SDP’s Dr Tambyah: Singaporeans face long work hours in world’s priciest city

SINGAPORE:  Dr Paul Ananth Tambyah, Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party in his Labour Day message, urged PM-to-be Lawrence Wong to address the challenges faced by workers in Singapore.

He noted that May 1st is celebrated worldwide to honour those who fought for an eight-hour workday, yet highlighted that Singaporeans endure some of the longest work hours globally and live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

While congratulating Lawrence Wong on his imminent appointment as Prime Minister, Dr Tambyah stressed the need for him to institute changes to tackle the current challenges.

He noted that SDP has proposed a minimum wage for decades and has also proposed unemployment insurance to make sure that workers and their families are taken care of in between jobs.

“We are glad the government is finally paying attention, although the progressive wage model appears to place unnecessary emphasis on training programs that may not be suitable for Singaporeans.”

“We are hard-working people, we don’t want handouts, we just deserve a fair deal,” he added.

In his message, Dr Tambyah also criticised the constitutional changes which were passed in the Singapore Parliament on 22 November last year.

These changes allow the president and ministers to hold positions in foreign and international organizations in their private capacity, such as the World Economic Forum if deemed beneficial by their cabinet peers.

Dr Tambyah condemned this as “a privilege enjoyed by very few Singaporeans.”

Despite opposition from the Members of Parliament from the Workers’ Party and the two Non-constituency MPs from the Progress Singapore Party, the amendments passed through Parliament with the PAP’s two-thirds majority.

With looming speculation of a General Election at the end of this year, Dr Tambyah urged Singaporeans to vote wisely in the upcoming GE.

He emphasized the need to elect more SDP candidates into Parliament to pose critical questions and ensure accountability in how the government serves the people of Singapore.

On 30 June 2020, Tambyah was fielded as SDP candidate against PAP’s Liang for the Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency during the 2020 Singaporean general election.

He lost the election to Liang with 46.27 per cent of the votes.