MPs should come from the ground, says NSP head
There is still unhappiness on the ground, despite the PAP’s assertion that it has introduced measures to improve Singaporeans’ lives, said Mr Teo. Photo: Hon Jing Yi/TODAY
SINGAPORE — National Solidarity Party chief Sebastian Teo yesterday (Sept 2) criticised the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) slate of candidates, which includes high-flyers plucked from the civil service and the military.
“The army should go to battle. The surgeons should go to hospitals. Why should they go to the ministries?” said Mr Teo to reporters, after a walkabout on yesterday morning at Tampines Round Market and Food Centre. “(An) MP should come from the ground ... from all walks, not the army, the police, the government servants ... They should stay in the government service (to serve the public).”
Mr Teo is leading the party’s five-member team in the contest at Tampines GRC against a PAP’s line-up helmed by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat.
There is still unhappiness on the ground, despite the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) assertion that it has introduced measures to improve Singaporeans’ lives, said Mr Teo.
The party, which also released its manifesto yesterday, says it plans to hold four rallies, beginning tomorrow.
The six-page manifesto, under the slogan “Singaporeans Deserve Better!”, details the party’s plans to push for change in four “critical areas” if elected into Parliament — the protection of Singapore jobs, over-population, return of Central Provident Fund savings and the inequality gap.
In the document, the NSP painted a bleak picture of Singapore’s current climate, saying that the average Singaporean’s standard of living has declined in the four years since the 2011 General Election.
The opposition party also said that the rising cost of living is the source of stress for the lower- and middle-income groups, the poor, the young, the elderly and “working people struggling to make ends meet”.
The NSP also argued that there should be quotas imposed on foreign PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) seeking employment here, in order to protect Singapore jobs, and highlighted an “urgent need to narrow the widening inequality gap”.
And it wants help for parents in raising their children, up to age 18, to boost birth rates.
Speaking to the media before a separate walkabout at Yishun Avenue 11, Sembawang GRC candidate Mr Spencer Ng said his team does not feel daunted going up against the PAP team led by National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan. “As long as we are serving Singapore and her citizens, we are pretty confident,” said Mr Ng. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOUISA TANG
