http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...52740,00.html?

Published May 3, 2011

RP wants lower age for singles buying HDB flats

By TEH SHI NING


THE Reform Party at its West Coast Park rally last night touched on various policy proposals, including ideas to help singles, working mothers, the elderly and the disabled.

Ho Soak Harn, a member of the RP's West Coast GRC team led by party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam, said that the party wants to lower the age at which Singaporean singles qualify to buy a HDB flat. This can be done by offering one or two-room 'starter flats' which cost less and which singles can 'pay off in 15 years, not 25 years', she said.

She also intends to push for more part-time jobs 'so that Singaporean mothers are given a chance' to be in the workforce and care for children, by offering more allowances and incentives to employers.

Mr Jeyaretnam also mentioned, without elaborating, policy pledges from RP's manifesto such as universal health insurance to replace Medisave and Medishield, a minimum wage, reform of the CPF scheme to allow withdrawals at age 55, and reducing National Service first to 18 months and then a year.

As was the case at its last two rallies, the RP candidates repeatedly raised the 'spirit of democracy' embodied by late opposition veteran JB Jeyaretnam, who founded RP in 2008.

Speaking last, Mr Jeyaretnam admitted to misquoting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's condolence letter on the demise of JBJ at Saturday's rally as saying that JBJ 'had to be destroyed'. PM Lee's letter had said that JBJ and the PAP 'never saw eye to eye on any major political issue and he sought by all means to demolish the PAP and our system of government'.

Mr Jeyaretnam said: 'I'm not standing here for some kind of vendetta, but because like JBJ, I want to build Singapore, to strengthen our government.'

He said that he entered Singapore politics to 'normalise democracy', adding that 'competition is just as essential in politics as it is in business'. 'I want you to think there is nothing wrong with 15 opposition candidates in Parliament.'

Mr Jeyaretnam and Ms Ho, along with Andy Zhu, Frankie Low and Kumar Appavoo are up against the People's Action Party's Lim Hng Kiang, S Iswaran, Arthur Fong, Foo Mee Har and Lawrence Wong.