people

Issue 1 February 2013

The newsletter of Singapore Peoples Party Singapura Parti Rakyat

MICA (P) 143/10/2012

S$2.00

54 citizenships granted every day

From the desk of the Sec-Gen

Dear fellow Singaporeans, Welcome to the inaugural issue of [people], the newsletter of the SPP! To those celebrating Chinese New Year this month, I wish you a happy and prosperous Year of the Snake! Since the 2011 General Election, the SPP has continued to walk the ground in Potong Pasir, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Hong Kah North regularly. We also make regular house-to-house visits in Potong Pasir. If anything, our involvement in these constituencies has stepped up over the past year. You might ask why is the SPP doing all this? What is it that drives us? Today, health care and housing costs are spiralling. Retirement in Singapore is getting harder with an ever increasing CPF minimum sum. The elderly are expected to work well past the normal retirement age, often on low salaries. We Singaporeans are expected to get things done as cheaply as possible. Is this the kind of Singapore that our forefathers worked so hard for? Is this the kind of Singapore we desire for ourselves or our children? We Singaporeans must play a more active role to influence national policies. At times, we need to fight for a different direction for our country. Together we can build a better home for us, and a fair society, where no Singaporean is left behind; where we can pursue our hopes and dreams for a better life. For the People, for the Nation! Yours sincerely,

Number does not include PRs and work permits granted Spore: already 2nd most densely populated country in the world

Beyond pursuing economic growth and attracting foreign investments, Singapore must first and foremost be a home for Singaporeans. But the prospect of overpopulation threatens Singapore in several ways. That said, the SPP is not at all being xenophobic. Neither, we believe, are the vast majority of Singaporeans. Our nation was built on the virtues of multiracial harmony. Such values have been woven into the fabric of our society. Rather, what is unacceptable is that new citizens are added to the population when Singapore is already the second most densely populated country in the world after Monaco.1 Based on a population of 5.312 million people and a land area of 714 km 2, we have a density of about 7,257 persons per square kilometer.2 This is even higher than the population density of a comparable city-state entity such as Hong Kong SAR.3 In Parliament in May 2012, our NCMP Mrs Lina Chiam asked what the number of PRs and foreigners granted citizenship each year has been. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean replied that 18,758 Singapore citizenships were granted in 2010, and 15,777 were granted in 2011: (contd on p.6)
1

Based on data on sovereign countries around the world compiled from CIA World Factbook (2012), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2010), Singstat (2012).
2 3

Singstat, 2011/12 figures. 6,482 persons per km2. Source: Census and Statistics Department, Government of Hong Kong SAR, 2012.

In this issue:
HDB flats leased out to private company
Why are HDB flats in Lorong 6 Toa Payoh leased out commercially as dormitories for workers instead of needy Singaporeans? (Page 6)

Singapore Peoples Party - Looking back

Walking with the SPP looking back at 2012 (Page 8)

Chiam See Tong Secretary-General Singapore Peoples Party