Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) Assistant Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai took to his Facebook today (10 June) to call for “more concrete ideas” by ministers when it comes to dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that the speeches by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 7 June and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong on 9 June both lack substance “when the whole country is longing to hear some concrete ideas”.
Mr Leong pointed out that Mr Wong’s speech talked again about the dilemma of life or livelihood.
“However the measures that the government haven taken so far have neither given enough consideration for lives nor prevented the big disruption to our livelihoods,” Mr Leong added.
He went on to state that when COVID-19 hit the country, Singapore was short of face masks, food supplies and testing capacity.
As such, the PSP member asked, “Where are all the contingency plans which are so important for national security planning?”
“Given that COVID has lobbed off a significant portion of our GDP and reserves in one year, we must beef up our defence against future pandemic significantly,” he added.
Therefore, Mr Leong said a more reassuring speech to the public on how they can live with the coronavirus should incorporate a number of points, which is mentioned below.
The first is to inform the public that the COVID-19 testing on all migrant workers will be done by a certain date, and Phase 2 of post-circuit breaker can start after that day.
The second is to assure the people that the living conditions of migrant workers at dormitories will improve, and to try to complete the projects that have already started despite a much delayed schedule. “In the future, we will have to get use to a slower pace of construction activities which will slow down the economy but necessary for us to reduce the number of foreign workers,” he added.
Next is to say that the Government will “link the future eligibility of construction companies to hire foreign workers to their investments in automation and productivity records”.
If that’s not all, a reassuring speech should also inform Singaporeans that the Government will focus on helping them to deal with the disruptions in their lives right now as well as to only think of having a General Election after zero infection in Phase 2 for a continuous period of one month is achieved.
Mr Leong added that the Government should also urge the public to observe proper social etiquette and personal habits acquired during the circuit breaker period. For instance, wearing masks when unwell, practice social distancing at public places, practice good hygiene and more.
“Practise social distancing by queuing orderly at public places especially hawker centres and shopping malls etc. Learn to be patient, give time and space to others as those are the ingredients of compassion and kindness. Wash our hands, practice good personal hygiene and also help to keep public places clean eg., public toilets and to keep tables clean at hawker centres by returning trays,” Mr Leong explained.
Additionally, Mr Leong also said that the Government should express to the public that it will increase its spending to create a cleaner and greener environment. This is done by “redeveloping the old HDB estates into new community living oases where residents can provide support to one another better”.
Other points highlighted by Mr Leong to assure Singaporeans include:
– We will change the way healthcare is administered for our citizens. The new emphasis will be on preventive care, social medicine and community support.
– We will spend more to speed up the digitalisation and to increase the number and quality of childcare centres to enable more Singaporeans to work at home. We hope family-friendly practices helping to achieve a good work-life balance will have implications on our new family formation and total fertility rate.
– We will reorganise the education system with more online delivery of the best teaching methods and materials by the best teachers to enable students to study at their own time and place. Most teachers will become more of a life and character coach to ensure that students are suitably motivated.
The last point that Mr Leong said should be part of an encouraging speech for the public is to create a full-fledged national defence structure to beat “future pandemics on the same scale as our defence against war and terrorism”.
Mr Leong reiterated that the suggestions he highlighted will help “soothe the anxieties of our countrymen”.
