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13-02-2023, 07:48 PM
Ahead of Budget 2023, here is a quick recap of 10 key policy suggestions recently advanced by The Workersโ Party.
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1. ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ต๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ด% ๐๐ผ ๐ต% ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ต๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐. Inflation is high and costs have been rising. The Workersโ Party has taken to heart the feedback shared with us from constituents and Singaporeans. There is no worse time to raise the GST than this present moment when ordinary families are struggling to make ends meet.ย
2. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฃโ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ: We must protect the average Singaporean worker โ especially the most vulnerable workers amongst us โ by providing a safety net for workers suddenly made redundant. Our redundancy insurance proposal, raised in Parliament in 2017, is a responsible way to do this.
3. ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ. This will reduce the cost of imported goods. Since so much of what we consume is imported, a strong Singdollar can help ease inflation.
4. ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ. Housing expenditure is a major cost for many Singaporeans. We must recognise the importance of supporting diverse housing needs by significantly increasing the stock of HDB flats available for rental, as a complementary alternative to home ownership.
5. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ-๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. The proposed legislation must provide stringent penalties against employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexuality and age. Middle-aged to older workers are particularly vulnerable, and they ought to be protected.
6. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ. While the expanded Progressive Wage Model and changes to the โlocal qualifying salaryโ have raised wages for most lower-wage workers, we maintain our call for a national minimum wage across the board.
7. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต. A tax of 0.5% to 2% on net wealth in excess of $10 million is needed to address inequality, add to state revenue and re-calibrate the relationship between labour and capital in our economy.
8. ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ฑ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป. Ordinary citizens of all backgrounds would be able to lodge concerns of potential misconduct by public servants with the State Ombudsman, who would investigate these claims impartially.
9. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐. We must ensure that those Singaporeans who have contributed the best decades of their life to our economy are able to live out their lives in dignity. Higher quantums could be disbursed, conditional on their commitments to positive behaviours such as going for health screenings.
10. ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. We are in a climate emergency, as the Workersโ Party called on Parliament to acknowledge in 2021. To encourage a Green transition, we must accelerate the electrification of transport and accelerate the deployment of adequate charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
1. ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ต๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ด% ๐๐ผ ๐ต% ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ต๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐. Inflation is high and costs have been rising. The Workersโ Party has taken to heart the feedback shared with us from constituents and Singaporeans. There is no worse time to raise the GST than this present moment when ordinary families are struggling to make ends meet.ย
2. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฃโ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ: We must protect the average Singaporean worker โ especially the most vulnerable workers amongst us โ by providing a safety net for workers suddenly made redundant. Our redundancy insurance proposal, raised in Parliament in 2017, is a responsible way to do this.
3. ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ. This will reduce the cost of imported goods. Since so much of what we consume is imported, a strong Singdollar can help ease inflation.
4. ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ. Housing expenditure is a major cost for many Singaporeans. We must recognise the importance of supporting diverse housing needs by significantly increasing the stock of HDB flats available for rental, as a complementary alternative to home ownership.
5. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ-๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. The proposed legislation must provide stringent penalties against employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexuality and age. Middle-aged to older workers are particularly vulnerable, and they ought to be protected.
6. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ. While the expanded Progressive Wage Model and changes to the โlocal qualifying salaryโ have raised wages for most lower-wage workers, we maintain our call for a national minimum wage across the board.
7. ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต. A tax of 0.5% to 2% on net wealth in excess of $10 million is needed to address inequality, add to state revenue and re-calibrate the relationship between labour and capital in our economy.
8. ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐บ๐ฏ๐๐ฑ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป. Ordinary citizens of all backgrounds would be able to lodge concerns of potential misconduct by public servants with the State Ombudsman, who would investigate these claims impartially.
9. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐. We must ensure that those Singaporeans who have contributed the best decades of their life to our economy are able to live out their lives in dignity. Higher quantums could be disbursed, conditional on their commitments to positive behaviours such as going for health screenings.
10. ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. We are in a climate emergency, as the Workersโ Party called on Parliament to acknowledge in 2021. To encourage a Green transition, we must accelerate the electrification of transport and accelerate the deployment of adequate charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
