Population issue dominates political dialogue at NUSS

Representatives from nine Opposition parties and the ruling People's Action Party take part in a dialogue hosted by the National University of Singapore Society.
Kimberly Spykerman, News 5 and Leong Wai Kit, News 5 Channel NewsAsia 18 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE: A debate on Singapore's population dominated a political dialogue event organised by the National University of Singapore Society on Tuesday evening (Aug 18).

Representatives from nine opposition parties and the People's Action Party (PAP) spent about a quarter of the two-and-a-half-hour event debating the issue, after a member of the audience asked them what issues they felt would surface during the upcoming General Election.

Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam kicked off the debate by identifying population issues as the likely main concern, in particular, the inflow of foreign workers.

"Because even though the PAP talked about having curbed the worker inflow, it's the basis of their model. They really know nothing else. The Prime Minister put it beautifully - he said the EP (employment pass) growth has been maxed out. So when we talk about it slowing down, it's really a by-product of the global slowdown," Mr Jeyaretnam said.

"Our economy is teetering on the brink of a recession. In fact, the election is being called now because it will be in a recession by December," he said. He believed that once growth picked up again, so would the inflow of foreign workers.

People's Power Party chief Goh Meng Seng also described population as the "mother of all problems for Singaporeans".

He said he understood the need for foreign labour, given Singapore's ageing population. And he said that this ageing population brings about two problems: Retirement financing and healthcare financing.

"However, what the PAP did was, they brought in the foreign labour, but did they contribute to these two? Did they contribute to Medishield Life, CPF Life? No. What do they contribute to? Workers' levy. And who benefited? GLCs (Government-linked companies), MNCs (multinational corporations), but the elderly aren't benefiting. That is the key problem of the whole structure," Mr Goh said.

Responding to Mr Goh, PAP representative Sim Ann said it was important to have an accurate understanding of the issues.

Ms Sim, who is also Minister of State for Education and Communications and Information, said: "Mr Goh Meng Seng talked about the ’mother of all problems’. I don't quite like to use that term because I think that if you want to look at the sources of our worries - I think that's a better term – what we are being faced with is the fact that none of us is getting any younger. We are a very rapidly ageing population.

"Like many East Asian societies, we do have a very worrying long-term trend of fertility rates. So the question then is how do we continue the kind of economic activity that's going to support a lot of the services and amenities that Singaporeans have come to enjoy and expect, and in fact hope to see more of.”

Singaporeans First party chief Tan Jee Say said that topics which had surfaced in the last General Election, such as transport, housing, hospitals and foreign workers, were linked by a common issue - the "massive" influx of foreign workers.

"That problem remains. You may say that the Prime Minister is moderating the growth. But growth there is. It is only a tactical withdrawal of this foreign policy. Employers are unhappy but they live with it, the election is coming. Once this election is over, and the economy doesn't slow down drastically, the supply of foreign workers will continue to increase," Mr Tan said.

"And that is the political agenda of the Government, of the PAP. They have not forgotten the Population White Paper. They are still talking of 6.9 million [people] by 2030. And they will do it. They will go all out to achieve it because there is a political agenda behind all these population issues.

"Politically, new citizens tend to vote for the Government of the day," Mr Tan said.

In response, Ms Sim said it did not make sense for the Government to try and import foreigners simply because of political allegiance.

"If you look at the numbers, it doesn't work out at all. It doesn't work out at all. Singaporeans - born and bred Singaporeans - remain the majority of the electorate. And if we are not doing all these things for the betterment of Singaporeans ... what are we doing it for?" she said.

Ms Sim said she joined the then-National Population Secretariat in the middle of 2009.

"By the end of 2009, we had already begun to reduce the number of new PRs and new citizens, as well as begun the tightening of foreign manpower very, very significantly."

And she emphasised that a 6.9-million population has never been a target.

Ms Sim added: "I know with my heart that this is a Government that has staked everything on serving Singaporeans. We have just seen off Mr Lee Kuan Yew a few months ago and I think many of us have gone back and reviewed the journey that he has brought us on ever since 1965 when we were forced to become independent. And we have to find our own way in life. This Government has always put Singaporeans front and centre."

AHPETC, AGO REPORT DISCUSSED

Other issues raised at the dialogue include the separate Auditor-General's Office (AGO) reports on the Workers' Party run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East (AHPETC) Town Council and also on lapses found at various Government agencies.

