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| Tan Jee Say |
The retired minister, among some in the Cabinet, had initially objected to casinos here but relented because of the 35,000 jobs it would create.
But Mr Tan, 57, said yesterday that the jobs could have been created in other areas.
And so the former government scholar, who spent five out of 11 years in the elite Administrative Service as Principal Private Secretary to then Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, marked his entry into politics by launching several critiques against economic policies of a "government that has lost its way and moral compass".
Mr Tan, whom the Singapore Democratic Party unveiled in its second and final batch of candidates, said he strongly advocates Singapore moving away from manufacturing to the services industry but the casino and gaming sector was the "wrong type of services to go into", compared to sectors such as education and healthcare.
Currently an investment adviser, he recently wrote a paper entitled "Creating Jobs and Enterprise in a New Singapore Economy - Ideas for Change", in which he recommended reducing the teacher-student ratio by half, which would double the existing number of 30,000 teachers.
"What is this 35,000 jobs in the casino? Nothing. You just spend five years, S$10 billion, you create 30,000 jobs for teachers. These are noble jobs, good and meaningful jobs, to invest in the future of children. Not the casino jobs (of) dealers and croupiers," he said.
Mr Tan also expressed disappointment that the number of public hospital beds per 10,000 of population had remained constant for 10 years until the addition of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
"How can you run a public health hospital policy without increasing the number of hospital beds when your population increases? Don't you provide for increase in population especially when you have foreigners coming in too?" asked Mr Tan.
He added that increasing the number of hospitals would also add several thousand ancillary jobs in the sector, such as nurses and hospital attendants.
It was his 46-page paper that triggered his entry into Opposition politics.
Despite his criticism on policies, Mr Tan stressed that his decision to stand for elections - made only three days ago, following a final consultation with his father-in-law - does not detract from his "strong sense of friendship" with several ministers, such as Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo and Senior Minister Goh.
He even sent an email to several ministers, informing them of his decision before yesterday's SDP press conference, he said.
He was candid about rejecting offers by the National Solidarity Party to stand in Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) against National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan ("we're both Hainanese") or in Marine Parade GRC ("the Asian tradition of being respectful to your former boss").
When asked how effective he would be if he gets into Parliament, since he was reluctant to stand against friends, Mr Tan said: "Once we achieve in building up a culture of First World politics, they'll know we're running with national interests at heart. But we've not reached there yet. So first round, I'll avoid."
He added that he did not choose to run under the SDP ticket just because of the constituencies they plan to contest, though.
He cited the party's organisation and its use of the Internet for communication. He also agreed with the main thrusts outlined in the party's Shadow Budget, including the call to dismantle Temasek Holdings and privatising companies under it.
