SINGAPORE — Calling off the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) and allowing retrenched workers to withdraw up to S$3,000 a month from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) are among some of the election campaign proposals put forth by the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in its manifesto.

The party published its manifesto on its Facebook page on Tuesday (June 30) several hours after its candidates for the upcoming General Election were confirmed on Nomination Day. 

NSP, which will be fielding candidates in Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Tampines GRC, had initially planned to release its manifesto along with a video of candidates introducing themselves on Facebook on Tuesday evening. 

However, as of 9pm, the video was not made public yet.

MORE USES OF CPF SAVINGS

Among the proposals put forth in its manifesto, the party calls for citizens to be allowed to withdraw from the Ordinary Accounts in their CPF for a temporary period when they are retrenched or in times of hardship. 

For example, a household may withdraw a maximum of S$3,000 a month from the account for up to six months, subject to a cap of 20 per cent of the sum in the Ordinary Account. The account holder should also fully repay these withdrawals once he or she is employed.

The party stated that it disagrees with the Government’s plan to raise GST from its current 7 per cent to 9 per cent sometime between 2022 and 2025.

It called on the Government to look for alternative sources of funds instead of collecting revenue from the GST. 

Besides that, more tax credits should be given to citizens who are caring for aged parents and school-going children, it added. These credits can be in the form of tax rebates for the annual income taxes, but the party did not specify how much tax credit should be given.

Presently, the Government’s Parent Relief Scheme allows taxpayers to claim tax relief if they are supporting dependents who are their parents, grandparents, parents-in-law or grandparents-in-law. 

Taxpayers who live with their dependents can claim S$9,000 for each dependent. They can claim S$5,500 if they do not live together. The claim amount is higher if dependents are handicapped. 

For parents with children, they may claim S$5,000 for their first child, S$10,000 for their second child, and S$20,000 for their third and each subsequent child under the Parenthood Tax Rebate Scheme.

Under its proposals for healthcare, NSP said that the Government should provide affordable medical insurance to cover hospitalisation and outpatient treatments for its citizens, as well as treatment for the coronavirus. This will also include coverage for all pre-existing medical conditions of children. 

The insurance should be applicable to treatment sought at private or government and restructured hospitals, polyclinics and affiliated private clinics. All citizens should be made to take up this insurance, with the Government contributing at least half of the premiums payable, it said.

Under its transport policy proposals, NSP called for public transport operations to be “monitored closely to prevent unreasonable fare hikes”. 

TWO NEW CANDIDATES

Come July 10, constituents from Sembawang and Tampines GRCs will have to vote between NSP and the People’s Action Party.

Mr Sathin Ravindran, 27, Mr Mohamad Ridzwan, 58, and Mr Vincent Ng, 48 are three of NSP’s new candidates.

Standing in Sembawang GRC are:

• Mr Spencer Ng Chung Hon, 40, the party’s secretary-general and a business consultant. Mr Ng had led the team in Sembawang GRC in the last election in 2015

• Mr Yadzeth Hairis, 57, a business development director who was also a candidate for Sembawang GRC in the last election

• Mr Ivan Yeo Tiong Boon, 72, a business consultant. He contested in Marine Parade GRC in the 2011 election

• Mr Sebastian Teo, 73, managing director of a management company, contested in Tampines GRC in the last election

• Mr Sathin Ravindran, 27, owner of car grooming shop Knight Dealers

At Tampines GRC, the candidates are:

• Mr Reno Fong, 51, the party’s president and a fire protection specialist. He contested in Tampines GRC in the previous election

• Mr Eugene Yeo Ren Yuan, 44, a business owner. He had contested in Sembawang GRC in the last election

• Mr Choong Hon Heng, 49, a small-business owner who contested in Tampines GRC in the last election

• Mr Mohamad Ridzwan, 58, vice-president of NSP and a senior manager in the construction industry 

• Mr Vincent Ng, 48, a freelance broker and recruiter

In GE2015, NSP team lost to PAP with a vote share of 27.72 per cent in Sembawang GRC. At Tampines GRC, it lost to PAP with a vote share of 27.93 per cent.