TOWARDS A CARING SOCIETY

The programme of the Workers' Party '88

INDEX

1. Introduction
1.1 Party Philosophy
1.2 Style of government

2. Economic Programme
2.1 Minimum conditions of growth
2.2 Sharing in the fruits of growth
2.3 Taxation
2.4 CPF
2.5 Labour & Wages
2.6 Local Entrepreneurs

3. Government and Civil Liberties
3.1 Parliament as a check on executive power
3.2 Neutrality of government organisations
3.3 Presidential Commission on Minority Rights
3.4 Freedom of speech, assembly and association

4. Justice, Law & Order
4.1 Justice
4.2 Law
4.3 Order

5. Education
5.1 A system that lags behind
5.2 The Problem - PAP aims
5.3 Workers' Party philosophy
5.4 A new basic education
5.5 Streaming only at 15 or 16
5.6 University Education
5.7 Adult Education
5.8 Independent Schools

6. Health care
6.1 Medisave - a system in collapse
6.2 The Workers' Party alternative
6.3 Interim Measures
6.4 Convalescent Homes

7. Social Justice
7.1 Public Assistance Allowance
7.2 Care of the Aged and Infirm
7.3 Care of the Handicapped

8. Housing
8.1 Review of prices
8.2 Rental flats
8.3 Management of Estates
8.4 Town Councils

9. Transport
9.1 Public transport
9.2 Private transport

10. Defence and Foreign Affairs
10.1 Defence
10.2 Foreign Affairs

11. Arts and Culture

12. Sports and Recreation

13. Population Policy
13.1 No more Panicked Intervention
13.2 Encouraging Parenthood

14. The Way Ahead

1. INTRODUCTION

This booklet outlines the programme of the Workers' Party for the next elections (which must be held by December 1989).

We have set out our stand in all important areas of government. These are the policies that we will seek to implement. While we will not hesitate to make the changes demanded by our vision of a just and caring society we will also not act in haste. We recognise the absolute importance of maintaining and increasing Singapore's economic prosperity. In our considered view our policies will bring economic growth, growth that will be meaningful to all our citizens.

Singapore has reached a stage of development where international competitiveness is no longer guaranteed by labour discipline and efficient management. We now have to compete in areas that require innovation and creative thinking. In today's world political authoritarianism is and will continue to be an obstacle to economic growth.

Political authoritarianism does not just harm our standard of living. It also harms our quality of life. We need democracy and freedom of expression for our full cultural, social and personal development.

Read on for an alternative to the PAP way of life, a way of life which in our view depends on fear, a government afraid of the people, a people afraid of the government.

Our alternative is built on hope, hope that we may become a just and caring society.

You hold the future of Singapore in your hands.

1.1. Party Philosophy
* government is instituted to secure for citizens freedom and opportunity for their fullest growth as human beings
* accordingly government must be democratically accountable and no citizen may be denied the free exercise of his rights of political participation
* equality of opportunity requires that members of society lucky enough to be born healthy or wealthy participate in systems of education and health care that seek to give the disadvantaged (the poor, the sick, the handicapped) a fair chance in life.

1.2. Style of Government
From this statement of our philosophy it follows that the Party in government will act in consultation and partnership with all citizens. The Party will actively seek and encourage participation in the decision making process by every citizen through the publication of government policy papers and the free availability of information. Maximum opportunities will be provided for open discussion and debate and for interested organisations to make their representations. The Party, far from being afraid of criticism, will recognise criticism as a spur to greater achievement.

2. ECONOMIC PROGRAMME

The Workers' Party is committed to the continuing economic prosperity of Singapore. Singapore is blessed in our geographic location and in our diverse linguistic heritage. We must maintain an open freetrade economy which is not over-regulated and in which resources are allocated by the market place. We must build on the solid base of our entrepot trade and strive to achieve and maintain a competitive edge in manufacturing and services. We must not be satisfied to be merely a "copying" centre turning out products designed elsewhere but strive to become a centre for research, innovation and design.

2.1. Minimum Conditions of Growth

2.1.1. The Party believes that wage increases must never outrun productivity growth. We must not price ourselves out of international markets.

2.1.2. The Party is committed to the political stability necessary for a confident investment climate. However, the Party believes that true political stability exists only where a country has developed strong democratic institutions which ensure full accountability of government to people and allow peaceful changes of government. A government built on fear can never be stable. Foreign investors are aware of this fact.

2.1.3. The Party believes that without freedom of information, Singapore can never succeed as a financial, information, research, design and publishing centre. Publishing is an example of a sector where it is essential to have free access to information with no restrictions on making information available to the public. The Party believes that restrictions by the PAP government on information has hindered Singapore's chances of establishing itself as a publishing centre. There is an opportunity in this sector which we must not squander, namely the relocation of publishers from Hong Kong in the run-up to 1997.

2.1.4. The Party believes that without an educational system that values independence of thought and creativity and one that seeks to develop everyone's potential to the fullest (not just an allegedly 'genetically favoured' few) Singapore will stay stuck to low wage, low value added manufacturing.

2.2. Sharing in the Fruits of Growth

2.2.1. The Party also believes that economic growth must be made meaningful for every Singaporean including those of our people in the 15% to 20% lowest income group. We do not think it right to tolerate poverty amidst affluence. The Party will not offer "handouts" but the Party will structure our system, especially our educational system, to give that lowest income group a real opportunity to share in the fruits of growth.

The Table below shows income distribution in Singapore. At June 1986 72.4% of employed persons earned less than $1,000.00 per month. We need economic growth so that everyone's standard of living can rise.

Note: This Table excludes (1) unpaid family workers (2) unemployed persons who at June 1986 numbered 79,500 i.e. an umemployment rate of 6.5%

Source: Singapore Facts and Pictures 1987

Specific Measures

2.3. Taxation

The Party believes that in order to sustain acceptably high levels of economic activity, the burden of taxation should be kept to a minimum.

