Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu has asked Singaporeans to think about who will end up having to pay for the GST promises that the opposition have been making during the General Election. She said at a PAP rally on Monday (28 April): "After these nine days, after all the promises that have been made, who in the opposition is here to sign the cheques?"
Read more in our live blog below.
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Marcus Chhan
PM Wong gets tough on WP over Marine Parade-Braddell Heights, DPM Gan
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong took aim at the Workers' Party (WP) in a session with the media on Tuesday afternoon (29 April).
PM Wong highlighted to voters WP's decision not to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC – resulting in a walkover for the People's Action Party (PAP).
"So let’s be clear that WP didn’t step up. They stepped away from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights. But here in Punggol, we have a good team. We are ready to serve residents and do our best for them," said PM Wong.
Punggol GRC will be the battleground for another PAP-WP contest this General Election. The PAP team are led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong while WP's team are helmed by lawyer Harpreet Singh Nehal, who is the Managing Partner of Audent Chambers.
Wong called Gan, who replaces Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, a "heavyweight" candidate, and said it was “disappointing” to see "negative attacks" directed by the WP towards Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister.
"We may have our differences, but there is no need to go into negative attacks on individuals, especially [towards] someone like Gan Kim Yong, who has done so much for Singapore and he continues to do so," Wong said. "I made him my number two and my deputy because I’ve seen him in action. I know what he’s capable of."
WP chief Pritam Singh had previously said it was “very strange” that Gan was not elected into the PAP’s latest CEC in 2024. "Could it be that he was ready to retire and did not plan to run in these elections? If so, can he be so critical to the PM's plans? You mean the PM has no one else in his Cabinet that can negotiate with the United States on tariffs?"
DPM Gan currently leads a national task force set up to help businesses and workers navigate economic uncertainties by US tariffs on Singapore.
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Marcus Chhan
SDP chief Chee Soon Juan rips into PAP's past and present
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Dr Chee Soon Juan said he has "no interest in conducting PAP bashing" but feels compelled to list out their "scandals and screw-ups" in light of claims "they don’t need an opposition to hold them accountable."
Chee, who is contesting Sembawang West SMC against PAP candidate Poh Li San, spent a chunk of his speech during SDP's lunchtime rally at UOB Plaza on Tuesday (29 April) highlighting PAP's past controversies.
"My message is not that the PAP, this government, is 100% bad, or that it is 100% good. What I want to get across to you, is that the PAP is most certainly not the exceptional party that it says that it is," he said.
He called for the current PAP government to "acknowledge" that Singapore "needs meaningful opposition in Parliament" to be govern better.
SDP's Chee also rejected the theory that Singapore's ministers needed "astronomical salaries" to keep the government corruption free. "We must educate our ministers that corruption is bad and that if they are caught, there are consequences, period. We don't pay them exorbitant salaries to not be corrupt. We elect our leaders based on their moral rectitude. Anything less, and we are better off without them," he said.
Marcus Chhan
Grace Fu says Singaporeans will end up paying for opposition’s GST promises
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu says “it is easy for the opposition to criticise” the government’s GST increases but it is Singaporeans who will pay out of their own pocket for these promises.
Red Dot United chief Ravi Philemon had earlier called for the GST to be cut back from 9% to 7% during a televised roundtable discussion. "So good, such a lovely idea," Fu said. "But it is hard to pay for. After these nine days, after all the promises that have been made, who in the opposition is here to sign the cheques?"
Fu added: "Who will pay for their promises? Is it the Government? The Government is only the custodian for Singapore. Ultimately, it is Singaporeans who will pay, either Singaporeans today, like you and me here, or Singaporeans of the future, your children."
Fu, who is part of the PAP team standing against RDU for the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC in the General Election, made the comments on Monday (28 April) at a rally at Jurong East Stadium.
She said the GST allows Singapore to tax tourists as well as people who pay no income tax but ‘spend on items like cars and watches.’
The GST was increased from 7% to 9% over two years, in 2023 and 2024.
Marcus Chhan
More balanced parliament will not result in a more divided Singapore: Pritam Singh
Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh has said a more balanced Parliament will not result in a more divided Singapore.
The Leader of the Opposition was speaking at a media doorstop in Hougang today (29 April) where he delivered a clear rebuttal of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's point yesterday that a weakened mandate for the People's Action Party (PAP) would make it "harder to advance Singapore's interests" and "ensure this little red dot continues to shine brightly, even in a troubled world."
Singh, in response to PM Wong, said: "I think that reflects a very unsatisfactory appreciation or assessment of Singaporeans."
"I believe, when you have a diversity of views in Parliament, as long as we are rowing in the same direction, this red dot will continue to be a bright, shining red dot," he said.
Singh added that he has spoken to many people – including PAP supporters – and everyone is "quite conscious" of the idea that Singaporeans need to work together, especially in testing times. "A more balanced parliament will not result in a more divided Singapore."
"I humbly suggest we'll have people who feel that this country is worth fighting for. It is worth fighting for! We're going to make our contribution and we'll all come together as one united people," Singh said.
You can watch the full media doorstop in the video above (Singh starts talking at around the 20 min mark).
Marcus Chhan
S'poreans don't dream of 'unattainable' 5Cs any more, says SDP's Ariffin Sha
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Ariffin Sha said the Singaporeans no longer dream of the 5Cs (cash, car, credit card, condominium and country club membership) because they are unattainable.
