GE2025
Going beyond excitement of Nomination Day.
Amber Tay
April 26, 2025, 03:45 PM
People's Action Party (PAP) candidate and anchor minister for Sembawang GRC, Ong Ye Kung, said now is a good time to start scrutinising the policy ideas put across by different political parties.
Speaking at a media doorstop at the Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre on Apr. 26, Ong asked for other parties to clarify how they planned to get the funds for their proposed projects if they are to cut Goods & Services Tax (GST).
Many opposition parties, including the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP), have proposed reducing GST to 7 per cent to reduce cost-of-living expenses.
Ong said healthcare costs are increasing so fast because of the ageing population in Singapore.
"When I became a minister in 2015, the healthcare budget was S$8 to S$9 billion," Ong said.
In comparison, the budget today is around S$21 billion.
Ong said this budget is expected to increase to S$30 billion by 2030.
"That is why GST is needed: purely just to be able to subsidise healthcare for an ageing population," said Ong, adding that GST revenue now is about S$5 billion.
"The bottom line is this: if you don't raise GST, where is the money coming from to support healthcare? Opposition parties have to explain, because they are explaining, cut GST, but spend more in many other areas," he added.
Ong also addressed other issues raised by parties, including immigration, housing, and healthcare.
The minister said the government regulates foreign workers quite tightly to the point where many businesses say it's becoming difficult to operate in Singapore, as they cannot find enough Singaporeans to fill those positions, especially when it comes to blue-collar work.
Ong said if the opposition parties now have different policies to restrict this further, businesses will find it even harder to operate in the country.
"Foreign investment may slow down, which means we cannot create as many jobs as we formerly could for Singaporeans. So what is their proposal? How do they strike this balance? And I think Singaporeans also need to know," he remarked.
Ong also questioned housing policies by opposition political parties, saying they need to specify the logistics of selling new flats at lower prices.
If the resale prices for these flats remain the same, it would be like "striking a big lottery", which in turn would lead to a surge in demand for Build-to-Order (BTO) flats and longer waiting times, Ong said.
Ong also said a single-payer universal healthcare system, as proposed by the SDP, is a "buzzword" that should be further explained on how it would work logistically.
The other candidates in his Sembawang GRC team are Mariam Jaafar, Vikram Nair, Gabriel Lam and Ng Shi Xuan.
Don't say "I do it for you": Ong's response back to Chee
During an SDP rally on Apr. 25 at Bukit Panjang SMC, party chief Chee Soon Juan responded to Ong's point that he "abandoned" Bukit Batok to contest in Sembawang West SMC against PAP's Poh Li San.
Chee said Ong should instead "ask himself why he abandoned his Aljunied family".
Ong told reporters that there's "nothing wrong with making a political calculation and changing constituencies" and "it happens in politics", but candidates should be upfront with voters.
"Don't say, 'I do it for you,'" Ong said.
He added that the focus now should go beyond the excitement of Nomination Day since it is the fourth day of campaigning.
Top image via Amber Tay/Mothership
