GE2025: If ‘co-driver’ opposition wants a hand in steering, Singapore may crash, says Ong Ye Kung

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SINGAPORE – Health Minister Ong Ye Kung believes that a strong PAP government with a constructive opposition as a check and balance makes for an effective system of governance.

But this is not the same as wanting a strong opposition, he said at a rally on April 30.

He was responding to an earlier statement by WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap, who is leading the party’s slate in Tampines GRC. Mr Faisal had thanked Mr Ong for supposedly agreeing that Singapore needs a “strong opposition”.

“I am afraid that he is badly mistaken,” said Mr Ong.

Instead, the Health Minister expressed his fear that Parliament could become mired in paralysis.

Using a co-driver analogy cited during the 2011 General Election, Mr Ong said that when the opposition presence grows, it will become more than a co-driver to the ruling party, which is in the driver’s seat.

If the PAP loses another three or four GRCs after the 2025 General Election, it is likely that the co-driver “will have one hand on the steering wheel and say, ‘I also want to drive’,” he said.

“It can become dangerous. We may be at risk of crashing. And if we crash, the co-driver will say, ‘It is not my fault, I am not the main driver’. I fear that this is where we are heading to.”

The desired outcome of any general election is not to have a certain number of opposition MPs, but to produce an effective system of government, he said.

He said: “Singapore is very small and that is a significant disadvantage. But we make it up by being fast and decisive. If we are small and yet slow and uncoordinated, we have the worst of both worlds.

“Then Singapore will be in trouble. So, never go there.”

Mr Ong is the anchor minister for the PAP team contesting Sembawang GRC, which also comprises Ms Mariam Jafaar, Mr Vikram Nair, Mr Ng Shi Xuan and Mr Gabriel Lam.

The team was at a rally held at Evergreen Primary to support Sembawang West SMC’s PAP candidate, Ms Poh Li San.

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is

contesting in both Sembawang GRC and Sembawang West SMC

.

At the rally, Mr Ong also criticised the SDP’s healthcare proposals.

Noting that SDP’s Professor Paul Tambyah, an infectious diseases expert, expressed his desire to be the health minister in a recent podcast, Mr Ong said it was important to understand what Prof Tambyah’s healthcare proposals entail.

Repeating an explanation he made earlier in an interview, Mr Ong said that today, a hospital bill is paid in three parts – namely a government subsidy, a health insurance claim through MediShield Life and then MediSave.

“It is like a stool with three legs, and it is stable.”

But he said that the SDP has proposed a single-payer system, which means “you chop off two legs”, he said.

“From what Prof Paul Tambyah has said over the past couple of days, the one leg they want to keep is national health insurance. And Prof Tambyah said this insurance will be bigger than MediShield Life,” said Mr Ong, adding that it will cover both private and public healthcare.

If the Government were to take SDP’s suggestion, insurance premiums would be “super high”, he said.

He added that there is also a risk that premiums will continue to rise sharply, given the buffet syndrome. “(Since) you paid the restaurant one time, might as well eat as much as you can.”

Another key healthcare proposal from the SDP, he noted, was to merge Singapore’s three current healthcare clusters – National Healthcare Group, Singapore Health Services and National University Health System – into one to save costs.

But this would be very unsettling to the staff involved and if the SDP is thinking of merging to cut costs, this would mean a lot of retrenchments, Mr Ong said.

The SDP also proposed nationalising mental health treatment, but Mr Ong said the help that people with mental health conditions need, such as more sleep, exercise or social engagement, could come from the community, through groups like social organisations or schools.

“You don’t really nationalise these community groups,” he said.

The minister told the crowd that an important part of his job during an election is to scrutinise statements and proposals from the opposition to let voters know why they do not work or may even do more harm than good.

“Actually, I suspect that the opposition knows that our current policies are sound, well thought through and tested.”

He urged voters to hold opposition candidates to certain standards, and said: “If the PAP has no blank cheque this GE, shouldn’t the opposition have no free pass?”

He added that opposition candidates must have good character, honesty and integrity, demonstrate an ability to run a town council as well as be able to come up with alternative policies that are sound and coherent.