[BLASPHEMY!?] Chee: PAP copied SDP's policy

[LightningStrikes]

MEETING THE PEOPLE: Dr Chee (right), seen here with teammates Dr Tambyah (second from right) and Chong Wai Fung (second from left), yesterday cited the Government's progressive wage model as an instance of the ruling party copying SDP, but in piecemeal.

VIVIAN Balakrishnan should look at his own party's track record when he talks about policies of tax and spend, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan said yesterday.

On Tuesday, Dr Balakrishnan, the People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, called SDP's policy prescriptions those that would put "Singapore on the road to Greece". Dr Chee is leading an SDP team to contest in the GRC.

Dr Balakrishnan also said that SDP had "copied" these policies from other parts of the world, where they had "already failed".

In a Facebook post yesterday evening, he said that "Dr Chee's ideas will lead Singapore on the path of much higher taxes, higher national debts for our children and put our national security at risk".

Speaking to reporters at a press conference at the SDP Ang Mo Kio headquarters yesterday morning, Dr Chee said: "The criticism from Dr Balakrishnan is reminiscent of the one he made in the 2011 General Election about our proposal to raise taxes for top earners, those in the top 1 per cent.

"In 2015, however, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that the Government would raise taxes for the top 5 per cent of earners. It seems that Mr Tharman did exactly what Dr Balakrishnan attacked the SDP for."

He cited the Government's progressive wage model - launched in 2012 - as another instance of the ruling party copying SDP, but in piecemeal.

"(They) call it by another name, but it's still the minimum wage for selected industries," said Dr Chee, adding that SDP's proposed minimum wage will be a universal one, whereas the Government's existing model targets cleaners and security guards.

Medical professor Paul Tambyah, Dr Chee's teammate, said at the press conference that "we're glad that (Dr Balakrishnan) has chosen to engage us on policy issues rather than gutter politics".

Dr Balakrishnan's teammate Sim Ann reminded the media on Tuesday that Dr Chee had "kicked" Chiam See Tong, his former mentor, out of SDP.

Dr Chee did not bring up the incident in his statement, but when asked by the media for his response, he said: "Mr Chiam's situation with me, we've resolved it. We invited him to our 35th anniversary dinner recently.

"Ms Sim Ann continues to want to dredge all these things up... to continue to distract voters from thinking about where (the PAP's) weaknesses are, and that is on policy.

"But Singaporeans just want the Government to address some of the points that affect their everyday lives, and they want some discussion, they want some debate on that, so that they can vote intelligently."

 

[Dalforce Singapore]

Not surprised, not only has pap stolen ideas from SDP, they have also done so with WP. the style simple.

- SDP and WP come out with manifesto
- pap and 156th sh it times will come out with all sorts of things to say that it will bankrupt the country
- one year down the road, pap will extract the same policies, modify it and then call it their own

clowns.

 

[flybynight]

It's not copied idea. I see parties improving or adding their two cents worth to the current policies. Don't think they're fundamentally against the current policies but are finding ways to improve on them

 

[gravity_infinity]

It's not copied idea. I see parties improving or adding their two cents worth to the current policies. Don't think they're fundamentally against the current policies but are finding ways to improve on them

as long as gd for the country. this shows oppositions can be insightful n be helpful to incumbent to work forward for sg. so having a multi party sysyem is not bad

 

[bukitview]

this Blasphemy is well knnown for yrs, Pap adopts policies that opposition have been drumming up during elections. First they critisize, 2 yrs later they use. And they got no guts to admit it

 

[lolita_5]

need to stuff a cock into sim ann mouth to stop her from talking rubbish

 

[Liviasasjunius]

This is called improvement made based on feedbacks.

 

[flybynight]

as long as gd for the country. this shows oppositions can be insightful n be helpful to incumbent to work forward for sg. so having a multi party sysyem is not bad

That is the key. Oppositions are like anyone of us who may have good ideas. Only difference is that they've a better platform than us to make the comments. But the reality is that every political party, PAP, has its own agenda and that is where the problem comes in. Parties will forget that they're there to help the country and end up pushing their own agenda

 

[chewenhua]

reminds me of a certain BreadTalk

 

[bukitview]

This is called improvement made based on feedbacks.

u mean flip prata？the prob is they called it dangerous and bad policy in the first place, they didnt say it needs improvement. And if opposition had the chance to propose these policies, by the time they present in the parliament, opposition can improve it themselves given the chance