At a doorstop at Marine Terrace this morning (July 4), Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh joined the Marine Parade GRC candidates on a walkabout.

During the doorstop, he responded to a question regarding the People's Action Party (PAP)'s statement on the 10 million population issue prompted by a political debate.

PAP's statement, which specifically named Chee Soon Juan, Paul Tambyah and Pritam Singh, said that the opposition leaders have "opportunistically jumped into the fray" for this matter.

On July 2, Pritam had said in a doorstop that there is room for fair comment to ask "what's the size that we are aiming towards?"

This the part which concerns Pritam specifically:

"Other opposition leaders have also opportunistically jumped into the fray. Mr Pritam Singh asked why the Government could not have said earlier that our population would be well below 6.9 million in 2030, let alone a mythical 10 million.

It is baffling that Mr Singh should ask this question. During the Committee of Supply in February 2018, Minister Josephine Teo had said that our population would be significantly below 6.9 million in 2030. She repeated this in the Committee of Supply in February this year. Was the Leader of the Opposition not scrutinising the Minister’s statements?"

Pritam said that he did not "jump into it", but was answering a question from the media during a doorstop.

"Helpful" to understand government thinking

Earlier this year, Pritam had asked in Parliament when the review for the population white paper would take place. This was in response to PM Lee's comments in 2013, saying that there would be a review of plans in the Population White Paper closer to 2020.

He said that it was implied a review had already been done in 2018.

Pritam acknowledged that the population issue is a very "sensitive" one, and clarified the Workers' Party's position, saying that the government's position should be stated and communicated to the public clearly.

"I think there's no disagreement between myself and all other candidates in the Workers Party," he said on July 4.

"I think, if there's more signature for the public to understand what the government is thinking, what is its way forward, I think that'll be helpful."

Government has given its take on population policy several times

The government has communicated its position on Singapore's population policy previously.

In 2018, Minister Josephine Teo, who is in charge of population matters in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), has said in parliament that Singapore is not expected to change its immigration policy, and its population is likely to be "significantly below" 6.9 million by 2030.

The 6.9 million figure was a projection set out in the 2013 Population White Paper for planning purposes.

Teo also said that Singapore's population is expected to be below 6 million by 2020.

On July 1, the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) said in a statement that the Singapore government is not planning to increase the population to 10 million.

NPTD noted that the online statements about Singapore increasing its population to 10 million are untrue.