GE2025: PAR takes aim at cost of living, GST hikes and immigration policy in e-rally 

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SINGAPORE - The People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR) was the only one “courageous enough to tell the Government in the face” that its immigration policies are reckless, the secretary-general of the opposition coalition Lim Tean said on May 1.

Taking aim at Singapore’s immigration policies and foreign workforce, Mr Lim said ruling party PAP has opened “the sluice gates of immigration to allow foreigners to flood our nation”, leading to a feeling of helplessness among Singaporeans “as they are displaced or replaced by foreigners in their jobs”.

Speaking at the PAR’s first e-rally of the 2025 General Election, he also called on Singaporeans to vote for the opposition and not to give the PAP a two-thirds mandate in Parliament.

“What are the most pressing issues? The cost of living, unaffordable public housing, your job insecurity, and this invasion by foreigners and immigrants, they refuse to talk about that,” said Mr Lim, referring to the PAP.

Of the several issues he touched on during the two-hour rally, which was live-streamed on social media, Mr Lim also spoke on the cost of living and the goods and services tax hike.

He had raised these issues repeatedly during various public appearances, including party walkabouts and its single physical rally in the past week. The other eight candidates who spoke at the e-rally also reiterated these points. 

Its e-rally was held on the final day of campaigning before the polls on May 3.

These calls were also reflected in the PAR manifesto, released online on May 1. A key focus of its manifesto, titled “Contract with Singapore”, is to give Singaporeans priority for jobs.

It called for a freeze on new S Passes, a Singapore visa allowing skilled foreign workers to work here in positions such as associate professionals and technicians. The qualifying salary for new S Pass applications is currently $3,150 and will rise to $3,300 from Sept 1.

The other key point in the manifesto is to make public housing more affordable by not allowing permanent residents to buy resale HDB flats, which the party linked to the rising cost of such units.

The manifesto also included proposals to provide free school meals, healthcare and education up to university for every Singaporean child.

The PAR team said funding for these programmes could come from the “existing income of the Government”, highlighting what it said were potential sources such as the difference between the Central Provident Fund’s annualised returns paid to members and the returns retained by the Government, as well as the Government’s special transfers, including top-ups to endowment and trust funds.

PAR is a coalition of three parties – Peoples Voice, the Reform Party and the Democratic Progressive Party.

Formed in November 2024 comprising four parties aiming to strengthen opposition unity, it became a grouping of three when the People’s Power Party withdrew in February 2025 over irreconcilable strategic differences.

In a post on his Facebook wall on May 1, Mr Lim wrote: “We wanted to have a final rally in Potong Pasir tonight, but many residents told us that in view of the uncertain weather and the one and only rally site in Potong Pasir being difficult to access, they would rather us do an e-rally instead. So we have acceded to the requests of the residents.”

PAR is fielding 13 candidates across six constituencies – the Jalan Besar and Tanjong Pagar GRCs, and the Potong Pasir, Radin Mas, Yio Chu Kang and Queenstown SMCs.