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topic.
Workers' Party chief
Low Thia Khiang and Labour chief
Lim Swee Say from
People's Action Party (PAP) locked horns during the final day of the 12th
Parliament's first meeting on Friday.
As the last speaker to speak from the opposition bench, Low -- the
MP for Aljunied GRC -- took aim at Minister
Lim Swee Say’s oft-repeated slogan of “cheaper, better, faster” and
said that “perhaps we will start to see better, faster
ministers at work and perhaps cheaper (ones) after the ministerial
salary review is completed”.
He also urged the government to ask itself why Singaporeans
commonly perceived the government to be "more concerned with paying
its ministers well than about the welfare of the
people."
In reply, Lim – who is the Minister in the
Prime Minister’s Office as well as chief of the
NTUC labour movement —said that his “cheaper, better, faster”
slogan was referring to products and services and that comparisons
were unfair.
“There’s a fundamental difference,” he said in his speech. “What
the NTUC and the tripartite partners and pursuing are cheaper,
better, faster products and services, and a cheaper, better, faster
economy, not a cheaper, better, faster workforce.”
The East Coast GRC MP also said he was at a loss for words when Low
said he felt that ministers served out of self-interest, accusing
opposition MPs of taking credit for "the good things" that the
government has done since the
May General Election by saying that the presence of opposition
MPs have brought about policy changes.
Separately, Low also urged the People’s Action Party to refrain
from using “doom and gloom” scenarios when debating health care and
welfare policy trade-offs.
“I urge the PAP to step out of the shadow of doom and gloom of
certain pitfalls of Western liberal democracy and work towards a
First World Parliament in our own way,” he said.
Low was defending Non-Constituency MPs
Gerald Giam and
Yee Jenn Jong's earlier calls for the government to spend on
affordable and adequate health care, housing and retirement
financing.
Both NMPs were then reminded by Minister of State for Trade and
Industry and National Development,
Lee Yi Shyan, of the pitfalls of a welfare state, citing the
example of a debt-ridden Greece and its welfare system.
In rebuttal, Low said "it is high time the PAP MPs refrain from
using this as a red herring to kill debate on alternative solutions
and mechanisms to those proposed by the government."
Low added that the government had used the term "policy trade-offs"
to defend decisions that benefited them instead of the people. Low
gave the example of the decision to build the integrated resorts
with casinos and the government "highlighted the benefits to our
society over the related gaming and social ills -- never mind the
trade-offs," said Low.
Low however did commend the PAP for its "resilience in response to
ground reaction" and added that it was not the opposition MPs, but
rather the voters that should really claim the credit for recent
changes as they had voted more opposition in and that the result is
that the PAP takes a serious look at what is happening.
Both Lim and Low also eventually agreed that national interest
would remain above their own partisan ones.
