Madam Deputy Speaker, The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) supports the Motion, which calls on the House to support healthcare beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and the whole-of-Government effort in consistent and sustainable support of Singapore’s healthcare system. The PSP once again thanks all healthcare workers for their sacrifices and dedication to serving Singaporeans, especially during the past three years of the pandemic. We welcome the Government’s move to support healthcare through the Healthier SG initiative, which shifts away from a transactional system that reactively cares for those wh ..read more

Mr Speaker Sir,               I rise today to discuss how we can build Parliament into a fairer arena for all. During the debate on the President’s Address, there was much discussion of how opposition parliamentarians behaved and performed in Parliament. DPM Lawrence Wong openly called on the opposition to offer a “serious alternative agenda”, and noted that as Singapore develops into a mature democracy, it needs both a serious government and a serious Opposition.  The question is whether the current parliamentary stru ..read more

Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the motion, thanking the President for her Address. The President’s Address points to the urgent need to refresh our Social Compact.  This includes helping Singaporeans with more job support, strengthening the social safety nets, broadening the definition of meritocracy, and promoting a strong sense of shared identity where every Singaporean feels that they have a stake in our country. These are noble aspirations which the PSP strongly supports. However, to refresh or redefine our Social Compact, PSP thinks we need to first rethink fundamentally ..read more

At the party conference of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on 26 March 2023, the new Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the PSP consisting of 12 members were elected. Among the current CEC members who stepped down and did not contest were: Francis Yuen Wang Swee Chuang Jess Chua Francis Yuen has just been appointed as the Executive Chairman of an overseas public listed company, so his new commitments will make it difficult for him to lead the party. Hence he has made the difficult decision to step down from the current position as Secretary-General and remain as a member. These are the me ..read more

Mr Speaker Sir, First and foremost, I wish to express my greatest appreciation to all the healthcare and other frontline workers whose hard work enabled our lives to continue throughout the pandemic.  Without them, we would not have been able to pull through this crisis.  I hope we will not forget that and will recognize their contribution by improving their remunerations and working conditions.   The White Paper has laid out a self-appraisal of our handling of the pandemic.  I wish to add on in areas that I felt had not been addressed or insufficiently. Firstly, was t ..read more

Mr Chairman, The PSP has recommended the Affordable Homes Scheme (AHS) and the Millennial Apartments Scheme to deliver affordable and accessible public housing to Singaporeans of current and future generations. I am sure Singaporeans will be excited to be able to buy a new flat in Tengah at $140,000 under the AHS and live in it for their entire lives without having to pay land cost, instead of paying $350,000 under the current BTO scheme.  The lower housing costs under AHS will allow Singaporeans to afford housing without depleting their CPF savings. They can look forward to a comfortabl ..read more

Mr Chairman, I refer to the recently released interim report of the Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness. PSP has high hopes of the Committee, which was set up just before our debate on Foreign Talent Policy in September 2021, but we have found the interim report to be inadequate in at least two areas. We hope the Committee will consider and incorporate our views in the final report. First, there is inadequate focus on the job security of Singaporeans. The report noted that the most common form of workplace discrimination is nationality which accounts for close to 60% of the complaints r ..read more

Mr Chairman, I have several questions pertaining to CPF contributions for platform workers. It has been announced that transitional assistance will be provided to platform workers who earn below $2500 to help them cope with the new requirement to contribute CPF.  However, those earning above $2500 will also have difficulty adjusting to a lower take home pay.  Will MOM be implementing the employee contribution in phases to give them more time to adjust?  Secondly, those aged above 30 can opt out of making CPF contributions.  If a platform worker opts out, does this mean the ..read more

Mr Chairman, First of all, I declare that I run an education company operating education centres and a private school. Allow me to quote extracts from Everychild.sg’s White Paper developed by Singaporean parents: “…the cultural norm among many Singaporean families is for a parent … to plan to take time off during the child’s PSLE year, rather than during the first 1 – 2 years of the child’s life… many Singaporean parents … prioritising giving their child undivided attention at the age of 11/12, which appears to the child to be tied to performance expectations, rather than the more unconditiona ..read more

Mr Chairman, I have questions for the Minister of Finance.  Firstly, the $1.4 billion termination payment for the Sports Hub was advanced from the Contingencies Fund and this House is now being asked to vote on replacing the amount in a Supplementary Supply Bill. The Contingencies Fund was created for urgent and unforeseen expenditure. Was the termination payment for the Sports Hub truly so urgent that it had to be advanced from the Contingencies Fund and not paid out of Budget 2023? Secondly, where and when was the $900 million earmarked for SPH Media Trust accounted for? Third, how doe ..read more