The final forum of the IPS Online Post-GE2020 Series featured representatives from the People’s Action Party (PAP), The Workers’ Party (WP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP), all of which have seats in the 14th Parliament of Singapore. They talked about internal party development and their public policy agenda leading up to the next general election. The forum, which was held on 22 October, was moderated by IPS Deputy Director (Research) and Senior Research Fellow Dr Gillian Koh.

PAP’s Ms Rahayu Mahzam, who is Member of Parliament for Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Health, said the party’s short-term goal is to address the immediate needs and concerns of Singaporeans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as loss of jobs and livelihoods.

In the long term, it intends to continue working on perennial issues such as healthcare and education. It will also create more opportunities for public engagement in policymaking, especially on issues that involve society’s changing norms and values.
This is in response to a growing desire among citizens for more diversity of views. Ms Rahayu added that the real challenge for the PAP is to demonstrate that this engagement translates to tangible shifts in public policy.

The party will also work on improving its communications strategy, social media engagement and candidate selection process. Alluding to the Ivan Lim incident, she said that while the best possible candidates are fielded in elections, there can be limitations to the process.

WP’s Mr Louis Chua, who is Member of Parliament for Sengkang GRC, said the party had already announced that it will organise its policy agenda around five broad areas – health, ageing, and retirement adequacy; jobs, business and economy; education, inequality and cost of living; housing, transport and infrastructure; and national sustainability. As a volunteer-driven party with limited resources, WP would benefit from this streamlined strategy instead of shadowing every ministry. It will listen to the ground to formulate its policy positions.

In response to questions about expanding its support base beyond the eastern side of the island, Mr Chua said that it would very much depend on the size and scope of its volunteer forces.

PSP’s Assistant Secretary-General Francis Yuen said that despite being the “new kid on the block,” its aim is to be the party of conscious choice for voters, who would select it, just as they would select “a brand for their handphone” and not just to register protest votes against the PAP.

He added that the PSP is larger than its current chief Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who is largely credited for the party’s success in GE 2020. He said it has started preparing for the next election by grooming new talent; and by establishing its brand through its two Non-Constituency Members of Parliament Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai.

It also intends to track the changes in political values across demographic groups and attract younger voters, who tend to favour pluralism. He said it is keeping abreast of developments in technology and social media platforms to reach out and engage with them. The communications landscape, he added, is expected to be radically different by the next general election.

The speakers also addressed questions from the Facebook Live audience.

One hot-button issue that emerged was WP’s proposed minimum wage of $1,300 a month.

Mr Chua said WP is not opposed to the Government’s Progressive Wage Model (PWM) but added that a minimum wage should be implemented immediately while the government rolls out PWM more widely to help families in urgent need.

Ms Rahayu pointed out that only a small number of workers currently earn less than $1,300 and the PAP wants to ensure a sustainable way for these workers to continue earning and to upgrade their skills.

Mr Yuen said having a minimum wage would not necessarily cause companies to suffer additional business costs. In contrast, it could spur companies to raise their productivity in order to compensate for the cost of wages.

The role of foreign workers was also discussed. Mr Yuen said while they are needed, there should be more incentives to promote the localisation of the workforce, even at senior managerial and professional levels in international firms based here.

Ms Rahayu said there were already several measures to market-test the need for foreign workers and that people are encouraged to inform the government of cases where local workers are being discriminated against in favour of foreign workers.

Another issue that generated much discussion was gender equality. All three panelists agreed there was a need to address the gender pay gap.

However, Ms Rahayu felt that this issue cannot be resolved through legislation alone. Noting that the “motherhood penalty” contributes to the pay gap, she said that there is a need for employers to change their mindset on the idea of work, and for society to address gender differences in caregiving.

Mr Chua said Singapore could also do more in terms of parental leave. Currently, fathers in Singapore are only entitled to two weeks of paternity leave in the national policy. This is unlike some progressive companies in the country, where both men and women are entitled to the same amount of parental leave, he said.

Finally, all three speakers agreed that it serves the country well to have a contestation of ideas when Dr Koh referred to the debate on the minimum wage in Parliament recently.

Mr Yuen said that robust discussions generate alternative ideas which can benefit citizens while Ms Rahayu and Mr Chua emphasised the need for discussions to be based on facts and evidence. In that regard, the opposition politicians appealed for freedom-of-information legislation to raise the quality of future debates.

Ms Rahayu added that the challenge is to ensure that these discussions do not lead to polarisation in society. However, she is hopeful that Singaporeans can be respectful towards each other and generate solutions that meet the needs of many.

This is the last forum on the Singapore General Election 2020. Find out more about the previous sessions: IPS Online Forum on the IPS Post-Election Survey on GE2020 and IPS Online Forum on Internet and Media Use in General Election 2020.