Latest speeches by Workers’ Party
Members of Parliament in 14th Parliament
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Mr Deputy Speaker Retrospective legislation, and the principle of certainty Passing legislation which has or is seen to have retrospective effect must not be taken lightly. This is especially so when it adversely affects the rights and interests of persons, and has the potential to hurt Singapore’s reputation for certainty, stability...
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What Have We Learned from the Rejection of Allianz’s Bid for Income? Mr Speaker, in light of the emerging information on the Allianz-Income deal, the Workers’ Party believes that it is a sound decision to withhold approval, in its current form. If the deal is bad for Singapore, it should...
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Rewarding Our Sportsmen and Women Equally Let me begin, like others in this House, by expressing my appreciation and admiration to all our national athletes, regardless of whether they may have medaled in these most recent Games. This extends, of course, to our most recent medalists in Paris: Jeralyn Tan...
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Mr Speaker Deepfakes, particularly malicious ones, pose a serious threat to our democratic processes, particularly during elections. While exciting, technological advances in the field of generative AI bring new challenges in maintaining the integrity of our political and electoral system. The proliferation of highly-realistic yet fabricated content – particularly in...
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Will the Loss of Tax Competitiveness Threaten Investments into Singapore? The Multilateral Enterprise (Minimum Tax) Bill will put into legislative force the terms associated with the second pillar of the OECD's BEPS Treaty. Given that Singapore has been a signatory of the original convention since mid-2017—and, four years thence, having...
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Introduction Mr Speaker, the time has come for us to debate this long awaited but keenly anticipated Bill, for us to implement the Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules or Pillar 2 of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting or BEPS. It is a topic which I...
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How to Plug a Loophole as Fairly as Possible Mr Speaker, the amendments proposed to the Central Provident Fund Act have several objectives, which the Minister has already explained. I will focus my comments on the clauses relating to prioritizing the recovery of subsidies following the sale of flats, and...
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I have no objections to the Bill and wish to speak briefly on the issue of young offenders, who are the subject of the amendment under Clause 4 of the Bill. Clause 4 will amend the Criminal Procedure Code concerning the age of criminal responsibility of young offenders. The definition...
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Introduction Mr Speaker, I last spoke about the Gambling Duties Bill and the Gambling Control & Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Bill in 2022, and I believe much of what I raised back then remains relevant for the Casino Control Amendment Bill before us today. As we continue to witness the...
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In the money-laundering space, the casino industry is considered one of the non-financial sectors that poses significant risk. This is to be expected, in view of the high volumes of cash transactions that casinos undertake, whether in payments out to patrons or receiving cash in exchange for chips or...
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Introduction Mr Deputy Speaker, the Platform Workers Bill comes to the House on the back of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers, recommendations which were approved by the Government in 2022. The Committee's recommendations sought to strengthen protections for platform workers in three areas: adequate financial protection...
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Mr Speaker, My speech today will focus on strengthening workers' rights in Singapore, particularly with regard to trade unions, Platform Work Associations (PWAs), and the representation framework for ride-hailing and delivery service workers introduced in the Platform Workers Bill. Unions in Singapore play an important role in advocating for the interests of workers....
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Sir, the Platform Workers Bill is a comprehensive—even exhaustive—document, numbering some 234 pages, and addressing a range of legislative changes meant to enfold platform work better into the jobs landscape of our economy. It makes good-faith efforts to improve the rights and protections for gig workers, and for that...
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Introduction Mr Speaker, own account workers have historically been a key feature of our labour markets, with various occupations ranging from real estate and insurance agents, F&B stall owners at our hawker centres to taxi drivers. In recent years, the rise of digital platforms alongside the proliferation of smartphones and...
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Mr Speaker, I will focus my speech today on the creation of the Future Energy Fund. The Future Energy Fund is a key piece of our strategy in securing our energy future and meeting our 2050 net zero objective, and we support its creation. The Fund is meant to catalyse...
