Politics
WP welcomes PM Wong’s policy shifts, highlights similarities with WP proposals
In response to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally speech, The Workers’ Party (WP) welcomed the policy shifts but called for deeper reforms. In a statement on 19 August, WP noted several similarities between the policies announced by PM Wong and those in WP’s 2020 General Election Manifesto, urging the government to consider more comprehensive changes.
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SINGAPORE: In response to the series of announcements made by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during the National Day Rally speech, The Workers’ Party (WP) welcomed the policy shifts but also called for deeper reforms.
Notably, in a statement released on Monday (19 August), WP highlighted several similarities between the policies announced by PM Wong and WP’s proposals, particularly those outlined in the party’s 2020 General Election Manifesto.
WP expressed encouragement at the policy changes, including the announcement of the new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme.
This scheme will provide up to S$6,000 in temporary financial support over a maximum of six months to lower- and middle-income workers who have lost their jobs, subject to training and other conditions.
WP agreed with PM Wong’s assertion that losing a job can seriously destabilize workers and their families.
WP also pointed out its 2016 policy paper, in which the party called for the implementation of a Redundancy Insurance scheme, and reiterated this call in its 2020 General Election Manifesto and during the Budget 2023 debate in Parliament.
In its 2020 Manifesto, WP proposed that retrenched workers receive a payout equivalent to 40% of their last drawn salary for up to six months.
The payout would be capped at S$1,200 per month, with a minimum payout of S$500 per month to benefit low-wage workers. Subsequent payouts would be conditional on the worker actively seeking a new job or undergoing re-training.
WP reiterated in its statement that its redundancy insurance scheme was designed to be funded primarily by premiums paid by workers while they are employed, rather than by taxpayers.
WP’s more extensive parental leave policy in 2020 Manifesto
Another similarity between PM Wong’s announcement and WP’s proposals is the shared parental leave scheme.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a new 10-week Shared Parental Leave scheme, with government payments of up to S$2,500 per week, effective from 1 April 2026.
While WP believes that all parents-to-be will welcome the new scheme, the party noted that its 2020 Manifesto already proposed a more extensive parental leave policy.
WP suggested 24 weeks of government-paid leave, to be shared between mothers and fathers as they choose, with a minimum of 12 weeks allocated to the mother and four weeks to the father.
Sengkang GRC MPs Louis Chua and Associate Professor Jamus Lim reiterated this proposal in April 2022 during the parliamentary debate on the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development.
As Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru pointed out in her speech in October 2020, the current government policy, which allows fathers to share only up to four weeks of the mother’s leave, reinforces the outdated notion that childcare is primarily the mother’s responsibility, rather than promoting equal parenting roles.
In his speech, PM Wong also announced that starting in mid-2025, singles will be eligible for priority in Build-to-Order (BTO) flat applications if they wish to live with or near their families.
Currently, singles aged 35 and older can purchase new flats from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), but this option is limited to two-room Flexi flats.
PM Wong acknowledged that implementing major near-term changes would be challenging as the government works to increase the supply of new flats to meet demand.
However, he mentioned that one immediate step could be extending priority access to singles who wish to live near their parents.
Sengkang MP Louis Chua previously advocated lowering BTO eligibility age for singles to 28
In response, WP reiterated their call, first made in the 2020 Manifesto, to lower the eligibility age for singles to apply for a BTO flat from 35 to 28 years.
“We urge the government to make this deeper policy reform sooner, to more comprehensively allay concerns among singles regarding housing access.”
During his adjournment motion in September 2022, WP MP Louis Chua highlighted that singles under 35 who desire homeownership face the challenge of either purchasing costly private properties or renting in the competitive open market, where they might be priced out.
He proposed the provision of Central Provident Fund housing grants to singles on a tiered scale if the eligibility age is lowered to 28, with grants starting at a reduced amount and progressively increasing up to 35.
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Dr Chee : not addressing foreigners issues and high cost of lving, high cost of rentals, high food cost …….
TCB: They have lost their directions…
vote wisely. Yawn .Zz Zz Zz…..
Sometimes we realised that becos of faces, one party does not support the ideas of the other party, even though they are pragmatic solutions and practical. Instead, they manipulated the ideas, turned these ideas to their advantages and worse calling the ideas theirs and by another names. Haha, such a society isn’t healthy and works at the expense of the people on the street.
Previously, Jamus complained about Lim Tean, now they are supporting pap? The ndr is a jest, questions should be raised on its practicality.
Making extra salary every month from house more than $15,000 just by doing simple copy and paste like online job. I have received $18,000 from this easy home job. Everybody can now makes extra cash online easily.
By Just Follow…………………. Www.NetPay1.Com
This is the way to tell the difference between partisan members of an echo chamber and the true thinkers. I was so impressed to see the young people who made up the majority of those marching with religion *set aside* to take care of morals and ethics. Befitting of the ‘wankers’ tag.
Yoko’s song while in bed : “Collective backside relishes a thump”.
Bread’s Song: The Guitar Man
I don’t call them ‘wankers’ for fun sake.
You see lah, you ppl see how useless this WP is.
Everytime just want to say, PAP copy their ideas from them
That is all the WP can say ,do and wayang thru the 5 yrs each and every one of them did, when they were elected.
Its time another oppo party takes their place!
Sylvia ,and those old gang since LowTK time, you have earn enough as an MP, please leave your role for others who are better than you to do this job.
PSP looks promising TO KICK the F out WP if WP remain ever so accomodating.
Unfortunately no main stream media is prepared to publish these information lest their chief Editor gets buttered in the rear.
老劉
你又不是 香蕉人
用點 智慧 吧
I think PM policy is a policy for bosses to employ more foreigners. If more parental leave, then bosses choose to employ foreigners instead of Singaporeans. Many foreigners have no family or child are working in Singapore. If bosses employ more foreigners, Singaporeans will be unemployed and have to go train. More training benefit means it is a strong signal that more Singaporeans will be unemployed in future due bosses employing foreigners instead of Singaporeans. Training for Singaporeans but good jobs and opportunity for foreigners.
Deifintely we cant change employers mindset , can we?
They want cheap-err, faster-err and younger workers. What do you think?
As I have said, please take a walk and see where the jobs are and who are employed mostly ?
Changi Business Park, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar, Bugis, Marina Bay Sands, etc etc LOL
Definitely bosses may not be happy if staff takes so many leave whether its sick leave, parental leave, maternity leave ….tsk tsk tsk
Please bring down food prices from rising leh…..Sigh
Still ever so so polite, … not wanting to be aggressive or annoyingly over the top, when given ample opportunity or when the situation screams out for it !!! Unlike SillyPore, … in proper upstanding democracies, after a budget or airy~fairy speech, the opposition is there, at the ready gunning down and tearing apart all the idiotic and unworkable “solutions” announced, … supported by facts, stats and realities !!! Not in SillyPore, … where all opposition and critics are guarded and careful not to be pofmaed, humiliated or made to apologise in parliament or public !!! So sickening to witness,… Read more »
This is not a bad move so that those wanting goodies can be assured if Change, they too can get goodies