\n<\/p>\n
In his closing speech, Mr Tiong explained why the WP cannot accept the first of the four amendments proposed by Mr Chia.<\/p>\n
The change was to replace \u201cnotwithstanding\u201d the ESR suggestions to \u201cin line with\u201d the ESR.<\/p>\n
In his view, Mr Tiong said the ESR is \u201cshort of report cards and targets\u201d, adding that there has not been a consolidated report card for any of the PAP government\u2019s past economic blueprints.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeparate the rhetoric about promises kept from measurable outcomes. Untracked, consistency is indistinguishable from repetition. Surely, in spite of the uncertainties, there are macroeconomic targets beyond top-line growth that we can commit to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said that MPs who support the review because they want a more equal and inclusive economy and an engine driven by dynamic local companies, already believe in the WP\u2019s original motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the ends the review is meant to serve. Voting for the motion says that and nothing more. It does not criticise the review and binds no one to our proposals,\u201d said Mr Tiong.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur motion asks this house to commit to principles. The amendment asks it to commit to one set of operational plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his speech, Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow, who is also Second Minister for Finance and co-chairs the Economic Strategy Review committee on global competitiveness, said he “found agreement with quite a few of the Workers’ Party’s economic ideas”, including how to better support SMEs and startups and build a stronger base of local companies.<\/p>\n
“These goals are not in dispute, and the ESR report sets out specific recommendations, whether on more broad-based support for overseas expansion, or nurturing the next generation of Singapore global enterprises,” he said.<\/p>\n
“While we can debate the details, it is clear that the suggestions from the Workers’ Party are not so much a different economic playbook, but instead very much in line with the direction of the ESR. So we have considerable common ground.”<\/p>\n
However, one significant difference between both parties is in how they understand Singapore’s economic model, said Mr Siow.<\/p>\n
“From the speeches I have heard, the Workers’ Party appears to believe that Singapore’s economic model is imbalanced and needs to be fundamentally reoriented. They have portrayed Singapore as a place where MNCs create wealth, and there’s some Faustian bargain where SMEs are held down, and Singaporeans receive the benefits through redistribution,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I disagree with this characterisation, and this is not an academic disagreement, but one that is crucial to the policies that we will pursue. If the original diagnosis or assumption is wrong, the proposed remedy will send us in the wrong direction. The wrong medication may cause us even more harm than good.”<\/p>\n
He cited Mr Tiong’s claim that the government has a universal land pricing model, and said it is “simply untrue”.<\/p>\n
The WP MP had said in his speech that the government took such an approach for pricing land, and called for it to stop treating market land value as the natural price for every socially productive use of land.<\/p>\n
To this, Mr Siow said Singapore’s framework is already differentiated, with land priced differently at fair market value based on its intended use, such as residential, commercial, industrial, community, educational or religious purposes.<\/p>\n
“Now we can debate whether there is sufficient flexibility in the current framework, and whether there could be or should be further differentiation. But that is quite different from suggesting that the current framework is fundamentally flawed. On the contrary, our clear and transparent framework ensures responsible stewardship of our limited land resources,” he said.<\/p>\n
In response, Mr Tiong pointed to the lack of measurable targets in the government\u2019s past economic reviews, adding that the government \u201cmaybe has become a little bit averse to being measured\u201d.<\/p>\n
While the ESR report introduced the issue of artificial intelligence (AI), that is a \u201cnew exogenous factor that all countries must react to\u201d, he said. \u201cAdding new chapters and footnotes to an existing playbook does not make a new playbook,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mr Tiong said there was a lack of details from the government about what the next level of economic targets are beyond top-line growth targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government wants us to react swiftly once the monitoring alarms are triggered. The review says so itself on AI and workers. It recommends monitoring the impact closely and adjusting policies where needed,\u201d said Mr Tiong, adding that reacting swiftly is the basic expectation of any government.<\/p>\n
To this, Mr Siow said that he had not heard a \u201cgreat big idea\u201d that would replace the ESR, from the WP MPs in their speeches during Wednesday\u2019s debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, I see it very much as the Workers’ Party\u2019s idea building on what the ESR has recommended. In fact, Mr Tiong himself during, I think, a press briefing, said that they were filling the gaps of what the ESR has set out,\u201d said the minister.<\/p>\n
He said that both sides were actually working towards the same goals and objectives, barring some differences in the details.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost importantly, we are in a very difficult world, a world where external competition has become stiffer. I think it is better for us to see if we can look for areas of commonality, areas where we are aligned, areas where this House can present a common front to Singaporeans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetter for us to be able to push together, rather than look for differences that perhaps don’t exist and find a wedge to drive into gaps where we do not see.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
In his closing speech, Mr Tiong explained why the WP cannot accept the first of the four amendments proposed by Mr Chia. The change was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--Qvo_LPKQ--\/c_crop,h_842,w_1497,x_1,y_81\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/01\/09\/sya_7027.jpg?itok=tMUnFkbI","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18549,8132,16683,1600,27778,1239,2562,14072,4403,1599,1952,209],"class_list":["post-74552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-9hour","tag-amended","tag-backs","tag-debate","tag-dissent","tag-economy","tag-future","tag-motion","tag-mps","tag-parliament","tag-record","tag-singapores","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}