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Straits Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
GE2025: PAP adopts our ideas as policy but won't give us any credit, says SDP's Chee Soon Juan
SDP chief Chee Soon Juan (third from right) and the party's candidates for Sembawang GRC (from left) Damanhuri Abas, Surayah Akbar, Bryan Lim, Alfred Tan and James Gomez at a rally on April 30. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI GE2025: PAP adopts our ideas as policy but won't give us any credit, says SDP's Chee Soon Juan Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE - The PAP has in the past criticised the Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) policy proposals, only to adopt several of them later, said SDP chief Chee Soon Juan. 'During elections, the PAP will slam the opposition for its alternative proposals, and after elections, it will adopt our ideas – but it won't give (us) any credit,' he told the party's supporters on April 30. Speaking at a rally for Sembawang GRC near Sun Plaza just days ahead of the May 3 General Election, Dr Chee laid claim to three proposals by the SDP that have since become policy. The first is an unemployment insurance scheme to provide retrenched workers with temporary financial assistance. Initially criticised in 2016 by then Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam as a 'populist policy', Dr Chee said that eight years later, a very similar policy – the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme – was announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in 2024 . Second, the SDP had proposed a higher income tax for Singapore's top earners to offset a reduction of the goods and services tax (GST) for basic goods. In 2015, the Government announced during the Budget that it would increase taxes on the rich, raising marginal tax rates for the top 5 per cent of income earners. Dr Chee pointed out that the SDP had also called for a minimum wage policy from as early as 2001. However, the policy was rejected by former manpower minister Lim Swee Say 'as a policy that would erode Singapore's competitiveness'. 'Then, in 2012, the PAP introduced a progressive wage model, which is similar to our proposal. It just set the minimum wage of $1,000 for low-income workers in selected sectors,' he said. He added that Health Minister Ong Ye Kung is now doing the same by criticising the SDP's policy proposals for healthcare and housing, claiming they are not feasible or realistic. Mr Ong is helming the PAP team in Sembawang GRC against the SDP and National Solidarity Party (NSP) in a three-cornered fight. During a PAP rally at the same venue on April 28, Mr Ong had scoffed at the SDP's proposals, saying: 'When something sounds so good, it is usually fake.' Said Dr Chee, who is contesting in Sembawang West SMC: 'So may I remind you... first they criticise, then they copy.' Earlier in the night, SDP's five-member Sembawang slate – party vice-chair Bryan Lim, 49; treasurer Surayah Akbar, 42; deputy head of policy James Gomez, 60; as well as party members Damanhuri Abas, 54; and Alfred Tan, 59 – also took turns to rebut Mr Ong's remarks on April 28. They took issue with Mr Ong's claim that the SDP's housing policies appeared to be borrowed from the Progress Singapore Party's playbook, particularly the proposal to remove land costs from the prices of Build-to-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance flats. Ms Surayah, Mr Damanhuri and Mr Tan pointed out that the SDP had proposed the non-open market BTO flat scheme much earlier, in 2019. Non-open market BTO flats are Housing Board flats that are priced based on construction and administrative costs only, and exclude inflated land costs. 'To accuse the SDP of imitation is not only inaccurate, (but) it also distracts from the real housing issues facing Singaporeans today – runaway resale prices, housing insecurity for young families, and financial burdens on working citizens,' said Ms Surayah. Dr Gomez said that young people want affordable housing to start families sans worries about costs and other expenditures. 'Increasingly, for young people, a home is a place to live, not just to be a stock to flip down the line,' he said. 'For young Singaporeans, what matters most is affordable housing to start their independent lives.' Dr Gomez also reiterated SDP's call for mental health to be a critical component of Singapore's healthcare system. He was backed by Dr Chee, who outlined a vision of Singapore that prioritises happiness and well-being over 'GDP growth at all costs'. He said Singapore should be a place 'where success is not measured by how many foreign billionaires we can attract, but by how secure and supported every Singaporean feels', and where the Government listens and responds beyond election periods. Dr Chee added that the PAP's path is one that 'leads us right back to the problems we are drowning in – an unbearable cost of living, crushing mental stress, (and) a government that gerrymanders instead of listens'. At the rally, SDP chairman Paul Tambyah also shared a vision for a Singapore that includes a mandatory national health insurance scheme, a nationalised pre-school education programme, the removal of the PSLE exam, and greater freedom for individuals to pursue interests beyond traditional pathways, such as in the arts and culture. SDP is the only party to have held rallies every night since they kicked off on April 24. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
