WP to table a motion setting out its vision for Singapore’s economy in Parliament on Aug 4

Companies are now setting up their regional headquarters elsewhere in Asia because manpower and rent cost less, he said, citing some recent examples such as Standard Chartered bank moving jobs to India.

Singapore therefore faces a new set of challenges and cannot rely on the same playbook to succeed, said Tiong, who works in tech.

Lim noted that the Government had launched a review of Singapore’s economy and released its plans in June.

The committee behind the Government’s Economic Strategy Review then set out in a report 32 recommendations across eight focus areas to navigate global shifts like AI and tariffs.

The WP will, in the coming months, push the Government about details in the report, but also wants to sketch out its own vision of how these details should be executed, said Lim.

For example, the report talks about the internationalisation of local firms – which the WP is in favour of. But it does not talk enough about some of the pain points Singapore’s businesses continue to face, he said.

Lim said he hopes the WP’s ideas set out during the motion are not seen as a substitute but a complement to the Government’s plans.

“We think that there are still some gaps in that vision, and we provide both an alternative vision and a way forward that we think fills in many of these gaps,” he said.

Tiong said the WP filed the motion as part of its MPs’ responsibilities as political representatives.

Worries about how Singapore’s economic model will continue to provide inclusive prosperity and more equal growth has been top of mind for many Singaporeans he has spoken to, he said. “It’s our duty to come up with our answer,” he said.

Tiong will open the motion and, as the first speaker, he will be allowed a 40-minute speech. He will also close the motion, with every other MP allowed 20 minutes to speak.

The last time the WP filed a motion in Parliament was in 2023, when party chief Pritam Singh tabled a debate on how to help Singaporeans with the cost of living.

The motion passed after a seven-hour debate, with amendments from the PAP. The WP eventually voted against the amended motion.