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SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan on Wednesday (Sep 2) addressed criticism of his proposed policies by the People's Action Party's (PAP) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
On Tuesday, Dr Balakrishan called the SDP's policies "tax and spend" programmes that would bankrupt Singapore. He did not highlight a specific policy.
He also said his incumbent team in Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) would show during the hustings that the SDP has copied policy prescriptions that have failed elsewhere, as in Greece.
Speaking at a press conference on Sep 2, Dr Chee responded by saying that Dr Balakrishnan "should looking at his own party's track record when he talks about policies of tax and spend".
On the Greek comparison, the SDP’s Dr Paul Tambyah said, “The Greeks actually spend below the OECD average on healthcare and have levels of social spending far below the Nordic countries or even Germany. The reason for the Greek crisis is thought to be primarily a profligate approach to spending. This is quite different from the SDP proposals, which are well thought out and balanced. We do not believe in uncontrolled overspending.”
“It appears that the Minister has an incomplete understanding of the Greek crisis,” said Dr Tambyah.
Dr Chee also said that the PAP had criticised the SDP's policies, and then adopted them later.
According to Dr Chee, these policies include a minimum wage model, the pooling of healthcare risks, and priority for Singaporeans when it comes to employment. On the latter, Chee said that the Government’s Fair Consideration Framework was an adoption of SDP’s proposal that employers must try to hire Singaporeans first, before considering employing foreigners.
"The PAP has a knee-jerk reaction that anything the SDP proposes cannot be good," said Dr Chee.
Dr Balakrishnan leads Ms Sim Ann, Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Liang Eng Hwa in the contest against an SDP team anchored by Dr Chee, who is standing in his first General Election (GE) since 2001.
Before being confirmed as a candidate on Nomination Day on Sep 1, Dr Chee had called for a campaign focusing on issues and "things that Singaporeans care about".
At the same press conference where Dr Balakrishnan spoke, Ms Sim brought up Dr Chee's history with former mentor Chiam See Tong, and said that Dr Chee had portrayed Singapore negatively to international media.
On his relationship with Chiam, Dr Chee said he had never ousted him from the party.
“It's on record. Mr Chiam said so himself. He had all these problems with his colleagues even before I joined the SDP. But PAP continues to want to dredge these things up, and it's with one and only one purpose to continue to distract voters and get them to think about something other than where their weaknesses are, which is in policy.”
At a "live" televised debate on Sep 1 among candidates from the ruling and opposition parties, the PAP's Mr Lawrence Wong also said that Dr Chee "still owes an account to the public" over events that happened in 1996.
That year, Dr Chee was charged with misleading the public after he made an oral representation to a parliamentary select committee, and the data was found to be false.
Dr Chee responded at the debate, by telling the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC candidate not to "cherry-pick” what the select committee had found, and reminded him that former Health Minister George Yeo had to “repeatedly apologise for some things the Government had gotten wrong then”.
Dr Chee later took to Facebook to express "surprise" at Mr Wong's "outburst".
"It was a bolt out of the blue when he cited a matter that happened 20 years ago to continue the PAP's tactic of character-assassination," he wrote. "His comment was not in keeping with the spirit and tone of the forum."
Dr Chee concluded by saying this was "a tactic that does not sit well (with) the voters".
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pap-has-knee-jerk/2093894.html?cid=fbsg
On Tuesday, Dr Balakrishan called the SDP's policies "tax and spend" programmes that would bankrupt Singapore. He did not highlight a specific policy.
He also said his incumbent team in Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) would show during the hustings that the SDP has copied policy prescriptions that have failed elsewhere, as in Greece.
Speaking at a press conference on Sep 2, Dr Chee responded by saying that Dr Balakrishnan "should looking at his own party's track record when he talks about policies of tax and spend".
On the Greek comparison, the SDP’s Dr Paul Tambyah said, “The Greeks actually spend below the OECD average on healthcare and have levels of social spending far below the Nordic countries or even Germany. The reason for the Greek crisis is thought to be primarily a profligate approach to spending. This is quite different from the SDP proposals, which are well thought out and balanced. We do not believe in uncontrolled overspending.”
“It appears that the Minister has an incomplete understanding of the Greek crisis,” said Dr Tambyah.
Dr Chee also said that the PAP had criticised the SDP's policies, and then adopted them later.
According to Dr Chee, these policies include a minimum wage model, the pooling of healthcare risks, and priority for Singaporeans when it comes to employment. On the latter, Chee said that the Government’s Fair Consideration Framework was an adoption of SDP’s proposal that employers must try to hire Singaporeans first, before considering employing foreigners.
"The PAP has a knee-jerk reaction that anything the SDP proposes cannot be good," said Dr Chee.
Dr Balakrishnan leads Ms Sim Ann, Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Liang Eng Hwa in the contest against an SDP team anchored by Dr Chee, who is standing in his first General Election (GE) since 2001.
Before being confirmed as a candidate on Nomination Day on Sep 1, Dr Chee had called for a campaign focusing on issues and "things that Singaporeans care about".
At the same press conference where Dr Balakrishnan spoke, Ms Sim brought up Dr Chee's history with former mentor Chiam See Tong, and said that Dr Chee had portrayed Singapore negatively to international media.
On his relationship with Chiam, Dr Chee said he had never ousted him from the party.
“It's on record. Mr Chiam said so himself. He had all these problems with his colleagues even before I joined the SDP. But PAP continues to want to dredge these things up, and it's with one and only one purpose to continue to distract voters and get them to think about something other than where their weaknesses are, which is in policy.”
At a "live" televised debate on Sep 1 among candidates from the ruling and opposition parties, the PAP's Mr Lawrence Wong also said that Dr Chee "still owes an account to the public" over events that happened in 1996.
That year, Dr Chee was charged with misleading the public after he made an oral representation to a parliamentary select committee, and the data was found to be false.
Dr Chee responded at the debate, by telling the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC candidate not to "cherry-pick” what the select committee had found, and reminded him that former Health Minister George Yeo had to “repeatedly apologise for some things the Government had gotten wrong then”.
Dr Chee later took to Facebook to express "surprise" at Mr Wong's "outburst".
"It was a bolt out of the blue when he cited a matter that happened 20 years ago to continue the PAP's tactic of character-assassination," he wrote. "His comment was not in keeping with the spirit and tone of the forum."
Dr Chee concluded by saying this was "a tactic that does not sit well (with) the voters".
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pap-has-knee-jerk/2093894.html?cid=fbsg
