White Paper: Singapore – The opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP) has called on the Government to hold a Referendum on the White Paper on Population.
A Singapore that people can feel secure enough to call home, and feel confident to raise their children in. Where the past, present and future can complement each other, rather than being a burden to economic progress. A society that lives in harmony, rather than tense and overcrowded conditions.
In separate letters sent to President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the Party’s Secretary-General, Hazel Poa said the parliamentary debate has now been concluded with the White Paper being endorsed by 77 to 13, with one abstention.
However, she felt that to many, the vote does not reflect the views of Singaporeans because the People’s Action Party Members of Parliament clearly voted along party lines.
Ms Poa added that the White Paper will affect Singaporeans – for better or worse – for the next 20 years and beyond, and that all Singaporeans have the right to decide how their future is shaped.
She felt it was only right that they should have a say in it as well.
For this reason, the NSP called on the government to hold a national referendum on the White Paper.
In its letter to Dr Tan, the NSP said it hopes the president will act in the interest of the citizens of Singapore.
NSP asked the government to listen to the people whose lives will be irrevocably changed by the decisions that their elected leaders make on their behalf.
Not the Singapore Inc. that has been aggressively forced down our throats the past few years – a Singapore which is in danger of becoming a transient state where people from all over, come, make their fortunes, and leave.
A Singapore that has become a playground for the rich and the people who can afford it. A Singapore where the middle class is increasingly drowned out because they do not have the social clout or sufficient representatives in parliament to voice their concerns.
The paragraph above espouses rhetoric, a word that has become a filthy taboo that PAP MPs are attacking the opposition MPs for. Well, unless you’re talking about one of their own citing personal anecdotes like rich foreigners buying three properties, or trees that cannot grow properly if they are constantly uprooted. It’s okay when a PAP MP spouts rhetoric. It is ill-prepared of an opposition MP to do so. It is fluffy of them to do so.
Nicole Seah is a member of an opposition party in Singapore and was the youngest female candidate in the 2011 General Elections. She runs a community service project in the constituency of Marine Parade GRC, providing a support platform for children from lower income or dysfunctional family backgrounds. Nicole has also spoken at several conferences locally and internationally on issues pertaining to Singapore politics, social and youth issues in Asia and social media.
Read More: Why I oppose the White Paper By Nicole Seah
Sources: Channel News Asia | Yahoo Singapore Blog
