The Peoples Voice (PV) party leader Lim Tean said it’s an “epic failure” on the ruling party’s part that there are about 470,000 lower-income workers aged 35 and above in Singapore at present.
His remarks came after the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Friday (23 October) that about S$810 million in Workfare Special Payment (WSP) will be disbursed to some 470,000 lower-income Singaporean workers who are on the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) from 28 October.
Back in August, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also the Finance Minister, announced that WSP eligibility will be widened to include more than 70,000 additional workers who receive WIS for their work done in 2020, and who are not already receiving the WSP.
This brings the total number of lower-income Singaporean workers who receive additional support from the Budget 2020 scheme to about 470,000, MOF said in a statement today.
“Most of them would have qualified for WSP earlier and received their first payment of $1,500 in July 2020, for their work done in 2019,” it stated.
MOF added that these low-income workers will receive their final S$1,500 this month, which will be directly credited to their bank account on 28 October, or through a cheque mailed to their residential address by 15 November.
Mr Heng also shared this on his Facebook today noting that “the Government is committed to helping every Singaporean” through the COVID-19 crisis, particularly the low-income workers and those who are more vulnerable.
Following that, Mr Lim questioned if the number of lower-income Singaporean workers stated by the MOF “befits the first-world nation”.
He cited PV’s member Leong Sze Hian’s Facebook post, who questioned the total number of lower-income Singaporean workers.
Mr Leong highlighted that only Singaporeans aged 35 and above are eligible to receive the WIS, which means that the 470,000 lower-income workers do not include Singaporean workers aged below 35.
“This is epic failure on the PAP’s [People’s Action Party] part and you should sneer at those who claim that an Opposition Government will destroy Singapore,” Mr Lim wrote on Facebook.
“One thing is very clear, your life and that of your next generation ain’t improving under the PAP!” he added.