2.3.1. Personal Allowance

In 1947 the personal allowance was $3,000.00 per annum. Today it is $2,000.00 plus a further $1,000.00 for earned income. Because $3,000.00 is worth much less today than it was in 1947, the time is long overdue to increase this allowance.

2.3.1.1. The Party proposes to raise personal allowance to a total of $5,000.00 ($3,000.00 personal allowance plus $2,000.00 earned income relief).

2.3.1.2. The Party proposes to raise the allowance for dependent spouses (i.e. not just for wives as at present) to $2,000.00.

2.3.1.3. The Party proposes to raise child allowance to $1,000.00 per child. This is more realistic and fairer given today's cost of living.

In our considered view, the revenue loss will not be great and the reduced burden of taxation will stimulate economic activity increasing consumption and/or voluntary savings.

2.3.2. Third child tax rebate

However, the Party proposes to abolish the third child tax rebate of $20,000.00 spread over three years. Given that there is a fixed cost element in bringing up a child (food, clothing, etc.) this rebate acts as an incentive to produce babies only for people paying larger amounts of tax. As such, it is the backdoor to creating a graduate motherhood elite. It is fairer to raise child allowances. When the Party abolishes this tax rebate, the Party will take into account the people who have relied on this rebate and have had a third child. The abolition of this rebate will partially offset any revenue loss from increasing personal allowances.

2.3.3. Estate Duty

The Party will also revise the existing rates of Estate Duty for larger estates. Whilst the Party believes that it is right that small estates should not be taxed heavily, there is no justification for allowing larger estates to pay minimal duty.

2.3.4. No Other New Measures

The Party considers that there will be no need to introduce other revenue gathering measures. In particular, income tax rates will not be increased.

2.3.4.1. The Party will not implement the sales tax proposed by this government. Such a tax on consumption may shift the tax burden more towards lower income households who (because the tax would be a flat rate and because lower income people spend more and save less as a proportion of income) may end up being taxed in effect at a higher percentage of income than higher income households. It will also severely affect domestic consumption which would in turn affect the economy.

2.4. Central Provident Fund

The Party notes that Singapore's extremely high forced savings rate and the diversion of those savings only into non-productive assets in Singapore such as housing or into investments aboard contributed to the severity of the recession. The Party thinks that it will be a mistake, having removed the stone weights from a drowning man, to replace those weights once the man has surfaced and recovered his breath.

2.4.1. Accordingly, the Party proposes a rate of 35% coming equally (17.5%: 17.5%) from employers and employees. Such a rate should allow a sufficient sum to be built up to protect our citizens in old age.

2.4.2. There should be a right to full withdrawal at the age of 55. The CPF money belongs to our citizens and they should not be told that only the government knows how to look after their money. If persons continue to work beyond 55 years (and the Party believes that the retirement age can and should be raised to 60 years), then whether or not he employer is to make CPF payments, increase the employee's take home pay or do neither (the last alternative may encourage the employer to retain his employee) that should be a matter of bargaining between the employee and/or his union and the employer.

2.4.3 In the long run the Party will consider converting the fund into an old-age pension scheme for all citizens regardless of whether they were employed or not. This clearly needs a thorough study of the schemes operating in other countries and the Party will undertake such a study.

2.5. Labour and Wages

The Party is committed to responsible trade unionism. Trade unions must never be so powerful as to promote sectional interests at the expense of the rest of society. However, responsibility must not be confused with subservience. Trade unions must protect their members' interests and not be just another instrument of government control. The Party will free trade unions from government control and the Trade Unions Act will be amended so that all trade union officials must be democratically elected.

2.5.1. Labour Relations
The Party is committed to amending the Employment Act, the Industrial Relations Act and the Trade Disputes Act, legislating so as to ensure:-

2.5.1.1. protection against unfair dismissal;

2.5.1.2. consultation by employers with unions where redundancies are planned;

2.5.1.3. payment of statutory redundancy pay even in the absence of a redundancy agreement between union and employer;

2.5.1.4. union representation on all issues affecting employees including terms of employment and conditions of work.

2.5.2. Profit Sharing

2.5.2.1. The party believes that to enable us to maintain international competitiveness wage increases should not outrun productivity growth. The Party further believes that wages should have a flexible element linked to the profitability of the company. In its 1976 Programme, the Party stated that it would "guide employers to work towards a system of profit sharing and equity participation with employees". In the light of that statement, the Party welcomes the NWC proposals on flexible wages but notes difficulties in its implementation. Unions must be free to exercise vigilance in ensuring that the productivity level and/or profitability of any company is not disguised or interpreted to the benefit of employers alone. There is a danger that flexible wages may mean that the employees take the strain in bad times, but the employer takes the profit in good times

2.5.2.2 Companies will be encouraged (but not coerced) to afford their employees a greater say in corporate decision-making. If employees' wages are linked to company profitability (i.e. employees are required to share the risks of the entrepreneurial function) employees should be given greater responsibility in the decision making process of entrepreneurial risk-taking.

2.6. Local Entrepreneurs

The Party is committed to fostering an innovative entrepreneurial spirit among Singaporeans. It is essential for our future prosperity that we are able to grasp the opportunities offered by the industries of the future. We must educate our children to be creative and to think independently. We must allow out businessmen full access to information relevant to business decisions. We must keep open two-way channels of communication between business and government. Government policy must be clear and not subject to frequent shifts and changes. We must ensure not only that there is no copy-right and patent protection for ideas but also that there is the academic freedom that is essential for research and development. We must put a stop to the paranoia of a government frightened of criticism.

2.6.1. The Party is committed to maintaining and expanding the role of the EDB in providing loans and other assistance to local businessmen.

