‘Double standards’ in how People’s Association and grassroots groups operate in opposition wards: Pritam Singh

SINGAPORE — Referring to a barrier-free access ramp in his ward that took seven years to build, Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh accused the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) of being “divisive” and having “double standards” when it comes to how certain processes operate in opposition wards.

Mr Singh, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), said on Facebook that the ramp at Block 108 along Bedok Reservoir Road could have taken just months to complete when the project was first mooted in 2012.

However, it was finally handed over to the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) by the People’s Association only on Tuesday (Oct 15).

"A simple barrier-free access ramp that could have been built in months, took years to complete," Mr Singh said. "How many senior citizens, immobile, and yet others recovering from episodes such as debilitating strokes could have benefited from this facility earlier, but for how the PAP determines the People’s Association operates in opposition wards? Other proposals by opposition MPs for the community are commonly ignored by the People’s Association."

He added: “This will not do, no matter who is in government and who is in the opposition. Singapore and Singaporeans deserve better."

Town councils are led by elected MPs, and AHTC manages public housing estates in Aljunied GRC which includes Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Eunos, Kaki Bukit, Paya Lebar and Serangoon divisions.

Outlining the process for opposition MPs to build infrastructure in their wards, Mr Singh said that each year, the Government makes available about S$40 million to all town councils for community improvement upgrading projects. 

All MPs must go through their grassroots advisers in the People’s Association, a statutory board, to raise projects for their consideration.

However, MPs helming opposition wards must go through the losing PAP candidates who are the grassroots advisers for those wards, Mr Singh said. Opposition MPs are not appointed as grassroots advisers. 

In Mr Singh’s Eunos ward, the grassroots adviser is Mr Chua Eng Leong, who was part of the PAP team that lost to WP in Aljunied GRC during the last General Election. TODAY has approached Mr Chua for comments.

When contacted, the People’s Association referred TODAY to National Development Minister Lawrence Wong’s comments in Parliament in 2017 on how funding is allocated for improvement projects in Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates.

Mr Wong, who was responding to a parliamentary question posed by Mr Singh then, said that the Community Improvement Projects Committee disburses the funds through the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC), which are grassroots organisations under the People’s Association. 

The People’s Association has a network of more than 1,800 grassroots organisations which are managed by appointed volunteers.

Mr Wong said that the Community Improvement Projects Committee allocates its budget to the CCCs each year based on the number of HDB residential units, and added that CCCs have the flexibility to prioritise projects based on local needs. 

Town councils may approach their respective CCCs with enquiries or proposals.

This is not the first time Mr Singh has brought up the matter. He spoke about it during a WP rally in the 2015 General Election. In March last year, Mr Singh similarly questioned the links between grassroots organisations and PAP in Parliament.

Mr Chan Chun Sing, deputy chairman of People’s Association and who was then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, replied that grassroots advisers are appointed by the Government to guide grassroots organisations in carrying out their mission of promoting social cohesion and racial harmony, as well as connecting the people and the Government.

On Tuesday, Mr Singh revisited what he called “political double standards” in the way grassroots organisations are structured.

He said on Facebook of how the ramp project was handled: “Through such upgrading projects, losing PAP candidates are made relevant for residents and can be said to campaign for votes well before the General Election, because they are embedded as leaders in various grassroots organisations that approve the dispensation of large sums of taxpayer dollars.”

He added: “As we get closer to the elections, more and more I hear various fourth-generation (4G) leaders speak of the dangers of a polarised society, dysfunctional politics, with social media often blamed, among other reasons.

“But would the 4G leaders dare consider that the PAP’s divisive approach to politics may be the elephant in the room that will make Singapore a politically polarised society?”

Last week, Mr Singh and his fellow Aljunied GRC MPs Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang were in the news, after the High Court found them liable for damages suffered by AHTC and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council. 

All three MPs could now owe part of the S$33.7 million in claims by the two town councils, which will be determined in a “future second stage of the trial”, where the court will assess the compensation sum that the town councils are entitled to receive from the defendants.