GE2020 constituency broadcasts: What Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC candidates have to say

SINGAPORE — The People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) candidates contesting in Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC) for the July 10 polls made their respective pitches to voters in a constituency political broadcast.

The four-men PAP team comprises incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) Ng Eng Hen, 61; Chee Hong Tat, 46; Mr Saktiandi Supaat, 46; and Mr Chong Kee Hiong, 54.

This is the third time the PAP stronghold will be up against the SPP team for Bishan-Toa Payoh. In the 2011 General Election (GE), PAP won 56.9 per cent of the vote and this went up to 73.6 per cent in the 2015 GE. 

Dr Ng, who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for two decades, said that this is the fourth major global crisis he has faced — after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003 and the global financial crisis in 2008.

He pledged assistance to residents who may lose their jobs during this crisis and outlined the work his team had done in its term, adding that it will continue to improve Bishan and Toa Payoh if elected. 

The SPP team comprises the party’s secretary-general and former Non-Constituency MP Steve Chia, 49; former Singaporeans First party member Melvyn Chiu, 40; Mr Williiamson Lee, 40; and former Reform Party member Osman Sulaiman, 45.

They reiterated the party’s call to scrap the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike and promised to hold the PAP Government accountable if elected. Mr Osman did not speak at the broadcast on Friday (July 3).

Mr Chia took over the party’s reins from former long-serving Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong. It will be the first time in SPP’s history that neither Mr Chiam nor his wife, Mrs Lina Chiam, will be contesting in the GE.

In these constituency political broadcasts, candidates vying for single-seat wards have three minutes each to speak. Those contesting in four- and five-member GRCs have 12 and 15 minutes respectively in total.

The broadcasts are being aired on Channel 5, CNA938, cna.asia, 8world.com, CNA YouTube, CNA Facebook and TODAY at 7pm from July 3 to 8.

PAP’S PROPOSALS

• Dr Ng said that in the last five years, amenities such as fitness stations fo seniors, markets and playgrounds as well as covered walkways have been improved and renovated in the GRC.

• The PAP team has also stepped up repainting works for all housing blocks and lift replacements while a new three-generation recreation park in Toa Payoh will be completed within a year.

• Dr Ng also pledged his assistance to vulnerable residents who may lose their jobs during this Covid-19 crisis. For those with financial difficulties, especially students, he promised to provide assistance through community scholarship, ComCare and welfare funds. ComCare provides social assistance for low-income individuals and families.

• He said that the PAP Government has promised to do all it can to reduce retrenchments and has “taken extraordinary measures” to draw out more than S$50 billion from past reserves to help companies keep workers through wage support. Self-employed persons are included in these schemes.

• Mr Chee said his focus at the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Trade and Industry is to create jobs. He added that to bring job-related services closer to residents, an SGUnited jobs and skills centre will be set up in both Bishan and Toa Payoh.

• Mr Chong said that mentorship programmes and free enrichment classes such as music, dance and taekwondo for children from vulnerable families will continue. So will a bursary programme to help targeted families.

• Mr Saktiandi Supaat said that close to 4,000 young residents have received community bursaries and bond-free scholarships in the last five years.

• He believes that Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC is a neighbourhood with a strong sense of community and this is its “first line of defence to the deep crisis we face today”.

Dr Ng said: “My colleagues and I will continue to improve Bishan and Toa Payoh if elected as your MPs. But I want to speak honestly and plainly when I say that the next few months will be difficult as the Covid-19 outbreak has affected our economy badly. As we have done so before, we will get through this crisis together.”

SPP’S PROPOSALS

• Mr Chiu said that the GE is “not about a report card for the PAP” or a fresh mandate for the ruling party, but about Singaporeans’ livelihood and futures.

• Singaporeans must question the need to raise GST to 9 per cent, the necessity to build Changi Airport Terminal 5 and “additional economic cooperation agreements”.

• Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Lee said that whenever he visited Bishan-Toa Payoh residents over the last few years, several social problems have consistently come up, such as the high cost of living. There are not enough jobs and the Government’s remedies for low-income families is not enough either, he said.

• Mr Chia gave six reasons why constituents should vote for SPP. Among others, he said that if they are elected, the candidates will become full-time MPs. They will also hold public officers to greater accountability. “We don’t want PAP to ‘ownself check ownself’.”

• The team is “small but strong” and has residents’ best interests at heart. He said that they are “candidates who seek to listen, take action and serve; candidates who are willing to receive your calls and messages personally and go down to meet you in person to help with your problems”.

• Mr Chia said that the PAP Government has also failed to solve many areas of growing concern, such as stagnating wages and Housing and Development Board flats growing out of the reach of young people. Foreigners are also competing for good jobs with Singaporeans.

• SPP proposes a minimum wage law to protect Singaporeans, saying that the Constitution should also not be amended to suit the PAP’s objectives.

Mr Chia said: “If elected, we will commit to (serve) you as full-time MPs... MPs who will always be available to you to attend to your concerns. We want to listen to you with empathy and address your needs.”