2.6.2. The Party believes that the private sector has been adversely affected by past and present government policies for statutory boards and other government agencies to seek profit-maximisation. While the Party does not advocate subsidies in the provision of utilities and other goods nonetheless statutory boards and other government agencies should see their role as public service and not private profit-making. Savings from improved efficiency and productivity or lower input costs should be passed on to consumers. Otherwise Singapore's cost competitiveness will be adversely affected.

2.6.3. Also essential for cost competitiveness is keeping the public sector trim and efficient. The Party will review the cost of administration generally and seek to make savings where possible. A top-heavy public sector is a drag on the economy.

2.6.4. The Party further believes that because the private sector is a necessary engine of growth, measures must be taken to ensure that the public sector does not crowd out local entrepreneurs through unfair competition.

2.6.5. In particular one measure that can be taken immediately is to end the monopoly of our best-educated younger citizens by the public sector through scholarships that direct scholars into non productive areas including such branches of the Civil Service as the Internal Security Department. Perhaps one half or more of these scholarships could be replaced by bonds to work (anywhere) in Singapore for a specified period, perhaps a period double that operative for the remaining public sector scholarships.

2.6.6. In general we must seek to reduce the dependent mentality of Singaporeans, the lack of independence and self reliance that makes Singaporeans good sound managers but poor innovators and risk-takers.

3. GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

3.0.1. The Constitution is the supreme law of Singapore. It guarantees to every citizen basic rights, e.g. freedom from arbitrary arrest and freedom of speech. It provides for the Rule of law that is procedurally just (i.e. law that is clear and unambiguous, made public, of general and non discriminatory application and administered fairly) as well as substantially just (i.e. law that does not violate the basic rights of citizens).

3.0.2. The Constitution, however, can only remain our safeguard if it is defended from attacks on it. In a democratic society the defenders of the Constitution are firstly the people themselves and secondly the institutions of a free society, notably Parliament, and the courts, and to a lesser extent a free and independent Press and the Trade Union movement.

3.0.3. Unfortunately, because the PAP has had a two-thirds majority for so many years, which has enabled them to change the Constitution at will, and because the PAP has never observed the spirit of the Constitution, we have achieved in Singapore a unique system, an elective dictatorship. The only element of parliamentary democracy that remains in Singapore is five yearly elections.

3.0.4. The Party therefore will act to strengthen the institutions that are the foundations of a free society. In the belief that it is not too late to save Singapore's constitution, the Workers' Party proposes the following measures:-

3.1. The Party will strengthen the role of Parliament as a check on executive power and not merely a body whose "efficiency" is measured by the speed with which it passes legislation proposed by the executive;

3.1.1. The Party will amend the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act to ensure full freedom of speech in Parliament in order to safeguard the role of back-bench and opposition members in scrutinising and challenging legislation and in questioning and holding to account Ministers for executive action;

3.1.2. The Party will ensure Select Committees (which scrutinise major Bills placed before Parliament) are drawn from both government and opposition MPs;

3.1.3. The Party will set up departmental committees (drawn from both government and opposition) on the lines of the Departmental Committees set up by the U.K. House of Commons in 1979. These committees operate as a watchdog on ministerial action in selected areas and will have powers to summon Ministers and civil servants to explain any decision or expenditure and to report to Parliament. These committees would replace the toothless Government Parliamentary Committees which only institutionalise the sounding out of ruling party back-benchers by government Ministers.

3.1.4. The Party will appoint a Parliamentary Commissioner (ombudsman) with statutory powers to investigate complaints from citizens (directed through Members of Parliament) that they have not been treated fairly and lawfully by a department of the civil service or any other government agency including statutory boards. The Parliamentary Commissioner would be required to report to Parliament any complaint that is substantiated.

3.2. The Party will ensure the neutrality and independence of the civil service and grassroots organisations. The most obvious manifestation of the erosion of this neutrality is the frequent forays into the political arena by press secretaries writing letters to local and foreign press. The neutrality of the civil service and grassroots organisation is essential to the social fabric of Singapore. A politicised civil service makes thinking the right political thoughts a must for everyone who comes into contact with government. Politicised grassroots organisations prevent the growth and flourishing of community spirit.

3.3. The Party will restructure the Presidential Commission on Minority Rights to make it more effective and representative of the minority communities by appointing solely leaders from the communities and excluding persons holding public office. We will ensure this as a matter of practice if we have a bare majority in the next Parliament. If we have a two-thirds majority, we will amend the Constitution accordingly.

3.4. The Party will safeguard citizens' rights to freedom of speech, assembly and association.

3.4.1. The Party will remove restrictions on organisations like the Law Society which disallow them from commenting on proposed legislation unless specifically requested to do so by the government. Insofar as an individual has a right to speak freely, that right includes asking someone else to speak on your behalf and/or joining others in speaking out;

3.4.2. The Party will repeal the provisions in the Internal Security Act providing for detention without trial. In the context of present-day peacetime, such powers are unnecessary and their exercise harmful to the democratic process;

3.4.3. The Party will review the law on public order and police licensing of assemblies. The law on public order should require that the police give one of a number of statutorily defined grounds as the reason for refusing a licence for an assembly; the decision of the police should be fully appealable to the High Court and compensation should be payable if the police unreasonably refuse a licence;

3.4.4. The Party will lift controls on local newspapers, encourage competition and will amend the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act accordingly;

3.4.5. The Party will remove the power of the Minister to restrict the local circulation of foreign newspapers. This power not only damages the rights of Singaporeans in political participation but also undermines investors' confidence and deprives financiers and businessmen of vital information and analysis especially when it is exercised against financial newspapers like the Asian Wall Street Journal;

3.4.6. The Party will place TV and radio broadcasting stations under a statutory duty to provide a balanced reporting on political issues and personalities and to accord a right of reply.

