Governing means confronting politically difficult issues, not just balancing interests: PM Wong

The opposition Workers’ Party (WP), too, speaks up on policy issues, said Mr Wong.

“But when you look at the positions they have taken over time, they are not always consistent or coherent,” he said.

One issue on which Mr Wong said the opposition party has shifted its position over the years was housing.

In 2019, when the prices of public resale flats were falling, WP had argued that the government should build fewer new flats. 

By 2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted construction and led to a shortfall in new flats, the opposition was criticising the government for not building enough flats.

“Yet there was no acknowledgement of what it had advocated just a few years earlier,” said Mr Wong.

Another issue on which WP had changed its position was foreign manpower.

WP had called for greater flexibility across industries back in 2012, when the PAP government tightened foreign worker policies.

The opposition party then proposed zero growth in the foreign workforce during the debate on population policy, amid concerns over the projected population of 6.9 million, but more recently called for easing of foreign worker quotas when small and medium enterprises (SMEs) faced manpower shortages.

“You can see how their position seems to shift with the political winds. But foreign manpower policy cannot simply shift back and forth with the pressures of the moment,” said Mr Wong, adding that any “relatively small adjustments” would bring about wider consequences.