WP urges Government to engage widely, explore all solutions following National Day Rally 2025
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Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivering his rally speech at ITE College Central on Aug 17.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Follow topic:
- WP urges government engagement on economic issues, supports job-matching efforts, and highlights the need to address business and employee concerns like rising rental costs.
- WP supports traineeships but stresses the need for fair practices, transparent performance metrics, and workplace protections to avoid the scheme leading to subsidised labour.
- WP advocates for increased allied educators to reduce class sizes and develop soft skills. PSP raises concerns about structural issues and "unanswered questions".
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SINGAPORE – The Workers’ Party (WP) has urged the Government to engage widely and explore all policy suggestions in good faith, including previously untapped ones.
In its response to the 2025 National Day Rally, the opposition party said Singapore should “leave no stone unturned” in collective efforts to build a truly resilient nation for the future.
The WP issued its statement following Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s rally speech
PM Wong also spoke extensively about the challenges Singapore faces, including an unstable global economy and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) impacting jobs and businesses.
The WP addressed some of the new initiatives, and added its suggestions and concerns.
On government efforts to address economic concerns, WP said it agrees that Singapore’s economy needs to “keep up with the times”.
Responding to a new scheme announced by PM Wong during the rally where community development councils will match workers with jobs near their homes, the WP said: “We agree with the approach of improving job-matching efforts for Singaporeans, and ask that the relevant organisations accelerate the setting up of this programme with the economic uncertainty ahead.”
It added that in the party’s experience, many residents referred to NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute receive career counselling, but “not the direct job-matching support they truly need”.
“The new approach reflects what many job seekers are looking for: not just advice, but real opportunities and connections to employers who are hiring,” it added.
It urged the Government to also tackle “present concerns surrounding businesses and employees”, including rising rental costs, skills-related underemployment and “slow rate of real income growth of 0.7 per cent per annum over the past five years”.
The WP reiterated some proposals from its 2025 General Election manifesto. These included having JTC Corporation, which oversees industrial infrastructure, expand its market share to offer low-rent options for small and medium-sized enterprises, and for a statutory minimum wage to be established.
The party also responded to PM Wong’s announcement of a new government-funded traineeship scheme for graduates
The WP said it recognises the importance of helping young graduates and mid-career workers find their footing, but urged the Government to ensure the programme is designed with safeguards so that it is effective and fair.
The party said: “State-sponsored internships and apprenticeships must not be used by companies only as a source of cheaper, subsidised labour.
“There should be clear performance metrics and a transparent commitment from participating companies to consider trainees for full-time employment once the training period ends.”
It is also essential that all trainees receive basic workplace protections, including paid sick leave and safe working conditions, it added.
The party will advocate fair, transparent and sustainable employment pathways, especially for younger Singaporeans and those navigating mid-career transitions, it added.
On the impact of AI on schools and the economy, the WP said it agrees with the importance of preparing students for life, not just exams – which PM Wong said the Government is doing more of.
The WP called for an increase in the number of allied educators, which can lead to a “meaningful reduction in class sizes” so students receive the attention they need to develop essential soft skills such as empathy and adaptability.
The opposition party also called on the Government to improve social safety nets in the light of the ongoing disruptions caused by AI adoption, and reiterated its call for Singapore to introduce redundancy insurance.
The WP said it looks forward to championing these ideas and others in the 15th Parliament. It will have 12 MPs in the House when Parliament reopens on Sept 5, its largest-ever contingent.
Progress Singapore Party (PSP) chief Leong Mun Wai also released a statement following the rally in which he welcomed immediate support for new graduates but raised concerns that these proposals “risk being mere Band-Aid solutions that do not address our country’s deeper structural issues”.
PSP also said the new government-funded traineeships raise the question of whether tertiary education is adequately preparing young people for the workforce “if graduates are increasingly expected to settle for traineeships instead of full-time jobs”.
Singapore must confront some fundamental questions in the years ahead, and the PSP believes these are not questions the Government can answer alone, said Mr Leong.
“Ultimately, the National Day Rally provided some ideas, but many critical questions on key issues such as housing affordability and cost of living were left unanswered,” he said. “The PSP will continue to push for more fundamental reform in these areas and provide alternative policy proposals.”
Watch PM Wong’s National Day Rally speech here:
