A History of the People's Action Party, 1985-2021: New book traces key developments of PAP in government

PAP at turning point again, party must continue working with Singaporeans to take country forward: PM Lee Hsien Loong

By Hariz Baharudin, The Straits Times, 14 Dec 2021

The People's Action Party is once again at a turning point as it navigates an ongoing leadership transition and a new generation of voters, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Drawing parallels between now and 1985 when the party was passing the baton to its second-generation leaders, PM Lee said there are many questions about the future, including how the PAP and its fourth-generation team will deal with new challenges, and whether they have what it takes to bring Singapore forward.

In a speech on Tuesday (Dec 14) at the launch of a book that chronicles the PAP's history since 1985 held at the National University of Singapore, he said the next 35 years will be quite different from the last.

"Most fundamentally, our task is not to foretell the future, but to create it. The PAP continues to carry a heavy responsibility for Singapore's security, stability and success," said PM Lee, who is PAP secretary-general.

"It must always work closely with Singaporeans to take the country forward."

The book, titled A History Of The People's Action Party: 1985-2021, recounts the party's activities and events during that period. It was written by Dr Shashi Jayakumar, a senior fellow and head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and published by NUS Press.

PM Lee noted that the PAP is now in the midst of a leadership transition from the 3G to the 4G team, just like in 1985 when its second generation of leaders was taking over from the pioneer generation.

At the time, only founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Mr S. Rajaratnam and Mr E.W. Barker remained in the new Cabinet.

The PAP's vote share fell sharply by 12.9 percentage points to 64.8 per cent in the 1984 General Election, which also heralded a generational change in the electorate, said PM Lee. For the first time since independence, the PAP received less than 70 per cent of the overall votes.

At the post-election conference, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had said the older generation of voters who stuck with the PAP through Singapore's earlier years were beginning to fade away, and were replaced with a younger generation that was better educated and more demanding of their leaders.

"It seemed like the PAP was losing its political dominance," said PM Lee on Tuesday. "It was a moment for introspection, perhaps even concern. What did the future hold for the party, and for Singapore?"

Today, PM Lee is the only one of the 1984 batch of PAP MPs still in politics, and the pioneer generation of voters who began to leave the scene in 1985 are mostly gone.

About 60 per cent of today's voters were born after independence, he said. Growing up in a stable Singapore, they experienced steady progress and benefited from the nation's collective efforts to develop its economy as well as its identity.

"Their aspirations, hopes and expectations are different from the young voters in the 1984 General Election," he said.

PM Lee said that while the PAP won a strong mandate in last year's general election, the party's vote share fell by 8.6 percentage points to 61.2 per cent and it lost two group representation constituencies to the opposition for the first time.

He expressed hope that the new book will provide a sense of history and perspective to the PAP's journey over the past decades, and help its readers appreciate how Singapore has achieved what it has.

While Singaporeans who have lived through the past decades may not consider the country's stability, progress and success astonishing, PM Lee said all this was hardly predicted - much less foreordained.

"It did not happen by itself, nor has it happened in very many other countries. And yet it happened in Singapore," he added. "How did Singapore manage to achieve this? The PAP is an important part of the explanation."

This is why the party's history from 1985 to 2021 is a story well worth telling and understanding, he said.

"I hope this book will… most importantly, inspire the next generation - party activists, party leaders and Singaporeans alike - to be equally committed, resourceful and resolute in pursuing a brighter future for Singapore."

Singapore GE2020: PAP spells out reasons vote fell below expectations

GE2020 results a ‘clear mandate’ although 61.2 per cent vote share lower than 65 per cent PAP hoped for: Lawrence Wong
But it says GE result is still a solid majority and its heartland base kept faith with the party
By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Sunday Times, 19 Jul 2020

The voters made it clear that they wanted a People's Action Party (PAP) government at the helm by giving it 61.2 per cent of the vote in the general election, but the result fell slightly short of the party's own expectations, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong yesterday.

It was nevertheless a solid majority, given the difficulties that people were facing on the ground, he added.

"And that's because the base kept faith with the PAP, knowing that the PAP kept faith with its base. What is this base? They are the working class, the middle class, the heartland of Singapore," said Mr Wong, who shared the party's preliminary analysis of the recent election.

He acknowledged that the result was lower than the 65 per cent the party had hoped for, with that 4 percentage point gap translating to around 100,000 votes.

