WP candidates: (from left) John Yam, L. Somasundaram, Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Yaw Shin Leong, Angela Oon.
SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang has rebutted National Development Minister’s criticisms of his party’s housing proposals.
Mr Low said Mr Mah Bow Tan’s comments were aimed at " confusing" voters and that they sidetracked from the issue of how to make housing affordable.
Mr Low defended his party’s proposals at a news conference to unveil another four candidates for the coming General Election on Thursday.
In its recently released manifesto, the WP proposed to peg the prices of new HDB flats to median incomes of households that qualify to buy them, rather than market forces.
Minister Mah had said the move would lower resale flat prices.
But Mr Low disagreed. He said: " His assumption is based on free market supply and demand. But we all know that the HDB new flats are not based on free market supply and demand. Both the land and the building programme are controlled by the government."
The WP had said it would lower flat prices by paying less for state land. Mr Mah said this amounted to an " illegal raid on reserves" , leaving less for future generations.
Mr Mah also said that state land forms part of reserves, and that when the government takes out land for public housing, it has to put back in return the full value of the land.
The land value is determined by a chief valuer according to market conditions and valuation principles.
But Mr Low countered that " if we were to base on the same logic on contributing less to reserves equal to raiding reserves" , the People’s Action Party government, by distributing Budget surpluses through its Grow and Share package, could also be accused of the same.
Mr Low said: " We’re not saying that we should not save for a rainy day. We do, I think we should save for a rainy day. But the question is, one, how much is enough? And what is the trade—off?"
Mr Low also said his party supports estate upgrading programmes. What it objects to is the tying of upgrading to votes, calling this a form of " pork barrel politics" .
Separately, the party also responded to calls by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam to explain its vision of a First World Parliament. The party said its aim is to develop a model that works for Singapore.
#OVERHEARD: First World Parliement must be One which is more PROACTIVE & LIVELY than the USA, TAIWAN, KOREAN Parliements WHERE nO One wIll be slEEpIng ? ? ? ? slEEPIng during a Parliement DEBATE is a CONTEMPT of the PARLIEMENT ? ? ? ? and SLeepers shOUld be FINED and CANNED ? ? ? ?#
?PARLIEMENT is nOt a SLeep clinic?
WP chairman Sylvia Lim said: " When we talk about First World Parliament, we’re talking about a model which works for Singapore, which does not necessarily have any relation to any model that exists now.
" We look at a First World Parliament where every MP has a mandate from the ground with the same voting rights. And the opposition in Parliament is able to function as a robust check on the government.
" Under our model, the opposition also has a responsibility to act in the national interest.
And we believe this is very important for a wider representation of Singaporeans’ interests."
Mr Low later added: " Our slogan is, Towards a First World Parliament. Don’t harp on the issue of models. Tell us, what is the model the PAP took after for its Group Representation Constituency scheme? Tell us! What political model the PAP is looking at when they proposed to amend the Constitution to provide for nine Non—Constituency MPs and to tell Singaporean voters, ’you don’t need to vote for opposition, we’ll provide you with nine NCMPs’."
The party also introduced four candidates for the election, including three new faces.
They are 48—year—old polytechnic lecturer L Somasundaram 49—year—old Dr John Yam, a director in a telecommunications consulting firm 32—year—old researcher Angela Oon, a Malaysian who became a Singapore citizen last year and 34—year—old Yaw Shin Leong, who has contested twice in 2001 and 2006 under the Workers’ Party banner.
— CNA/ir
