Parliament
Gan Siow Huang rejects calls to reinstate Thaipusam as a public holiday, citing need for balance
During the Committee of Supply debate, WP MP Jamus Lim called for Thaipusam to be reinstated as a public holiday, citing Singapore’s economic prosperity. Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang rejected the proposal, stating that the current holiday structure was carefully considered to maintain social harmony and should remain unchanged.
In the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Manpower on 6 March, Associate Professor Jamus Lim, Workers’ Party Member of Parliament for Sengkang GRC, called for Thaipusam to be reinstated as a public holiday.
He referenced a statement from the 1968 parliamentary debate on the Holidays Amendment Bill, in which then-Minister for Law and Economic Development E.W. Barker suggested that if Singapore prospered, the government might consider increasing public holidays.
Barker said then, ” If our island prospers, I am sure the government will ask me to come back here, and on that day, it will be my pleasure to make amendments to increase the number of holidays. But let us first show that we can work hard and that we deserve more holidays.”
Assoc Prof Lim argued, “Between 1968 and today, our GDP per capita has grown from a little more than S$2,100 to more than S$127,000, close to a 60-fold increase. It is impossible to claim that we have not prospered. It is time to call in that promise made close to six decades ago and reinstate Thaipusam as a national holiday.”
Earlier, on 26 February, Hazel Poa, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), had also called for Thaipusam to be classified as a public holiday.
She noted that the PSP proposes increasing the number of public holidays from 11 to 14, with one additional holiday for each of the three major racial groups in Singapore.
In response to calls to reintroduce Thaipusam as a public holiday, Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang rejected the proposal, emphasising that the current allocation of public holidays was the result of “careful deliberations and consultations with various religious groups.”
She stated that since Singapore’s independence, leaders had made “difficult decisions” to ensure social harmony in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.
Gan stressed, “Maintaining the current balance has served us well, and it continues to be the sensible approach for Singapore.”
On 7 March, Assoc Prof Lim pressed further, asking whether there were any economic conditions under which the government would reconsider the current schedule of public holidays.
He questioned, “Are there no economic conditions or no level of prosperity under which the government will be willing to consider the schedule of public holidays?”
Gan reiterated that the decisions regarding public holidays had been made after extensive consultations and warned that revising them “may invite competing claims from members of other communities, both religious and non-religious.”
She added, “We should not take Singapore’s economic progress for granted and look to introducing additional public holidays at every opportunity.”
While rejecting the call for more public holidays, Gan also noted that “we urge all employers to show understanding and flexibility” so that employees can observe religious occasions important to them.
