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TPP involves many trade-offs, and these should be made clear

I refer to recent reports of demonstrations against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Malaysia and during the signing ceremony in New Zealand (“TPP pact signed, but a tough road lies ahead”; Feb 5).

I refer to recent reports of demonstrations against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Malaysia and during the signing ceremony in New Zealand (“TPP pact signed, but a tough road lies ahead”; Feb 5).

Officials have been touting the benefits of the TPP without sharing much about the potential negative impact, which does not allow us to form a balanced view. Surely there must be trade-offs, and not addressing them raises suspicions that drive some to pick on specifics to protest over. Reports of support for the TPP by business and trade organisations only serve to reinforce the suspicion that the deal strongly favours businesses over ordinary people and possibly national interests.

One issue raised by those who object to the deal is the extension of intellectual property rights from 50 years to 70. Another is the rights of TPP nationals to buy property in a TPP country, and the ability of governments to introduce discriminatory taxes on such purchases.

The TPP document is available on official websites, but no ordinary citizen, and perhaps heads of organisations, can extract what the pluses and minuses are by simply reading it, as it is a complex document written in legal prose.

It is the job of governments to do so and communicate it in a way people can understand, but unfortunately this has not been done well. Belatedly, the New Zealand government published a national interest analysis on their website, and I hope our Government will follow suit before the deal comes up for parliamentary debate.

I hope we can read a balanced comprehensible document, understand the implications and hold the Government accountable. I hope the deal will ultimately benefit Singapore, but I also hope we have the courage to withdraw support if it is not.

Also, even if the TPP works out to be good for Singapore, I hope provisions will be made to help those among us who might be adversely affected.

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