GE2025: Voters should see the election as being about their future ‘in a very changed world’, says PM Wong
This election is also about choosing right candidates, upholding ideals of racial and religious harmony, he adds
[SINGAPORE] Voters should see this general election as being about their future “in a very changed world”, with “serious and growing challenges” ahead that will affect jobs and the cost of living, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told reporters on Wednesday (Apr 30).
Speaking at a Tampines GRC walkabout on the second-last day of the nine-day campaigning period, PM Wong set out three key issues for Singaporeans to consider.
“First, this election is about your future,” he said.
The challenges ahead will affect issues that matter deeply to Singaporeans, such as the cost of living, jobs and “whether or not Singapore can even make a good living in this new world”, he added.
Flanked by Tampines GRC candidates, PM Wong noted that these concerns have been “brewing for some time due to global inflation, as well as Covid disruptions”.
“But the storm that we are heading towards will only make these concerns worse, because we are entering more turbulent weather,” he warned.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Slowing economic growth could hurt incomes and exacerbate cost-of-living concerns, said PM Wong, highlighting anxieties about graduate jobs and retrenchments.
Noting accusations that the People’s Action Party (PAP) is fearmongering, he drew comparisons to how some underestimated the duration of the Covid-19 outbreak at its outset.
“I don’t know how long this next storm will last, but I am sure it is not a one-year affair. It is going to be more prolonged.”
Trust and ideals
The coming storm, he said, is why the second issue is important: choosing candidates who are honest and trustworthy, some of whom will form the leadership team to steer Singapore “through the many storms… and secure a brighter future”.
Thirdly, this election is also about ideals and “what we want Singapore to be” – including a harmonious multiracial and multireligious society.
“I’m glad everyone agrees that we should reject the mixing of race and religion into politics, and so I call on all Singaporeans to uphold these ideals of a multiracial and multireligious society and to uphold our harmony,” he said.
PM Wong noted that the country “had to be reminded of this” mid-campaign.
On Apr 25, the government blocked access to social media posts by foreigners that attempted to influence the election along racial and religious lines, with PM Wong noting the next day that such posts should be rejected even if made by Singaporeans.
Asked about Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh’s argument that the PAP used to withhold upgrading for opposition wards – until it cost them votes – PM Wong replied that “policies are not static”.
Policies “will always be fine-tuned with the input of Singaporeans when we hear their voices”, he said, adding that the party takes feedback from both Parliament and ordinary citizens.
Tampines plans
PM Wong was accompanying the PAP’s Tampines GRC team on their walkabout, a day after Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong did the same.
Tampines GRC is seeing the first four-way fight in a GRC since 1992, with the ruling party facing the WP, People’s Power Party (PPP) and National Solidarity Party (NSP).
At Wednesday’s doorstop, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli – who anchors the PAP slate – spoke about past municipal projects such as Our Tampines Hub and upcoming plans to improve connectivity.
He announced that incumbent Tampines MP Baey Yam Keng, who was also present, will chair the constituency’s town council if elected.
Also present were the other candidates – Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon, Charlene Chen and David Neo – and Tampines Changkat SMC candidate Desmond Choo, who faces Kenneth Foo of the WP.
The WP slate for Tampines GRC is led by Faisal Manap, who was part of WP’s winning Aljunied GRC team in past elections, and features four new faces: Ong Lue Ping, Jimmy Tan, Eileen Chong, and Michael Thng.
The PPP team is led by party secretary-general Goh Meng Seng and includes party chairman Derrick Sim, Vere Nathan, Arbaah Haroun, and Peter Soh.
The NSP is fielding its president Reno Fong and vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad, who also contested Tampines GRC in 2020. The other candidates are party assistant secretary-general Eugene Yeo, and new faces Zee Phay and Thamilselvan Karuppaya.
For more election coverage, visit our GE2025 microsite
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
