Tag: WP

Having Overcome Numerous Obstacles, WP Confident Of Pressing On

Four years ago during the 2011 General Elections, the Workers’ Party’s last rally in Serangoon Stadium was massive – and this year’s rally saw a similar turn-out.

The only difference is that WP could now claim Aljunied GRC as their own “home ground” after the results in 2011, since they managed to win the constituency with over 50 per cent of the votes.

In their speeches for the night, the WP showcased a wide range of issues – ranging from the many obstacles the opposition town council has faced the last four years, to municipal and national issues.

Expressing gratitude and promising diligence

Almost all the speakers’ spoke of their sense of immense pride for Aljunied GRC and how the voters have “made history” by voting their party into Parliament.

Sylvia Lim

“As I was preparing my speech for tonight, I couldn’t help but feel a rush of deep yet raw emotion, reflecting on our experience for the past 4 years, as your MPs in Aljunied GRC,” party chairman, Sylvia Lim, said.

“For the first time in Singapore’s history, a GRC fell to an opposition party,” she added, drawing loud cheers from the packed stadium in Serangoon.

Her Aljunied GRC colleague, Pritam Singh, said, “You make me so proud to be a Singaporean. I look forward to the future not with dread, but with keen anticipation, that we will become an even more united multiracial society that is marked by respect and tolerance.”

Candidate for Aljunied GRC Faisal Manap thanked the Aljunied residents for being his “inspiration and (his) teacher.”

Other than expressing gratitude, the candidates also pledged their continued hard work to “serve the residents” of their respective GRCs if they should get voted in again.

In her speech, Ms Lim once again spoke of AHPETC and admitted that the town council had some “financial issues” at first, but they have “worked hard” in the past term, and all of them have “put (their) minds and hearts to be good MPs” for the residents. As a result, the financial accounts of the town council have now turned positive and Ms Lim said the town council will do even better, going forward.

From upgrading works to new places of convenience, Ms Lim said that WP has “made improvements” despite the initial financial problems.

Moreover, Mr Singh also mentioned an article from TODAY that included interviews with several residents of Aljunied GRC that applauded WP for their “human touch” and the effort put into making the vicinity a better place to live in.

“The Town Council has completed repainting 1/3 of the blocks in the GRC, and we have proceeded with major works to re-roof flats and replace playgrounds and fitness corners,” Mr Singh said.

He also noted that the TODAY report quoted Aljunied residents saying that the MPs were “more visible on the ground than compared to the PAP MPs of the past.” Mr Singh said the “human touch” is what the residents “deserve” and can expect from WP.

“We work on your behalf, and we are privileged to be of service to you again,” he added.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap also expressed his thoughts about WP’s moral philosophy – that they hope to embody “humanist values” to make policies and be a “kind political party”.

The politics behind using community facilities

Another issue that was raised was how opposition wards seem to be treated differently by the government compared to other PAP wards.

Secretary-general of WP, Low Thia Khiang, speaking in Chinese, said, “After the last election, the first thing that they did was to immediately lease out certain community spaces under the previous Aljunied Town Council to the People’s Association. Examples of this include badminton courts and basketball courts.”

He said that if the Aljunied Town Council or a resident wants to use the spaces for activities, they will have to go through People’s Association and only when the PA or its grassroots organisations approve of the application will the National Environment Agency (NEA), for example, give the go-ahead.

“Some residents who wish to hold events in some HDB-owned community spaces also have to seek permission from the HDB,” Mr Low said. “They have complained to me about this before. The process of approval is very long and can take up to 2 months – because they also need to get permission from the PA. Even after I, as the MP, have written personal letters in attempts to get the events approved quicker, it still does not work.”

Ms Lim also added to the issue of unfair treatment in her rally speech.

“We had to form our own grassroots from scratch, there was no way the PA network would work with us,” she revealed.

“Residents were warned by PA representatives not to invite us to events held on those sites or they will not get future approval to use the sites. This led to some dinner organisers having to uninvite Chen Show Mao from a 7^thmonth dinner at Paya Lebar. The organisers were so distraught they wrote a card apologizing to Show Mao. Why must residents be treated this way?”

Ms Lim also made another revelation of the unfair treatment from the government, particularly the People’s Association.

For example, she cited the display of bannerettes in the constituency during National Day.

These would be put up all around Singapore during the period.

From the logos on the bannerettes, it is evident that these banners were “put up by the PA, the CDC and often the Town Council of the area”.