AsiaOne
30-04-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
'Criticise first, copy later': Chee Soon Juan accuses PAP of adopting SDP's policy ideas, Singapore News
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan has upped the ante following Health Minister Ong Ye Kung's criticism of the party's policies, suggesting it is the People's Action Party's (PAP) "favourite playbook". "Four words —criticise first, copy later," said Dr Chee at a rally in Sembawang on Wednesday (April 30). "During elections, the PAP will slam the opposition for its alternative proposals, for our ideas. "But after elections, it will adopt our ideas, but it won't give any credit." Dr Chee, who is standing in the new Sembawang West SMC, cited several examples to prove his point. The first was SDP's proposal on an unemployment insurance scheme which provide retrenched workers with financial assistance and support for re-employment. "But in the 2016 Bukit Batok by-election, Mr Tharman, who was Deputy Prime Minister, accused the SDP of pushing for populist policies whose idea would be costly," said Dr Chee. "Eight years later, Mr Lawrence Wong announced the PAP would implement such a scheme and called it SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme. Same thing, different name, that's all." The second proposal that PAP adopted, Dr Chee said, was the progressive wage model in 2012 , adding that the then Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say had rejected in 2001. He said: "And now in this election, Mr Ong is doing the same thing. He is criticising our policies.. asking us where the money is going to come from? "He said our healthcare proposal sounds so easy and good, but its fake. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" On Monday (April 28), Ong highlighted two SDP manifesto policies — healthcare and housing — called them "mere populist calls" aimed at winning seats in Parliament. SDP suggested the creation of healthcare clusters — the National Healthcare Group, the National University Health System, and Singhealth — has resulted in "significant" wastage and duplication, and asked for the system to be "abandoned". Ong said that such a merger could result in administrative staff being retrenched. He also questioned SDP's call for maternal and paediatric services to be largely free and funded by the government from taxes. And he said that SDP's housing policy, which called for the removal of land costs from the prices of Build-to-Order and Sale of Balance flats, is similar to a proposal from another opposition party. He also asked for SDP to "explain honestly" what it was suggesting and said its proposals show the opposition party does not know how public policies work. In his speech at a field outside Sun Plaza, Dr Chee said: "So I may remind you of Mr Tharman… and Mr Lim Swee Say. First they criticise, then they copied. "Mr Ong will tell you that the SDP's proposals are useless and the PAP's the best… and then he will adopt our ideas. "The SDP has been able to get these policies implemented while we are not in Parliament. Just imagine what we can do if we have SDP MPs?" The SDP is fielding 11 candidates in four constituencies this General Election — Bukit Panjang SMC, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Sembawang GRC and Sembawang West SMC. Earlier, SDP chairman Paul Tambyah, who is contesting the Bukit Panjang SMC, used his speech to outline his vision for Singapore. "A place where everyone can thrive and not just survive," he said, referring to his party's campaign motto. Professor Tambyah shared other policy ideas from his party, including retrenchment insurance, support for seniors, and for the country's sports teams to be "world class". "I know this sounds like an utopia, but it's all eminently achievable," he said. Prof Tambyah urged voters to put SDP's candidates in Parliament to hold the Government accountable "if they fall short of our vision for Singapore". "If we do well in the next five years, who knows? In GE2030 we could put up more candidates, and maybe in the future, you'd get us in the position to make some of these real changes," he said. The other speakers at the rally included SDP's five-member slate for Sembawang GRC, consisting of the party's deputy head of policy James Gomez, 60, vice-chairman Bryan Lim, 49, treasurer Surayah Akbar, 42, and members Alfred Tan, 59 and Damanhuri Abas, 54. [[nid:717047]] chingshijie@
