SINGAPORE: While acknowledging that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has been much in the news lately, in reference, of course, to the questions raised about 26 and 31 Ridout Road, Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim wrote on Tuesday morning (May 30) Facebook post that he was “pleased to learn about a different announcement by the agency.” Assoc Prof Lim posted a photo of a Straits Times article about how the Government is revising policies around the land for religious groups, which are set to pay less for new leasehold land and lease renewals. He noted that the land lease sales system for relig ..read more

SINGAPORE: President Halimah Yacob’s announcement that she will not be standing for re-election in the upcoming presidential election has been met with widespread approval from Singaporeans, with some saying that it’s the best thing she has done in what is perceived to be an unremarkable stint in the Istana. The 68-year-old ex-ruling party politician confirmed in a press statement yesterday (29 May) that she will not seek re-election once her term ends on 13 Sept. Calling her six-year term as Singapore’s eighth President a humbling and inspiring experience, President Halimah said she made th ..read more

SINGAPORE — The issue of HDB prices has always been a hot topic, and it was no surprise when opposition party Red Dot United encountered the same issue with an elderly couple during their recent house visit at Jurong GRC.  The elderly couple who bought their three-room HDB flat in 1999 and are still paying off their mortgages claim that they are struggling to pay their monthly housing loan as they are unemployed. They told Red Dot United that their children, who are all married, have challenges of their own and cannot support them. Both husband and wife, who are 67-year-olds, said that ..read more

SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party Secretary-General Pritam Singh says that while his party accepts “the overwhelming dominance of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) today” in Singapore, in response it wants “to appeal directly to the people”. This is done through “contesting elections and leaving it to the voters and having faith in their judgment. This is the path the Workers’ Party, its MPs, members, and its volunteers have chosen,” said Mr Singh, who was designated Singapore’s first official Leader of the Opposition after big wins by the WP during the General Election in 2020. @thehammert ..read more

SINGAPORE: In a May 23 (Tuesday) Facebook post, Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) made the case again for establishing a poverty line. He said it would be a helpful tool in evaluating poverty in Singapore so that those in need of more support could receive it. “How can we say we’re successful in targeting poverty or not if we don’t have the most basic of indicators for evaluating it?” he wrote. In Parliament last month, the MP, an associate professor of economics at ESSEC Business School, called for the establishment of an official poverty line, arguing that it needs to “go beyond ..read more

SINGAPORE: In an outrageously elitist post, a LinkedIn user has suggested that the Government should not allow those who live in public housing to work in private residences like condominiums. The netizen, Satwant Kaur, said that it is very hard for her to live in Singapore because the Government allows this and that she needs to limit contact with HDB dwellers, lest she loses her unique identity “as most of them have.” In a post published on Monday afternoon (May 22), Kaur wrote: “It’s very hard for me to live in Singapore because the govt allows HDB people to take jobs in private residenti ..read more

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh, said last week that we needed more members of parliament (MP) from the Workers’ Party (WP) in Parliament. He does have a point. At the end of the day, all new policies are debated and voted upon in Parliament, and where voting is concerned, numbers count! In Singapore, the People’s Action Party (PAP) holds an overwhelming majority and so, when things are put to a vote, the PAP’s position on the matter would reign supreme. It is a numbers game. Many Singaporeans have said they would like a greater diversity of opinions on matters of state. Indeed ..read more

SINGAPORE: In a May 21 (Sunday) Facebook post, Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh noted that the Presidential and Parliamentary Election Acts being amended this year to include postal voting and other changes suggests that the presidential election later this year could be a “dry run” for voting via post before the practice is extended to parliamentary elections. “However, with the majority of our Presidential Elections ironically being walkovers, this remains open to question. (So much for a President needing an electoral mandate to carry out his/her duties, but that is a story for another d ..read more

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has emphasized Singapore’s steadfast stance against the transfer of arms to Myanmar and the prohibition of dual-use items with potential military application, in response to media queries regarding a recent report released by United Nations Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, on the human rights situation in Myanmar. The report stated that in addition to China and Russia, Indian state-owned enterprises and companies based in Singapore, India and Thailand may have provided a limited amount of weapons and other materials to Myanmar. An MFA spok ..read more

SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party has urged the Government to be more transparent about how two Cabinet ministers were able to rent two colonial bungalows along Ridout Road. The authorities said last week that the properties were rented in full compliance with regulations. The properties, at 26 and 31 Ridout Road, are being rented by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan respectively. In response to questions as to how the politicians were able to bid for and rent the pricey bungalows, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said last Friday that t ..read more