When the WP took over Aljunied, they found out from past town council records that the PA would put up these banners with co-funding from the PAP-run Aljunied Town Council.

However, when the WP took over in 2011, the PA has refused their requests to similarly co-fund such display of bannerettes for National Day.

“According to the PA Act, one of PA’s objective is the fostering of community bonding and strengthening of social cohesion in the people of Singapore. Are they doing that in Aljunied GRC? Are they uniting or dividing?” Ms Lim asked.

She also revealed that not only did the WP had to build up its own grassroots from scratch, even the computer system (which got completely eradicated with their takeover from the previous town council) also needed to be created from scratch.

As for the town council’s financial matters, Ms Lim noted how the town council was subjected to a 10-month Auditor General’s scrutiny, a special two-day debate in Parliament on the issue, a High Court hearing, and with the case pending before the Court of Appeal.

Candidate for Hougang SMC, Mr Png Eng Huat, also highlighted how the Ministry of National development has withheld government grants to the WP town council, even though its accounts have been submitted.

Despite all these challenges, Ms Lim told residents that the WP has “fought back” and “overcome many challenges”.

“We are still here!” she said, to loud cheers from the crowd.

A vote for “stability”

Mr Low spoke of the importance of ensuring Singapore’s stability.

He used the analogy of transport – that it is precisely because one assumes that our transport system is “perfect” that one “takes it for granted”. Therefore, when the train breaks down, “the system did not prepare well enough to handle it smoothly”. Similarly, like a government system, it would always be a good thing to spend effort fostering other parties as a contingency if the ruling party does “break down” eventually.

Pritam Singh

Mr Singh equated a vote for WP to be “a vote for stability”.

He wishes for the 40 per cent of voters who are “not persuaded by the PAP” to have the “space and opportunity” to join in the prospects of Singapore and “co-creating a home in the image of all Singaporeans and not just in the image of a group of PAP leaders”.

He added that some PAP MPs had extremely little to say in Parliament, citing the examples of several PAP MPs who either did not speak up at all in Parliament the last four years, or who spoke only once or twice.

Mr Singh said that contrary to what the PAP would say, Singapore would “need more opposition MPs to make the PAP MPs attend Parliament.”

He urged for those who do not treasure and take Parliament sittings seriously to “give up” their seat to someone else who deserves it more.

Candidate for Aljunied GRC, Chen Show Mao, said the WP has an “obligation to tell (the current government) we feel you are going in the wrong direction, but we also feel that we have a responsibility to work with you to ensure safe passage for all the passengers.”

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

September 9, 2015
5 Policies From WP Manifesto That Will Make Singapore A Better Place

1. Priority given to foreigners with Singaporean spouse and children for citizenship

WP believes that the best way to integrate immigrants is through the family unit and not through importing foreign labour who have no roots in Singapore. Singaporeans with a non-citizen spouse often face disruptions to their family life which creates stress and anxiety for the child when they have to separate from one parent who is on a short-term visit pass. Giving foreign spouses priority for citizenship after 5 years on the long-term visit pass will help alleviate the situation for this group of people.

WP also suggests that other than foreign spouses, only permanent residents with at least 5 years of uninterrupted residencey should be eligle for citizenship.

2. Mandatory unemployment insurance

WP proposes a employment security fund which requires both employers and employees to share a 0.1% contribution of the basic salary towards the scheme. In the event on voluntary unemployment, the fund will pay out 40% of your last drawn salary up to a monthly salary cap of the prevailing median wage for the next 6 months.

3. Holistic and equitable education system

WP proposes a 10 year through-train program where high stakes exams will be dropped and children will only take their first exam at 16 years of age. This will allow them to learn at their own pace and develop other skills and interests. Class sizes will also be reduced for teachers to dedicate more time and attention on each individual student. The government will also put in $10K into the CDA account of all parents instead of the current dollar-for-dollar matching practise.

4. Making public housing more affordable

WP proposes that the prices of HDB to be de-linked from land cost which means that BTO flats prices will be reduced drastically. They suggest that the price of BTO flats be 25% of the median monthly household income of applicants serving a 20 year loan after a 10% downpayment. There will also be discounts for lower income applicants of 2 and 3 room flats.

WP also suggests that ethnic quotas for housing to be removed so that Singaporeans have the freedom to choose their homes regardless of race, language or religion.