3.5. In general the constitutional arrangements of our society must ensure the openness and accountability of government to people. This requires not merely the specific measures outlined above but also the wholehearted commitment of every citizen to participating in political decision making.

4. JUSTICE, LAW AND ORDER

The Party believes that the maintenance of law and order is the first priority of government. Order must be secured by the Rule of Law, rules applicable to everyone and administered justly, so that every citizen may plan their lives without fear within the law. Therefore, law enforcement agencies of the government and government departments must also strictly act within the law in dealing with citizens. The Party will take the necessary steps to ensure this. The Party will also seek to educate citizens on their rights under the law by instituting a programme of lectures at community centres on citizens' rights and on the steps they should take to protect their rights and secure all their benefits and entitlements under the law. It is proposed that the lectures should be given by practising lawyers.

4.1. Administration of Justice

The Party believes that the impartial administration of justice by a judiciary, not only independent but manifestly seen to be independent of the Executive is the main pillar of stable society. The Party also believes that recourse by citizens to remedy any grievance should be made as simple and cheap as possible.

4.1.1. The Party will re-introduce jury trial for the serious criminal offences. This is proposed if only because it gives the citizen a part in the administration of justice and makes the citizen partly responsible for maintaining law and order in the society.

4.1.2. The Party will create a Judicial Service separate from the Legal Service for judicial officers in the Sub-ordinate Courts and exclude members of the Executive from the Commission responsible for their career or their advancement;

4.1.3. The Party will amend the Constitution by removing the present provisions for the appointment of Judges and Judicial Commissioners for fixed terms by the Prime Minister. The Party will consider raising the retirement age for Judges to 70;

4.1.4. The Party will abolish the right of the Public Prosecutor to appeal when an accused person has been acquitted on the merits by a court. The Public Prosecutor's right to refer questions of law to an appellate court will be continued;

4.1.5. The Party will improve the efficiency and increase the scope of legal aid in civil cases;

4.1.6. The Party will bring into force the statutory criminal legal aid scheme (passed before the PAP came into power but as yet not brought into force) to replace the present voluntary legal aid scheme run by the Law Society. The Law Society scheme is very narrow in scope (because of lack of funding: it receives no money from the government). A statutory scheme could allow for graduated contributions (i.e. the scheme could require applicants to pay a proportion of the legal fees determined by reference to their means) instead of, as under the Law Society scheme, free legal aid if the means test is passed and no legal aid if the means test is not passed. Legal aid should be part of society's duty to its members and should not simply be private charity volunteered by lawyers.

4.1.7. The Party will consider establishing a fund to compensate defendants acquitted on the merits (and not on technical grounds). Any system for the administration of justice should recognise that mistakes can be made. Accordingly, an acquitted person should be given compensation if he has been held in remand awaiting trial. It is irrelevant whether or not the prosecution thought they had a good cause. The money is compensation by the state and not in any sense a mark of disapproval against the prosecution.

4.2. Law

4.2.1. The Party believes that the width of powers conferred by Parliament on the Executive is excessive. This practice should not only be ended but the citizen should be provided with a right of appeal from the decision of a Minister. The Parliamentary Commissioner would go a long way to meet this. Further the codification of administrative law and procedure should be considered in order to provide effective means of controlling abuses of Executive power. The Party will introduce legislation to require the Executive to give reasons for their decisions in matters affecting citizens and to ensure that he citizen, aggrieved by a decision, is supplied with adequate information in order to challenge that decision if it is procedurally or substantively illegal.

4.2.2. The Party will consider the desirability of introducing a Freedom of Information Act for the purpose of providing citizens with more control over the conduct of their own lives within the law. The Party will undertake a study of such legislation in other countries.

4.3. Order

4.3.1. The Party will uphold and maintain the operational effectiveness of the police. Adequate resources will be given to the police to fight crime. One area is to provide specialised training for Police Officers investigating crimes.

4.3.2. The Party will continue and strengthen efforts to build community spirit and public confidence in the police. However, part of having confidence in the police comes from knowing that police discipline is strict and there is an efficient and effective procedure for redress where the police abuse their powers. The Party will consider setting up watch committees independent of the police to investigate complaints against the police.

4.3.3. In Singapore our punishments are harsh and our prison population is large compared to many countries. Hitherto our system has assumed that deterrence is the only answer to crime. The Party will review this question and consider increasing the role of non-custodial sentences in rehabilitating people convicted of crime.

4.3.4. Under our law at present, the discretion of the convicting court in assessing the proper sentence in any case has been greatly reduced by the provision of mandatory sentences for many crimes. The Party is of the view that this is wrong as it detracts from the independence of the courts in their function. The courts must have full sentencing discretion and the Party will introduce legislation to restore this discretion to the courts except for that very limited number of offences where the public interest demands only one sentence.

4.3.5. The Party will also review the range of offences in which caning is provided for.

4.3.6. The victims of crime in Singapore are not sufficiently considered. An immediate measure that the Party proposes is to set up a state funded Board to offer compensation to the victims of violent crimes. This would supplement and not replace any court orders for compensation of a particular victim by the assailant of the victim.

5. EDUCATION

5.1. Singapore's education system lags behind those of many other countries. Look at the Table below.

Source: World Bank, World Development Report 1985
Taiwan Statistical Data Book 1985

5.2. PAP Aims

The real problem is the PAP's attitude towards the educational system. The PAP have designed the system to achieve three things.

5.2.1. A grading system to separate those who can learn from those who allegedly cannot. The PAP's scientifically specious views about genetic selection and inheritance have influenced the design of the system (e.g. streaming at an early age) so as to reinforce the PAP assumption that generally speaking poor people must produce stupid children.

