SINGAPORE – The Workers’ Party has not always taken consistent or coherent positions on policy, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Oct 25.
Instead, the opposition party has taken different positions at different times, depending on the concerns of the day, or what it believes will be popular, PM Wong told the PAP’s cadres at the party’s biennial conference at Singapore Expo.
These positions do not always add up to a coherent approach that takes account of the trade-offs and longer-term consequences, he said.
The PAP’s approach is different, and as the governing party it must take a wider and longer-term view, he said.
He raised two examples: housing and foreign manpower.
On housing, PM Wong said the WP had in 2019 argued that the Government should build fewer new flats.
Then, Housing Board flat resale prices were falling.
Later, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, construction was disrupted and there was a shortfall of new flats.
By 2023, the WP was criticising the Government for not building enough flats, PM Wong said.
“Yet there was no acknowledgement of what it had advocated just a few years earlier.”
Now the housing situation has stabilised, but the Government still needs to build more new flats to meet the needs of different groups of Singaporeans including singles, he added.
At the same time, it wants to protect and grow green spaces.
Every new development involves difficult choices, PM Wong added, and when it considers sites like Sunset Way or Gillman Barracks, it has to weigh these competing demands carefully.
The two sites were discussed in Parliament in August, after MPs from both the PAP and WP raised concerns from residents about the selection of these green spaces for redevelopment into housing.
“There is no option that will satisfy everyone. But we must make a choice. And we will choose what best serves Singapore’s wider and longer-term interests.”
On foreign manpower, PM Wong said when the PAP tightened foreign worker policies in 2012, the WP called for greater flexibility across industries.
Later during the debate on population policy, amid concerns over the population projections of 6.9 million, the WP proposed zero growth in the foreign workforce, he said.
More recently, when small and medium-sized enterprises faced manpower shortages, the WP called for easing of foreign worker quotas, he added.
“You can see how their position seems to shift with the political winds. But foreign manpower policy cannot simply shift back and forth with the pressures of the moment,” he said.
Any change has wider consequences and even relatively small adjustments to work permit and S Pass rules can lead to substantial increases in foreign worker numbers across the economy, he added.
It is easier to argue for a particular position when one does not have to reconcile all the competing demands, or take responsibility for the outcome, said PM Wong.
This is part of opposition politics. But as the governing party, the PAP must consider the wider picture, he said.
“We cannot simply tell everyone what they want to hear, or promise everyone what they hope to get.”
Governing is different, and the PAP cannot just offer what sounds attractive today, he added.
“We have to make difficult choices that will stand the test of time.”
The party must also guard against populism – the temptation to offer simplistic solutions instead of confronting difficult realities.
“Above all, we must never allow our politics to become so divided that we lose the ability to work together for the good of Singapore,” he said.
He pointed to global developments where traditional political parties have lost ground and the political centre has weakened, and protests have erupted on the streets.
There are no easy answers to these problems, yet there is always the temptation to offer quick fixes, he added, but these do not solve the underlying problems.
“So the frustrations persist. Trust in institutions weakens. Politics becomes more polarised,” he said.
Then it becomes harder to find common ground, build consensus and make the difficult decisions needed for the common good, PM Wong said.
Singaporeans also worry about their livelihoods and their children’s futures – and these are real concerns which the PAP must take seriously, he added.
The Government must keep opportunities open, address the pressures Singaporeans face, and sustain their confidence in the future.
Tackling politically difficult issues head on
Sometimes, the challenge is not about balancing competing interests, PM Wong said.
It is about confronting an issue that would be much easier, politically, to leave alone.
PM Wong raised the example of updating political salaries, which he announced in Parliament in September.
Then, he said political office-holders will get a one-off pay increase of up to 9%, as the Government had accepted the recommendations of a committee convened in December 2025 to review political salaries.
The PAP knew there would be strong reactions, PM Wong said.
The politically convenient option would have been to avoid the issue altogether.
But the PAP could not keep putting off a decision that matters for Singapore’s ability to build a strong political leadership team for the future, he said.
“So I decided to address the issue openly in Parliament, explain our decision, and take responsibility for it,” he said.
Summing up his points, PM Wong said housing, manpower and political salaries are very different issues.
But the PAP’s approach is guided by the same principles – it listens carefully, explains the trade-offs honestly, and makes the call, he said.
“And we take responsibility for the consequences,” he added.
The party cannot shy away from difficult decisions just because they are unpopular, nor tell people what they want to hear today, only to leave others to deal with the consequences tomorrow, he said.
Because postponing difficult decisions does not make the problems disappear.
“We simply pass them on to those who come after us – and we often leave them with harder choices later.
“So, comrades, we must always have the courage to act. Act not just for Singaporeans today, but also for our children and grandchildren who will inherit the Singapore we build.”