Fadli Fawzi, 39, a past senior policy development officer under the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, used his own savings and part-time tutoring to support himself through law school at Singapore Management University.
This experience defined his General Election (GE) policy manifesto.
“(There is an) importance of doing more to support our mid-career professionals who are seeking to transition to new jobs,” Mr Fadli said at the Workers’ Party (WP) press conference on Saturday (27 June).
He emphasised that his background in social science taught him how societies are sometimes structured in ways that are challenging and hindering to many people.
“I saw part of myself in that struggle — always having to fight harder and facing more difficulties to earn your place in the world. But I would have it no other way,” Mr Fadli shared.
Therefore, he is proposing a “consolidation and expansion of interest-free educational loan schemes, so that they will be “more accessible at a national level to all mid-career professionals”.
“(The idea of also) converting a percentage of such loans into a grant if a recipient is able to reach certain academic or professional benchmarks (should be considered). This would also benefit our country, as it will incentivise Singaporeans to pursue courses to upgrade their skills and create a versatile workforce to sustain our economic transformation for the future,” Mr Fadli elaborated.
Besides campaigning for upskilling and the pursuit of higher education, he also has a passion for Malay community issues as well, with an intention to tackle it from a more pragmatic angle.
“Instead of understanding the plight of the community through a racial lens, we should instead approach it as an economic structural issue,” Mr Fadli opined.
This will be Mr Fadli’s first election, but he has worked with WP prior. He was involved in grassroots work as well as being a councillor of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council since May 2014.
“I want Singapore to be a more just and democratic country,” he stated this as part of his vision.
“I understand that it is ultimately politics that underlies our structures, policies, and legislation,” Mr Fadli added, before sharing that he had been to alternative parties’ rallies since he was a boy.
He is currently a criminal and civil lawyer with Inkwell Law Corporation, where he handles cases in the Supreme Court, State Courts and the Syariah Court. Testimonials of him from clients centred around commendation on his patience, knowledge, and professionalism.
