Progressivity is not about pitting the well-off against others: Pritam Singh
Tessa Oh
SINGAPORE must “guard against a split in society” where the well-off are pitted against the rest, even as the government addresses income inequality and introduces policies to lift those at the bottom, Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh said in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 22).
Opening the first day of the Budget debate, the Leader of the Opposition cautioned against framing the government’s latest fiscal plan as a “Robin Hood” Budget. “Referring to it as such pits one group – high-earners and the rich – against the lower and middle classes,” he said.
While the government has indeed made moves against inequality, it can do more, he added. He warned of the threat of “two Singapores” emerging: one which is connected to the world as a hub economy, where “high salaries and opportunities abound”; and another where most Singaporeans live, “where there are perceptions of slowing social mobility, connected to the reality of high housing prices”.
“These two Singapores could easily become a reality that causes frictions in society,” he said.
“Human nature and the instincts of envy and chauvinism, and a narrative of haves and have nots, can quickly poison society and accentuate cleavages. With people living cheek-by-jowl, such abuse can easily take root and manifest themselves in cruel ways.”
To combat this perception of “two Singapores”, “redistribution must be at the core of government policies”, said Singh. Noting fiscally progressive moves in Budget 2023, such as increased taxes on high-end property and cars, he said that the WP “supports the idea of a progressive society where those who earn more pay proportionally more in taxes”.
While the WP supports Budget 2023, Singh raised questions on three areas: the newly-announced jobs-skills integrators; the higher Central Provident Fund salary ceiling; and higher grants for resale flat buyers.
Jobs-skills integrators, which could be existing institutions such as trade associations, will be appointed to optimise training and job placements in certain sectors. To assess how they might fare, “we should look at past efforts”, said Singh.
He asked if the government could disclose the outcomes of the Industry Transformation Map for precision engineering, which similarly sought to train workers and match them with new jobs.
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On the raising of the CPF salary ceiling to S$8,000, Singh asked if the government had considered increasing the share of funds allocated to the special account, to better secure retirement adequacy.
Reducing the allocation to the ordinary account “from one’s early years”, in favour of the higher-interest-bearing special account, would better serve Singaporeans’ retirement needs, he said.
As for the higher grants for buyers of resale Housing and Development Board flats, Singh raised concerns that this will raise the prices of resale properties, particularly larger flats and those in popular areas.
This might “only make a future correction even sharper, when the reality of lease decay for resale flats sets in”, he warned. He asked if the government could share its thinking behind this move, and the assessment of its intended effect.
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