How the newbies fared in this year’s Budget debate

by Wan Ting Koh

THE Budget debate drew to a close on Thursday (April 14), with 19 newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) making their debut Budget speeches. We decided to see how these first-term MPs fared in Parliament and whether the topics they chose to speak about matched what they said they’ll champion when they began their political journey in last year’s General Election.

We took out the office holders, which means we’re left with the 15 backbenchers. The nine days, which included scrutiny of the policies of various ministries is one of the best platforms for MPs to display their expertise in their subject matters and pet concerns.

As a whole, MPs had more questions, filing 499 amendments – or what Parliament calls “cuts”; Leader of the House, Ms Grace Fu, said this was some seven per cent more than last year’s. The ministers who were on their feet for longer were those in charge of health, which had the highest number of “cuts”, indicating MPs who wanted to speak. Ms Fu added that her own Culture, Community and Youth Ministry had the second most number of cuts, reflecting the MPs’ interest in the ‘softer’ side of nation building.

Speaker Madam Halimah described the issues as well-argued and some even “touching”, but lamented that not many Singaporeans were following the debate, which she said was a “rich source of information and provides good insights into our policies”.

The newbie MP with the highest number of cuts was Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng, with 20 to his name. He had a diverse range of concerns about how the G could help different groups of people, including single parents, young parents, the elderly, low-income families, drug offenders in their rehabilitation process, and foreign workers.

Other macro issues he covered involved the transboundary haze, improving flood management, moving towards becoming a car-lite city, beefing up our Home Team, improving electronic waste recycling, the OneService App, expanding the ABC Waters Programme, extending the smoking prohibition, and problems faced by micro SMEs.

True to his calling as the founder of wildlife rescue group, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), Mr Ng also spoke about improving animal welfare and fighting wildlife trafficking.

Some MPs, like Ms Cheryl Chan, Ms Cheng Li Hui, and Ms Joan Pereira, kept their campaign promises to raise issues that affected the elderly.

Here is a table we drew up to show the issues the newbies focused on and how they matched up to their campaign pledges:

Member of Parliament	Constituency	Issue covered in budget debate	Campaign pledge
Cheryl Chan	Fengshan SMC	Strengthening social safety nets for groups of individuals, including seniors, low income workers, people with disabilities and younger families.	Issues regarding the elderly - helping them integrate better with the community and promote active ageing - less privileged children, and less fortunate families.
Desmond Choo	Tampines GRC	Preparing younger Singaporeans for their future jobs in the midst of an uncertain job market.	Supporting young families, including helping them balance work demands with family commitments and making sure they have access to childcare facilities.
Chong Kee Hiong	Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC	Riding the technological wave, G support for local enterprises, developing an enterprising mindset and remaining relevant, and the deferment of levy increases for Work Permit holders in hotels and the food and beverages industries.	Helping different groups of people - be it elderly parents or young families, with their different challenges and aspirations - and providing equal opportunities for all.
Cheng Li Hui	Tampines GRC	Stronger social support and benefits for the elderly, by using primary care resources, and better use of technology, and SkillsFuture for the elderly.	Active ageing and providing opportunities for seniors to continue contributing to the society or pursue new interests.
Darryl David	Ang Mo Kio GRC	Building a caring and resilient Singaporean society and a more rugged generation of young Singaporeans. Providing more support for emotional wellness of sandwiched class.	He focused on different schemes and ways to help single women, in addition to "Skills-based education", such as at polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education. Als, he was concerned about Singapore's ageing population.
Joan Pereira	Tanjong Pagar GRC	Called for active volunteering among seniors, to allow them to remain engaged in the community. Also asked for active involvement by the younger generation and lifting the cap for divorced or widowed women who face challenges in raising their families.	Getting seniors actively involved in the community.
Henry Kwek	Nee Soon GRC	Focused on the benefits of the Industry Transformation Programme towards SMEs and ways to improve it. Also spoke about the need to help Singaporeans through restructuring and how community programmes are important to connect Singaporeans through shared experiences.	Ensuring fair opportunities for all, including those who are less privileged and supporting the youth in their ambitions. Wanted to ensure affordable prices for motorcycles too.
Louis Ng	Nee Soon GRC	Engaging Singaporeans in nation building by having earlier public consultations prior to the budget statement.	Animal welfare is a cause he said he will always champion. He also wanted to encourage voluntarism and promote the positive aspects of parenthood, or more specifically, focus on the Total Fertility Rate (TFR). He wanted to reach out to young Singaporeans and share with them his own experience as a parent.
Melvin Yong	Tanjong Pagar GRC	Helping workers cope with structural changes by retraining them.	Engaging youth in the community.
Rahayu Mahzam	Jurong GRC	Partnership of the G and people - she spoke about involving people in the measures implemented by the G. Wanted support for people and businesses in the face of transformation. On enhancing social mobility, he focused on helping young people from low income families build social capital.	Providing holistic support for families and giving youths the opportunities to achieve their dreams and aspirations.
Sun Xueling	Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC	Emphasised demand-pull policies. She felt that there must be policies - that help create new markets and expand existing ones - and more sustainable ways to grow the Singapore economy.	Wanted to ensure that families have adequate childcare and eldercare, and help young mothers sustain fulfilling careers.
Saktiandi Supaat	Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC	Suggested to relook moving to a current year (CY) pay-as-you-earn basis of income tax assessment as an automatic economic stabilizer.	More support for single parents, especially unwed mothers.
Tan Wu Meng	Jurong GRC	Covered the importance of economic restructuring, pitfalls and opportunities, and how Singapore must continue keeping our social system progressive.	Wanted to focus on further integrating hospital and medical care in the community, for residents to get better access to healthcare near their homes. Wanted Medifund patients to get their means-testing and help faster.
Yee Chia Hsing	Chua Chu Kang GRC	Talked about the four engines of growth in the economy.	Wanted to introduce a culture of voluntarism.

 

Featured image from TMG file. 

If you like this article, Like The Middle Ground‘s Facebook Page as well!

For breaking news, you can talk to us via email.

The post How the newbies fared in this year’s Budget debate appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- Wan Ting Koh