To close the gap, the party must do better at appealing to the young and work to address the economic pain of voters in their 40s and 50s, Mr Wong said.

"We are unlikely to exceed 65 per cent of the vote in future," he added. "The desire for diversity in Parliament, for checks and balances, is permanent. It is here to stay, and we must be prepared for this new reality."



Mr Wong, a member of the PAP's central executive committee, was addressing party activists in a speech streamed live from the PAP's Bedok headquarters, and took questions from reporters afterwards.

Putting the party's performance in context, he said pundits and commentators had predicted that the PAP could get more than 70 per cent of the votes as voters sought safety amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling party itself did not expect that, given the pain on the ground.

In fact, over the past nine general elections, it had approached or surpassed the 70 per cent mark only twice, said Mr Wong. In 2015, it got 69.9 per cent of the vote. In 2001, it won with a 75.3 per cent vote share. In contrast, the party got 63 per cent or less in four out of these nine races, he added.



This year's result is at the "low end of the expected range", which is between 60 and 65 per cent.

"It is not a very good result, but it is within the range of expectations, and we've been here before," he added. "The expectation that the PAP should have had a result at the top end this time, I think, has coloured the outcome as a setback."

He set out several reasons for the PAP's performance in the polls.

First, the Workers' Party ran a good campaign that spoke to the desire of many voters to have more checks and balances in Parliament, he said. The emergence of the Progress Singapore Party cut into the PAP's western strongholds.

The PAP's online campaign also did not connect well with voters, Mr Wong noted. "We produced a lot of good content online, but not all of this connected with netizens - especially on newer platforms like Instagram and Telegram."



While there has been much talk of younger voters turning away from the party, the swing against the PAP was also seen among voters above 40, who make up a much larger proportion of the electorate, Mr Wong said. This group faced economic hardship due to job or income losses from the pandemic, he added.

The PAP also saw support fall among those who lived in private property, who may have felt they were not sufficiently supported during the crisis, he said.

The party will conduct a thorough review of the general election, identifying two areas that the party will have to work on. It must better connect with younger voters and address the "real economic pain" that a substantial segment of older voters are feeling, he said.

The emphasis on the base will remain unchanged. "Our policies must always tilt in favour of the less fortunate and vulnerable," said Mr Wong. "This is in the PAP's roots and DNA. We must never waver in our commitment to social justice, to preserve social mobility for all Singaporeans, and to build a more fair and just society."

GE2020: Lessons learnt from Singapore's first true Internet election; IPS Post-Election Survey on GE2020

Online engagement, authenticity are vital, but may not always translate into votes
By Hariz Baharudin and Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 15 Jul 2020

While physical rallies were absent during the hustings for the recently concluded general election, some politicians did not seem to need them.

By the midpoint of the campaign, Progress Singapore Party (PSP) chief Tan Cheng Bock was able to reach out to 12,000 followers with each Instagram post - thrice the capacity of Clementi Stadium, where rallies for West Coast GRC were held in past elections.

The veteran politician wooed younger voters online by posting videos of himself responding to their attempts to educate him on slang terms like "woke".

Dr Tan, who now has over 70,000 Instagram followers - more than local celebrities like TV personality Denise Keller and rapper Sheikh Haikel - was among the politicians who thrived in what experts have dubbed Singapore's "first truly Internet election".

Political parties have traditionally relied on mass rallies to rouse the electorate and drum up support. But this time, restrictions on large gatherings due to COVID-19 measures saw the battle for hearts and minds take place mostly in the digital realm.

Some observers have argued that an Internet campaign benefits the opposition parties, as it enables them to raise their profiles quickly, affordably and widely.

And even though the Internet had been around during the past three or four elections, it was the current social distancing restrictions that necessitated the use of online campaigning by parties and candidates, said Associate Professor Eugene Tan from Singapore Management University's School of Law.

"For many voters, it was their only means of finding out information about parties, their candidates and their policy platforms," he added.

AN ONLINE ADVANTAGE?

In lieu of physical rallies, parties held talk shows - such as Straight Talk by the People's Action Party (PAP) and the Hammer Show by the Workers' Party (WP).

These programmes allowed parties to engage with voters on a more intellectual level than at physical rallies, where voters can be moved by emotion, noted Prof Tan.

The Singapore Democratic Party and Peoples Voice also featured candidates' speeches on their Facebook pages.



