Dear Voters,
The PAP’s 70th anniversary party in November 2024 provided some insight into a key thrust of the PAP’s narrative for these general elections.
PAP Secretary-General Lawrence Wong warned that if Singaporeans voted for the opposition while expecting the PAP to form the government, there was a risk that the PAP would not form a “stable” government. This would be despite the PAP handsomely winning the general elections.
Stable PAP = 100% of Elected Parliamentary Seats?
In the PAP’s mind, does a stable government mean the PAP must “bao ka liao” (take everything) with no elected opposition MPs in Parliament? If so, it would appear that the PAP can only function if alternative voices comprised of unelected Non-Constituency MPs and unelected Nominated MPs only.
The PAP is trying to convey a sense of crisis that it may lose three or four GRCs, and with that, four or five ministers–a quarter of Cabinet. But voters would remember that the loss in 2011 of former Ministers George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua, then Minister-to-be Ong Ye Kung and Speaker-to-be Zainul Abidin, and in 2020 of former Minister Ng Chee Meng, did not result in an organisational catastrophe for Singapore. Life went on. Indeed, the PAP is not lacking in talent to the extent that other elected MPs have been unable to fill the breach. Even PAP branch chairmen can be changed within a few short months, replaced by new branch chairmen.
Nothing is stopping the PAP from fielding too-important-to-lose ministers or ministers-to-be in Single-Member Constituencies (SMCs). With the benefit of the PAP’s track record, and an Electoral Boundaries Review Committee appointed by the Prime Minister, too-important-to-lose PAP Ministers or Ministers-to-be must surely stand a near-certain chance of entering Parliament on the back of their professional experience, supported by the financial and political muscle provided by PAP HQ.
If the PAP is truly worried about losing three or four Ministers in potentially competitive GRCs, the 4G PAP only needs to take a leaf out of the 1G PAP’s book. There was no GRC system when 1G leaders like Lee Kuan Yew, Othman Wok, Hon Sui Sen, S. Rajaratnam and Goh Keng Swee were elected to office by Singaporeans. They fought and won on their own merits in an electoral system which, prior to 1988, only hosted SMCs.
This is not the first time the PAP has advanced a doomsday narrative that seeks to persuade Singaporeans through fear mongering, to achieve a Parliament where all the elected MPs come from the PAP.
The Sophisticated Singaporean Voter
When Parliament opened after GE2020, then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested that Singaporeans who vote opposition candidates into Parliament to engender a more balanced political system were “free riders”.
It was a curious characterization, which directly questioned the political wisdom and good sense of Singaporean voters. The PAP concedes that Singaporeans want an opposition in Parliament. How else are voters to achieve this outcome if they do not elect opposition MPs?
Our first-past-the-post electoral system requires any candidate to secure the most votes in a constituency to succeed. Time and time again, the Singaporean voter has made rational choices at the ballot box.
This was most recently exhibited during Presidential Election 2023. Nearly every opposition party except the Workers’ Party, directly or indirectly supported a candidate other than former PAP Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Even as the Workers’ Party did not back any candidate, the election results saw the President secure a whopping 70% of the popular vote despite many opposition leaders flying the flag for other presidential candidates.
The result proved the independence and sophistication of Singaporean voters. Singaporeans do not vote for any candidate recklessly. They vote for the good of Singapore. Such voting decisions prove they are anything but free riders.
A Parliament with rational, responsible and respectable opposition parties where alternative views are represented serves Singapore and Singaporeans well. It engenders a balanced Parliament which is an important stabiliser in our political system.
This is all the more so with Singapore at a critical inflection point domestically, coupled with a more unpredictable external environment. A diversity of voices, views and votes in Parliament will ensure no one is left behind in this country we all call home.
The WP in Parliament
In spite of our comparatively small number, WP MPs have held the PAP government to account. WP MPs have asked numerous parliamentary questions on a wide range of issues and filed motions on various topics such as the cost of living. We have also debated the PAP on matters such as HDB policy and GST increases. Our MPs oppose policies that we deem hastily put forward, poorly justified, or not in the interests of Singaporeans. In addition, we play our part to publicly scrutinise the Government’s handling of matters such as Income’s then-proposed sale to Allianz, and we advance policies to protect Singaporean workers–some of which have been taken up by the PAP, such as workplace fairness legislation.
The Workers’ Party has not turned Parliament into a circus. As we scrutinise laws and motions proposed by the Government, we do not hesitate to support them where justified. When we debate the PAP, we do so in a mature and measured way. However, we will not hesitate to adopt a more adversarial posture if required.
All this is what a loyal opposition–loyal to Singapore and Singaporeans–is supposed to do.
The WP – A Loyal Opposition
Let me recount one instance where the WP proved itself to be loyal to Singapore and to the democratic process, when there were insufficient numbers of PAP MPs present to pass an important Bill.
In March 2023, an amendment to the Constitution was proposed by the PAP government. This was an amendment that the WP considered to be in Singapore’s interest. A two-thirds majority of elected MPs and NCMPs is needed to pass a Constitution amendment, which at March 2023 was 63 MPs. When it came to voting, there were only 60 PAP MPs present, which was insufficient to carry the vote. If not for the presence of 7 WP MPs who voted for the amendment, it would have failed to pass. In effect, the PAP had to “free ride” on the WP MPs to pass a Bill that a PAP government had tabled!
Overwhelming power can breed overconfidence and complacency. In the Singapore political context of today, both are by-products of overwhelming PAP political power, as the PAP’s poor attendance in Parliament on 21 March 2023 proved. That day represented a clarion call that echoed the importance of a balanced political system.
Vote for the WP – Working for Singapore
For our part, the Workers’ Party continues working for Singapore. The road is always tough for the men and women who choose to stand with the Workers’ Party to work for Singapore.
A retired editor of The Straits Times put it well when he said, “It is as hard, if not harder, to persuade people to take on the mantle of a loyal opposition, which means taking on the PAP not for its own sake, but because they believe it is for the good of the country. The odds are even greater, the uncertainties more forbidding, and the price of failure even more frightening for aspiring opposition candidates.”
These odds, uncertainties and the price of failure have not stopped my colleagues in the Workers’ Party from stepping up and envisioning a fairer and more democratic Singapore.
Because Singapore and Singaporeans are who we step up and work for.
Vote for the Workers’ Party – Working for Singapore 
April/May 2025
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 