Desmond Choo on Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill

Co-operatives play a crucial role in promoting the public good and these amendments will empower them to better serve their members and the community and ultimately Singapore, said MP Desmond Choo. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (Apr 3), he pointed out that co-operatives are also important institutions for nation-building, such as FairPrice, which seeks to moderate the cost of living for Singaporeans. Mr Choo also proposed ways to support co-operatives. He pointed out there is a diverse range of co-operatives with different levels of resources and governance capabilities. He suggested enabling the well-governed and better-performing ones to take slightly more investment risks or distribute more surpluses to members. He also urged the Government to explore ways to help co-operatives modernise and access productivity grants which are currently available to small- and medium-sized enterprises.