All 11 parties in this year's general election had their own e-rallies and participated in televised constituency political broadcasts.

Such efforts gave voters a better sense of the parties' ideas, said former Nominated Member of Parliament Lim Sun Sun, who is head of humanities, arts and social sciences at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

"Unlike public rallies where candidates tend to engage in histrionics and grandstanding, the e-rallies and public broadcasts were calmer and more measured, thereby enabling voters to concentrate on the substance of the issues and the strength of the arguments," she said.

Dr Natalie Pang, a senior lecturer in the communications and new media department at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said the online hustings gave voters opportunities to hear from more parties and candidates, compared with the past, when there was a limit to the number of rallies they could attend.

But the glut of content also resulted in "information overload", said NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser, with netizens finding it hard to follow all the political discussions online.



Dr Felix Tan, an associate lecturer at SIM Global Education, said political parties could have missed out on engaging some segments of society, such as senior voters who are tech-averse.

Another disadvantage of e-rallies instead of physical ones is that parties lose opportunities to connect emotionally to voters, said experts.

Parties also lose the opportunity to raise funds by selling merchandise or appealing for donations at physical rallies, said Prof Eugene Tan.

The PAP was returned to power after winning 83 of 93 seats with 61.24 per cent of the votes, down from the 69.9 per cent vote share it received in the 2015 General Election.

GE2020 results: PAP wins 83 of 93 seats; WP takes two GRCs

PAP returns to power with 83 seats, but loses Sengkang and Aljunied GRCs in hard-fought COVID-19 election
By Warren Fernandez, Editor-in-Chief, The Straits Times, 11 Jul 2020

Singaporeans returned the People's Action Party (PAP) to government, handing it 83 of the 93 seats, but there was a major upset in Sengkang GRC, which fell to the Workers' Party (WP), amid a stronger showing for the opposition.

In what was dubbed a crisis election, or the COVID-19 polls, the PAP won 61.24 per cent of the votes, an 8.7-point swing from its 69.9 per cent share in the 2015 polls.

This was slightly above the 60.1 per cent it garnered in 2011, which was the party's worst showing.

The election, billed as the most significant since Singapore's independence given the backdrop of the pandemic, will see the opposition presence almost doubled to 10 elected MPs in the next Parliament, Singapore's 14th, since 1965.

Speaking at a 4.30am press conference, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the PAP had been given a "clear mandate" and a "good result". Although the share of the popular vote was not as high as he would have liked, it still reflected broad based support for the PAP, he said.

"I will use this mandate responsibly to deal with COVID-19 and the economic downturn and to take us safely through the crisis and beyond," he said. "At the same time, the results reflect the pain and anxiety that Singaporeans feel in this crisis," he added, noting that this was not a feel-good election.



He described the loss of NTUC chief Ng Chee Meng, as well as Dr Lam Pin Min and Mr Amrin Amin, from the Sengkang GRC slate as a "significant loss" for the country's fourth-generation leadership.

Flanked by several members of his Cabinet from the party's 3G and 4G leadership, he repeated his pledge that he and his senior Cabinet colleagues would stay to see Singapore through the COVID-19 crisis.

He noted that the election also showed that there was a "desire for more diversity" of views in Parliament, which would have 10 elected opposition MPs and two Non-Constituency MPs,

He added that he had called WP chief Pritam Singh to congratulate him on his party's good showing, and offered him the official designation as Leader of the Opposition. Mr Singh thanked him for this.

The fears of a wipeout of the opposition, which the WP and others had warned about, proved unfounded, he added.

Instead, the opposition turned in a strong showing, with the WP snagging its second GRC, as well as enjoying a near 10-point swing in its Aljunied GRC base, taking 59.93 per cent of the vote there, and holding on to its Hougang seat.

The WP's plea to voters not to hand the ruling party a "blank cheque" to shape policy at will appeared to have swayed voters.

But the other opposition parties, including the fledgling Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), which forced close fights in several seats, ended the night empty-handed.

PSP chief Tan Cheng Bock and SDP's Dr Chee Soon Juan both looked dejected early this morning, declaring that they were "disappointed" with the results.

The PAP had urged the 2.65 million voters registered for the polls to give its tried and trusted team a "strong mandate" to take the country through the crisis, securing their lives, jobs and future.

In the end, the widely expected "flight to safety" in a crisis, given the PAP's track record leading Singapore for over six decades, did not materialise.

