The Workers' Party, Singapore

Those of us of a certain, ahem, vintage, would be familiar with how Singtel—then our sole telecoms provider—went public. It was accompanied by much excitement, not least because the government of the day decided to offer the possibility of buying discounted shares of the company, to all those who had a CPF account. One of the stated goals, at the time, was to “give Singaporeans a direct stake in the country’s success.” Personally, I find such an ownership ethos—which also motivated the rapid expansion of public housing under HDB—to be a good thing. Equity is a wonderful way of building a shared sense of purpose, while also offering those who are lucky enough to access shares a financial upside (historically, equity and real estate yield the highest return among different asset classes). In a speech delivered in Parley last week, I lamented the seeming retreat by the government in efforts to expand share ownership in other government-linked corporations that have listed since 1993. These include ST Engineering, SingPost and SMRT, and Sembcorp. In my view, it’s a lost opportunity for helping Singaporeans participate even more in the country’s success. #workingforsingapore

For our first residents’ trip overseas, China felt like the natural place to start. The Wulong mountains were the first test: a 50-storey lift descent into the gorges, and the spectacular Three Natural Bridges stretching overhead. From there, 14 of us pushed on to Jinfoshan in the rain, climbing through mist and cold for a view that turned out to be more memorable for it. Across the two cities, our residents caught plenty more sights and experiences: 🏔️ Fairy Mountain near Chongqing, an alpine playground that felt worlds away from home 💧 The Dujiangyan waterworks, an ancient waterway carved through solid rock before gunpowder existed, still flowing after 2,000 years 🐼 Pandas who did absolutely nothing but munch tender bamboo, that were somehow everyone’s favourite moment 🍜 Rose petal tangyuan, Sichuan chicken and beef, and more bubble tea than anyone needed 🕶️ Smart glasses and a glimpse of the future that China's technology is already living in All in all, we ate very well, covered a lot of ground, and spent a lot of time talking. These trips are about spending real time with residents outside of an MPS queue or a void deck event, and that kind of connection is hard to replicate anywhere else. Here's to many more trips together. Let me know in the comments: where should we go next?

[Why we voted no] When the Government takes your home, you're owed compensation by law. So why was HDB deducting its own admin costs from that compensation, for years, without it being properly prescribed in legislation? This is the question at the heart of the Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, which Parliament debated last week. The bill validates years of fees collected by four government agencies—BCA, HDB, NParks and URA—that weren't formally prescribed in law. And it permanently bars any citizen from challenging those past collections in court. The Workers' Party asked the basic questions. How many residents were affected? How much was deducted? Why no refunds? The Minister's answer: the fees go back to Independence, full records may not be available. Refunds were ruled out. Parliament was being asked to extinguish citizens' legal rights without knowing whose rights, or by how much, or for how long. That's why we voted no. Full speech → wp.sg/parliament/speech-by-andre-low-on-statutes-miscellaneous-amendments-bill

[The Workers’ Party - Team East Coast] The Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre & Market, a place often frequented by many residents who live in the East - including Aljunied GRC residents who reside in Bedok Reservoir and Bedok North - has been in the news over the last few weeks from around the Labour Day weekend. Three tuberculosis (TB) clusters with a total of 13 genetically similar cases isolated to three locations in Bedok Central dating from January 2023 to February 2026 triggered a TB screening protocol. The news saw many members of the public avoiding the market and hawker centre, even though there was no instruction or guidance to indicate that it was unsafe to visit and to partake in some superb hawker fare, or to visit Bedok Central in general. The Workers’ Party East Coast team of @jasperkuanwp @parisvwp @sufyanmp.wp and @yeejennjong dropped in to the hawker centre over the weekend following the annoucement of the TB screening to show their support for the hawkers and stall owners who were badly affected by the loss of business, while WP Organising Secretary @dennistanlf_wp and I dropped in after, and through the course of last week, to do the same. I had lunch at the hawker centre today, and it was certainly good to see the public keeping calm and carrying on! If the specified locations at Bedok Central are places you visited often from January 2023 (i.e. you spent a cumulative 96 hours in a year [equivalent to two hours per week or eight hours per month]), do consider free voluntary TB screening (up to 6 Jun 2026) as a precautionary measure. You can also make your decision about voluntary screening, if it applies to you, over some coffee and curry puffs, nasi padang, fish ball noodles or chee cheong fun - all the hawker food my colleagues and I sampled (caveat - to my knowledge only) over the course our visits in the past 10 days or so! #workingforsingapore #wpsg

[ Clarification on Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 📄 ] In the latest reading of the Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, the Government moved to pass a bill to “backdate” the legality of administration fees collected from Singaporeans for routine services, such as TOP applications and renovation contracts. This comes after the Attorney-General Chambers advised that the government should pass a bill to formally outline these charges. Among other issues, I pressed the government to provide the full quantum of these “Administration Fees” that have been collected from Singaporeans prior to this bill, and the total number of people who were affected by this collection. This data is important to allow us to better understand the magnitude of fees that have been collected from Singaporeans, to which the government did not provide an answer to the WP MPs. Scrutinising bills and asking questions that concern Singaporeans is the duty of a loyal and responsible opposition. We will continue #WorkingForSingapore to ensure that legislation passed in Parliament is in the best interests of Singapore and Singaporeans. Follow this link for the full exchange: /watch/responses-clarifications-sought-statutes-miscellaneous-amendments-bill-6106606 #wpsg #WeContinue #Parliament

