1. Priority given to foreigners with Singaporean spouse and children for citizenship
WP believes that the best way to integrate immigrants is through the family unit and not through importing foreign labour who have no roots in Singapore. Singaporeans with a non-citizen spouse often face disruptions to their family life which creates stress and anxiety for the child when they have to separate from one parent who is on a short-term visit pass. Giving foreign spouses priority for citizenship after 5 years on the long-term visit pass will help alleviate the situation for this group of people.
WP also suggests that other than foreign spouses, only permanent residents with at least 5 years of uninterrupted residencey should be eligle for citizenship.
2. Mandatory unemployment insurance
WP proposes a employment security fund which requires both employers and employees to share a 0.1% contribution of the basic salary towards the scheme. In the event on voluntary unemployment, the fund will pay out 40% of your last drawn salary up to a monthly salary cap of the prevailing median wage for the next 6 months.
3. Holistic and equitable education system
WP proposes a 10 year through-train program where high stakes exams will be dropped and children will only take their first exam at 16 years of age. This will allow them to learn at their own pace and develop other skills and interests. Class sizes will also be reduced for teachers to dedicate more time and attention on each individual student. The government will also put in $10K into the CDA account of all parents instead of the current dollar-for-dollar matching practise.
4. Making public housing more affordable
WP proposes that the prices of HDB to be de-linked from land cost which means that BTO flats prices will be reduced drastically. They suggest that the price of BTO flats be 25% of the median monthly household income of applicants serving a 20 year loan after a 10% downpayment. There will also be discounts for lower income applicants of 2 and 3 room flats.
WP also suggests that ethnic quotas for housing to be removed so that Singaporeans have the freedom to choose their homes regardless of race, language or religion.
5. Abolish the ISA and CLTP Act
WP believes that there should be more trust-building and due process in our criminal justice system. They call for the abolishment of Criminal Law Temporary Provision and the Internal Security Act, both of which provides for detention without trial. CLTP is targeted at drug lords, ah long san and criminal gang leaders while ISA is for terrorist cases and spies. To tackle the problem of terrorism, a dedicated anti-terrorism law should be enabled so that the authorities can make swift arrests and detain suspects without trial.
Editor's Note:
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