DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng urged voters to ask the Workers' Party for a detailed explanation on how it plans to implement the proposals set out in its manifesto. In his retort to the opposition party’s approach, he said, “Like in all brochures that companies put out, you have to drill down to the details. What do they mean by the specific recommendations?”
He cited, the Workers’ Party's call to peg the price of HDB flats to the median income of eligible buyers, and for flats to be affordable enough that mortgages can be paid off in 20 years instead of 30. “If you want to pay the mortgage in 20 years, does it mean you have to pay a higher sum every month? And if you fix the price at the median income, will there also be restrictions on the sale (price)?”
Of late, we have seen how DPM Wong has been feeling the heat from the fact that his GRC wards will see a contest in ages, especially against a well-respected politician like Mr Chiam See Tong. And what does he have to offer his residents??? As usual, the PAP’s ploy is to entice voters by coming out with five-year upgrading plans for each constituency. Every weekend leading up to elections season, we will be served news on upgrading plans for a particular ward or constituency.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to show the world that these are some things that the PAP is extremely good at whenever an Elections season comes around, besides giving generous amounts to the people prior to Polling Day, only to ask for it back some months later when they implement new policies. And up till now, the electorate, the majority of whom have been religiously voting the PAP in previous elections, have not learnt their lessons.
Paying a mortgage in 20 years doesn’t mean one has to pay a higher sum every month. What it could possibly mean, is to reduce the price of owning a house, make it feasible for young couples and those from the lower income group to live, without having to rent or getting a smaller home if they have a big family. As it is, the sizes of new homes have reduced a lot since 2000, yet the prices have risen beyond belief, which is not a fair reflection of its value.
Sure MSK is back to his detention cell, but questions still remain, how did the Ministry of Home Affairs under the charge of DPM Wong bungle when the whole country was gripped by drama from the Whitley Road Detention Centre episode? As the SDP’s Vincent Wijeysingha rightly pointed out in the CNA Forum the previous weekend, let’s not talk about the quality of good governance especially when this particular Cabinet saw the first escaped detainee. Not only is he held accountable for but the whole Cabinet as well. And I hope the electorate does not forget that and that the opposition parties would remind them should they do.
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