NSP manifesto

Party to focus on jobs, wage gap, population and CPF

An NSP supporter at Poi Ching School on Sep 1.
PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) wants to tackle four key issues on the hustings: jobs, overpopulation, CPF savings, and the widening income gap in Singapore.

This was revealed by the party in a five-page PowerPoint presentation it posted online yesterday, which, it says, will serve as its manifesto for the Sept 11 polls.

The document is less than half the size of the 12-page manifesto it released at the last general election in 2011. But the NSP said there was "no need for a wordy manifesto as the critical issues facing the country and Singaporeans are clear".

Topping the list for the NSP is the issue of giving Singaporeans priority in employment.

One way is to prevent employers from turning to cheap foreign labour to fill jobs held by "lower- and middle-income Singaporeans".

This could come in the form of imposing quotas on foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians, or PMETs, seeking jobs in Singapore, the manifesto said.

The NSP also called for a "more considered study" to find out the optimal population size for Singapore, saying that the country is already "overcrowded".

On the issue of Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, it wants the Government to scrap the CPF Minimum Sum scheme, and let people withdraw all their CPF monies, if they choose to do so, at the withdrawal age of 55. The Minimum Sum is the amount that must be set aside for retirement when a CPF member turns 55, with the money used to provide monthly payouts.

Lastly, the NSP suggested some changes in housing policies to narrow the inequality gap which, they say, is widening.

Among them was a plan to allow Singaporeans to buy Housing Board flats at "cost plus" - a pricing policy that would peg the price of a new flat to the cost of building it, with a slight mark-up. "This should be done before the immigration of foreigners into Singapore is allowed in significant numbers, as these immigrants would push up the cost of housing, invariably," said the NSP.

The party is fielding 12 candidates, who are contesting MacPherson SMC and Pioneer SMC, as well as Sembawang GRC, and Tampines GRC.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 03, 2015, with the headline Party to focus on jobs, wage gap, population and CPF. Subscribe