"Let's compare the reactions. In the case of the AGO audit which happens regularly of government agencies - I would say the government agencies' reactions have been swift," said Ms Sim.
"The agencies have owned up to lapses, they have owned up to cases where there was non-compliance and they have taken action very swiftly to rectify whatever has been pointed out. I think in the case of AHPETC, I think what we've been hearing are fairly lengthy - I don't want to say excuses, that doesn't sound very nice - explanations which I also don't fully understand. If you were to ask about money then I would say in the case of the AGO audit, all the monies we've been talking about has been accounted for, and no money is lost. But in the case of AHPETC, I'm not too sure," she said.

"I wish more answers had been forthcoming from AHPETC and then I think we would have wasted much less time on the issue and the population will be much the wiser," Ms Sim added.

In response, The Workers' Party representative Gerald Giam, who is a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament, said that town council chairman Sylvia Lim, as well as the elected MPs who are town councillors, "all spoke, all explained various aspects of the report" during a two-day debate in Parliament.

He said that this was in addition to "numerous other press statements", "open letters to residents" and door-to-door explanations.

"I think we have done a lot of explaining already. And just because the PAP does not want to accept our explanations does not mean we haven't explained," said Mr Giam. "We have explained every point that has been brought up which demands an explanation and we have spared no effort in that. And with the coming election, I'm sure this issue will be raised up by the PAP and we will respond if we need to."

Other representatives at the dialogue include Mr Benjamin Pwee from the Democratic Progressive Party, Mr Steve Chia from the National Solidarity Party, Mr Harminder Pal Singh from the Singapore Democratic Alliance, Prof Paul Tambyah representing the Singapore Democratic Party and Mrs Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss from the Singapore People's Party.

- CNA/hs

Population still hot-button issue
Tan Tam Mei, New Paper AsiaOne 22 Aug 15;

Singapore's population and 2013's Population White Paper dominated the discussion and took up much of the forum's originally allotted 2½ hours.

This happened after Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam identified the inflow of foreign workers as a major issue facing Singaporeans.

He was responding to a question from the audience on what the various parties were going to tackle in the upcoming General Election. People's Power Party chief Goh Meng Seng described population growth as the "mother of all problems for Singaporeans", which was met with applause from the audience.

The increased population did nothing to alleviate the worries of retirement planning and affordable healthcare, he said.

Singaporeans First party chief Tan Jee Say was more harsh and said that issues of transport, housing, hospitals and foreign workers, were all a result of the "massive" influx of foreign workers.

"(The People's Action Party) have not forgotten the Population White Paper. They are still talking of 6.9 million (people) by 2030. And they will do it. They will go all out to achieve it because there is a political agenda behind all these population issues," said Mr Tan.

AGENDA

He then accused the PAP of importing foreigners as part of a political agenda because "new citizens tend to vote for the Government of the day".

It provoked a war of words with PAP's representative, Ms Sim Ann, who is Minister of State for Education and Communications and Information.

Ms Sim, who was part of the then-National Population Secretariat, refuted Mr Tan's claims, saying that the White Paper was a planning parameter in response to the rapidly ageing population.

She said: "If you look at the numbers, it doesn't work out at all. It does not make sense for the Government to import foreigners for their political allegiance.

"Singaporeans, born and bred Singaporeans, remain the majority of the electorate."

She added that the number of new citizens and PRs was already reduced in 2009.

She also said: "6.9 million (people) is not a target, it is not a stretch scenario - it is a very, very controlled scenario in which we have to restrain ourselves and in a very disciplined way."

Party reps fight it out

The dialogue also saw the locking of horns between the Workers' Party's (WP) representative Gerald Giam and the People's Action Party's (PAP) representative Sim Ann.

That happened when the moderator, former Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan, posed a question to Mr Giam about what he wished could have been different about the debate over Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council's (AHPETC's) financial issues.

Mr Giam argued that despite the lapses, AHPETC did not short-change residents and WP leaders "all spoke, all explained various aspects of the report" during a two-day debate in Parliament.

"I think we have done a lot of explaining already. And just because the PAP does not want to accept our explanations does not mean we haven't explained," said Mr Giam.

"With the coming election, I'm sure this issue will be raised up by the PAP and we will respond if we need to."

PEOPLE'S MINDS

Mr Giam also said that the PAP wanted to "insert" into people's minds that the WP was not capable of running a town council.

PAP's Ms Sim shot back, saying that the WP had not fully answered about lapses highlighted by the Auditor-General's Office's (AGO) audit, in contrast to "government agencies' reactions (that) have been swift" in rectifying the lapses.

She said: "I think what we've been hearing are fairly lengthy - I don't want to say excuses, that doesn't sound very nice - explanations which I also don't fully understand.

"If you were to ask about money, then I would say in the case of the AGO audit, all the monies we've been talking about has been accounted for, and no money is lost. But in the case of AHPETC, I'm not too sure."