Workers’ Party strived to improve lives of Singaporeans in 2022 by speaking up in Parliament: Pritam Singh
SINGAPORE: Workers' Party (WP) secretary-general Pritam Singh said that the party strived to improve the lives of the communities it serves, and of all Singaporeans by speaking up in Parliament on key issues in 2022.
"The Workers’ Party believes that the struggle for dignity is common to our humanity and thus the voices of the people must be heard," Mr Singh said on Saturday (Dec 31) in his new year message.
In Parliament, Mr Singh said that WP's Members of Parliament (MPs) brought up the related issues of inflation, higher interest rates and rising cost of living arising from public services such as utilities and public transport, and what may be done to mitigate its impact or stay ahead of the situation.
"We objected to the GST rate hike as being ill-timed against this inflationary backdrop and proposed other ways to generate government revenue such as a wealth tax and making corporate tax more progressive," said Mr Singh.
He highlighted various counter-inflationary proposals the party put forward, including strengthening the Singapore dollar in real terms to make imports cheaper.
The party also voiced concerns about housing in Singapore, arguing for more options, like an expanded public and subsidised rental scheme for the wider population to support the diverse needs of Singaporeans, and to lower the age singles may buy Build-To-Order (BTO) flats from 35 to 28, he said.
"As HDB resale and BTO prices headed upwards well into the second half of 2022, WP MPs probed the reasons for the sky high resale flat prices and asked HDB to reveal the costs of developing new flats," said Mr Singh.
"Even when told that some of the data we asked for would not be 'meaningful', we pressed on. We did so because Singaporeans have a right to know more details behind one of the biggest financial outlays in their lifetime."
Additionally, the party addressed issues related to jobs, retrenchment, re-employment and livelihoods, scrutinising new schemes that were introduced to regulate and encourage the hiring of foreigners, including what benefits these schemes will bring for Singaporean employees, he said.
Mr Singh added that WP proposed enhancements to the Employment Pass (EP) framework as well as issuing fixed-term EPs that cannot be renewed once they expire. This is to better incentivise employers to hire and train Singaporeans to fill those positions before the EPs expire, and ensure more knowledge and skills will be transferred to Singaporeans.
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
His new year message also highlighted several WP initiatives for communities.
This included a National Day dinner that the party held on Aug 13 for residents of WP-held wards, which saw nearly 1,400 people attend.
WP's Youth Wing and Policy Research Team jointly organised the WP Youth Wing Policy Challenge 2022 for Singaporeans aged 40 and below to submit a one-page outline of their proposed speech in Parliament, consult MPs to fine-tune their proposals and then defend and debate them in a public session.
The initiative was launched to provide youths with a platform to try their hand at parliamentary work, said Mr Singh, citing president of the WP Youth Wing Nicole Seah.
"We were heartened by the response from many young Singaporeans, which augurs well for the future of our nation."
Mr Singh also highlighted WP's Handyman Subsidy Scheme, which subsidises household repairs to help residents who live alone in WP wards. The scheme covers general handyman work in homes, beyond just electrical and plumbing repairs.
He concluded his message by expressing his gratitude to all residents, volunteers, supporters, donors and party members who kept faith with the party in the past year.
