Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Sir, in August last year, HDB confirmed that it had completed 72% of BTO projects that were delayed due to COVID-19 disruptions. In addition, 28% of the BTO projects delayed by the pandemic remain under construction. For these projects, around 22,000 affected households will progressively receive their keys by the first quarterContinue reading “HDB Works and Delays”
Category Archives: COS 2024: Pritam Singh
Waiting Times and Bed Availability
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, having to be hospitalised is physiologically and emotionally stressful in many ways. Fortunately, our health workers work hard to minimise the inconveniences of the experience as much as possible. Even so, to know that you have to wait long hours for a bed in Singapore does not correspond with what manyContinue reading “Waiting Times and Bed Availability”
Retrenchments, and “Hand” and “Heart” Work
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, according to the preliminary estimates released by MOM, retrenchments in Singapore have more than doubled in 2023 from 2022 to 14,320 cases. Recent stories about ongoing retrenchment and redundancy exercises in companies such as Lazada and Electrolux have only intensified discussions in public about retrenchment. With the threat of retrenchment forContinue reading “Retrenchments, and “Hand” and “Heart” Work”
Funding for SPH Media Trust
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chair, the first tranche of public funds was disbursed to SPH Media Trust in March 2023. Over four Ministerial Statements in this House, the Government has put out its reasons for making the taxpayers subsidise the running of SPH Media Trust or at least, partly subsidising the running of SPH MediaContinue reading “Funding for SPH Media Trust”
Funding for Bilingual Education
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, bilingual education is a cornerstone of our education policy. In the early 1990s, the Government moved to allow Indian students to sit for five non-Tamil Indian languages, or NTILs, at major examinations, such as the “O” levels. Separately, and in recognition of the status of Tamil as an official IndianContinue reading “Funding for Bilingual Education”
A safe and resilient nation in turbulent times
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Mr Chairman, thank you to the Minister for a very broad-ranging speech which I thought was very helpful. I refer to one of the points which he anchored his speech on, which is about foreign policy beginning at home and the importance of a cohesive and united society in Singapore. IContinue reading “A safe and resilient nation in turbulent times”
Income Tax – Chargeable Income
Chairman, the chargeable income tax for the first $20,000 of one’s personal income is 0%. This has remained the case for many years. Even though the effective tax rate of 2% is in place for those earning between $20,000 to $30,000, a figure that comes up to $200, this amount is not insignificant, especially forContinue reading “Income Tax – Chargeable Income”
GST – Registration Threshold
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, the registration threshold of $1 million for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been in place since 1994. The threshold works, for example, to exempt some small and medium enterprises (SMEs), such as hawkers and retail shops in our neighbourhoods. It also helps avoid incurring additional costs to comply withContinue reading “GST – Registration Threshold”
Debate on Annual Budget Statement
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): 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 towards Forward Singapore. The Forward Singapore exercise has three major goalsContinue reading “Debate on Annual Budget Statement”
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 