The Worker’s Party’s (WP) claims credit for 15 government policies. They could not have intended this, but this speaks well of the PAP.
Unlike opposition parties elsewhere who habitually highlight government failures, the WP touts its alignment with PAP’s successes instead. They agree so much with the PAP, they claim our policies came from them. Imitation, as they say, is the sincerest form of flattery.
Diverse views in policymaking, not a solo effort
No one has a monopoly on ideas. In fact, many ideas claimed by WP were in fact raised by PAP MPs and others years earlier. (Read more here.)
For instance, PAP MPs called for increased and more flexible parental leave as early as 2008 — predating WP’s 2020 Manifesto. Likewise, PAP’s Ms Carrie Tan proposed interim rental subsidy for families in financial hardship in 2022, a year before WP’s Louis Chua raised a similar suggestion.
When suggestions are raised, the Government needs time to weigh the trade-offs. Careful consideration is necessary, including assessing the implementation details, before suggestions can be converted into policies and then put into action.
Take WP’s proposed Redundancy Insurance Scheme: The Government realised WP’s scheme would impose additional costs on businesses and employees. So it worked with SNEF and NTUC to develop the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme (See Comrade Tan See Leng’s article on this).
This provides temporary support to unemployed workers without reducing their incentive to find meaningful employment – and, crucially, without burdening businesses and employees with extra costs.
Similarly, WP’s 2017 suggestion on dealing with ERP arrears: They proposed taxpayers bear the administrative charges, not motorists.
LTA had clarified in September 2024 that the Government leveraged ERP2.0 capabilities and reengineered its processes to grant motorists a 5-day grace period to pay their arrears without burdening taxpayers with the administrative costs.
Unintended consequences
In some cases, had the Government heeded WP’s proposals, the consequences would have been severe.
Consider WP’s position on BTOs: In 2023, it urged the Government to reduce BTO waiting times, conveniently overlooking its 2019 call to slow construction because the resale market for HDB flats then was soft. The WP in fact had suggested we build no more than 9,000 BTO flats annually.
Fortunately, we continued to build more.
Had we accepted the WP’s suggestion, the shortfall during the COVID period, when construction came to a halt, would have been far worse and the waiting times for BTO flats would have got far longer.
Since 2021, we have worked hard and will fulfil our promise to build over 100,000 units within five years to make up for the COVID shortfalls, and BTO waiting times are coming down.
Claiming wins, ignoring differences
The WP has even claimed credit for policies that deviated from its initial suggestions.
For instance, in 2023, Ms Sylvia Lim urged the Government to mandate banks to fully reimburse scam victims. The Government explained that full restitution without assessing culpability would be wrong.
Bizarrely, the WP now claims Ms Lim’s proposal influenced the increase in the adjudicated award limit for financial disputes between consumers and financial institutions. Surely it knows mandating banks bear full responsibility is fundamentally different from having an impartial dispute resolution mechanism determining the quantum?
We welcome all constructive ideas — including from the Opposition. But we wonder why the WP seems so desperate as to claim credit for the PAP’s policies? We are gratified however they think so well of our accomplishments.
