Underlying Philosophy

The Workers’ Party’s underlying philosophy of diversity, respect, human dignity, tolerance and equal opportunity remain.

This Manifesto covers WP’s policy review positions in 15 areas of public policy.

In line with underlying philosophy, we advocate social justice via respect for the rights of workers, senior citizens and the disabled.

Below sets out some key policy review positions highlighted at the launch on 9 April 2011. All chapters should be read in detail for a fuller understanding.

Governance and Civil Liberties

1. Parliamentary elections and electoral boundary delineation should not be organized by the Prime Minister’s Office. Instead, independent bodies reporting to the Chief Justice and President should undertake these tasks, to ensure political neutrality.
2. The Public Order Act (POA) should not be used to curtail active citizenry. In particular, the provisions on Public Assembly, Move-on order and restrictions on filming of law enforcement operations should be reviewed.
3. The voting age should be brought down from 21 to 18. This will encourage young people to have an early interest in political governance. It will bring Singapore in line with most countries in the world which have voting ages below 21, and be consistent with other local laws which set 18 as the benchmark age e.g. to enter contracts and to be mobilised to defend Singapore in military service
4. The office of Parliamentary Ombudsman should be established. Any citizen aggrieved by the action of any public servant may, instead of commencing an expensive law suit, lodge a complaint with this office. This process will enhance government accountability and give more options for citizen redress.

Justice Law and Order

1. Mandatory sentences for capital offences should be removed as they take away the discretion of the judge to adjust a sentence to suit the individual case circumstances. Parliament can set limits on the degree of discretion, depending on the offence.
2. For capital cases, the trial should be conducted by a tribunal of two judges whose decision to impose the death sentence must be unanimous. On appeal, the death sentence should be upheld only if it is confirmed unanimously by all three judges in the Court of Appeal.
3. Adequate resources should be allocated to the Home Team to fight crime. The government should continue to monitor and moderate the workload demands in terms of population growth, new crime concerns and events security, to ensure that the community is not adversely affected.

Arts, Media, Information and New Technology

1. A Freedom of Information Act should be enacted containing provisions to allow citizens to gather information from the State and to ensure that the government puts out sufficient information
2. Temporary statistics and information collected by the government, particularly aggregated social statistics, shall, as far as possible, be de-classified and made available in the public domain to promote research and informed debate on matters of public interest.
3. Official secrets should be de-classified after a maximum period of time has passed or as soon as the information is no longer sensitive. This will enable the public to debate the course of history and deepen citizens’ understanding of key events.
4. A Privacy Act should be enacted to ensure that ordinary citizens’ rights to privacy are protected.

Economic Policy

1. Singapore needs to lessen its reliance on Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) and multi-national companies (MNCs). These have a tendency to crowd out local entrepreneurs. Instead we should focus more on nurturing home grown enterprises.
2. We should encourage our best talents to start companies or work in local enterprises.
3. The government should strive to give local SMEs a fair chance at contracts, rather than choosing GLCs or MNCs because they are perceived to be the “safe” option.
4. The government should seek to attract more venture capital firms to Singapore to provide funding for start-ups and managerial expertise to assist our entrepreneurs.
5. Effective measures to curb property and land speculation must be implemented and continually reviewed, as high rentals add to the cost of doing business in Singapore.

Population and Immigration

1. While immigrants who contribute to the economic vibrancy and diversity of our nation are welcome, the rate of immigration should not exceed the capacity of the country’s infrastructure and the comfort level of the local population.
2. To increase our local fertility rate, we need to lower workplace and career impediments to childbearing and childrearing. There should be increased support and stronger incentives for employers to implement better work-life balance practices and flexi-work arrangements. The Civil Service should set the example for the private sector to follow.
3. Paternity leave of at least 6 days, half of which will be funded by the government, should be introduced and legislated.
4. All overseas Singaporeans should be allowed to vote in elections by postal votes. This will help them to remain more engaged and feel a greater stake in Singapore.

Public Housing

1. The prices of new HDB flats should not be pegged to the resale market price and then discounted. Instead, the prices of new flats should be pegged to median incomes of Singaporean households who qualify to buy HDB flats.
2. The price of new HDB flats should be affordable enough to enable most lessees to pay off their loans in 20 years rather than 30 years.
3. The criteria to qualify for public rental housing should be more flexible to cater to families who are financially strapped. The number of flats available under the Public Rental Scheme should be increased significantly to cope with increasing demand.
4. The eligibility criteria for the HDB’s Lease Buyback Scheme should be reviewed to extend it to more households who may be in financial need.