"When we were young, we were told: ‘Don’t worry, study hard, work hard, keep your head down. You will be OK.’ But let me tell you, as someone coming from the younger generation, this maxim does not apply to us any more," Ariffin said today (29 April) at SDP's lunchtime rally in the CBD.
The 27-year-old believes it is not true Singaporeans are no longer after the 5Cs as some from "the powers that be" have said. He explained the reason as: "Singaporeans do not dream of the 5Cs any more simply because the 5Cs are unattainable."
Ariffin is part of the SDP team contesting for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC against a PAP team led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Marcus Chhan
Shanmugam on THAT most awkward tear wipe
It appears Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam is aware that many people found his efforts to wipe away the tears of former MP Louis Ng amusing. "You see I am not the most natural in wiping away tears but I felt I had to wipe away his tears," Shanmugam explained in a light-hearted video published on his social accounts this morning (29 April).
"So I took the tissue from his hand and tried dabbing it. And some people said that's the most awkward wiping away of tears that I've seen," he said.
Shanmugam was responding to the question: 'Funniest comment that you've seen about yourself online.'
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5 election rallies tonight on 29 April
There will be five night rallies to look forward to this evening (7pm-10pm). As with previous election rallies, the Singapore Police Force have issued an advisory for attendees and motorists to take note of.
The venues for the rallies are:
Beacon Primary School (Singapore Democratic Party)
Yio Chu Kang Stadium (People's Power Party)
Bedok Stadium (Workers' Party)
School of Science and Technology, Singapore (Red Dot United)
Yishun Stadium (People's Action Party)
Marcus Chhan
Heading down to UOB Plaza? Take note of this police advisory.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) have published a traffic and security advisory for today's (29 April) election rally at the promenade area beside UOB Plaza.
The SPF have "strongly encouraged" members of the public to take public transport and to also check the Crowd@UOBPlaza link for information on real-time crowd levels, area closures and available transport nodes.
Marcus Chhan
'Ridiculous argument': SM Lee insists losing ministers will weaken Govt
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes it is a "ridiculous argument" for WP chief Pritam Singh to say that the PAP can lose ministers without weakening the Government. He explained that every team has a range of members, some more critical and others playing complementary roles.
"If it doesn’t matter who is in the team, then there should be no difficulty making a good government with anybody [and] you don’t need to assemble a strong group of people," Lee said.
SM Lee responded to the Leader of the Opposition's comments today (29 April) during a walkabout at 630 Bedok Reservoir Road Market and Food Centre which is located in Aljunied GRC where Singh is hoping to maintain WP's grip from GE2020.
Marcus Chhan
Jamus Lim not a fan of 'Singapore Votes 2025: The Roundtable' format
Jamus Lim, the Workers' Party (WP) incumbent MP for Sengkang GRC, has posted on Facebook his thoughts on the format of the 'Singapore Votes 2025: The Roundtable' which was hosted and aired by Mediacorp on Sunday night (27 April).
Lim did not participate in the roundtable but felt the WP's representative Michael Thng "did an excellent job" given the "constraints" of the format. "Compared to how things were 5 years ago – where the moderator actually allowed participants to talk to each other – this constrained version basically offered up an opportunity to deliver pre-prepared statements, with one quick response to a question," Lim said.
He added: "As an academic, I find this a loss; after all, the whole point of a political debate is to offer some insight into how candidates will perform in parliament. So if we neuter the back-and-forth dynamic, we are left with less a debate, and more a Q&A."
An hour-long Mandarin roundtable programme will air tonight (29 April) live via mewatch, melisten and Channel 8.
Marcus Chhan
Vote without fear, says SDP's Ariffin Sha
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Ariffin Sha has told Singaporeans to "vote without fear" following remarks by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on how the loss of ministers would weaken the government in the current testing economic climate.
Ariffin was speaking at a rally for SDP at Woodlands Stadium on Monday (28 April), and urged voters to "reject the politics of fear" in the General Election.
He explained that George Yeo had lost in Aljunied GRC in 2011 when he was foreign minister. "We moved on. Singapore moved on. And to be fair to him, he also respected the decision of the voters. Didn't see him parachuted in anywhere, and he didn't go to NTUC," Ariffin said.
Ariffin added that the "backbone of Singapore is our rank-and-file civil servants" and not ministers. "We are bigger than our ministers, so please do not hold Singaporeans hostage. Don’t give in to the politics of fear, but vote without fear."
Ariffin is part of the four-member SDP team contesting against the PM Wong-led PAP team for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.
Marcus Chhan
Sylvia Lim hails current WP batch as most promising
Workers' Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim has hailed the current crop of WP candidates as their "most promising batch" and urged voters to grasp this opportunity for the General Election as "electoral boundaries may change" in future.
"If these candidates do not get elected this time, there may be no next time," she said at a WP rally at Yusof Ishak Secondary School on Monday (28 April). "So there is no time to waste on this. Let us not dither about whether to cast your vote for WP this time or not. If you do not do it this time, you may not have a chance the next time," she said.
WP is fielding 26 candidates in the General Election for 2025. They will be contesting in GRCs such as Aljunied, East Coast, Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines as well as SMCs for Hougang, Jalan Kayu and Tampines Changkat.
In her speech, Lim also highlighted the challenges women MPs from opposition parties face as they are expected to 'confront ministers robustly, but not too aggressively'. "Looking at the slate of female candidates this GE, all I can say is, ‘mama bear here is proud’," Lim said.
WP is fielding six women for GE2025.
