To (Re)Build A Democratic Society

For any society to truly flourish, it is important that the people are empowered to participate freely and safely in public discourse and politics, and shape policies at macro and micro levels through exercising their civil and political rights. Politics has a powerful impact on every aspect of our lives, and we have both a right and a responsibility to speak up about injustice, organise ourselves and take collective action to improve our lives and that of our fellow people.

Dissent and contestation are healthy, generative features of a democracy. No single person, group, or political party has a monopoly on wisdom about how a country should be run. Far from the stereotype of the politically apathetic Singaporean, it is evident in all kinds of spaces, from social media, coffee shops, taxi rides, to elections and Speakers’ Corner rallies that people of all backgrounds care deeply about how the country is run, and have well-formed opinions on changes they want to see. With increasingly complex social, economic and geopolitical realities to navigate, it is critical that Singapore has a vibrant democracy that encourages its people to be active citizens without fear of sanction.

Arresting the Rising Cost of Living

No one in Singapore should struggle to put food on the table or afford other essential goods and services, regardless of income or employment status. Everyone should be able to participate fully in society and feel included, which requires keeping inequality to a minimum. The government should ensure that the needs of children, the elderly, ill and disabled can be met through public assistance programmes that are rights-based, without overburdening families or relying on philanthropy and charity.

Caregivers’ contribution to society should be valued for its indispensable lifesaving and life-nourishing role, and caregivers should not be forced into precarity or made to compromise on the care they provide at home to earn income through the workforce.

An Economy that Works for Workers

Labour policy should ensure that all workers and their families have the opportunity to thrive in Singapore, have safe and decent working conditions, and are equitably compensated for the wealth they generate for the country.

Overall, the rights of workers have been eroded over the decades, and the gains of the labour movement of the 50s and 60s have been clawed back slowly but surely. These need to be reinstated, and improved to reflect the needs of modern workers.

Housing: Shelter, Not Commodity

Everyone who calls Singapore home should have a right to safe, stable and affordable housing, which is becoming increasingly out of reach, and pushing residents into unconscionable debt. Our public housing system should cater to all long-term residents, regardless of marital status, race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or citizenship. Those who are unhoused need much more comprehensive and accessible support. The construction of public housing should not require the exploitation of migrant labour, and migrant workers should be guaranteed decent accommodation while working in Singapore, where they are free from surveillance and movement restrictions.

Equitable Healthcare for All

Access to public healthcare is a basic human right. It must be affordable and accessible for all. No one chooses to be ill and so, no one should face financial ruin when attempting to receive the healthcare they need. Relatedly, for patients to receive the care they deserve, healthcare workers need to have safe, humane working conditions. To this end, urgent reforms are needed to ensure that both patients’ and healthcare workers’ basic needs are met.

Ensuring Retirement Adequacy

The right to retire means that one should be able to stop working at a reasonable age and still be able to continue meeting their needs independently (i.e. without reliance on family members or charities), and without too significant a drop in their standard of living. Our late years are a time when most of us become more frail, and we should be entitled to rest, living out the rest of our lives peacefully, and with dignity. Our older people should not have to hustle, collect cardboard or engage in rag-picking for a pittance, clear plates at coffee shops, or panhandle on the streets.

The government’s focus on contributory pensions and stringent, means-tested welfare for older persons leaves a significant number of people in Singapore unable to afford retirement. This affects especially the very old who did not have significant educational opportunities in the early years, and have not had the chance to accumulate sufficient funds in their CPF. With the rising cost of living, many younger workers too are nervous that they will never be able to stop working. Retirement is increasingly becoming a privilege of the wealthy, rather than the right of all. Singapore’s retirement policies must be reformed to ensure that older persons can experience financial security regardless of the income they earned and saved during their working years.

Tackling the Climate Crisis with Environmental Justice

The climate crisis is a multi-faceted crisis that will affect all sectors of society. Importantly, we must recognise that those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis are usually the ones who are affected the most. A transition away from our carbon-dependent paradigm is urgently needed but any climate mitigation and adaptation plans must be embedded with a justice lens: who will pay for the climate crisis and how are we protecting underserved, underrepresented, marginalised communities?