Instead, the PAP's share of the vote was down from its high score in 2015, which was a Jubilee Year for Singapore, and which also saw the passing of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, which moved Singaporeans deeply, and contributed to the PAP securing a better result than most had anticipated then.



The WP pulled off the biggest upset, with its slate of mostly fresh faces in the newly carved out Sengkang GRC securing 52.13 per cent of the vote. Speaking at a press conference at close to 4am, Mr Singh thanked voters for supporting the party and said it will not let the results "get over our heads, as there was much work to do".

The key battleground seats in the east and the west proved to be close calls. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, whose last-minute tactical switch to East Coast GRC caught most by surprise, pulled in 53.4 per cent of the votes, down from the 60.7 per cent the party managed in 2015. This was a tad down from the 54.8 per cent the PAP secured in 2011.

Over in the west, the keenly watched contest for West Coast GRC proved to be a nail biter, with the PAP holding on to it, but narrowly, with 51.7 per cent of the votes.

Amid the ongoing outbreak, voters had to cast their ballots wearing masks, after sanitising their hands, and while keeping a safe distance from others. This caused some delays which led to long queues forming at several polling stations, prompting an extension of voting hours to 10pm and drawing protests from the opposition camp.

The PAP had sought a strong mandate to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. But in the end, in the face of the worst crisis to hit Singapore in many decades, most voters plumped for the party which has pulled Singapore through many a difficult moment in the past to take decisive charge, but without a blank cheque, as it shapes the country's response to the challenges to come.

Since GE2011, have HDB issues been resolved?

Since the watershed GE2011, issues to address have included housing supply, price and inclusivity. Have these been ticked off?
By Rachel Au-Yong, Housing Correspondent, The Straits Times, 3 Oct 2019

It is a rite of passage for most Singaporeans. No, not getting married, though that is closely tied to it - but owning their first HDB home.

And that has just become easier because of measures announced by National Development Minister Lawrence Wong on Sept 10.

These are: Raising the income ceiling for Housing Board (HDB) flats and executive condominiums (ECs) by $2,000, to $14,000 and $16,000 respectively, and extending a repackaged housing grant to more Singaporeans.

The new Enhanced CPF Housing Grant of up to $80,000 replaces two previous grants. It allows more people to benefit as it has a higher income cap and does not impose any restrictions on the flat size or location.

Some may argue that fine-tuning public housing policy in line with changing demographics is the duty of any responsible government.



However, in the case of public housing, it is not simply one item on the long to-do list that is governance: It is of paramount importance, given that about eight in 10 people in Singapore live in HDB flats.

Home ownership also lays the foundation for the Singaporean identity. It is an asset, one of the four pillars of the social security system - along with the Central Provident Fund (CPF), Workfare and affordable healthcare - and represents a stake in nationhood. And indeed, stability of that nationhood, considering that it is not uncommon that the act of putting names down for a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat sometimes precedes the marriage proposal itself these days.

If not handled properly, public housing can become a major fault line at the polls, which it proved to be in 2011 when, amid runaway housing prices, the People's Action Party (PAP) won with its lowest vote share since independence.

The latest announcements - following a slew of purchaser-friendly measures over the past few years - prompt the question: Has housing as a source of political angst been "settled"?

Singapore Together: Redefining the national conversation

Is the latest citizen engagement exercise just another national conversation? Insight looks at why it's set to be different this time.
By Grace Ho, The Sunday Times, 14 Jul 2019

In 1991, then Acting Minister for Information and the Arts George Yeo likened the state to a large banyan tree whose reach was so extensive, few other organisms could take root: "The problem now is that under the banyan tree very little else can grow. When state institutions are too pervasive, civic institutions cannot thrive. It's necessary to prune the banyan trees so other plants can grow."

But now it's 2019 and other plants have indeed grown. In fact, there is a variety of civic group "species" ranging from nature and heritage, to gender equality and animal rights.

What's more, the banyan tree of the Government itself has lost some of its "bark". Branches and roots are more intertwined within the ecosystem of all Singapore people.

Rather than standing apart, this outreach has included getting an on-the-ground take from Singaporeans in the form of feedback.

There have been national dialogues including The Next Lap (1991), Singapore 21 (1999), Remaking Singapore (2002), SGfuture (2015) and the biggest, Our Singapore Conversation (OSC).