5.2.2. A system for allocating manpower resources according to projected economic needs. Of course, manpower planning must take place at the macro level but the PAP's view that it is just as also important not to educate too many people too highly puts the cart before the horse. We should seek to maximise what our people can achieve.

5.2.3. A system that does not give its products too high expectations nor too great an ability to think. In the PAP's view, conformity is the supreme value.

5.3. Workers' Party Philosophy

Things must change. And change must begin with a new philosophy of education.

5.3.1. An educational system must assume that all children can learn. When they do not, then this shows that the system is not working, and when, as in Singapore, it is the children of lower income families who perform worst in school, we must structure the system to provide remedial classes that target their learning problems at the earliest age, and not label them as genetically inferior and stream them out.

5.3.2. Singapore's future depends on our citizens being equipped for a new environment of "higher-value added" occupations. If we educate people to think, give them computing and design skills, then they will power our economy forward. We should not say that our economy in ten year's time will require X% of manual workers, therefore we must not educate too many people too highly. If we do that, then we will have a sluggish economy.

5.3.3. That same environment will require Singaporeans to be broadly educated, creative and independent in thought. If they can be so, then Singaporeans will not only be able to grasp opportunities as and when they arise and adjust flexibly to new situations but they will also be able to create new opportunities for themselves and our nation.

5.3.4. Education is not merely a means to an end. It is an end in itself: the fullest development of our citizens as human beings.

SPECIFIC PROPOSALS

Basic Education

5.4. The Party will set up a commission to advise on establishing a basic education system operating to common standards taking children up to the age of 15 or 16.

5.4.1. There should not be "ability" streaming as practised in the present educational system. An American educationalist called Dominick Esposito writing in the 1973 Review of Educational Research at pp 163-179 reviewed research into streaming in the United States during the 1960s and early 1970s and concluded that streaming aggravates social and economic differences between children and is of no demonstrable value in the teaching and learning process. None of this research appears to have been cited to the Goh Keng Swee Committee of systems engineers.

5.4.2. Poor learners should be targeted at an early age as a special responsibility of the system. Remedial classes and adequate resources should be provided to achieve this end.

5.4.3. There should be greater independence within the system so that that initiative of principals, teachers and parents can be tapped to achieve schools that are more diverse and provide, among other things, a more creative learning environment.

5.4.4. Schools should be single session all day instead of two sessions of morning and afternoon school.

5.4.5. Class sizes should be reduced to an optimum level of about 20. This will enable teachers to assess individual needs more easily (and therefore recognise and help poor learners earlier) as well as enabling teachers to spend less time on administrative and disciplinary tasks and more time teaching.

5.4.6. Teachers must be given the status that their responsibility deserves. In particular, in our degree conscious society, the present 4 year course for primary school teachers at the Institute of Education should be upgraded into a Bachelor of Education degree course.

5.4.7. The Party will undertake a study to see whether the present fees in school can be reduced. The Party proposes to exempt families with a total income of $1,000.00 or less from the payment of any fees for their children's education in schools. The Party would also consider payment of a children's allowance to such families to be used for the children's education in the purchase of books and teaching aids.

5.5. At the age of 15 or 16, there should be a division into vocational institutes, polytechnics, junior colleges and Pre-U centres. The major difference is that children would enter VITBs only after the end of a common basic education at the age of 15 or 16.

5.6. University Education

Access to university must be substantially improved. The following measures are proposed.

5.6.1. The number of university places should be increased substantially. There are many Singaporeans who cannot enter the National University of Singapore. Those who can afford to do so go abroad and when they return compete effectively with NUS graduates. Others cannot afford to go abroad. Clearly this shows that there are people in Singapore who can benefit from university education who do no not have the opportunity to do so.

5.6.2. Tuition fees at NUS must be kept to a minimum. Otherwise even the provision of 'soft' loans to poorer students will not stop them from being deterred from taking up a place at the university.

5.6.3. Money in CPF accounts (up to a fixed amount e.g. $30,000.00 and not exceeding a stipulated proportion of the total sum, e.g. 20% of toal funds per child) should be made available for this purpose. Far from reducing parents' material secuirty in old age, having better educated children should improve their security.

5.7. Adult Education

Adult Education at all levels (technical and professional) should be firmly encouraged. In particular, the role of the EDB and VITB in partnership with the SDF, as a source of funding, should be expanded to help individual employers train and retrain their employees and also help establish and improve industry-wide training schemes.

5.8. Independent Schools

The Party recognises the natural desire of parents to give their children the best possible education. The Party recognises the right of parents to send their children to the schools of their choice. The Party also recognises, as noted at 5.4.3 that greater diversity is desirable. However, the Party believes that such diversity can and should be achieved within the State system and not outside it. The Party is also concerned that Independent Schools should not draw away and acquire a monopoly on the best talent and resources in the community. The Party is further worried that Independent Schools will worsen the present weighting of educational resources towards children from higher income backgrounds. The Party therefore, although it does not reject Independent Schools, will strive to ensure that children in State schools receive an education that will enable them to compete fairly with children from Independent Schools.

6. HEALTH CARE

6.1. Medisave - a system in collapse

6.1.1. The Medisave system is in deep trouble. The present system is nothing more than a way of shirking society's responsibility. Each individual is required to save in advance an amount necessary to pay for his own essential health care. The PAP's view is that government's role lies only in preventive medicine and health care and the PAP plan to privatise substantially all health care. Medisave has led to escalating health costs because the community's health needs are increasingly met by the private sector and paying from Medisave accounts derprives the customer/patient of any real chance and any incentive to bargain. As a result, a large number of Singaporeans do not have access to adequate health care. An obvious example is in the treatment of kidney patients. About 200 Singaporeans every year are unable to afford the cost of dialysis and die as a result.

