SPP’s Jose Raymond Criticises Govt, Says Their PMD Ban Was Not Well Thought Off

Singapore People’s Party (SPP) newly elected chairman, Jose Raymond, has also waded in to the PMD ban and criticised the government, saying that the sudden overnight ban on PMD shows the government did not care about stakeholder engagement and they will just push on with their policies without really hearing the sentiments on the ground.

In his FB post, Jose Raymond stated that almost 7,000 PMD delivery riders were affected overnight by this sudden ban, as the government had made no effort to engage the riders prior to the policy announcement. The result was the mish mash of solutions offered by MPs, culminating in the government announcing funds to help with the riders. This clearly showed that the policy was not overly thought through, because if they were, then the funding would have been announced together with the policy. Jose Raymond opined that the realisation from the government that they had created a bigger problem after they banned the PMDs only came after the delivery riders came out and stated their rice bowls were gone overnight.

He called on the government to actively engage all stakeholders, be they at the top of the pyramid or the bottom, every time they want to roll out a policy, and not roll it out overnight. He added, “This is all the more important as livelihoods are at stake, and ostensibly among Singapore’s lower income earners, who would be hard done by a sudden shift in policy. For people in this bracket, a loss of income – amounts which may seem trivial to the more affluent – will lead to severe consequences on how they manage their household costs”.

Perhaps the government has lost touch with the ground they are supposed to be helping out with, rolling out policies after policies that will only benefit them.