Unprecedented in scale and reach, OSC was held a year after the watershed 2011 General Election, where the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) garnered its lowest vote share since independence.

And Singapore is now getting set for the latest citizen-state engagement, Singapore Together.

In announcing Singapore Together last month at the REACH-CNA Building Our Future Singapore Together dialogue, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said that he and other ministers would work with Singaporeans to design and implement solutions across a wider range of issues and policy areas. These include environmental sustainability, housing, youth and social mobility.

Sceptics might wonder, though, if this is just going to be another national conversation under a different name.

But, as Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) Associate Professor Kenneth Paul Tan points out: "It is hard to avoid how closely public engagement initiatives have been linked to critical economic, political or electoral events in the nation's life."

The critical event looming is, of course, the segue to 4G leadership, which Mr Heng is poised to helm.

Insight looks at how this particular outreach is poised to be a sea change in these exercises, why there is a need for new ways to create policy and build trust amid Singapore's changing electorate, and what an expanded "democracy of deeds" - a theme in Mr Heng's outline - could look like.

Singapore's next Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat

Heng Swee Keat picked as 4G leader, with Chan Chun Sing as deputy
People's Action Party (PAP) appoints Heng Swee Keat as First Assistant Secretary General, indicating he will be Singapore's fourth PM
By Royston Sim, Deputy Political Editor, The Straits Times, 24 Nov 2018

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, 57, has been chosen to lead the fourth-generation (4G) team of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), paving the way for him to become Singapore's next prime minister.

Mr Heng is now the party's first assistant secretary-general, with Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, 49, playing a key role as second assistant secretary-general and his deputy.

The announcement of their roles yesterday in the new slate of office-holders for the PAP's highest committee marks a major point in Singapore's leadership transition and answers the pressing question of who will succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Speaking at a media conference at the PAP headquarters in Bedok yesterday evening, Mr Heng said the younger team chose him as their leader, and he accepted it.

He then asked Mr Chan to be his deputy, saying the former army chief and labour chief has many strengths and would complement him very well.

Mr Heng said: "Leading the party and governing Singapore are massive and complex tasks. No one person can do it alone." It was a point both he and Mr Chan reiterated several times at the press conference.

"I am heartened that I have the backing of a strong team," he added.



A group of 30 younger PAP MPs issued a statement yesterday saying they reached the consensus that Mr Heng will lead the team and endorsed Mr Chan as his deputy.

In a Facebook post last evening, PM Lee, the party's secretary-general, said he supports their decision and is happy with the outcome.

Mr Heng and Mr Chan have complementary strengths and make a strong pairing, PM Lee added.

"I am confident that they will continue to grow in experience and touch, and steadily win the confidence and trust of Singaporeans."

The Prime Minister also said he will announce changes to the Cabinet in due course, and observers expect Mr Heng to be appointed deputy prime minister.



Both Mr Heng and Mr Chan entered politics in 2011 and have held various key portfolios.

Mr Heng was made education minister, and chaired key initiatives like a national conversation series to engage citizens and a committee tasked with devising strategies to grow Singapore's economy in future.

But his political future came under serious doubt when he suffered a stroke during a Cabinet meeting in May 2016. He, however, made a miraculous recovery and returned to work about three months later.

Yesterday, Mr Heng gave the assurance that his doctors have given him a clean bill of health, and said he is in even better shape than before. "I would not have taken up this appointment if I do not have the confidence that my health allows me to do it," he added.



On why he picked Mr Chan as his deputy, Mr Heng said they complement each other well in their styles and areas of expertise.

He cited how they have good experiences working together, including setting up the Early Childhood Development Agency.

Mr Chan has been doing a lot of groundwork with various organisations, including the labour movement, the People's Association and the party itself, he noted, adding: "It is important that we pool together our strengths to mobilise."



On his part, Mr Chan said he has great respect for Mr Heng's capabilities, particularly his considerable international experience and knowledge of financial markets.

"As a team, we will complement one another, leveraging our respective strengths to do our best for Singapore," he added.

The PAP's 4G team has strengths in different areas and a range of skills to deal with a complex set of internal and external challenges, Mr Heng said. "I am confident that we will work well together to take Singapore forward and to improve the lives of Singaporeans."

