Potong Pasir SMC have existed for 57 years! First created in 1968, it has been present for 14 General Elections. This General Election would mark the 15th appearance of Potong Pasir SMC on Singapore’s electoral map. Mr Chiam See Tong, former leader of SPP, stood in 8 General Elections here, winning in 1984, under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) banner, against PAP’s Mah Bow Tan. He was re-elected 2 more times under the SDP banner, in 1988 and 1991. In 1997, he contested under the SPP and won again at Potong Pasir SMC. He would go on to win in 2001 and 2006, totaling 6 terms, spanning 27 years, as the MP for Potong Pasir SMC.

Our Candidate

Williiamson Lee

李健銓

Our Policies

Support. Security. Equality.

Our slogan for our Potong Pasir SMC campaign, “Support. Security. Equality.” is simple and direct. It reflects the 3 policies we would be proposing, if elected.

Support.

Keeping Public Transport Affordable For Singaporeans

Issue:

Despite increasing public transport fares on a near yearly basis, LTA incurred a deficit of $1.252 billion from operating the public bus and rail network in FY23/24. Government grants were needed to offset this deficit, monies that could be used in other areas to improve the life of Singaporeans.

Solution:

We propose that public transport fares should be frozen for Singaporeans while noncitizen’s fares are gradually increased to reflect the true cost of their journey. This would reduce the deficit LTA incur. In turn, the government grants required to offset the deficit is reduced, freeing up the capital to benefit more Singaporeans.

Illustration:

FY23/24 (April 2023 to Mar 2024) average daily ridership for bus, MRT and LRT are 3,791,000, 3,297,000 and 204,000 respectively. This gives a total of 7,293,000 rides per day. Total fare revenue collected in this period was reported as $941,000,000. As Singapore’s public transport system charges fare based on distance travelled and allows transfers, the number of rides does not equate to number of journeys since multiple bus or rail rides may be taken within 1 journey. It would be assumed that there is an average of 2 rides per journey.

Based on Singapore Department of Statistics, Singapore’s total population stands at 6,036,900, as of 2024. Number of Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents (PR) and foreigners stands at 3,635,900, 544,900 and 1,856,000 respectively. This means Citizens only makes up 60.23% of our population. Assuming an equal proportion of Citizens, PR and foreigners utilise public transportation, 39.77% of the $1.252 billion subsidy effectively was used to subsidise the rides of non-Citizens.

Continuing with the two assumptions above, an initial increase of $0.50 per journey for all PR and foreigners would net an estimated $725,064 per day in fare revenue. This is slightly over half of the subsidy given, at $1,364,180 per day. To totally off set 39.77% of the $1.252 billion subsidy, an increase of $0.94 per journey would be required.

The actual increase required might be lower than $0.94, since certain groups enjoy cheaper fares. For example, senior citizens and PRs enjoy discounted rides. Thus, the amount of subsidy attributed to rides of non-Citizens must be refined with Government’s data.

Implementation:

The SingPass mobile app have seen good adoption, helped by the high smartphone penetration rate. It’s “My Cards” section could be expanded to include a bank card to allow payment via NFC. It would also serve as an authentication method. For citizens who do not prefer smartphone usage, they could opt for a personalised CEPAS card. This medium of payment is already available and widely used by concession pass holders.

Security.

CPF As A Safety Net For Retrenchment

Issue:

For employees under 55 years old, CPF contribution may account for 31.62% of their total monthly remuneration given by employers. Current uses of their CPF monies includes housing, medical, education and retirement. This potentially creates a large nest egg which may sit idle till retirement, even in times of distress, such as retrenchment.

Solution:

We propose CPF OA monies can be tapped on when a Singaporean under 55 is retrenched to tide across this difficult time. This amount can be returned once he/she is gainfully employed again.

Illustration:

As of 31 December 2024, a CPF member under 55 years old average balances stand around $121,798. The breakdown by age group is shown in the table below. Based on the allocation rates for those up to 55, the average OA balance would be around $63,453.

10% of the Citizen’s OA balance, capped at $6000, could be paid out across 6 months or till he/she is gainfully employed, whichever is earlier. Riding on the Jobseeker Support Scheme’s payment schedule which similarly pays out unemployment benefits across 6 months, the disbursement can start with 25% for the first month, followed by 20.5%, 17% and 12.5% for the last 3 months.

Once reemployed, additional deduction to offset the withdrawn amount will only start from the second month’s CPF contribution. This serves two purposes, firstly the first month salary would be dearer to the citizen since the period of unemployment may had resulted in some deficit spending. The second purpose is more administrative in nature. The delay would allow the first month’s CPF contribution to serve as the signal to CPF that the citizen is once again gainfully employed. CPF would thus be able to notify the employer to account for the additional deduction required to offset the amount withdrawn. The additional deduction would be set at 5% of the citizen’s current gross wage, till the withdrawn amount if fully offset.

This proposal aims to work in tandem with Jobseeker Support Scheme. In the long term, it would help reduce the frequency of revision to the Jobseeker Support Scheme’s payout since this proposal’s payout is dynamic while the Jobseeker Support Scheme’s is static.

Implementation:

Application to start the withdrawal can be synchronised with the Jobseeker Support Scheme. This would remove the need for a standalone system, thus reducing cost. Cessation of withdrawal can be done automatically via the first month’s CPF contribution and offsetting the withdrawal with additional contribution begins from the second month at 5% of gross wage till the withdrawal amount is fully offset, as stated above.

Equality.

Advocating Transparent Hiring Processes

Issue:

Under the current Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), it is mandated that companies leave their job advertisement for at least 14 days before applying for a S pass or Employment Pass (EP). However, the hiring process is opaque and the probability of favouring foreigners over Singapore Citizens may exists. This would generally affect local PMETs to a greater extent.

Solution:

We propose companies who hire foreigners have to declare their new employee’s qualification, experience and salary range so Singaporeans who have applied to that role but was rejected can judge if there is any discrimination against them.

Illustration:

Employers/hiring manager may prefer foreign workers for various reasons, but if the reason is not based on the applicant’s merit but linked to their nationality, discrimination would have occurred

If the employers/hiring managers decides in advance to hire a foreigner, they could simply wait out the 14 days required by the current FCF. Other controls set by the Government, such as the local workforce count requirement, can be circumvented by hiring multiple lower skilled Singaporeans. This would thus negatively affect Singaporean PMETs. Currently, there is no way a job applicant can know if he/she was discriminated against.

This proposal’s aim is to increase the transparency of the hiring process and allow easier detection of discrimination. The increase transparency itself would reduce the probability that employers/hiring managers would practise discrimination since the chances of getting caught have increased significantly.

Implementation:

Details of the new hire would already be provided to the Government during the S pass or EP application. Contact details of all applicants would also be provided to the Government as the job advertisement have to be posted on MyCareersFuture, a Singapore Government website. The details of the foreign hire, such as qualification, experience and salary range, thus could be sent to all applicants. This would allow applicants to consider if discrimination had occurred. If multiple complains are submitted for a job or against a company, an investigation can be started against the company.

Volunteer With SPP@Potong Pasir SMC

Donate To SPP@Potong Pasir SMC

Contact SPP@Potong Pasir SMC