5. Abolish the ISA and CLTP Act

WP believes that there should be more trust-building and due process in our criminal justice system. They call for the abolishment of Criminal Law Temporary Provision and the Internal Security Act, both of which provides for detention without trial. CLTP is targeted at drug lords, ah long san and criminal gang leaders while ISA is for terrorist cases and spies. To tackle the problem of terrorism, a dedicated anti-terrorism law should be enabled so that the authorities can make swift arrests and detain suspects without trial.

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

September 8, 2015
Faisal Manap Berusaha Kekalkan Kerusi Bagi Penggal Kedua

MEREKA menyapa beliau dan menyambut mesra risalah yang dihulurkan, malah ada juga penduduk yang sempat berbisik, “jangan khuatir saya sokong anda”.

Gelagat dan reaksi positif sedemikian menguatkan lagi azam Encik Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, 40 tahun, agar terus berkhidmat dan memastikan Parti Pekerja (WP) mencatatkan kemenangan di GRC Aljunied, sekali gus mempertahankan kubu mereka daripada dirampas semula oleh parti pemerintah.

“Kebanyakan penduduk di kawasan undi Kaki Bukit yang membentuk sebahagian daripada GRC Aljunied mendiami flat jenis dua, tiga dan empat bilik.

“Umumnya, mereka warga biasa, pekerja biasa dan kami memahami isu yang dihadapi mereka, baik dari segi tekanan akibat kos kehidupan dan kos perubatan yang semakin meningkat ataupun kebanjiran pekerja asing yang membataskan peluang pekerjaan untuk rakyat. Jadi kami akan terus menyuarakan keprihatinan mereka,” ujarnya yang berusaha mengekalkan kedudukannya bagi penggal kedua.

Kemenangan Encik Muhamad Faisal dalam pilihan raya umum 2011 turut mencatat sejarah tersendiri apabila beliau menjadi calon Melayu pertama daripada parti pembangkang yang memenangi kerusi parlimen.

Dalam usaha mengukuhkan barisan alternatif, parti pembangkang telah menampilkan seramai 16 calon Melayu/Islam dalam pilihan raya umum kali ini, berbanding 13 dalam pilihan raya umum lalu.

Dalam wawancara itu, Encik Muhamad Faisal turut menekankan pentingnya masyarakat Melayu memberi sokongan kepada barisan alternatif Melayu kerana ia dapat mengukuhkan lagi kesejahteraan masyarakat.

WP sendiri menampilkan tiga karyawan Melayu berkelulusan sarjana – Encik Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36 tahun, mantan pegawai Lembaga Perpustakaan Negara; Encik Redzwan Hafidz Abdul Razak, 30 tahun, jurutera; dan Encik Firuz Khan, 48 tahun, pengusaha coklat, ChocolateXcellence, yang berpangkalan di Wales, Britain.

“Kita perlu saling bantu-membantu dan lengkap-melengkapi. Dalam era sekarang, kita tidak boleh mempunyai hanya seseorang atau sesebuah pertubuhan sahaja yang boleh berdiri secara sendiri bagi mencapai satu kebaikan.

“Saya rasa, dasarnya ialah nilai untuk bekerjasama, agar saling lengkap-melengkapi, itu sangat diperlukan terutamanya dalam masa sekarang.

“Kalau kita tengok, maaf kata, selama 50 tahun ini, PAP telah menerajui masyarakat Melayu/Islam Singapura kita tetapi jika kita tengok pada ‘Suara Musyawarah’, di mana ia satu koleksi suara masyarakat Melayu/Islam, menunjukkan lebih banyak lagi yang perlu dilakukan masyarakat,” katanya.

“Sejak lima dekad lalu, PAP masih belum dapat (memenuhi) apa yang diinginkan masyarakat.

“Jadi saya rasa, sudah tiba masanya agar diadakan satu barisan alternatif bagi melengkapi apa yang telah kita ada sekarang,” ujar wakil rakyat itu sebagai mengakhiri perbualan.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

September 8, 2015
Goh Chok Tong: Aljunied Voters Still Undecided

Many residents in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) seem to be unable to decide which party to vote for in the upcoming election, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who urged voters in the Opposition-held ward to consider their own interests when casting their vote.

“My sense of the ground is that many are caught in a dilemma. They told us quite openly they want to support the People’s Action Party (PAP), but at the same time, they are afraid that if they vote for the PAP, then the Workers’ Party (WP) may be out. And therefore, there’ll be no Opposition party headed by Mr Low Thia Khiang and Ms Sylvia Lim in Parliament,” he said after a visit to Bedok North and Hougang Central, his second visit to the GRC in three weeks.