Facts, falsehoods, feedback - Janil Puthucheary has firm grasp of them all

Singapore recently saw a major Cabinet reshuffle, during which fourth-generation ministers stepped up to key positions. These younger leaders will also feature prominently in the new Parliament session, which opens today (7 May). In the third of a series of interviews, The Straits Times speaks to Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Transport Janil Puthucheary. Increasing complexity of engaging with the public in an era of social media is an issue that is core to his work at MCI
By Yasmine Yahya, Senior Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 7 May 2018

In the weeks after historian Thum Ping Tjin was questioned for six hours over his research into Operation Coldstore, there were some rumblings on social media that the Government had gone too far during the parliamentary committee hearing on fake news.

Concerned, Dr Janil Puthucheary went down to the ground to ask people: Did they really feel that way?

He recounts: "This is exactly what we did when we were receiving feedback on how everybody was so angry and worried about the Select Committee process and the six hours: We went to the grassroots, into the constituency, door to door - and nobody asked about it, nobody wanted to talk about it, nobody was the least bit concerned about it."

It is one example of how there is sometimes "a disconnect" between a vocal segment of society and the average Singaporean, he says in an interview with The Straits Times last week.

That does not mean he dismisses what he reads online, he stresses.

"You need both. You have to understand what are the implications of feedback coming through the different channels," he says.

The increasing complexity of engaging with the public in an era of social media is an issue that is core to Dr Janil's work at the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). It is an area that the ministry has significantly stepped up on, in particular after the watershed 2011 General Election.

The Government has since been seen to be more responsive to feedback, and this is dependent, in turn, on getting an accurate sensing on the ground.

Dr Janil says the key is not to rely on any single channel or any single viewpoint.

"You must have more than a triangulation, a multitude of inputs and a multitude of viewpoints.

"And then go back out again and ask, 'Is this what you're really worried about? I'm told this is what you're really worried about.' "

Singapore's population at 5.61 million as of June 2017

Singapore's population grows at slowest pace in a decade
Only 5,000 people added in year to June as number of Work Permit holders decreases
By Elgin Toh, Insight Editor, The Straits Times, 28 Sep 2017

If Singapore does not seem more crowded these days, that is because the total population hardly grew in the 12 months since June last year.

It expanded by a mere 0.1 per cent - or about 5,000 - to 5.61 million, the slowest growth rate in more than a decade.

In contrast, the total population - which includes residents and non-residents - in the decade before 2017 expanded by an average of 2.45 per cent each year.

The chief reason for the snail-paced growth is the decrease in the number of Work Permit holders.

As a result, the non-resident population shrank by 1.6 per cent to 1.65 million, the first drop in 14 years.

The fall in the number of Work Permit holders is due to the slowdown in two sectors - construction, and marine and offshore engineering - the National Population and Talent Division said in its annual Population in Brief report, which was released yesterday.

Non-residents consist of Work Permit holders, Employment and S Pass holders, foreign students, foreign maids and other dependants.

Dr Mathew Mathews of the Institute of Policy Studies said the reduced number of non-residents reflects "the tightening of the inflow of migrants", and is in line with government attempts to nudge industries to raise produc-tivity "rather than just rely on additional labour".

He added that in the longer term, it is important to consider if "there is sufficient quality foreign manpower that can be injected into the Singaporean labour force".

"It is always a question of balancing the needs of a robust economy with sufficient manpower and ensuring a Singaporean core is not compromised," he said.

Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser of the National University of Singapore said if the fall in Work Permit holders is due to industries transforming and relying less on foreign labour, "then it may be good news for those who are unhappy about the large proportion of migrant labour in Singapore".

Meanwhile, Singapore's citizen population continues to age.

Singapore faces a grim labour future as population ages rapidly: Oxford Economics

Singapore faces double whammy in labour supply: Study

By Jacqueline Woo, The Straits Times, 7 Sep 2017

Singapore has the most to fear from an ageing population among Asia-Pacific nations, according to a new study.

It noted yesterday that the country faces a double whammy: a shrinking workforce coupled with slower progress than its Asian neighbours in getting more people into the labour market.

The report by Oxford Economics said Singapore's labour supply will shrink by 1.7 percentage point in the 10 years through 2026, and by 2.5 percentage points in the following decade, after accounting for changes to the participation rate.

This will make the country the worst hit out of a dozen economies in the report, even though it was Japan that has recorded the biggest workforce decline over the past 10 years.

The report said almost all Asian nations will face demographic challenges over the next two decades, while policy measures or efforts to boost labour participation rates - such as by drawing more women or the elderly into the workforce - will only partially limit the impact.

Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea came up the worst on a metric that looked at the amount by which the decline in growth of the working-age population cannot be offset by higher labour participation rates.

The massive decline expected in Singapore's working-age population growth from 2027 will be due in part to less immigration after a recent policy shift, added the report.

It will take a while before the pain affects some countries. Thailand's workforce, for instance, will barely shrink over the next 10 years, but is expected to drop by 1.1 percentage point each year in the decade after.

Workers' Party MPs sued by own Town Council AHTC over $33 million in improper payments; High Court trial in October 2018

* Workers' Party MPs Court Case against Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) -October 2018







Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) taking WP leaders to court to account for $33 million it paid
The MPs deny town council's allegations and say they acted in best interests of residents
By Danson Cheong and Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 27 Jul 2017

Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) is taking some of its most senior councillors - including Workers' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang and party chairman Sylvia Lim - to court to account for more than $33 million in payments made to its former managing agent and service provider.

AHTC alleges that the payments it made to managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) and service provider FM Solutions and Integrated Services, from July 15, 2011, to July 14, 2015, are null and void as the town councillors had acted in breach of their fiduciary duties - a charge they strongly deny.

AHTC initiated the legal action under the direction of an independent panel it appointed in February to help recover improper payments, as first reported by The Straits Times yesterday.

It is demanding that Mr Low, Ms Lim, FMSS owner How Weng Fan and FMSS give an account of the $33,717,535 in payments.

AHTC wants "equitable compensation" for any sum that has been wrongfully paid out.

At the very least, it wants Mr Low and Ms Lim to be liable for a sum of $1,261,773 - which it claims was the difference in fees between the "inflated rates" charged by FMSS and the rates it would have paid under CPG Facilities Management, the previous managing agent.



AHTC claimed that Mr Low and Ms Lim had acted in bad faith and misled other town councillors in order to justify installing FMSS as the managing agent without a tender. They then "set up and/or allowed a system" that made it possible for FMSS and its officers to "benefit themselves".

"No town councillor could have reasonably approved the system, without being in breach of his or her duties," said AHTC.

The town council, represented by lawyer David Chan from Shook Lin & Bok, set out its demands in a statement of claim filed in the High Court.

The independent panel that directed the action is chaired by Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam and includes Senior Counsel N. Sreenivasan and KPMG managing partner Ong Pang Thye.

The WP MPs have denied the allegations.

Speaking to the media last night, Mr Low thrice said that his conscience is clear.

"We acted in good faith and in the best interests of residents - the residents can see for themselves," said Mr Low, who was flanked by Ms Lim and town council chairman Pritam Singh, also a defendant in the suit.

Ms Lim and Mr Singh said they welcomed the opportunity to tell their side of the story in court.

Town Councils Act amended: Law passed to strengthen town council governance on 10 March 2017

Regulations part of wide-ranging changes to clarify town councils' role, boost financial management
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 11 Mar 2017

Town councils that fail to submit their audited financial accounts on time would have committed an offence under a new law passed by Parliament yesterday.

Another offence introduced in the new Town Councils Act is failing to keep a record of the conflicts of interest declared by town councillors and employees when dealing with, say, contracts.

A town council will also run afoul of the law when it carries out commercial activities, such as organising trade fairs, which are not part of its core functions.

The penalties include a fine of up to $5,000 when town councils fail to comply.

The regulations are part of wide-ranging changes that Senior Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee said would clarify a town council's role, improve governance and strengthen financial management.



His ministry will also have greater regulatory oversight of town councils, a change opposed by the Workers' Party (WP).

Mr Lee said the changes will boost the transparency and public accountability of town councils.

The new law follows a review of the Town Councils Act that was mooted in 2013, following heated parliamentary debates on the running of town councils and the handover of Aljunied GRC, which the WP took over from the People's Action Party after the 2011 polls.

The amendments are the most sweeping since town councils were introduced in 1989.

In explaining their importance, Mr Lee said town councils serve more than 3.2 million residents and collectively manage over $1.6 billion in public funds. This is a sharp rise from 2.4 million residents and $300 million in the early 1990s, he noted.

People's expectations of town councils have also risen. "As public institutions entrusted with millions of dollars received from residents and the Government, town councils should be held to the same standards of governance as charities and public-listed companies," he said.

The robust debate involving 14 MPs lasted three hours. Eventually, all nine WP MPs voted against it.

