Nov 11, 2006
Help the needy? Yes, but PAP and opposition MPs differ on how to do
so
DIFFERENT STROKES: Mr Low clashed with Dr Balakrish- nan over
whether the Government's social safety net should be a permanent
and unconditional one.
WP's Low urges Govt not to be fearful of helping poor
COMMUNITY Development Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and opposition
MP Low Thia Khiang ended on the same side yesterday - on the stand
that no needy citizen should be left without government aid.
But that was all the two could see eye-to-eye about.
In a civil but volley-for-volley exchange, the pair disputed
whether the Government's social safety net should be a 'permanent,
unconditional' one.
The minister sparked the match when he highlighted Mr Low's
Workers' Party manifesto on its website which states that
assistance to citizens should be given on an 'unconditional,
permanent needs-based' basis.
Dr Balakrishnan, who oversees youth and sports policies, criticised
the model.
'Firstly, it's unsustainable: You will
run bankrupt sooner or later. Secondly, you are not doing
the people you are trying to help any favours. And third, you erode
the work ethic that is at the heart of the success and identity of
Singapore,' he said.
'That's the big difference between WP and us,' summed up the PAP
minister.
Dr Balakrishnan then noted that Mr Low and his party colleague Non-
Constituency MP Sylvia Lim had not spoken about a 'permanent' and
'unconditional' safety net, and wondered aloud if the opposition
members had had a 'change of position'.
'If you have, we welcome you to the club and we will definitely
work with you to improve our social safety net,' he said.
That drew a swift rebuttal from Mr Low, who rose to declare that
the WP had not changed its mind.
He said: 'We believe people need some certainty. You've got to give
people that certainty, especially under the condition of structural
unemployment and... because a lot of jobs are on contract.
'We should provide people with the confidence that the Government
will help them if they are in trouble.'
Dr Balakrishnan replied that indeed, Singaporeans should have every
confidence that if they try their best to be self-reliant, they
will get help to become so.
As for Mr Low's question on whether help schemes are effective, Dr
Balakrishnan said performance indicators are in place to track the
outcomes.
He also took pains to stress that 'this Government will not ignore
people who need help simply because of a fear of abuse.'
The MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC disclosed that 'in my own
constituency, my instructions for anyone who needs help urgently,
is that we'll give help first, we'll ask questions later'.
If any constituent tries to abuse the system, 'he can only cheat me
once', he noted.
How can Mr Low gave such an idea. It's suicidal when Global
Crossing, which counts Singapore's Temasek Holdings as its biggest
shareholder, lost US$50 million, or US$1.40 a share, down from
US$94 million, or US$4.56 a share, a year ago. Couple with the
uncertainty to the shin corps deal now.
Although we had billions of dollars in our national reserves and
some profits from HDB flats and yearly increase in public
transportation fares, we must know it is for investment purposes
due to our lack of natural resources. We also need to pay our civil
servants, police and our elite part-time minister $13k per month.
If the social safety net is implemented, our country will
definately bankrupt.
Just take a lot at US and Canada. They both has unconditional
welfare but their economy is stagnant. In the event we get
retrenchment or incapablities compared with foreign talents due to
their competitive salary scale, we can still enjoy beautiful
cover-walkways and mini gardens in our HDB neighbourhood for
leisure. We shouldn't harbour such unreasonable demand and stress
our minster further as they need the energy to source for more
foreign talents and give them scholarship so that they can lead
us.
Instead, we should rack our brains and try to keep the foreign
talents here, else they choose to retire like a king back home.
Singaporeans must know what is the piority and if in doubt, look to
our minster as they will never be wrong.