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Mr Speaker, the Corporate Service Providers (CSP) Bill is an important piece of legislation that is begging to be enacted, in the face of rising concerns over the use of Singapore as a home base or transition country by financial criminals. Over the past year, Singaporeans and many others...
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MP Jamus Lim Doing Business Easily But Doing It Right Mr Speaker, the proposed amendments to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Act (ACRA) of 2004, along with other related acts, are designed to both improve registration procedures while making regulatory enhancements. I support the Bill, but will flag some areas of concern....
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Budget Debate Speech – 27th February 2024 Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap Sir, in my time as a Member of Parliament representing Kaki Bukit Division of Aljunied GRC, I have had many interactions with Singaporean individuals and families from low-income households. These households have been most affected by the rising costs...
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Budget Debate Speech – 27th February 2024 Sylvia Lim Swee Lian In this Budget, I and others born in or before 1973 have been called “young seniors”. These days, when younger commuters give their seats up to me on the MRT, I no longer feel insulted but accept with grace. That...
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Budget Debate Speech – 27th February 2024 A/P Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui Preparing Our Businesses, Workers, and Students for the AI Revolution In his Budget Statement delivered two Fridays ago, DPM Wong spoke about artificial intelligence (AI) as a general-purpose technology, like “electricity, the internal combustion engine, the computer, or the...
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Budget Debate Speech – 27th February 2024 He Ting Ru Mr Speaker The title of this year’s budget statement, “Building our shared future together”, is one which all of us should strive for. In the Workers’ Party 2020 manifesto, “A Singapore For All”, we outlined our vision for a Singapore which has...
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Budget Debate Speech – 26th February 2024 Pritam Singh Mr Speaker, it is not mere coincidence that the slogan of Forward Singapore is "Building Our Shared Future", while that of Budget 2024 is the substantially similar "Building Our Shared Future Together". The Government intends for Budget 2024 to be a step...
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Budget Speech – 26th February 2024 Dennis Tan Lip Fong Mr Speaker, for my Budget Debate speech, I would first like to speak on certain issues relating to the support for our seniors, followed by the issue of support for adults with disabilities and finally, like in my previous years’ Budget...
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Budget Debate Speech – 26th February 2024 Gerald Giam Yean Song Mr Speaker, Fair Competition Singaporean workers aspire towards making a good living and engaging in meaningful work that uplifts not only their own families, but also their communities, their nation and the world. One inescapable reality of work is competition. We have always...
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Budget Speech – 26th February 2024 Chua Kheng Wee Louis Observations on our fiscal position Mr Speaker, as I have shared in my IRAS (Amendment) Bill speech on Budget Day itself, FY2023 did turn out to be another record year of tax collections, after significant increases in IRAS’ tax collections over the...
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Introduction Mr Speaker, I will make three points concerning Singapore’s reserves and then I will set out the Workers’ Party’s (WP) five principles on the reserves. My first point is that the Government should be more open about our reserves and reveal figures not for their own sake, but so as...
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Mr Speaker, Living in Singapore, it can sometimes seem that climate change is a concept that is remote to us and our daily lives. After all, it is not something that you immediately see or feel when you look out the window. Unless you were outside in Ang Mo Kio on...
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Mr Speaker, In our quest to safeguard the Singapore dollar, especially from the volatilities of currency crises, it is important for a country to hold sufficient Official Foreign Reserves (OFR). We've seen the dire consequences of not having enough in the tank during Thailand's ordeal in 1997. The country's struggle,...
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Mr Speaker, my Parliamentary colleagues from The Workers’ Party have set forth our party’s position on the reserves. Under the Net Investment Returns (NIR) framework, the Government can spend up to 50% of the long-term expected real returns on relevant assets. So up to 50% of the net returns from...
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What are reserves? In its broadest form, reserves are the difference between the assets and liabilities of a sovereign people. In principle, this would include not just financial reserves—that which is captured in cash and other financial assets—but all the nation’s endowments: her stock of built capital (the buildings, machinery,...