The Population White Paper - Time to revisit an unpopular policy?

Issues raised in 2013 paper, such as ageing and shrinking workforce, remain urgent and need to be tackled
By Calvin Cheng, Published The Straits Times, 9 Jan 2017

Three years ago in January 2013, the Government released the now infamous Population White Paper. To say the reaction was negative would be an understatement: not only did the White Paper elicit the normal grumblings that Singaporeans are well known for, but it also sparked online protests and real-world ones at Hong Lim Park where one rallying cry was "Singapore for Singaporeans".

Since then, populist anti-immigrant anger has swept through several developed countries in the West. The political tidal wave produced Brexit in Britain and helped propel Mr Donald Trump to victory in last November's United States presidential election.

Since 2013, the Singapore Government has, out of political necessity, rolled back immigration and tightened the inflow of foreign labour; for all intents and purposes, it seems that the Population White Paper is on ice and few politicians now mention it in public.

If these developments are being read by Singapore critics of the Population White Paper as vindication of their opposition to it, they would be wrong.

POPULATION ASSUMPTIONS STILL HOLD TRUE

Firstly, and most importantly, every single assumption that led to the proposals in the White Paper still holds true. Our population is still ageing and baby boomers are still entering retirement. The number of working-age Singaporeans will still start to decrease from 2020, which is now three years away, not seven. The citizen population will still start to decline in 2025 - now eight years away, not 12. The total fertility rate has barely budged despite various efforts.

Disastrously, some things have actually got worse. The White Paper said that in order to achieve an average of 3 to 5 per cent gross domestic product growth up to 2020, Singapore will need 2 to 3 per cent annual productivity growth, whilst maintaining 1 to 2 per cent workforce growth. The recent cuts in foreign manpower put downward pressure on total workforce growth, which has to be made up for by even higher productivity growth. That is not happening; productivity growth has instead stagnated, with 2015 even seeing a fall in productivity of 0.1 per cent.

It is worth reiterating at this juncture: None of the assumptions in the Population White Paper has changed, and on some, the outlook has worsened, not got better.

'Pervasive' lapses found in Workers' Party town council accounts: KPMG; WP MPs sued by own Town Council AHTC over $33 million in improper payments

Weaknesses cover key areas of governance, financial control and reporting, among others: KPMG
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 22 Jul 2016

Auditors of the Workers' Party-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) had harsh words for the way it was managed, saying they found "pervasive" control failures in its accounts and work processes over the past five years.

These weaknesses cover key areas of governance, financial control, financial reporting, procurement and records management, KPMG said in a report on Wednesday.

In all, KPMG flagged six areas where AHTC's control environment had failed to set the foundation for discipline and structure for its internal workings. These include the lack of communication and enforcement of integrity and ethical values. For instance, "highly irregular" methods were used to process over $60 million worth of payments, and temporary accounts used for more than one million transactions were not cleared swiftly.

Also, several payments were made using a dummy code that meant duplicate or fictitious payments could be made without being detected. The town council's audit committee also did not meet as often as it should to address the issues raised by AHTC auditors as well as the Auditor-General.

"There is an issue larger than the sum of individual lapses at AHTC," KPMG said in its report, which the Workers' Party (WP) released on Wednesday night.

* Workers' Party MPs Court Case against Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) -October 2018 *

The lapses were a systemic problem and fixing them means town councillors have to "reset the tone at the top of AHTC" to emphasise competence and accountability.



KPMG estimated that the town council will take at least 18 months to rectify all the lapses and weaknesses that have been found.

AHTC chairman Pritam Singh said it accepts all the recommendations in full, and its MPs "will immediately lead an exercise to review" governance, controls and other key areas identified in the report.
Last night, the Housing Board noted "with grave concern" the findings, including the town council's slow progress in remedying the lapses after "a long and protracted process for AHTC to appoint an independent accountant following orders by the Court of Appeal".

"It is imperative that AHTC takes immediate steps to reset its tone from the very top," it added.

"As large sums of public monies are at stake, AHTC also needs to account to its residents and the public whether any monies have been lost as a result of these lapses," it said.

The monthly report by KPMG is its fourth on the state of AHTC, which hired it to look into its books following significant lapses in governance flagged by its own auditors and the Auditor-General in a special report in February last year.

The new report completes one part of KPMG's work, which is to identify where AHTC did not comply with the Town Council Act.