S Iswaran, who is leading the People's Action Party (PAP) West Coast GRC, poked holes in the manifesto of his political rivals.

What is happening at West Coast GRC?

On a July 4 walkabout at Boon Lay Place Market and Food Village, the PAP candidate, called on the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) to explain its proposal to review Singapore’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries and provide details of the trade-offs involved.

Iswaran, who is Minister for Communications and Information, is facing PSP led by its secretary-general Tan Cheng Bock.

What did Iswaran say?

Iswaran said policies by his team focus on community programmes and deal with the Covid-19 crisis on the national level, so it is not enough for the PSP to just make "broad promises".

“And the other side, you have a team that has basically put out a very short manifesto with broad statements, but lacking in detail," Iswaran said.

PSP’s manifesto, "You Deserve Better", proposes a minimum living wage and a post-Covid-19 resurgence strategy, among other campaign promises.

Iswaran added that the focus should not be on personalities, but the substance of what both sides have to offer.

What did he scrutinise in PSP's manifesto?

Iswaran pointed out that PSP’s manifesto was bare as it did not explain clearly enough the trade-offs involved in FTA negotiations.

He said: “They only talk about what they want to get, but they don't tell you what you have to give up in order to get it.”

"A trade-off means you have to give up something in order to get something,” Iswaran said.

He added that the PAP team understood in detail the concerns and needs of Singaporeans, and has mounted national programmes as well as local programmes.

What did the PSP manifesto propose?

The PSP manifesto wants to prioritise jobs for Singaporeans.

It aims to do so by introducing a quota for Employment Pass holders, lowering the quota for S-Pass and Work Permit holders.

This will be done, the manifesto said, by reviewing Singapore’s free trade agreements (FTAs), such as the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca).

Iswaran said every FTA “is a carefully balanced set of benefits and trade-offs”, but he has no problem with opposition parties saying they want to review FTAs and their trade-offs.

He said he wants PSP to answer just what will be given up in deals with other countries.

SMEs in Singapore will suffer

Iswaran explained that "the country on the other side is not going to then say, ‘Yes, please do that’, and not do anything about it" when Singapore takes something away from the agreement.

“So you have to answer the question... what are you going to give up in order to secure the things that you want."

"Because the other countries are not going to just give you a free pass.”

FTAs are needed for Singapore to secure market access, Iswaran explained.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) here gain access to large markets, such as China, India, United States and Europe, Iswaran said.

If other countries look after their own interests in response to Singapore doing so first, SMEs here risk losing out and having jobs affected.

Responding to Iswaran yesterday evening in The Straits Times, Tan said that it would be up to Singaporeans to judge the PSP manifesto.

Tan said that "if they (PAP) think we have done a lousy manifesto, it is not up to him to say. It's for the people to decide."

West Coast GRC contest

Iswaran is joined by Minister Desmond Lee, Ang Wei Neng, Foo Mee Har and new candidate Rachel Ong in the West Coast GRC.

The PSP team is made up of Tan, Jeffrey Khoo, Hazel Poa, Leong Mun Wai and Nadarajah Loganathan.