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By Woo Sian Boon -
TODAY
SINGAPORE — In his second and final rally yesterday, Reform Party (RP) candidate Kenneth Jeyaretnam launched a withering attack on the Workers’ Party (WP), saying its Members of Parliament have done little in the House, and castigated them for being “blindly obedient” to the Government.
Positing himself as an alternative to the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the WP, Mr Jeyaretnam said: “My job tonight is to tell you why you should turn your curiosity about me, your disenchantment with WP, your anger with PAP, into a vote for RP.”
The RP chief, who was among eight others who spoke at the party’s rally, began by accusing the PAP government of producing “bogus” statistics on real wages, which have fallen behind inflation — a trend which he said it has failed to correct.
Citing a 2009 UBS survey, he pointed out that Singaporeans work the longest hours among developed countries but had living standards that lagged behind the South Koreans, Taiwanese and Japanese.
Referring to the Government’s figures, Mr Jeyaretnam, 53, said: “They don’t correct for the longer hours you are working or the higher cost of housing. Nor do they correct for the impact of the immigration of highly-paid foreigners taking your jobs.”
He then cited WP Chairman Sylvia Lim’s comment that the party would not rock the boat for the sake of being disruptive, and he claimed that the WP lacked the economic know-how in order to be an effective Opposition.
“I know that WP have no idea how to get you off that treadmill. That is why they sit so blindly obedient in Parliament voting with the Government on every issue that counts,” he said.
Mr Jeyaretnam also claimed he provided input on the economic content of the WP’s manifesto in the 1980s and 1990s: “They have not had an economist since then. They do not have an economist in their ranks now.
“The world has moved on, and economies have shifted, and the WP is probably still using that same manifesto I helped write as a student.”
Putting himself forward as an economist who “will be fearless about demanding transparency and accountability from the PAP”, he said: “If you put an economist into Parliament to ask those questions, you will finally see what Opposition is good for. Believe me, I can outclass our Prime Minister or (Finance Minister) Tharman (Shanmugaratnam) in a debate any day.”
At the national level, Mr Jeyaretnam said that, if elected, he planned to call for universal health insurance, a minimum wage, the reduction of National Service to one year and free-hold flats.
At a local level, although he “cannot promise (residents) millions of dollars in new spending”, Mr Jeyaretnam proposed more childcare options, better feeder bus services, legal and job clinics, financial management classes and youth mentoring schemes.
He ended his rally by urging Punggol East residents not to vote for a party they “don’t believe in anymore to stop a party (they) are angry with”.
“That is betraying democracy. Don’t worry about the figures, the statistics. Let me handle the numbers. We are Singaporeans, we can vote for our future. We should vote for Reform Party,” he said.
Before the rally started, Mr Jeyaretnam lashed out at a newspaper report which had referred to his campaign team as “a motley crew”.
He said: “Don’t call my team ‘motley’. We put on a very tight show these past two weeks against difficult odds. Four-and-a-half years, two elections. No scandals, no disarray, that is how we will run your town council.”
Adding that the abruptness of the Punggol East by-election left them “little time to prepare”, Mr Jeyaretnam said that his team made time to help out every evening, despite having day jobs.
Calling on the audience to applaud his team, Mr Jeyaretnam said: “I may be the most highly qualified candidate but I know one thing, that without my team I am nothing.”
.
TODAY
SINGAPORE — In his second and final rally yesterday, Reform Party (RP) candidate Kenneth Jeyaretnam launched a withering attack on the Workers’ Party (WP), saying its Members of Parliament have done little in the House, and castigated them for being “blindly obedient” to the Government.
Positing himself as an alternative to the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the WP, Mr Jeyaretnam said: “My job tonight is to tell you why you should turn your curiosity about me, your disenchantment with WP, your anger with PAP, into a vote for RP.”
The RP chief, who was among eight others who spoke at the party’s rally, began by accusing the PAP government of producing “bogus” statistics on real wages, which have fallen behind inflation — a trend which he said it has failed to correct.
Citing a 2009 UBS survey, he pointed out that Singaporeans work the longest hours among developed countries but had living standards that lagged behind the South Koreans, Taiwanese and Japanese.
Referring to the Government’s figures, Mr Jeyaretnam, 53, said: “They don’t correct for the longer hours you are working or the higher cost of housing. Nor do they correct for the impact of the immigration of highly-paid foreigners taking your jobs.”
He then cited WP Chairman Sylvia Lim’s comment that the party would not rock the boat for the sake of being disruptive, and he claimed that the WP lacked the economic know-how in order to be an effective Opposition.
“I know that WP have no idea how to get you off that treadmill. That is why they sit so blindly obedient in Parliament voting with the Government on every issue that counts,” he said.
Mr Jeyaretnam also claimed he provided input on the economic content of the WP’s manifesto in the 1980s and 1990s: “They have not had an economist since then. They do not have an economist in their ranks now.
“The world has moved on, and economies have shifted, and the WP is probably still using that same manifesto I helped write as a student.”
Putting himself forward as an economist who “will be fearless about demanding transparency and accountability from the PAP”, he said: “If you put an economist into Parliament to ask those questions, you will finally see what Opposition is good for. Believe me, I can outclass our Prime Minister or (Finance Minister) Tharman (Shanmugaratnam) in a debate any day.”
At the national level, Mr Jeyaretnam said that, if elected, he planned to call for universal health insurance, a minimum wage, the reduction of National Service to one year and free-hold flats.
At a local level, although he “cannot promise (residents) millions of dollars in new spending”, Mr Jeyaretnam proposed more childcare options, better feeder bus services, legal and job clinics, financial management classes and youth mentoring schemes.
He ended his rally by urging Punggol East residents not to vote for a party they “don’t believe in anymore to stop a party (they) are angry with”.
“That is betraying democracy. Don’t worry about the figures, the statistics. Let me handle the numbers. We are Singaporeans, we can vote for our future. We should vote for Reform Party,” he said.
Before the rally started, Mr Jeyaretnam lashed out at a newspaper report which had referred to his campaign team as “a motley crew”.
He said: “Don’t call my team ‘motley’. We put on a very tight show these past two weeks against difficult odds. Four-and-a-half years, two elections. No scandals, no disarray, that is how we will run your town council.”
Adding that the abruptness of the Punggol East by-election left them “little time to prepare”, Mr Jeyaretnam said that his team made time to help out every evening, despite having day jobs.
Calling on the audience to applaud his team, Mr Jeyaretnam said: “I may be the most highly qualified candidate but I know one thing, that without my team I am nothing.”
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And thick skinned too. He will make a good politician. During the army time we were also told to wave and applaud when the commander passed by.
