Mocking the low income and poor, PAP-Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Kuik Shiao-Yin told Parliament that the poor are unable to accept the government’s “calmest and most reasonable technocratic” explanation for a 30% water price hike because they are feeling salty.
“The working poor hold full-time jobs and slog to support their families but still cannot seem to break the poverty cycle. Not only do they feel left out, those struggling to make ends meet are left behind by the Government’s calls each year to upskill, internationalise and innovate. This is neither the result of nonchalance nor laziness, but because they’re just busy trying not to drown under wave after wave of new demands, new costs and new changes. To this group, even the calmest and most reasonable technocratic explanation on why a water price hike is justifiable would feel like salt on a wound.”
The PAP government-appointed MP said that the minds of the poor are always “preoccupied” in a negative psyche:
“What preoccupies them is that they don’t have enough, I’ll never have enough and I’m not enough and you don’t care.”
PAP NMP Kuik Shiao-Yin also pointed out that the government has been helpful to the poor with their “welfare”, but the poor are constantly “leaking” money:
“While the slew of handouts — from education subsidies to Goods and Services Tax U-Save Vouchers — were helpful, they are but drops in a constantly-leaking bucket for these families.”
The NMP scheme is part of a legalised corruption enacted by the ruling party to echo the government’s calls, and provide a pretense of Opposition-presence due to the lack of opposition voices in government. NMP Kuik Shiao-Yin’s husband has never served National Service, and his citizenship status is unknown.