Tiered pricing for utilities and nationalising public transport among WP’s proposals to ease costs of living
Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday (Nov 7) debated for over seven hours on how to ease cost-of-living pressures on Singaporeans in areas such as utilities, transportation and housing, before the House eventually approved an amended motion on the issue.
The debate had arisen from the original motion, filed by Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and his Workers’ Party (WP) colleague Louis Chua, that read: “That this House calls on the Government to review its policies so as to lower cost of living pressures on Singaporeans and their families”. Mr Liang Eng Hwa, MP for Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency from the People’s Action Party (PAP), proposed amendments to the motion to read as follows: “That this House acknowledges that cost of living is a global concern, and calls on the Government to continue pursuing policies that together lower cost of living pressures on Singaporeans and their families, without undermining our fiscal sustainability and burdening future generations of Singaporeans.” While WP MPs as well as Non-Constituency MPs (NCMP) from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) accepted the third portion of amendment on fiscal sustainability, they rejected the first two portions.
Mr Singh, who is also WP chief, acknowledged the various measures implemented by the Government, including rebates and hand-outs, to help Singaporeans deal with rising costs. However, he reiterated that his party disagrees with the continuation of status quo as the word “continue” might suggest, and urged the Government to review its policies as his party proposed various “structural changes”, which all eight WP MPs took turns to raise in Parliament. A total of 20 MPs — including two political office holders, both NCMPs from PSP and a Nominated MP — spoke during the debate from about 2.15pm to 9.45pm.
WP's cost of living motion passed in Parliament after significant amendments by PAP
A motion on the cost of living in Singapore, tabled by the opposition Workers’ Party (WP), was passed in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 7) but only after three significant amendments from the People’s Action Party (PAP).
In debating the amended motion, Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the House agreed that the cost of living was an issue for many — but opposition and ruling party lawmakers clashed over how to deal with such concerns. Twenty members of the House — MPs, Nominated MPs and Non-Constituency MPs and two political office holders in Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann — spoke on the motion. The amended version was passed around 10pm, after more than seven hours of debate. All eight WP MPs and two Progress Singapore Party NCMPs voted against it, while the PAP MPs present in the chamber voted in favour of.
WP's original motion was titled “cost of living crisis” and stated "that this House calls on the Government to review its policies so as to lower cost of living pressures on Singaporeans and their families”. But MP Liang Eng Hwa (PAP-Bukit Panjang) proposed two additions and a replacement for the phrase on reviewing policies. His proposed amended motion read: “That this House acknowledges that cost of living is a global concern and calls on the government to continue pursuing policies that together lower cost of living pressures on Singaporeans and their families, without undermining our fiscal sustainability and burdening future generations of Singaporeans.”
Structural policy shifts, not just handouts, needed to tackle cost of living: WP MPs
Responding to opposition calls for Singapore to review its policies in the light of inflation, Senior Minister of State for Finance Chee Hong Tat said existing approaches are working well, and that the suggested changes may have worse outcomes.
On Tuesday (Nov 7), Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and fellow Workers’ Party (WP) MP Louis Chua filed a parliamentary motion for the House to call on the government to “review its policies so as to lower cost-of-living pressures”. Arguing that one-off handouts are helpful but that structural policy shifts are still necessary, WP MPs suggested tweaks to specific policies.
Singh and fellow Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim suggested greater tiered pricing for water and electricity, as well as differentiated rates to encourage off-peak consumption. Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru suggested more MediSave top-ups and yearly updates to MediSave withdrawal limits to reflect inflation. Other WP MPs suggested reviews of public health means-testing criteria; an overhaul of the public transport model; and measures to manage certificate of entitlement and housing prices, among other things.
Structural changes needed to address cost of living pressures: WP
From utilities and public transport services, to certificates of entitlement (COEs) and housing, the Government should relook its policies to help Singaporeans cope with rising costs, Workers’ Party (WP) MPs said on Tuesday.
They were speaking in Parliament on the cost of living, following a motion tabled by WP chief Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) and Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC).
Calling on the Government to review its policies, Mr Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition, said they must be “fit for purpose in this heightened inflationary environment”. He said: “This House must leave no stone unturned, because for some Singaporeans this has become a cost-of-living crisis.”
Workers’ Party Explains Why Current Living Costs In Sg A “Crisis”
On Oct 26, two MPs from The Workers’ Party—Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) and Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC)—announced that they had filed a full motion for debate regarding Singapore’s Cost of Living Crisis. The WP said in an advisory that it understands that the debate has been scheduled for Nov 7.
“๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ,” is the subject of the motion, and the WP said it would engage in robust debate with the government concerning measures that can be taken to reduce the burdens people feel due to increases in living costs. The WP explained the background for the motion, saying that the pressures from higher living costs have been a recurrent issue in many of the engagements they’ve had on the ground with residents.
“Many have expressed their concerns to us around the concurrent price increases for food, water, housing, and both public and private transport, among others. With the Goods & Services Tax (GST) scheduled to increase yet again to nine per cent in 2024, this could add further pressures to the cost of living crisis faced by many Singaporeans and their families,” said the WP. The party believes that raising the topic is relevant at the moment since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have brought about inflationary measures that have affected the world, forcing everyone, including Singaporeans, to “adjust to the new realities.”
House debates proposals to ease cost-of-living pressures; Govt stresses it will do more if needed
Cost-of-living pressures dominated discussions for seven hours in Parliament on Tuesday, with MPs on both sides agreeing it was a concern, and concurring that aid must be given to those who need it.
But People’s Action Party (PAP) and Workers’ Party (WP) MPs had their differences, with the WP focusing on structural changes such as tiered pricing for utilities rather than one-off fiscal payouts.
The ruling party, meanwhile, emphasised the existing suite of policies for those in need, especially the lower-income groups, and said the Government is open to doing more if needed.
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Coping with Inflation & Cost Of Living
Passengers wait for a bus in Singapore. The city-state's bus fares will be raised in December. (Photo by Fumika Sato)
Public utility charges and transport fares in Singapore will be raised, starting this month, squeezing household budgets already strained by higher inflation.
"The cost of living in Singapore is getting too high. Buying and maintaining a car has become too costly, and now the water price, too. I can manage while I have income, but how will I live when I retire?" an engineer in his 50s lamented:
- The latest price increases began with transit fares. On Sept. 18, the government announced a 7% rise in public transportation fares, starting in late December, for buses and the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) railway system. Fares will rise by 10 to 11 Singapore cents ($0.07 to 0.08) per ride for adults who pay by card and by 20 cents for those who pay in cash.
- The following day, Singapore Post announced a 65% postage increase, effective Oct. 9, for regular size letters and picture postcards to 51 cents. This was the first increase since 2014, excluding a 1 cent hike in January in line with a rise in the general sales tax.
- The first increase in water charges since 2017 was also announced on Sept. 27. It will be implemented in 2024 and 2025 and total 50 cents per 1,000 liters, rising to SG$3.24, up 18% from the current rate.
- Electricity and gas fees have been jacked up as well. Reviewing electricity charges every quarter, state-owned power and gas distributor SP Group raised household electricity charges by 3.5% for the October to December period compared with the previous quarter. Gas supplier City Energy, part of Keppel Corp., also carried out a 2.3% rate increase.
- Driving the increases in utility and transport charges is higher costs for things like energy, and rising wages. The headline consumer price index in the city-state climbed at its fastest pace in August and September of 2022, rising about 7.5% from the previous year. Inflation rose at a 4% clip in the latest reading in August. Nominal total wages grew 6.5% on average in 2022 over the previous year, according to the Ministry of Manpower.
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