A Workers’ Party (WP) motion calling for a more equal and inclusive future economy was passed in Parliament on Wednesday (5 Aug), but only after People’s Action Party (PAP) Ministers of Parliament (MPs) amended it.
The revised motion was approved following a nine-hour debate involving 24 MPs, including four political office holders.
However, all 12 opposition MPs voted against both the key amendment and the amended motion.
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
The original motion, tabled by Workers’ Party’s Kenneth Tiong, Aljunied GRC MP, and Jamus Lim, Sengkang GRC MP, called on Parliament to support a future economy that is “more equal and inclusive”.
It also outlined the WP’s vision of an economy where entrepreneurs can experiment, workers thrive, innovation flourishes and local companies play a stronger role.
Notably, the motion originally stated that Parliament should support these goals “notwithstanding” the Government’s recently released Economic Strategy Review (ESR).
However, Edward Chia, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, proposed four amendments, the most significant being replacing “notwithstanding” with “in line with” the ESR.
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
The amended motion also explicitly recognised the role of global enterprises, alongside local companies, in powering Singapore’s future economy.
Mr Chia also proposed replacing the phrase “economic engine driven” with “economic powered”, as well as adding the words “and external” after “healthy domestic”.
Despite tabling the original motion, WP MPs ultimately voted against the revised version.
Closing the debate, Mr Tiong said the party could not accept the amendment linking its motion to the ESR.
He argued that the Government’s economic blueprint lacked clear targets and measurable outcomes.
“Separate the rhetoric about promises kept from measurable outcomes,” he said. “Untracked, consistency is indistinguishable from repetition.”
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
He added that previous government economic strategies had not been accompanied by consolidated report cards, making it difficult to evaluate their success.
“Our motion asks this House to commit to principles,” he said.
“The amendment asks it to commit to one set of operational plans.”
Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said the amended motion reflected the “full combination Singapore needs”.
He described local firms, multinational corporations, innovation and overseas expansion as “mutually reinforcing parts of one united economic strategy”.
“The economy of the future will not be powered by one type of company, one source of demand or one government programme,” he said.
“It will be powered by all fellow Singaporeans who can build, lead, own, innovate, adapt and grow.”
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow, who co-chairs the ESR committee on global competitiveness, said he found “agreement with quite a few of the Workers’ Party’s economic ideas”, particularly on supporting SMEs, startups and strengthening local companies.
However, he disagreed with what he described as the WP’s characterisation that Singapore’s current economic model is fundamentally imbalanced.
“I think it is better for us to see if we can look for areas of commonality,” he said.
“Better for us to be able to push together, rather than look for differences that perhaps don’t exist.”
All 12 opposition MPs voted against the amendment, and WP Secretary-General Pritam Singh asked the Speaker of Parliament to record their dissent.
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
While WP MPs voted against the amended motion, the Nominated MPs present supported it.
Ultimately, Parliament passed the amended motion, aligning its aspirations for a more inclusive economy with the Government’s Economic Strategy Review.
MS News has reached out to WP for comment.
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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore on YouTube.