Healthcare

1. A compulsory Basic Hospitalisation Scheme with co-payment of the premium from the government should be implemented. The scheme should aim to achieve universal coverage for all basic hospital care at a standard premium rate regardless of age. The premium should be affordable for up to 90th percentile of the working population.
2. The government must play its role to monitor and provide support and intervention to VWOs and commercial enterprises in the long term care sector. This is to ensure such services are readily available, of good quality, and affordable.

Education

1. The class size for all levels of primary and secondary schools should be reduced to approximately 20 pupils. This small class size setting will allow a teacher to focus more attention on weaker students.
2. A study should be initiated to explore the feasibility of a primary-secondary integrated programme.
3. The tuition grant for local undergraduates should be increased to better reflect the value of our citizenship and make tertiary education more affordable. Currently, the tuition grant for all undergraduates is the same regardless of nationality.
4. Special Education (SPED) schools should come under the direct funding and total administration of MOE. The ministry should then work with VWOs to run these fully funded SPED schools.
5. National Education should include the teaching of our Constitution, the political system of Parliamentary Democracy, the rights and obligations of being a citizen and more.

Society

1. Voluntary Welfare Organsation (VWOs) providing healthcare and support services to the elderly should be receive more government support.
2. The government should ratify the United Nations Convention on the rights of Persons with disabilities and take a whole-of-government approach to ensure that its key provisions are implemented in Singapore.
3. There is a disconnect in local community identity due to the artificial aggregation of estates under the Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). The abolition of GRCs and restoration of single seats would promote a sense of local identity.

Transport

1. Instead of public transport being provided by profit-oriented companies, all public transport including the MRT & public buses servicing major routes should be brought under a National Transport Corporation, a public body, to ensure a smooth integration of the overall national transport network and to avoid unnecessary duplication of services and overheads incurred by multiple operators.
2. The Public Transport Council should be dissolved. Government accountability for public transport matters should be via a unit under the Land Transport Authority. This unit should receive feedback, audit services, review productivity and examine the need for fare adjustments.
3. Concession passes on public transport for the elderly should be extended to all operating hours. Disabled concessions should be funded by the government.

Sports and Recreation

1. The goals for Sports Excellence should be revised. There should be stronger emphasis placed on sports that are popular among Singaporeans and have a greater ability to rally the nation together, rather than their medal-winning potentials.
2. Singapore soccer needs revival. The Football Association of Singapore should seriously explore the re-entry of a Singaporean team into the Malaysia Cup. Our domestic S-League should also be strengthened in terms of playing standards and marketing, so as to resurrect it to a state of health, provide good career opportunities for local players and to support the national team.
3. The leaders of National Sports Associations should be elected from among the sporting fraternity. Politicians should not hold such positions

Labour Policy

1. Low wage workers’ wage supplements, including for the self-employed, should have higher cash components, be paid out more regularly and be pegged to cost of living.
2. Foreign manpower dependency ratios / quotas should be carefully calibrated for all skill levels, and by industry rather than broad sectors such as manufacturing or services. The factors for calibration by industry include productivity targets, suitability of Singaporeans for those industries, and sustainability.
3. Older workers must be protected from shabby treatment and exploitation. Since the Central Provident Fund (CPF) draw-down age has been moved from 62 to 65 years, job security from 62 to 65 should be assured either by moving the statutory retirement age to 65 or strengthening the re-employment obligations for more seamless continuity of employment from 62 to 65.
4. A Board of Equal Opportunity should be set up to ensure that there is no discrimination in employment on the basis of age, race, religion, gender or disability.

Central Provident Fund Policy

1. Retirement adequacy via CPF needs to be boosted. CPF rates should not be tinkered with during economic cycles. Apart from paying CPF members interest on their balances, dividends should be paid periodically, since the government utilizes CPF monies for investment and reaps gains above the CPF interest rates.
2. The government should underwrite the solvency of CPF Life.
3. CPF members own their CPF monies. Given the uncertain employment outlook for older workers, members should be allowed to start draw-downs after reaching 60 years old. In addition, members in dire financial straits should be allowed to make limited draws on their CPF funds, subject to strict conditions.

View the entire 63-page Manifesto here.