Much of this year’s Budget is targeted at helping workers, and the Budget Debate saw Labour Members of Parliament (MP) sharing their united voice on a wide range of issues relating to Singaporeans’ jobs and quality of life.
Labour MP Yeo Guat Kwang shared that skilling-up the workforce with the Labour Movement's Progressive Wage Model (PWM) was the way forward to help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) build a quality workforce.
He also spoke on a review of the entry-level Employment Pass, more protection for all workers, and the need to roll out more incentives and training to support unions and companies to achieve and sustain Workplace Safety and Health targets. He reiterated his call to review and enhance portable medical benefits and review the tax incentive scheme. You can read the full speech here.
Self-employed and freelance workers are important contributors to the economy, too, as Labour MP Ang Hin Kee mentioned in his speech, and more could be done to deepen their skills and encourage more people to appreciate them and the work they do.
He called on the Government and employers to speed up the recognition of training certifications for adult educators, and hoped that the Special Employment Credit (SEC) scheme could be reviewed to enable more women to return to the workforce and ex-offenders to re-integrate back into society quickly. You can read the full speech here.
Rallying for a fair employment market for young job entrants, Labour MP Alex Yam urged the Government to consider more and better protection for first-time jobseekers over the next three years.
He also hoped the education, manpower and economic agencies could work closely together to chart future growth markets to prepare for a future-ready workforce
He suggested a widening of programmes such as the Core Executives Programme and Management Associate Partnership for fresh graduates from universities and polytechnics in new growth sectors, and institutionalise a way to ease their entry into these sectors, among other issues. You can read the full speech here.
Fast links to Labour MPs Budget Speeches in Parliament
Budget Speech by labour MP Alex Yam, MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC
Budget Speech by labour MP Ang Hin Kee, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC
Budget Speech by labour MP Yeo Guat Kwang, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC
More Budget speeches made by other Labour MPs in Parliament are available in this article: Budget Debate: Labour MPs share one united voice for U