AI promises to boost firm productivity while threatening many jobs. To ensure all Singaporeans reap the benefits of AI, I proposed a National AI Equity Fund, consisting of a Social Dividend of $500 a year to each adult Singaporean, and a Mastery Fund, which funds on-the-job training and wage subsidies for Singaporeans transitioning into AI-augmented roles. This will be funded by a tax increase for firms with over $100 million in profits and increasing the maximum Net Investment Returns taken into the Budget by 2.5%. We need a new social contract for the AI age. The Minister for Manpower and I debated this proposal in Parliament on 6 May 2026. Read my full speech at geraldgiam.sg/ai-jobs/

Did you know? ☝️🤓 The role of Secretarial Assistant is a designated appointment held by only one person per MP. If Yiran’s story spoke to you, join us at wp.sg/volunteer 🩵 Ep 1: The Secretarial Assistant #wpsg #WorkingforSingapore

Progress in artificial intelligence has been truly astonishing. Many of us have lived through at least one rollout of a new general purpose technology: computers, the mobile phone, the Internet (of course, none of us have witnessed the advent of the steam engine or electricity). Even so—and especially for those of us who do white-collar work—the ability of #AI to produce, in minutes, what used to take us days or weeks of grinding effort is both shocking and scary. It makes us worry for our jobs and livelihoods In Parliament last week, members from both sides of the aisle spoke about how the AI revolution might affect jobs. In particular, we were focused on how the transition could come about while avoiding jobless growth. While everyone supported the overall thrust of the motion, my own take was based on a simple observation: while there is undeniably fear about AI displacing existing jobs, the more real and present danger is about AI discouraging new hiring, which especially affects our youth. If we take this fact seriously, then the question becomes how we can best tackle this challenge. I offered four practical policy suggestions: expand incentives to hire fresh graduates with a national internship and apprenticeship program; provide a clear employment pathway for these interns to a career; ramp up training in our tertiary institutions in social skills (like communication, empathy, networking, and vision); and deemphasize degrees and diplomas for hiring, if skills and competencies can be demonstrated otherwise, starting with the public sector. #workingforsingapore

AI will shape the economy young Singaporeans inherit. But before they become the workers of tomorrow, they are the learners of today — and this distinction matters. In the debate on AI and no jobless growth motion last week, I spoke about why we need to be thoughtful about how and when we introduce AI into education. The promise of AI is real. But so is the risk of cognitive offloading, where children outsource thinking to AI tools before they have had a chance to learn how to think 👾 We must ensure that we are preparing our children for a world we cannot predict and for jobs which do not yet exist by giving them the one tool that will always be relevant: a strong, independent mind 💪🏻🌱

Why did WP vote "no" on the Statutes (Misc. Amendments) Bill? Read on to find out! #wpsg #wecontinue #workingforsingapore #parliament #policy

She is, indeed, lovely and wonderful 🥰 Wishing all mothers a Happy Mother's Day 🌹 #wpsg

#Throwback to last month, when at the kind invitation of my friend Sven Clement, MP from Luxembourg, I attended the IMF and World Bank 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington DC. I spoke on a panel with Rody Senderowitsch, Practice Manager for Public Administration at the World Bank Group’s Governance Global Department and Chady Adel El Khoury, Assistant General Counsel of the IMF’s Financial Integrity Group. We discussed current and pressing issues surrounding anti-corruption, good governance and cross-border financial crime. Moderated by Spanish Senator, the Hon. Javier Maroto, First Vice-President of the Senate, our panel covered the importance of strong laws and stringent enforcement in combating corruption and cross-border financial crimes in this rapidly moving issue-area. Transnational scams are a key part of this landscape. I shared my personal views on how fighting cross-border crime is a slippery target, supercharged by ever-evolving technology such as AI. I discussed how enforcement officers and regulators also need to work together across sectors to expand information-sharing, given how fighting cross-border crime today involves not just tracing funds. It also now demands an understanding of how criminals also use assets ranging from cryptocurrency, real estate, and portable high value assets like precious metals and luxury items. Intermediaries, or ‘gatekeepers’ like lawyers, accountants and realtors, must be held accountable and given the support to play a meaningful role in crime-fighting. For highly open economies with large financial and wealth management sectors such as the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the very structure of our economies are makes us easily exploitable by criminals. Failure to address these issues effectively harms our people and can eventually lead to serious reputational damage. The exchange of ideas and questions from other MPs demonstrated strong interest in combatting cross-border crime among legislators across the globe. The conversation brought home how cross-border crime is a transnational challenge. It can only be tackled by sharing knowledge and experience, and cooperation on all levels. (cont. in comments)