SINGAPORE — Candidates from the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the People’s Power Party (PPP) vying for the MacPherson Single Member Constituency (SMC) presented their messages to voters on Sunday (July 5).

They were speaking during their constituency political broadcasts aired on free-to-air television and radio on Sunday, the sixth day of campaigning in the run-up to the July 10 General Election (GE).

Ms Tin Pei Ling, 36, has been the PAP’s Member of Parliament (MP) for the ward since the 2015 GE when she emerged victorious in a three-way fight against candidates from the Workers’ Party (WP) and the National Solidarity Party (NSP).

In 2015, the ward had been carved out of the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, where Ms Tin was first elected as an MP in 2011.

Ms Tin, who has served the MacPherson area for the past decade as MP for those two constituencies, said that the stories of her residents struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic have strengthened her resolve to help Singaporeans.

PPP’s secretary-general Goh Meng Seng is Ms Tin’s opponent this GE — and the party’s sole GE candidate. The 50-year-old previously told TODAY that he averted a three-cornered fight with Ms Tin this year, after NSP agreed to drop plans to contest the constituency.

Mr Goh, who made his political debut in 2006 as a candidate for WP, said that he planned to quit politics if he is not elected this year. Whether he gets elected or not, he said he would work towards forming an opposition alliance.

In his speech in Mandarin and English, Mr Goh said that MacPherson was a typical mature estate where many residents are part of Singapore’s nation-building generation. He asked if they would be able to have a worry-free post-retirement period.

In these broadcasts, candidates vying for single-seat wards each have three minutes to speak. Those contesting in four- and five-member Group Representation Constituencies have 12 and 15 minutes of airtime respectively.

The broadcasts are being aired on Mediacorp’s Channel 5, CNA938, cna.asia, 8world.com, CNA YouTube, CNA Facebook and TODAY at 7pm from July 3 to 8.

PAP’S PROPOSALS

• Ms Tin said that she has heard stories of how her residents have struggled through job losses owing to the pandemic.

• She said that because of her residents’ stories, she had been able to bring their voices to Parliament to fight for them there.

• She said she looked forward to a Singapore where seniors “look forward to each new dawn, where our families feel safe and secure, and where our children look forward to the future with great eagerness and enthusiasm”.

• She said she hoped to build on programmes for seniors, families and Singapore’s youth, fight for more projects to improve the vibrancy, safety and accessibility of homes, and advocate sustainability to pursue clean energy and help low-income families tap clean energy.

“I have steadfastly served you over the past 10 years in Parliament and in MacPherson. You are the reason that drives me to always want to be the better me and to always do better for MacPherson... Please vote for me,” she said.

PPP’S PROPOSALS

• Mr Goh asked if Singapore could provide those who were part of the generation that contributed to the country’s early development — many of whom live in MacPherson — with a sound and holistic retirement mechanism.

• He said that Central Provident Fund (CPF) returns, which have stagnated at 2.5 per cent since the 1990s, are too low, leaving people with inadequate funds to tide them over their retirement. This has been exacerbated by the Government allowing Singaporeans to use too much of their CPF savings to buy public housing flats.

• In the beginning, Mr Goh said, the Government had agreed to allow people to withdraw all their CPF savings at age 55, but they have not delivered on their promise. Before 1987, members could withdraw all their CPF savings in a lump sum from age 55. The payout eligibility age is now 65, in line with the rise in the retirement age.

• Mr Goh also said that medical expenses have been rising out of control, with the charges at some government hospitals higher than those at private ones.

• He urged CPF and healthcare policy reforms to solve these problems.

• Jobs are the top priority, he said, adding that Singapore’s liberal foreign talent policy has made companies unwilling to hire and groom Singapore workers, and this would eventually create a vicious circle of structural underemployment among Singaporeans and white-collar workers.

• He added that problems such as the Housing and Development Board lease decay have not been addressed fully.

“All these policy flaws exist because we do not have a strong Parliament with more opposition members to provide the necessary robust policy debates with PAP,” he said.

“My fellow Singaporeans in MacPherson, please vote me into Parliament as part of an effort to build a strong Parliament for our nation.”