Questions for the Workers’ Party

Considering that I am part of Aljunied GRC and it is the first time that I’m voting, I think it is my duty that I fairly assess candidates on both sides as well as the manifestos of both contesting parties before I make my decision. The questions that I put forth here are from the WP manifesto – not because I have not considered the PAP manifesto, but because WP have made theirs a lot more specific, which makes asking questions a lot easier. I will try to put up questions of the PAP manifesto once I finish this post.

On Governance and Civil Liberties, page 11:

The office of Parliamentary Ombudsman should be established. Any citizen aggrieved by the action of any public servant may, instead of commencing an expensive law suit, lodge a complaint with this office. The Ombudsman will be empowered to investigate with full cooperation of the civil service, at nominal cost to the citizen, with powers to advise on corrective actions and recommend prosecutions. This process will enhance government accountability and give more options for citizen redress.

• Who will appoint this Parliamentary Ombudsman? Will he usurp the position of the head of the judiciary and the office of the President?

On Justice, Law and Order, page 14:

Mandatory sentences for capital offences should be removed as they take away the discretion of the judge to adjust a sentence to suit the individual case circumstances.

• What is the WP’s stand on the death penalty? Should the death penalty still remain an option or not?

On Economic Policy, page 20:

The number of government scholarships with service bonds awarded each year should be reduced. Instead, these scholarships should bond their recipients to only work in Singapore for a number of years, which could include setting up their own local companies. This will better spread local talent to the private sector.

• I think the objective of scholarships is to keep talented people in the civil service. If we don’t have a strong civil service, wouldn’t public policy and administration be affected, which might then cause any policy it is trying to implement be undermined by the power of the private sector?

On Population and Immigration, page 24:

There are over 12,000 abortions carried out each year in Singapore, with the majority performed on married women. There is a need to look into ways to encourage parents to keep their babies.

• I am a little troubled by this statement. Abortions are conducted for many reasons, and most of them are not as frivolous as they seem on the surface. The world is difficult and challenging to live in – to encourage parents to keep these children might not be beneficial to the parents, nor is it necessarily a good thing for these children to be born. Perhaps this sentence needs a bit more qualification. Unless it is guaranteed that such abortions were entirely for reasons that were unacceptable, I don’t think encouraging parents to keep their babies is the right thing to do.

Ibid, page 28:

More time should be set aside in the school curriculum to impart to students the joys and responsibilities of family, marriage and parenthood, so as to better prepare them to take on these responsibilities in the future.

• What is the WP’s stand on homosexuality? Can homosexuals also have a family? If so, then will homosexuality be taught in the school curriculum? Let me first qualify by saying that I am not a homosexual, but I believe in egalitarianism even in sexual orientation.

On Transport, page 43:

The National Transport Corporation should not be profit-oriented and should aim to provide public transportation service on the basis of cost and depreciation recovery.

• Would having a non-profit oriented public transport company lead to inefficiencies and a lag in adopting new transport technologies?

Thank you.

From a new voter,

Owen Tan

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