The Singapore General Elections (GE) is imminent. Many issues of national importance will be ventilated. The loudest and largest will be heard. Yet, there will be issues, concerns and interests of certain groups of people who often get neglected in the public debates during GE. That’s what this movement seeks to address.

This is a grassroots-initiated petition paper inviting all political parties to respond on concerns which we feel are important but will be insufficiently addressed in the GE debates. If you’re convicted about any of these concerns, sign this petition paper. Why? Because it’s about social justice, about advocating for the marginalised. It’s about making marginal concerns matters of national importance, because they matter to us.

Advocate for the marginalised. Pursue social justice. Sign this petition. 

#GE2015socialjustice

https://www.facebook.com/GE2015socialjustice

Executive Summary

Poverty & Social Mobility

Intergenerational social mobility in Singapore (i.e. children of poor parents moving up in terms of social-economic status) is increasingly limited. More needs to be invested in capability-building of children from disadvantaged families at a young age.

Support for Freelancers

An increasing number of Singapore’s workforce are freelancers. A large number of freelancers are likely to be among the bottom 20% of wage earners. Generally, freelancers face a myriad of issues and support should be provided for their work. Industry culture should be changed, and public awareness increased, in favour of properly valuing freelancers.

Trafficking in Persons (TIP)

Being both a destination and transit country for trafficking, Singapore must do more to counter the growing problem. Proposals include: adopting international standards on the definition of TIP, increased quality training of enforcement officers on identification of TIP victims, allowing all TIP victims on the Temporary Job Scheme, and reducing vulnerability of foreign workers to exploitative practices.

Migrant Workers

Making up close to one-third of our workforce, the welfare of migrant workers cannot be ignored. Common problems they face include food insecurity, poor access to healthcare, exploitative or abusive employment conditions, and social isolation.

Environment & Climate Change

Environmental degradation and climate change will have significant adverse impact on Singapore. Especially vulnerable are the socio-economically less advantaged because they are less financially able to mitigate against such adverse impact. More must be done to address the symptomatic and root problems. A paradigm shift towards a restorative economy is needed.

Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)

Disability is not just an individual matter but a societal concern. With Singapore’s increasingly ageing population, we can expect more elderly PWDs. While steps have been taken to increase the inclusion of PWDs into society, more could be done including increasing accessibility to public institutions and services by way of upgraded infrastructure and special services, incentivizing more employment opportunities for PWDs and schemes to build capabilities of PWDs so as to increase participation and contribution to society.

Check out the full petition paper here. 

Check out a similar paper during GE2011 here.