6.1.2. The PAP answer is twofold. First ask the doctors to exercise more discretion in treatment. Do not pander to rich patients, letting them pay for treatment they want but do not need. Then doctors will have the time to attend to the needs of poorer patients paying less. Second, impose more regulations as to how the monies in the Medisave account are used. Patients must be stopped from spending money as they wish. The PAP's answer is inadequate. No amount of tinkering with a system designed to simplify the collection of fees will solve the problems of escalating health costs and inadequate access to health care for not-so-rich Singaporeans.

The Workers' Party Alternative

6.2. The Party proposes to phase out the Medisave Scheme as soon as possible and implement instead a comprehensive public health insurance scheme. The Party recognises that Singaporeans should be free to choose to pay more for private health care but at the same time firmly believes that government must be responsible for ensuring a firm bedrock of public health care that adequately meets the needs of all Singaporeans, particularly those who have low incomes. The details of the insurance scheme (what its scope should be/whether there should be different classes of care within the public health care system/how the scheme will interact with private health care, etc.) can only be fully worked out once the Party is elected. The Party will study schemes in operation in other countries and learn from their experience. A comprehensive health insurance scheme has the following advantages over the Medisave scheme.

6.2.1. Allocation of medical resources by need rather than by ability to pay will be achieved because of the administrative control inherent in a public health care system.

6.2.2. Sharing the burden of health care. This will result in lower individual contributions. Being forced to save in advance an amount which would meet one's own health needs, if one is not catastrophically ill, means that one will either save too little or too much for one's actual health needs. And one will never see the excess money (if there is an excess rather than a shortfall) again in one's lifetime. In contrast a health insurance scheme means one will pay contributions proportionate to total health care costs and use exactly how much health care one needs.

6.2.3. Keeping total medical costs down will be achieved by administrative control e.g. over salaries, which make up about 80% of expenditure on health. Contrast Britain and the USA. Britain has a National Health Service. The USA had a pay for yourself private health care system. In 1982 a comparison of 10 western countries was undertaken. The USA was the second highest spender per capita but had the second worst health (measured by a number of indices). Britain was the lowest spender per capita yet had the fourth best health.

6.3. Interim Measures

Prior to the implementation of a public health care insurance scheme, the Party will take the following immediate measures

6.3.1. The Party will improve the quality of health care in Class C wards. The Party will also reduce fees for Class C wards. The Party will additionally increase the provision of Class C beds because the demand for them appears to exist.

The table below suggests that the present government is not meeting its obligations to the provision of health care for the lowest income group.

Source: Ministry of Health
Singapore Facts and Pictures 1987

6.3.2. The Party will reduce fees for outpatient treatment and allow monies in Medisave accounts to be used for this purpose.

6.4. Convalescent Homes

The Party also proposes to set up convalescent homes for those who can be discharged from hospital but still cannot be adequately looked after at home. This need is particularly relevant among poor families who cannot afford to employ live-in or visiting nurses.

7. SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Party's philosophy is that of a caring society and the Party is aware that the touch-stone of this philosophy will be seen in how the Party cares for the members of our society who are in need of care. An immediate problem will be to assess the needs of all in need of care and the Party will embark upon this study immediately.

7.1. Public Assistance Allowance

The present rates of public assistance of:-

$90.00 for a single person
$140.00 for 2-persons household
$180.00 for 3-persons household
$220.00 for 4-persons household and above

are in the Party's view completely unrealistic and indeed derisory. The Party proposes to revise the allowances to more realistic amounts. The Party will, however, continue the policy of ensuring those paid public assistance (which are subsistence allowances from taxpayers' monies) are not in receipt of any reasonable income on their own and are wholly dependent on public assistance. In short, that there is no abuse of public assistance and that public assistance is not looked upon as dole for the indolent.

7.2. Care of the Aged and Infirm

7.2.1. The Party proposes to halt the almost criminal neglect by the government of its responsibility for the care of the aged generally and particularly for those who are chronically ill in old age and are bedridden without support care from relatives. In poor families, the families are simply unable to provide the care. There is an acute shortage of beds available in homes for the chronic sick and bedridden. The Party will ensure that all who are in need of such care and who cannot be taken care of by relatives will be properly taken care of and for this purpose provide an adequate availability of homes for the aged sick and bedridden.

7.2.2. The Party will continue to welcome and encourage help from voluntary organisations in sharing with the government the responsibility for the care of our aged sick. The Party will render every assistance to voluntary organisations that are involved in the work of caring for those members of our society who through no fault of their own are simply unable to take care of themselves.

7.2.3. The Party will raise the standard of care that is now provided in the Homes run by the government.

7.3. Care of the Handicapped

7.3.1. The Party proposes to halt the criminal neglect by the government of the handicapped members of our society. The Party believes that government as an agent of society has a special responsibility to help the handicapped to lead lives that are as full as possible and integrated with the rest of the community.

7.3.2. Special attention will be paid to the education, training for employment and the transport needs of the handicapped. An instance of the criminal neglect of this government is the absence of proper teaching facilities and adequate trained staff for the education of the handicapped children are who educable.

7.3.3. The Party does not wish to minimise the contribution that has been made by voluntary organisations in the care of the handicapped and are extremely grateful to them. The Party hopes they will continue to work alongside the government so that the handicapped no longer feel that Society has passed them by.

8. HOUSING

8.1. Review of Prices

The Party will immediately undertakes a study to review the purchase prices and rentals of HDB flats, the tendering system for HDB commercial rentals and the issue of land acquisition and compensation in line with our stated principles that while there should be no subsidies, the objective of a statutory board like HDB should be public service and not profit maximisation. The Party proposes to appoint a Commission to look into all these related questions and to report to the government. The Party is especially concerned to see that public housing is brought within the means of the majority of our citizens without it becoming a strain on their finances and depleting the provision for old age.

