From the Workers’ Party website [picture TOC's].

The PAP has circulated a political leaflet to all households containing accusations that “the WP is against LUP, HIP and Other Upgrading” programmes. It cites a personal blog post by a WP candidate, Gerald Giam, written more than one-and-a-half years ago, and twists it around to accuse WP of being against HDB upgrading.

This is misleading and mischievous. It was distributed just before the close of the campaign period, leaving little time for WP to respond and set the record straight.

PAP’s accusation:

The WP is against LUP, HIP and Other Upgrading.

Fact:

WP has never been against HDB upgrading programmes, especially the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP). It is ludicrous for the Party to be against a programme that presents clear benefits to residents, like having lifts on every floor. Indeed, Hougang Town Council has spent substantial sums of money to help implement LUP in Hougang Town.

PAP’s accusation:

WP says prices of HDB flats should be kept low by keeping your flats looking old and without facilities.

Fact:

The PAP has taken the words of one of its candidates out of context in its attempt to paint WP as being against upgrading. Why would WP, as a responsible party that cares about the welfare of residents, want their flats to look “old and without facilities”?

PAP’s accusation:

The WP says that those in public housing should not have “high class living environment”.

Fact:

This has been twisted out of context again by the PAP. HDB flats cannot be expected to have all the expensive frills of condominiums, otherwise their prices may become even more unaffordable than they are now. We believe most Singaporeans readily accept this fact.

Conclusion

The PAP accusations are a cheap attempt to frighten voters into thinking that voting for WP will lead to a crash in housing prices. This is far from the truth.

WP is a responsible and rational party. We share many Singaporeans’ concern about the affordability of public housing. Our proposal to peg the price of new HDB flats to the median incomes of Singaporeans who qualify for those flats is aimed at ensuring that new flats are always affordable to Singaporeans, especially young couples who are buying their first home. It will not cause a crash in the value of existing flats.

All new Built-to-Order (BTO) flats overtime will become resale flats only after the 5 year minimum occupation period, and any moderate adjustments to lower the price of new flats will have little impact in the value of the resale flats. This is because these two markets operate independently, with different sets of eligibility criteria.

WP urges voters to read through its manifesto, which can be downloaded at www.wp.sg, to appreciate the full context of our housing proposals.

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View the leaflet in question here: English leaflet / Chinese leaflet.

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214 Responses to “PAP leaflets a “cheap attempt to frighten voters” : WP”

  1. passerby 7 May 2011

    LKY Condemns Politician Who Apologizes: http://youtu.be/uMhW4rEGrdg

    Reply
  2. Lala 7 May 2011

    “LKY Condemns Politician Who Apologizes: http://youtu.be/uMhW4rEGrdg

    Let’s see if old fart condemns his son and all the ministars to move on out of politics as he says in the video since they have all apologised, otherwise, in his own words, he is liar !

    Reply
  3. iPUSHleekingyouwheelchair 7 May 2011

    who in the right mind would refused so called ^subsidising^ upgradin?
    is worker party that silly? as though the upgradin come from worker party’s kitty funds?
    pap comeon used YOUR brain..phuachukang hav the most stupido brain…yet he ventured into malaysia to setup a partnerships…soon mrs phuachukang will setup a number 1 boutique in bataam as well……….
    meanwhile..tanahteck would be eer..ugm…
    aarh…sellin teckko in paulau ubin…

    Reply
  4. nana 7 May 2011

    WP is & never was against upgrading. Instead, Mr Low has been fighting all these years for Hougang to be included in the govt’s upgrading plans.

    See this video & you will know the truth:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3tP784Peh0&feature=share

    Reply
  5. Human rights 7 May 2011

    @jim

    ‘For example, we want lots of support in healthcare but healthcare spending is the most common reason why many western countries including USA, UK etc are running huge deficits.’
    Isn’t this spending for the benefit and welfare of their people? Power of Human Rights- Put the people first “you belong to the self-centred group without thinking or wanting to help the needy. Some oppositions belong to the upper class group but they fight not for themselves – for the needy groups

    ‘The quality of our transport infrastrucutre is world class and far superior to many developed nations and certainly better than our regional neighbours.’
    Did the PAP ask the citizen, is that what we really want? Those needy citizen can’t afford it (make us pay for the world class infrastructure) and they still go ahead without asking the citizen? Look at Switzerland, they hv world class but their people wages match their std of living (eg. A staff working at the fast food chain gets 3 to 4K of income per mth)

    ‘People keep talking about Mas Selamat but this is an isolated incident that does not indicate a systemic breakdown in law and order or security situation. Many thousands of Home team officials have helped to keep our streets safe and Singapore did not suffer any terrorist attack despite Singapore being a high valued target.’
    - Fortunately, his escape did not end up having a terrorist bomb at yr place – by then would you still make such irresponsible comment?
    Vote for a truly democratic society, truly home for all citizens (be it poor or rich).

    Reply
  6. said leaflet was torn into pieces and thrown down the chute where it belongs. was genuinely disgusted with this propagandic attempt to confuse voters.

    Reply
  7. Jeff 7 May 2011

    @Jim,

    Funny; the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking exactly the opposite (about Singapore, and especially its transit system, being anything remotely resembling “world class.”)

    I’ve worked for two large rail transportation systems; one national-scale (where that means something), and one in a (very) large metropolitan area, with passenger-miles somewhere between two and three times that of Singapore.

    I’ve also been an ordinary paying rider on perhaps three dozen metropolitan and national heavy rail systems around the world, nearly all of which are considerably older than Singaporean passenger rail systems.

