Has the People’s Action Party (PAP) delivered on the promises made during the last General Election?
National Solidarity Party (NSP) candidate Jeisilan Sivalingam (picture) last night used studies, statistics and articles to argue that this has not been the case.
Homing in on the ruling party’s promise then of a better life for all, the candidate for Chua Chu Kang GRC cited a study by Swiss bank UBS which showed that the wages of average Singaporeans have declined.
“Singapore has a purchasing power lower than that of Malaysia. Can you believe that?” he said to the crowd at the rally for the Radin Mas SMC.
At a recent forum, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that the 2009 UBS report had “many faults” and pointed to data from the World Bank that showed the median income here, after adjusting for inflation, was much higher than anywhere else in Asia apart from Japan.
Taking issue with the PAP’s six-point 2006 manifesto which had pledged to create opportunities for Singaporeans. Mr Sivalingam claimed that, to the contrary, more opportunities have gone to foreigners.
As for the promise of giving our young a headstart, Mr Sivalingam said that, while the Government has talked “for so many years” about reducing class sizes from 40 to 20, it has not happened, he added.
The PAP had also promised in 2006 to do more for lower income Singaporeans. Yet Mr Sivalingam pointed to the number of senior citizens today still working at fast-food outlets and at cleaning jobs, and noted how the queue for rental flats has grown.
And what of helping older Singaporeans to live a full and healthy life? More and more elderly people were living alone with little or no support, Mr Sivalingam claimed.
Calling on Singaporeans to examine the PAP’s track record, he said: “Yes, we have definitely advanced as a nation, (from) 40 years ago … But the last five to 10 years? Definitely no.”
Issues raised by other NSP candidates at the rally included ministerial pay, foreign workers and the rising cost of living.
Mr Ken Sun, who is contesting in Whampoa SMC, pointed to similarities between the Whampoa and Radin Mas wards – both estates are old and their residents are elderly.
“(The Government) has not done a good job where senior citizens are concerned … You can see them … sweeping the roadside, wiping the tables, picking up trash to sell for a living,” he said.
He asked why the Government was selling land to private developers instead of using the space to build more facilities for the ageing population.
The NSP’s candidate for Radin Mas, veteran Mr Yip Yew Weng, hit out at the PAP over its accusation that Opposition parties only show up during election time.
“They pushed out 24 new candidates. Have you seen them before?” he asked the crowd in Mandarin.
Source : Today – 30 Apr 2011
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