To solve their problem, Mr Goh advised residents to consider their own interests as voters.

“Because when you vote for somebody, you must vote for candidates whose values you appreciate — values like humility, sincerity, hard work, integrity, honesty,” he said.

Apart from that, residents should also vote for their own as well as their children’s future, he added. “Who can help you better in the future? If you rationalise and look at these two (criteria), then you can come to a decision.”

Mr Goh, who is contesting in the neighbouring Marine Parade GRC, likened the choice between the PAP and the WP to one of choosing which cruise ship to take.

“If you go with the PAP, you’re actually embarking on a cruise ship with a definite destination. You know the destination, you know the journey, the path taken by the cruise ship. You know the captain, the crew members, you know the quality,” he said.

“The other choice you’re given is, ‘Take my cruise ship (that is) going nowhere’ … These are gambling ships (with) casinos, very exciting. They say, ‘Take my ship, you can gamble, but we go nowhere, just go round and round,’” he added.

Mr Goh said: “If you’re a gambler, then of course, you take the casino ship. But if you’re not a gambler and you worry about your children’s future, you’ll take the other ship.”

On voters’ concern that the Opposition would lose its presence in Parliament if residents voted for the PAP, Mr Goh said the WP can “have their cake and eat it”, referring to the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament scheme, which gives the top Opposition losers seats in Parliament. If the WP loses the election, it will still have a strong voice in Parliament, but not have to run a town council.

The WP’s management of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council’s finances has been the subject of a series of heated exchanges between the PAP and the WP during the hustings.

“They would be more free to write more great speeches, to make more great rhetoric in Parliament,” Mr Goh said.

The PAP’s team in its contest for Aljunied GRC consists of Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, who is a four-term Member of Parliament, as well as four newcomers — lawyer Muralidharan Pillai; Mr Victor Lye, chief executive of an insurance firm; Mr Chua Eng Leong, a private banker; and Mr Shamsul Kamar, a former head of department at a school.

They will face WP chief Low Thia Khiang, party chairperson Sylvia Lim, Mr Pritam Singh, Mr Chen Show Mao and Mr Faisal Manap, who are incumbents.

Mr Goh’s visit comes a day after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited the Opposition-held ward.

Asked if his and Mr Lee’s visits could sway residents to vote for the PAP, Mr Goh said that for the people whom they have met, it would. But he added that those who were not present at their visits were the ones whom the party needed to reach out to.

“We can’t take things for granted. It is still very much an uphill task for the team over here. It’s not easy … They’ve got to work for every vote,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

September 7, 2015
WP’s Leon Perera – He’s Immensely Awesome

So, previously, when we covered the Workers’ Party’s final candidate introduction, where Leon Perera was unveiled, attention was regrettably drawn away from him and to (what else but) AHPETC.

We now regret this unfortunate event, for my, were we impressed with Perera’s latest speech at the WP’s East Coast GRC rally on Sunday night.

Perera was the eighth speaker to take to the podium that evening, following candidates from Nee Soon and Jalan Besar GRC, and also after running teammates Daniel Goh and Mohamed Fairoz Shariff — but what he said in his speech made any concern about him being dwarfed by Goh or his succeeding speaker Gerald Giam combust quicker than a cartoon character being fried to a crisp.

Now, the Oxford double-first-class degree-holder spoke for 15 minutes, so we understand it might not be easy to sit through it all. But just like how we said DPM and Finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s video was totally worth watching (and it’s double the length), we’re going to strongly recommend you hear the words directly from him too.

(He even calls you “friends”; wouldn’t you want to be his friend too?)

Perera (far right) with his teammates (R-L) Daniel Goh, Mohamed Fairoz Shariff and Gerald Giam. Photo by Gerald Chan

Nonetheless, we shall once again be helpful (as always) and share the key points he made in his speech:

1. He said the PAP needs to stop praising itself.

– He said in the numerous countries he’s been to (especially for his company, which is based in eight countries), he never hears

“a never-ending barrage of statements about how superior they are to everyone else, about how things are so much better than everywhere else. But in Singapore, we hear this, all the time.”

– Sharing a story about how he heard a Korean documentary presenter say their state of tourism is something to be ashamed of, he said it’s rare to hear such talk here.

“Has anyone in the PAP ever said that we should be ashamed that so many elderly Singaporeans have to work in food courts, or collect cardboard boxes and that we should solve this problem?”

