Tan Kin Lian, one of the four presidential candidates, has again expressed his views on the need to acknowledge the contributions of National Service (NS) men.
He proposed separate housing grant programmes for male Singaporean citizens and new citizens.
After completing NS, Tan noted that it is vital to acknowledge their contributions as they still have to compete against foreigners in the job market.
“This can be best done by differentiating the HDB housing grant. Don’t give the same grant to everybody…I’m not against permanent residents and new citizens, but we must treat our male Singaporeans fairly. They are coming out to work in a competitive work environment. They are two years behind everybody, and young people find it very hard to earn enough money to start a family and buy an HDB flat.”
“Those that serve NS should get a bigger housing grant,” he said, adding that he’ll use the veto power if necessary.
“I will use the veto only as a last resort, and only on matters concerning the request to release reserves. I want to make sure the request is broad-based and fairer to all segments of Singapore.”
“If the request is due to economic difficulties, I would like to make sure some of the money goes to help businesses, but some of the money must go to help the people directly. I do not want to use the veto for other purposes.”
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