Singapore – Workers’ Party politician Nicole Seah Facebook to underline what’s foremost on the mind of Singaporeans today: coping with the cost of living.
Ms Seah wrote on Thursday (Jan 6) that she is back on the ground at East Coast GRC, with fellow WP member Kenneth Foo, talking to residents. This is the multi-ward constituency that the Workers’ Party lost to the People’s Action Party in the 2020 General Elections.
“The top issue discussed was cost of living, in anticipation of GST hikes this year,” Ms Seah said of her discussions.
“This underscored what (the Leader of the Opposition) Pritam Singh mentioned in his New Year’s message, as bread and butter issues come to the forefront in 2022.”
She said they were “cheered” by the “warm welcome” from several residents, as well as the woman in charge of the coffee shop at Block 418 Bedok North.
“We will continue to work hard on the ground as covid restrictions allow and never take the support of residents for granted,” Ms Seah added.
In her Facebook post, she also also refers to Mr Singh’s New Year’s Day Message, in which he emphasises that the cost of living will be a “major pressure point” for many households in the coming year.
In the message, posted on The Workers’ Party’s Facebook page and also to its Telegram channel on Dec 31, he observed that increases in the cost of living would affect low-to-middle-income families, especially those with both elderly relatives and young children to take care of. This is what is commonly referred to as the “sandwich generation”.
Aside from the unpredictability of Covid19, it is what will make 2022 a year of new challenges for Singapore and Singaporeans,” Mr Singh said.
Costs have gone up or are about to go up for such needs as electricity, transport, A&E hospital charges, medical insurance premiums, and added that these “cost pressures that are likely to become more acute going forward”.
He also mentioned the housing problem, as “HDB BTO prices remain high for younger Singaporeans, with resale flats even further out of reach for many”.
The party is committed to monitoring government efforts to aid the Singaporeans most in need of help “and how it upgrades its legacy schemes for the circumstances of today and tomorrow, not yesterday”.
He also said the party would continue in its mission “to provide a trusted alternative to voters and act as a balancing force in our political system” and highlighted some of the motions WP MPs have moved this year, including those related to HDB reform. /TISG
Pritam Singh highlights cost of living as ‘major pressure point’ for many households in 2022