8.2. Rental Flats

The Party proposes to make available a sufficient number of flats for rental and not confined only to one or two room flats for families who simply cannot afford to purchase the flats. The present practice of forcing families to purchase flats will be discouraged.

8.3. Management of Estates

Another major challenge confronting Singaporeans in this area is the management of existing and future public housing estates. There are two questions. How do we foster community spirit and neighbourliness? What mechanisms should we have to investigate and remedy residents' grievances?

8.3.1. Community spirit

One important reason why community spirit is lacking is because residents feel that the community organisations are PAP tools. This must be changed. The Party proposes the following measures:-

8.3.1.1. The organisations should be detached from the Prime Minister's Office;

8.3.1.2. Neither government MPs nor opposition MPs should be 'advisors' to the organisations;

8.3.1.3. Opposition MPs should not be excluded from using facilities (e.g. community centres) under the organisations' control;

8.3.1.4. Advice and financial budgeting should come directly from the Ministry of Community Development;

8.3.1.5. Officials of community organisations should be elected by residents. Such elections should not take place on party line i.e. party symbols/involvement would be forbidden.

8.3.1.6. Guidelines as to the proper and non-political activities of the organisation should be issued.

8.3.2. Residents' grievances

Four measures are proposed to give residents more control over HDB decision-making that affects them.

8.3.2.1. The Party will examine the existing provisions in the Act and Regulations with the aim of reducing the number of grounds on which the HDB may evict "home-owners";

8.3.2.2. The Party will set up an independent housing tribunal at which the HDB will have to prove its case before eviction or imposition of other penalties. The present provisions in the Act that enable the HDB to re-possess flats without taking action before a court to re-possess will be repealed; A limited right of appeal to the High Court (e.g. on questions of law) will be provided but only where the tribunal orders eviction;

8.3.2.3. Appoint a Housing Commissioner (a person wholly and completely distinct from the proposed Parliamentary Commissioner (see 3.1.4)) with statutory powers to receive complaints from tenants and owners and to investigate those complaints. His brief will be wide covering matters such as siting of rubbish dumps, maintenance of estates, traffic noise as well as oppressive behaviour by HDB officers towards particular tenants and owners. His report on any matter will go to the Minister of National Development and also be laid before Parliament;

8.3.2.4. Encourage the setting up of tenants (term to include flat owners) associations to consider and make representations as to the needs of the tenants and as to maintenance in housing estates. The Party will also consider enlarging Board of Directors on the HDB to include person or persons nominated by the tenants associations.

8.4. Town Councils

The PAP have considered setting up town councils. At first the PAP used town councils as the justification for tinkering with the electoral system. The Workers' Party exposed this alleged justification as nonsense. The PAP have now abandoned their original justification in favour of another one (in our view equally bogus): that Team MPs are the best way of ensuring minority representation in Parliament. Town Councils as a result have slipped several places in the PAP's order of priorities and as yet no concrete details have been released. The Party therefore reserves judgement on the issue of town councils. However, the Party believes that the measures proposed above (at 8.3) are simpler and will be more effective in promoting community spirit and giving residents a greater say in the management of their estates.

9. TRANSPORT

9.1. Public Transport

9.1.1. The Party recognises that a great majority of our workers and employees depend on public transport to get to their places of work. Public transport for this reason must be convenient, reliable and more importantly cheap, particularly if workers are to be persuaded that wages must be held down and not outstrip productivity.

9.1.2. The Party believes that public transport should be regarded as a service to the community and not as a profit oriented business operation seeking to maximise profits. Savings brought about by improved efficiency and productivity should be passed on to the consumers. The Party is not proposing any subsidy for public transport but that every effort must be made to provide an efficient, reliable and convenient public transport at the lowest possible cost to the travelling public.

9.1.3. The box below shows the increasing profits made by SBS over the years 1984 - 1986

9.1.4. The Party therefore proposes to bring all public transport in Singapore under one body. A national transport corporation will be set up to take over the operations of the major bus companies and MRTC. The Corporation would ensure the smooth integration of MRT into the transport network avoiding duplication of services and allowing shared ticketing. The Party, however, proposes to continue to permit small private companies to cater to the needs of particular sections of the travelling public, e.g. air conditioned commuter buses for going to and from work.

9.1.5. The Party recognises that taxis are also public transport and that taxi fares should not be allowed to escalate. The Party, for this reason, will abolish:-

The charge of $2.00 on taxis entering the CBD in the mornings;
The additional diesel tax now paid by taxi-owners;
The surcharge of $1.00 for passengers taking taxis out of the CBD in the afternoons.

9.1.6. The Party also proposes to lift the present restrictions on the free transferability of taxis and to end the monopoly now enjoyed by COMFORT and other few companies to register new taxis. Any private individual who has a vocational driving licence for taxis will be permitted to register a new taxi in his name and to transfer it to any other vocational driving licence holder.

Registration of new taxis will, however, be monitored and regulated so as not to allow an over-supply of taxis.

9.2. Private Transport

9.2.1. The Party recognises two conflicting interests that need to be balanced. One is that the private motor car is still the cheapest and most convenient method of transport for families and particularly for travel to Malaysia either for business or pleasure. The second is the need to prevent our roads being clogged up with motor vehicles

9.2.2. The Party will therefore continue to control the number of motor cars on the roads particularly at peak hours through the Area Licensing Scheme but consider other measures to achieve this. Our car owners, however, are the most heavily taxed in the world and the Party will undertake a study to see whether the present burden on car owners can be lightened through the introduction of other measures to check the growth of private cars and to keep them off the road especially at peak hours.

10. DEFENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

10.1. Defence

The Party is committed to the effective defence of Singapore. The Party is, however, aware of the need to balance military requirements against economic considerations. Although the defence of Singapore must be ensured the question of cost-effectiveness must always be considered.

