with former WP chief Low Thia Khiang (left) on Apr 27, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
ON THE ALLIANZ-INCOME SAGA
Mr Singh was accompanied on Sunday by WP's Jalan Kayu SMC candidate Andre Low as well as WP chair Sylvia Lim.
Mr Low told the media that the Allianz-Income saga, which his election opponent and NTUC secretary-general Ng is in the spotlight for, was “representative of a broader issue with the way governance is done in Singapore today”.
On Sunday morning, former NTUC Income chief Tan Suee Chieh published an open letter to Jalan Kayu SMC voters, calling on them to ask Mr Ng to “provide a full explanation of his reflections on the Allianz-Income affair”.
German insurer Allianz had attempted to purchase a majority stake in local insurer Income, but was blocked by the government last October.
“It's just one of many missteps that our previous administration has had over the last parliamentary term,” said Mr Low, before urging Jalan Kayu SMC residents to read Mr Tan's letter and form their own opinions.
“There's too many unanswered questions and I think Singaporeans at large – not just Jalan Kayu residents – deserve some answers,” said Mr Low.
He later added: “We shouldn't look at singular issues when we decide on an election on who you want to vote for. I think you should look at the performance of the government as a whole when you evaluate the candidates.”
Asked if the issue could still give him an upper hand over Mr Ng in the polls, Mr Low said he saw himself as the “underdog”.
“He is a much more experienced person than me, and I really hope that voters will buy into my message of a different perspective, a fresh perspective,” he said.
"It's very personal to me that he represents a lot of things that I do not like about the way Singapore is governed today."
Mr Low cited as an example the "scholar-general" pathway, calling it over-saturated.
"Also a lack of transparency and accountability - I'm not saying this about specifically Mr Ng, but the administration at large," he added.
"Singaporeans are asking for more accountability, more open communication. We want to know why decisions are being made, not just after they have been made, and just being told to us."
You can watch livestreams of all rallies on CNA's GE2025 site, CNA's YouTube channel and on mewatch.
Continue reading...