    If I’m in New York, or London, or Tokyo, or Moscow, or Berlin, or any of a dozen other cities, and the carriage shakes and bounces as much as the East-West Line at any of a half-dozen places, I can tell myself “well, it’s old track, and it’ll likely be repaired soon.” And a few days, or at most a couple of weeks later, it generally is. In Singapore? Not so likely.

    Or even the “little” things like using a handphone on the train:Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, as Washington, DC’s Metro was expanding, much was made of the ability to use (earlier, less capable) cell phones, even in some seriously deep tunnels. Fast-forward 20-25 years to Second World Singapore, and I know I’m going to have my call dropped at least twice between Tampines and Tanjong Pagar.

    “World-class city?” Singapore had more claim to the title when I first saw her, decades ago. The transportation system’s inadequacies and incompetencies are symptomatic of the mentality that has had a choke-hold on the spoils of ruling this city-state for far, far too long.

    And “@Human rights” is right; Mas Selemat is the canary in the coal mine that is Singapore. If the people in absolute power are so sure of that power, and so contemptuous of the people whom they claim to serve, as to allow him to gain his freedom as he did, then ask yourself this: who will protect us if the next high-profile prisoner to be so bungled actively seeks to do us harm after his escape, rather than to lie low and hide? Do you trust this Government, as it now stands, with your life and those of your family and friends?

    No? The polls await.

    Reply
  8. TO SS:

    If the opposition can enter parliament to form a coalition government, they will have a monumental task ahead of them to repeal all the draconian laws that were enacted by the PAP into our Constitution.
    Some of the things they need to do will be to abolish the GRC, NMP and NCMP among other things. Also, making Election Department to be an independent body and not under the control of the PM.
    Also important is to eradicate and introduce legislation separating the powers of the civil service, making it to be under the former (PSC) to an independent public service commission.
    It is vital to do this because the civil service is the real government of the nation and an elected government’ role is custodial providing the political leadership of a country

    Reply
  9. To ensure you have absolute control over the party, you need to be surrounded by sycophants and yes men, who are pliable to follow your wishes.
    You also need to suppress talents to prevent the growth of the intelligentsia, control the media – especially the editorial team of the country’s national broadsheet to propagate your agenda to keep the people subservient.
    It does not matter whether the means justify the ends. The important thing is to manage and control the people to be obedient and subservient to you.

    Reply
  10. georgia tong 7 May 2011

    MIW infamous for twisting words to gain advantage. Headed by a lawyer minister who speaks in ‘circle’ who hope to confuse voters.

    Reply
  11. Why are the "servants" being paid salary equivalent of a Master?? 7 May 2011

    Can they tell us whose money they used to print those environmentally unfriendly leaflets? People just throw them away and the leaflets can’t even be recycled as toilet papers. Just a waste of money. Hope is not tax payer’s money.

    Reply
  12. dopplerganger 8 May 2011

    I am replying to AFriendInNeed. Now that we have a small opposition in Parliament in Aljunied GRC, although merely a foothold, I would like to suggest that we ask for people who have become victims of elites teaming up with State Institutions to hound them to tell their stories of how they have been harassed. This kind of symbiosis is common in the failed States of the Middle East where the Elites routinely get the secret police on the trail of their enemies to crush them. In these states the tyranny is open, where people are pulled out of their cars and smacked. Here in Singapore it is more covert.Here a prominent personality close to the Govt, frequently a ‘top’lawyer, calls his friends in the ISD to do the job on his enemy. Nowadays because of the bad press on Muslims, MUIS is also a great player. Together, in one case, MUIS and the ISD weave a web of lies into the personal identity electronic records of of their targets in the ICA. So the hapless citizen is victimized by checks and threats each time he makes an appearance at an Immigration Checkpoint. His complaints to the Authorities typically will not elicit any response or at best negative response. Even the AG will scorn him and refuse the State’s Courts to investigate why he is tormented. The victim is forced into a desperate state of being assailed by unknown forces for undeclared crimes. This will continue until the end of his litigation where he will be soundly trounced by a judge who is also a part of this symbiotic arrangement.

    There is an evil symbiotic arrangement between elites and State Institutions which can readily be commandeered to go after the enemies of the elites’ friends. No longer are these premier policing institutions focussed on enemies of the State ( Mas Selamat escaped because the security police are running all over the place in errands for their political masters).

    I hope that people will read this posting of mine and yours and add to the narrative, so that we can get a groundswell of evidence of this sort of corruption. You must know that being in control of the electronic identity records is a strategic tool to cow anyone because every aspect of his life can then be monitored and assasinated. This kind of ambush is the sharp edge of States that are consolidating power beyond normal politics. We have got to stop it before it becomes widespread. I have a feeling that it is already widespread but our genteel population do not want to tell of how they have been violated by a string of thuggish State Institutions at the behest of elite lawyers on instructions of clients

    Reply
  13. Alex Xia 13 May 2011

    Everything is cheap, except the Minister’s Pay. Unfortunately this is the spark that contributing to the high cost of living and low productivity.

    Many SME company bosses also want to pay themselves one million. Can’t blame them for emulating their leaders.

    So they hire cheap overseas worker rather than Singapore citizens to work. They can thus take lion share of company revenues. How can they be productive when 30-40% of total salary goes to boss, wife and a non-working but receiving pay relative and the other 20-30 staff share the rest. Low productivity leads to high cost of living which is highly resistant to both fiscal and public policy tools.

    Reply