The Workers’ Party (WP) previously claimed credit for 15 initiatives of the PAP Government.
But there are some proposals truly theirs they have not taken credit for suggesting.
#1 Borrowing money
In September 2020, WP’s Jamus Lim urged the Government to exploit low interest rates and borrow more money to fund routine spending. He suggested it again in 2021.
Inflation subsequently surged and interest rates spiked worldwide.
When that happened, in 2024 Assoc Prof Lim completely reversed himself, saying instead that we should “be more guarded about how much we borrow.”
If Assoc Prof Lim’s suggestion had been implemented, Singapore would now be saddled with unnecessary debt. Your tax dollars would have to be spent on interest payments instead of critical public services.
Under the WP, significant debt would have been accumulated that Singaporeans would have had to pay off.
The PAP does not gamble with your money. We have been good stewards of your money for the last 60 years. That is how we accumulated strong reserves.
#2 Spend land sales
The WP has suggested we spend the proceeds of land sales, instead of saving them in our reserves. That is also how Hong Kong funds much of its spending.
Proceeds from land sales in Hong Kong have been falling in recent years, resulting in three budget deficits in four years. This year, Hong Kong had to cut expenditure drastically because land sales fell sharply.
If the WP’s suggestion had been implemented, our annual budgets have been exposed to volatile land sales, rather than the reliable income generated from reserves. Singaporeans would have been forced to endure cuts to essential services like healthcare, education and housing.
The PAP has always prioritised long-term fiscal sustainability over short-term fiscal gambits.
#3 Minimum wage as a political auction?
In 2020, then-NTUC deputy secretary-general Dr Koh Poh Koon warned that minimum wage would become a “political auction”, with political parties trying to outbid each other to gain votes.
That prediction has now become reality.
The WP suggested a minimum wage of $1,300 in their 2020 manifesto.
On April 6, the Progress Singapore Party released its manifesto, calling for a minimum wage of $2,250.
Possibly worried about being outdone, the WP released its manifesto on April 18th, with a revised minimum wage of $1,600. This will hurt small businesses and workers alike.
#4 Spend reserves
The WP wants to spend more of the income from our reserves. Instead of the current 50 per cent, they would like to spend 60 per cent of the Net Investment Return.
As their minimum wage plan has shown, the limits can always increase. There is nothing to stop them from spending 75 per cent, 100 per cent or even 125 per cent next.
If we spend more of the income, we will slow the growth of our reserves, and leave less for future generations of Singapore.
This issue is fundamental to our future. The choice before Singaporeans is stark: Either we continue to abide by the principles that allowed us to accumulate and then preserve our reserves – this unique national resource; or we accept the Workers’ Party’s proposals and allow this resource to be whittled away.
We are facing a global crisis. Nobody can predict how the economic situation will unfold in the coming years. We may very well need to draw on our reserves again, as we did during COVID, to help our people through the storm.
Let’s keep faith with the generations that toiled and sacrificed to gift us this unique national resource. Let’s not squander it.
#5 GST – No, maybe, don’t know
The WP’s position on GST is unclear. They once strongly opposed GST entirely – even when it was introduced at 3 per cent.
However, in 2023, they changed their position from opposing GST entirely to accepting the 7 per cent rate as a “structural part of the government revenue mix”. It was only opposing the 2 per cent increase to 9 per cent, it said.
Their 2025 GE manifesto does not say if they believe we should have GST and at what rate. Instead, the WP claims now there are alternative revenue streams such as increased corporate taxes, even though these would not generate enough for our increased spending in healthcare and other social services.
#6 Build fewer BTO flats
In 2019, the WP warned of a “vacancy rate problem” and proposed capping BTO construction at 9,000 flats annually.
Fortunately, HDB continued to launch about 15,000 to 17,000 new BTO units per year.
Had the Government listened to the WP in 2019, we would have had an even greater shortfall of BTO flats during COVID.
WP’s Louis Chua co-authored a report in his professional capacity as a financial analyst, stating public housing was affordable for the average household. However, three months later in Parliament, he claimed public housing was unaffordable.
The PAP has always prioritised access to affordable and good housing.
It does not help Singaporeans when Workers’ Party MPs aren’t consistent in what they say.
