- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
IN A fiery speech that lamented a lack of political judgment in the ruling party's policymaking, fourth-term MP Inderjit Singh yesterday called for its MPs and activists to be allowed a greater say in governance. The People's Action Party (PAP) 'got carried away' in the last few years with policies that, while well-intentioned, did not improve the lives of Singaporeans 'as much as we thought they did', he said.
Worse, PAP politicians did not accurately understand the ground sentiment(What he really meant was that PAP MPs knew fcuk all about ground sentiments) regarding policies on housing and foreign talent, resulting in a 'misjudged' call for elections at a time when many Singaporeans were unhappy with certain policies, and the ground was not 'sweet'.
He lamented in particular the way that two policies - housing and economic growth - were mishandled. IAffordable Mah should sue him off his pants for making statements like these!)
In showing statistic after statistic to prove that housing was affordable and sufficient, the Government came off as being 'in a state of denial' because this did not square with the experiences of many on the ground, he said.
What he termed the 'growth-at-all-costs' policy was also lacking in political judgment, he added. The PAP Government expected that if the economy grew, then all Singaporeans would also benefit indirectly over a period of time - but it did not work that way.
'We need to better align policies with the interests of Singaporeans, not just for a better life in the future, but on how they are impacted in the short term too,' he said.
He called for greater political judgment to be injected into policymaking, which he said was currently driven by civil servants.(True, but these were approved by Clown Ministers who were too busy counting the zeros in their bank statements). He deplored that legislative Bills are at present brought to Parliament 'fully cooked', with limited possibility of changes by MPs.
He argued that PAP's policy forums should also be more about how to improve policy, rather than to explain completed policies to the audience. 'Involve people at the beginning of the policy formulation process and not at the end of it,' he urged (Yea, like they are now doing, going through the motion, as gleaned from Tan Chin Juan's FB comments).
ST 28 Nov
Worse, PAP politicians did not accurately understand the ground sentiment(What he really meant was that PAP MPs knew fcuk all about ground sentiments) regarding policies on housing and foreign talent, resulting in a 'misjudged' call for elections at a time when many Singaporeans were unhappy with certain policies, and the ground was not 'sweet'.
He lamented in particular the way that two policies - housing and economic growth - were mishandled. IAffordable Mah should sue him off his pants for making statements like these!)
In showing statistic after statistic to prove that housing was affordable and sufficient, the Government came off as being 'in a state of denial' because this did not square with the experiences of many on the ground, he said.
What he termed the 'growth-at-all-costs' policy was also lacking in political judgment, he added. The PAP Government expected that if the economy grew, then all Singaporeans would also benefit indirectly over a period of time - but it did not work that way.
'We need to better align policies with the interests of Singaporeans, not just for a better life in the future, but on how they are impacted in the short term too,' he said.
He called for greater political judgment to be injected into policymaking, which he said was currently driven by civil servants.(True, but these were approved by Clown Ministers who were too busy counting the zeros in their bank statements). He deplored that legislative Bills are at present brought to Parliament 'fully cooked', with limited possibility of changes by MPs.
He argued that PAP's policy forums should also be more about how to improve policy, rather than to explain completed policies to the audience. 'Involve people at the beginning of the policy formulation process and not at the end of it,' he urged (Yea, like they are now doing, going through the motion, as gleaned from Tan Chin Juan's FB comments).
ST 28 Nov
