In a marked shift from past rhetoric, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has conceded that it does not hold a monopoly on good ideas. Yet, the ruling party’s recent communication reveals continued scepticism towards opposition claims of influence.
The remarks were made in response to the Workers’ Party’s (WP) assertion that 15 government policies had been adopted “in some form” from earlier WP proposals. The issue was first raised in the WP’s 2025 manifesto and quickly drew a strong response from the PAP.
In a 19 April 2025 post on its Petir blog, the PAP asserted that the WP’s claims inadvertently reflected well on the ruling party.
“They agree so much with the PAP, they claim our policies came from them,” the post read. “Imitation, as they say, is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Nonetheless, the PAP added, “No one has a monopoly on ideas.”
It then proceeded to challenge the WP’s claims point by point, arguing that similar ideas had often been raised earlier by PAP Members of Parliament or others.
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong also addressed the matter during a press conference on 19 April, where the PAP announced its slate for Ang Mo Kio GRC.
He said, “The government doesn’t have a monopoly of good ideas. Neither does the opposition.”
He acknowledged that there are times when both sides may agree on certain ideas, stating, “Some of them, after we have done it, they claim credit for. And to be fair to them, along the way, they have pushed for it.”
For example, the PAP noted that its MPs had called for more flexible parental leave as early as 2008, and that MP Carrie Tan proposed a rental subsidy scheme in 2022, prior to a similar idea being raised by WP MP Louis Chua in 2023.
The party also sought to differentiate its policy execution process, emphasising that ideas require rigorous trade-off analysis before implementation. “Careful consideration is necessary… before suggestions can be converted into policies,” the blog stated.
However, while the PAP now acknowledges that valuable ideas can come from diverse sources, this stance contrasts with past parliamentary practices, where the party has regularly amended or blocked WP motions. Leveraging its parliamentary supermajority, the PAP has frequently altered opposition proposals—modifying the original wording or reframing the intent—to ensure alignment with government positions.
The blog post further accused the WP of advancing flawed proposals that could have led to “severe” consequences if implemented.
It cited the WP’s 2019 suggestion to cap Build-To-Order (BTO) flat construction at 9,000 units a year, contrasting it with the party’s more recent call to reduce waiting times — a point which the PAP has repeatedly highlighted, and which the WP has rebutted as misleading and taken out of context.
On redundancy insurance, the PAP argued that the WP’s plan would impose financial burdens on both businesses and employees. Josephine Teo, then Minister for Manpower, had also contended in 2017 that redundancy insurance could lead to long-term unemployment, when the WP raised the issue in an adjournment motion.
Instead, the PAP noted that the government introduced the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme, developed with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), which it described as a more balanced alternative.
Likewise, the PAP rejected the WP’s claim that its advocacy influenced reforms in handling scam victim compensation.
The blog post argued that the WP’s proposal to mandate full bank reimbursements was “fundamentally different” from the final policy, which involves adjudicated dispute resolution.
Towards the end of the Petir post, however, the tone sharpened. The PAP wrote, “We wonder why the WP seems so desperate as to claim credit for the PAP’s policies?” Yet, it closed with a more measured line: “We welcome all constructive ideas – including from the Opposition.”
WP chief Pritam Singh, when asked about the blog post, replied that he had not seen it but reiterated: “Good ideas can come from anywhere, and I would say good ideas have come from the Workers’ Party as well.”
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