After a long week of political parties campaigning and holding rallies, we’re nearing Polling Day this Saturday, 3 May 2025.
While there have been several viral moments of General Election 2025 on social media, we as an electorate should not simply cast our vote based on what an algorithm pushes to us. It’s crucial to make the time and effort ahead of Polling Day to go through each political party’s policies and learn more about their proposals and policies.
To get you started, we’ve gone through each party’s manifesto and picked out what they propose for a key election issue – cost of living. (At this point, I would like to acknowledge of the efforts of independent journalist Kirsten Han for compiling all the manifestos in one easily accessible site.)
The term “cost of living” is understandably broad, so in the interest of a fair comparison between the manifestos, we’ll be looking at what each party says about the prices of essential goods and services, as well as the subsidies, rebates and assistance schemes they propose.
People’s Action Party (PAP)
The PAP’s manifesto is entitled, “Changed World, Fresh Team, New Resolve”. Despite the title, the manifesto continues the tradition of its predecessors to be relatively light on specifics. This is, of course, an understandable choice by the PAP who, as the ruling party for over 60 years, tends to leave such details to the annual Budget speech rather than the party manifesto.
For example, the recent GST increase to 9% was first discussed in 2018’s Budget before being confirmed in their 2020 party manifesto and rolled out on schedule.
In 2025’s manifesto, the PAP reiterates their continued commitment to providing “CDC vouchers, cash payouts, utilities rebates and other support” for all households. For parents, “expanded Parental Leave, lower pre-school fees and enhanced support for large families”. For seniors, there are broad promises to “review and enhance” CPF and to “increase subsidies for seniors needing long-term care” among other things.
Workers’ Party (WP)
Titled “Working for Singapore”, The Workers’ Party manifesto dedicates the first section to “Affordability and Cost of Living”.
Since the Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Workers’ Party voted in 2022 against the GST hike to 9%, they have proposed several alternative revenue channels for the government to consider, including higher taxes on alcohol, carbon and tobacco, a wealth tax on the top 1% as well as a higher effective corporate tax rate for MNCs. In addition, the WP proposes to exempt basic food items and other essential goods from GST.
They are also proposing “tiered pricing” for electricity and water usage to lower bills for households who are already consuming less utilities.
The Workers’ Party also calls for Parliament to form a Standing Parliamentary Committee on the Cost of Living, to “ensure greater transparency and accountability” when addressing the issue.
One of the WP’s proposals catering to seniors include lifting the cap on MediSave use for those over 60, as those with chronic conditions that don’t fall under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) are currently paying for treatment out-of-pocket.
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Progress Singapore Party (PSP)
Like the Workers’ Party, the Progress Singapore Party also focuses on the cost of living in the first section of their manifesto entitled, “Progress for All”. When it comes to GST, PSP are more explicit than the WP in their push to reduce it to 7%. They also go into more detail about exempting basic essential goods from GST, by proposing price thresholds for GST exemption. This will prevent “the wealthy” from “taking advantage of and benefiting from GST exemptions”, since “the wealthy are less likely to purchase the cheapest versions of essential items”.
They also propose that basic MediShield Life and CareShield Life premiums should be paid for by the government, considering how MediShield Life premiums are expected to increase by “an average of 22% per policyholder by end-2028”.
For parents and grandparents who are not working, but are full-time caregivers of children, PSP proposes a government-paid allowance of $1,250 monthly, including CPF contributions to one registered caregiver.
Red Dot United (RDU)
The Red Dot United manifesto, entitled “First Class Citizens, Fairer Singapore” aims to “build a Singapore where every citizen feels valued”. To that end, they propose, among other things, a Citizens Dividend.
This Citizens Dividend is an “unconditional cash transfer” which acts as a “financial safety net for all Singaporeans”. Though not specified anywhere in the manifesto, RDU has revealed that it’s $200 a month through media interviews.
RDU has no specific proposals for retirees.
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People’s Alliance For Reform (PAR)
A political alliance of 3 political parties formed less than 2 years ago, the People’s Alliance for Reform has an extremely simple manifesto titled “A Better Singapore for All”.
Their proposal to reduce cost of living in Singapore is to implement “price controls on necessities such as food, healthcare, and transportation”, “expand subsidies” for low-income families, students and the elderly, and “advocate for higher minimum wages”.
PAR’s manifesto does not go into further detail about the specifics and has no specific proposals just for retirees.
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
The Singapore Democratic Party puts out policy papers to complement their manifesto. They propose reducing the GST to “7% or even 5%” and scrapping GST for everyday essentials.
They also propose an increase in social spending for the elderly, including assisting “80% of low-income elderly with $500 a month to supplement their CPF”. SDP also repeats their constant call to abolish the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme, and for CPF savings to be returned to retirees should they wish.
People’s Power Party (PPP)
The manifesto of the People’s Power Party places their cost of living policy proposals under the header “Retirement Inadequacy”, with a focus on alleviating the “financial burden” of the elderly.
Their proposals include “essential items and services such as fresh food, groceries, water supply, healthcare services and products should be exempted from GST”, as well as pushing for MediShield Life premiums to remain the same, “especially for retirees”.
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National Solidarity Party (NSP)
The National Solidarity Party manifesto “Your Future, Our Priority” has 12 sections, one of which is titled “Affordable Living, Secure Lives”.
Proposed policies include zero GST on “essential life items and baby supplies”, a “Public Transport Rebate+” that expands fare discounts for “seniors, students and low income riders”, with the “ultimate goal of free transport for seniors, physically challenged and children up to 16 years old”.
For retirees, they propose an “Opt-In Retirement Access Plan” allowing seniors to draw down CPF “for essential needs”.
Singapore People’s Party (SPP)
The Singapore People’s Party manifesto is titled “It Is Time” and has several proposals pertaining to cost of living. These include distributing government budget surpluses as CDC vouchers, a GST freeze and implementing a living wage of $1,500 monthly.
For retirees, their proposals include subsidising tele-health consultations for the elderly and low-income groups and raising Medisave withdrawal limits to $1,200 annually.
Singapore United Party (SUP)
The new kid on the block, the Singapore United Party’s manifesto can only be found on Facebook. Among their policy proposals, SUP is unique in proposing that primary school education be made free for all, and free medical care for children 14 and under.
For retirees, SUP proposes “greater flexibility” in accessing CPF funds after retirement, and free medical care for those aged 67 and above.
Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA)
The Singapore Democratic Alliance manifesto “Make Change Happen” has one main proposal addressing cost of living – setting up a “Family Care Account” which will “offer sustained support for working class and sandwiched families”. They propose that the government gives a monthly grant via the account, which can then be used to “pay for healthcare and caregiving expenses”.
The SDA manifesto does not have any policies specifically for retirees.
Independents
This General Election 2025, there are two independent candidates contesting in two separate constituencies. Both of them have published manifestos.
Radin Mas SMC candidate Darryl Lo Kar Keong doesn’t have any specific policy proposals to address the cost of living issue.
Mountbatten SMC candidate Jeremy Tan has a comprehensive list of policy proposals. However, none of them directly address cost of living.
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