– He said even when it seems like there are problems with something, the party’s way of “admitting” it is by saying it’s good, but they will make it better.

“We hear statements like for example the CPF is a good system but we are going to make it even better. Our education is among the best in the world, but we’re going to make it even better. Do you think that the PAP admits frankly when it makes a mistake?”

2. It also doesn’t know how to admit it made mistakes, he says.

– He said they attempted to explain away the resale market rocketing out of control as “unanticipated” and us being “in a bad place in the property cycle” and the government’s foreign manpower policy as being “right for that era”, with the current measures to tighten inflows being “right for today”.

Really? When you control the number of foreigners given work passes, when you own most of the land in the country, when most housing is public housing, when you know the rate of new household formation every year, is this the fault of the property cycle?? Or is it a failure of government-forward planning?

– Even the most clear “policy failure” on the part of the PAP that happened in what Perera calls “the lost decade before the 2011 General Election” was resolved with just one apology from PM Lee Hsien Loong at the party’s lunchtime rally, days before the end of the campaign.

“Did the PAP admit these mistakes squarely? did they explain in detail how such a massive failure of planning could happen? did they explain why the ministry in charge of granting permits to foreigners did not plan with the ministries in charge of building infrastructure? Did the ministries talk to one another or did they just bochap and do their own things? … Friends, up to today they ahve not explained how exactly they will ensure this will never happen again to the country that we love.”

3. He reminds us that the PAP likes to say things are “perfect or close to perfect, because we are in charge. So keep voting for us”.

My friends, this is going to breed complacency. Ultimately it will lead to the decline of Singapore… A few days ago I represented the Workers’ Party in a TV debate. I started by thanking the PAP for its contributions to Singapore.
Ms Denise Phua replied by thanking the WP for acknowledging the achievements of the PAP.

…

Friends, the PAP likes to accuse the Workers’ Party of claiming credit. But honestly my friends, they are number 1, they are the Olympic gold medallists when it comes to claiming credit! They have claimed credit for everything that goes right in this country. When something goes wrong it is airbrushed from history, or it’s the fault of the world economy or some other anonymous force, or it’s the fault of the Workers’ Party. The PAP slogan is “with you, for you, for Singapore”, but actually it’s all about them, not you!

4. The ever-accomplished student reminds us of his book-smarts by critiquing the PAP’s manifesto as “backward-looking” (because admit it, you didn’t read it, or at most skimmed through it.)

It’s not just the manifesto, the PM’s national day rally last week; the entire PAP campaign in this general election, friends, is all backward-looking, designed to make you think that this election is about the past 50 years. But you are voting for the PAP leaders today, not the PAP leaders 50 years ago.

What is the PAP’s vision? What is the PAP’s programme for the next 5 years? They have outlined no specific programme, they expect your blind faith. But the WP has a manifesto with a coherent vision and specific plans. You can disagree with our proposals, you can say it is boring. But when you look at the WP manifesto there is a vision and there are plans. What are their plans?

5. And here’s where he wins our vote (alongside that of possibly-frustrated mainstream media journalists): he talks about actual things the WP plans to champion in parliament.

Balance instead of dominance. Passionate striving for improvement instead of complacency, admitting mistakes and preventing their recurrence instead of pretending that there were no mistakes, humility instead of arrogance.

Our way is not to depend only on a strong state dominated by an entrenched party. It is to rely on a strong civil society, a strong private sector, an active citizenry, a strong responsible opposition.

Our way, my friends, is about all stakeholders in Singapore finding solutions together. Not just ramming policies down our throats through speed-reading bills in parliament. We want to ensure free and fair debate about Singapore’s problems and Singapore’s solutions, not a debate where we only hear the good stuff.

In our manifesto we propose a public consultation select committee and standing select committees in parliament to debate bills before they become law, and to scrutinise each ministry’s spending policies and operations. We propose freeing up our newspaper and braodcasting industry to open, regulated competition.

And we call for an end to the requirement that internet news websites need to comply with cumbersome registration requirements. (woohoo! -our addition)

From the looks of social media reaction, it seems like we aren’t alone in our assessment. Here are the top Twitter trends for the night, for instance:

Twitter trends don’t lie. (Screenshot from Twitter)

Sounds like a pretty solid team the WP is fielding for East Coast. Tough choices ahead, East Coast voters…

Meanwhile, watch his speech here:

Source: http://mothership.sg

September 7, 2015