PAP's approach on difficult issues is to bring all S'poreans together, says PM

Govt tries to forge wide national consensus and continues to expand common ground

- Ng Keng Gene Correspondent and Shermaine Ang

When making policies, the PAP government's approach is to try and bring all Singaporeans together, especially on issues that may accentuate differences between people, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Speaking to reporters after a walkabout in Tampines on April 30, PM Wong said the Government took this approach when handling difficult issues such as the repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code, allowing Muslim nurses to wear the tudung in their workplaces, as well as the Israel-Hamas conflict.

"We try to forge as wide a national consensus as possible on these issues, and to make sure we continue to expand our common ground and bring Singaporeans together, so as not to accentuate our differences, nor to seek to exploit those differences," said PM Wong.

"That is the PAP way," he added. "That is the PAP's DNA. And that is how over the decades, we have been able to bring Singaporeans together, unite our people and forge a much stronger Singaporean identity today, and we will continue to take that approach."

Asked about WP chief Pritam Singh's criticism of the PAP's use of "negative politics", such as by denying opposition MPs access to People's Association (PA) resources, PM Wong characterised this as an issue of policy and not negative politics.

"On policies, I take it that there will always be differences. We can discuss, we can debate robustly even in Parliament - and there is always room to improve," he said.