10.1.1. The Table below shows the big bite that Defence takes out of the Budget every year. Are we getting the balance right between military and economic considerations?

Current Expenditure by Ministry: Defence, Education and Health.

	1983/84		1986/87
	Thousand $	% of Total	Thousand $	% of Total
Defence	1,451,545	13.7	2,079,200	24.4
Education	1,107,112	10.4	1,409,097	16.5
Health	330,335	3.1	455,782	5.3
Total	10,631,009	100%	8,538,248	100%

Source: Singapore Facts and Pictures 1987

10.1.2. The Party is committed to National Service at its present length notwithstanding that this means that a lot is demanded of our young men and that taking every male out of the labour market for two or two and a half years may be a drag on the economy. The Party will however oppose any extension in the present length of service and will oppose any introduction of National Service for women, because such measures are not presently justified by military need.

10.2. Foreign Affairs

In foreign affairs the Party will pursue a policy of non-alignment and seek to make the area a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality. The Party recognises that super-power interests and rivalry may be standing in the way of bringing about a settlement of the Kampuchean problem. The Party will strive to ensure that any solution is firmly founded on the self-determination of the people of Kampuchea alone.

10.2.1. The Party is committed to strengthening the economic co-operation within ASEAN and particularly with Malaysia with whom we have a lot of things in common. The Party will work towards closer social and cultural ties with Malaysia.

11. ARTS AND CULTURE

11.1. The Party is committed to ensuring the free and open environment necessary for our cultural development. Censorship must be restricted to censoring obscenity and violence. Political censorship is unacceptable.

11.2. The Party will consider the implementation of a classification system for commercial cinemas. Such a system would grade films according to their suitability for different age groups. The present situation is not good because young people may be exposed to too much sex and/or violence on the film screen and yet older and mature people may be denied the opportunity to see films and/or parts of films which are deemed unsuitable for young minds. As Singaporeans must all carry identity cards which state their age such a system would not be difficult to administer.

11.3. The Party will seek to improve the infrastructure (eg. venues, publicity bulletins) for cultural activities both traditional and contemporary and will continue to offer financial and other assistance to cultural groups through the Ministry of Community Development.

11.4. The Party will consider the feasibility of setting up a National Institute for the Performing Arts.

11.5. The Party recognises that our society has not reached the stage of complete cultural integration. Therefore we favour parallel development of all our varied traditions in the belief that integration will come naturally through interaction and exchange.

12. SPORTS AND RECREATION

12.1. The Party will pursue a policy of providing recreational facilities within HDB estates wherever this is possible with the land available. The Party is of the view that at present attention is directed to making available land (in a land hungry nation like ours) and recreational facilities for the enjoyment of a minority who can pay for such facilities. The Party will correct this imbalance.

12.2. The Party will discourage as a matter of policy and not through legislation government ministers and Members of Parliament (from the ruling Party) holding top positions in sports and other bodies promoting arts and culture.

13. POPULATION POLICY

13.1. No more panicked intervention

The Party believes that it is wrong for government to be forever panicking about scenarios of doom in the Twenty Second Century. Otherwise we will spend one decade enforcing population control, the next legislating to stimulate population growth, the third back to population control and so on.

13.1.2. It is even more wrong to try and achieve (through incentives or coercion) a pattern of procreation most desirable according to some hare-brained scientifically unsound theory of genetic elitism.

13.1.3. The Party wholly deplores attempts to reinforce social inequality on the ground that such inequality is natural or necessary to avoid some doom-laden scenario two centuries hence.

13.1.4. The Party believes that it is more reasonable scientifically for government to assume that intelligence is more or less evenly spread across all socio-economic strata. If an educational system is structured to produce graduate children from graduate mothers and non-graduate children from non-graduate mothers then that system must be changed. Equality of access/opportunity will only have been achieved when similar percentages of children from every socio-economic stratum reach the various educational levels. And the Party believes that the performance of children from the lowest socio economic stratum can and must be raised to match the performance of children from the highest socio economic stratum. (The performance of children from the highest socio economic stratum must not be lowered: it must rise as far as it can). Maximum social mobility should be our goal. Not social stratification.

13.2. Encouraging Parenthood

13.2.1. The Party believes nonetheless that the time has come to make parenthood more comfortable and less costly to the family concerned. One measure is to raise children's tax relief (see 2.3.1). Another is to establish statutory no-pay leave for fathers/mothers during which employers must hold open their job. How this statutory scheme should work (eg. how long should the period of leave be per child? How do we devise a way in which the period of leave can be split between the father and mother if they so choose?) will require consultation with trade unions, employers, women's groups and other interested bodies.

13.2.2. The Party will seek to reconcile parenthood and continued participation in the workforce (which is desirable not just for the individual family but also for the overall health of the economy - because labour force growth contributes to GDP growth) by other measures including:

(i) providing more child-care facilities, including facilities that are more affordable to lower-income groups;
(ii) encouraging part-time employment (with flexible schedules).

14. THE WAY AHEAD

After 30 years of PAP rule it must seem hard for you to imagine an alternative. You may even be scoffing at our inexperience (and our presumption!) But wait. Read through this booklet again. We are aware of our limitations. We are realistic. But we stand firm in our belief that the PAP way of doing things is not the best way for Singapore. We think it is imperative of us to grasp the challenge of furnishing a future of hope for all Singaporeans. Do you really want to continue living in fear? Do you want your children to grow up in a society that's afraid?

We believe that our vision will take Singapore to a bright prosperous future. We know that the PAP are Fifties men, out of touch with the Eighties, frightened of Singapore's social and cultural aspirations, anxiously preaching the value of conformity and obedience. They are no longer the Party for Singapore.

We have a vision of hope. Hope that Singapore may one day be a caring society, free from fear, freed from the PAP.