At a media doorstop on July 7, Workers' Party chair Sylvia Lim responded to a question asking about some comments PM Lee made during his Fullerton lunchtime rally speech.

The question referenced PM Lee's remarks that the opposition says they are offering Singaporeans "insurance", but Singaporeans should not "buy insurance from someone on a promise".

PM Lee had also mentioned that opposition parties are talking as if the "crisis did not exist".

Sylvia Lim: 'I think this is a false choice'

Speaking to media at Sengkang, Lim brought up how PM Lee had asked voters to give the People's Action Party a "very strong mandate so that they can handle Covid-19 effectively".

"Now I think this is a false choice being presented to voters," she said.

Lim highlighted other instances of "robust democracies" that have been dealing with the virus quite effectively without having a majority of MPs from a single party in parliament.

Lim questioned presenting this as a choice between effectively tackling Covid-19, and a parliament that does not only consist of elected PAP MPs.

"Singaporeans know that when there is a need to come together, they will support the government in handling the Covid-19 crisis regardless of who they vote into parliament."

Responding to PM Lee's criticisms of Opposition manifestos

During PM Lee's Fullerton rally, he said that opposition manifestos proposing minimum wage or universal basic income are “fashionable peacetime slogans, not serious wartime plans”.

WP chief Pritam Singh addressed this point during the doorstop, saying that they have already given some "extensive comments and replies on (their) Facebook page" previously.

Following PM Lee's rally on July 6, WP had uploaded a series of images on their Facebook page regarding the rally, highlighting policies from their manifesto.

Speaking to media on July 7, Pritam emphasised that Covid-19 is a significant issue to his party.

He added that he "makes no apologies" for the minimum wage policy – something his party has believed in for many years.

Photo © Lim Wei Xiang for Mothership.