Dear Singaporeans, and voters of Marsling-Yew Tee GRC, Sembawang West, Sembawang GRC and Bukit Panjang,
The Candidate for Marsiling-Yew Tee, Lawrence Wong, wants us to re-elect him and his under-performing Ministers, MPs and his new inexperienced candidates.
No thanks, Singaporeans are confident to elect representatives who can speak up for them on key issues that matter.
Why?
Not only do the failures of Lawrence Wong create long-term societal, economic, and demographic concerns – they also strike at the heart of our people’s mental health.
His failure to address the real pressures is weighing heavily on the mental health of our people. There are five issues.
One, unfettered immigration. Every day, Singaporeans endure overcrowded trains, packed hospitals, and shrinking public spaces.
This relentless overcrowding drains our quality of life and erodes our sense of belonging.
Two, fierce job competition. With increased immigration and import of foreign labour, it pushes Singaporeans first entering the job market and young adults harder in an environment where wages are pushed down.
Yet, even our best graduates struggle to find secure, decent-paying jobs – and their future prospects are being crushed under a system that brings in more foreign labour but delivers less for Singaporeans.
Three, skyrocketing cost of living. Meanwhile, wages have stagnated and their real value diminished, while food, transport and housing prices continue to climb. For many families, just fighting to stay barely afloat is a challenge.
Four, cyberbullying. One in five of our children has reported being bullied online. And it’s not just children; adults, too, suffer from online harassment, doxxing, and other forms of digital abuse. If you are engaged in speaking for political change, you are harassed online.
And five, the caregiving burdens placed on working adults. The risk of burnout is constant, and many suffer losses in their own career progression, financial stability – simply because they are doing their best to support those they love.
All these five issues and others are creating a deepening mental health crisis in Singapore.
That is why today, I have been asked by the SDP to present our Policy Brief: Nationalising Mental Health Care.
Given the rapid rise in mental health challenges, especially among our youth, the working population and caregivers – the core recommendation is that we need to nationalise mental health care and make it central to our health care system.
When daily life becomes a relentless struggle, when basic needs like affordable housing, job security, and safe public spaces are no longer guaranteed, it breeds constant anxiety, deepens depression and erodes emotional resilience.
- 15% of residents aged 18 to 74 report poor mental health.
- More than one in three Singaporean workers is at high risk of developing serious mental health conditions.
- And alarmingly, 30% of young Singaporeans experience severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress.
Mental health has become such a national problem because there are systematic shortcomings in how we address this problem, where the bulk of mental health services are in the private sector and are unaffordable for ordinary Singaporeans.
Worse still, mental healthcare has not been properly integrated into our national healthcare system, leaving many Singaporeans no option but to seek costly private options they simply cannot afford, or avoid mental health care altogether.
Ong Ye Kung’s Health Ministry has failed to adequately address the issue at hand; and has turned a blind eye to the root causes of this distress.
That’s why Ong Ye Kung has to go.
Singaporeans deserve better. To address this issue head-on, today, let me elaborate on SDP’s National Mental Health Plan.
We call it “Nationalising Mental Health Care”.
This plan serves as a supplementary document to the “SDP National Health Care Plan titled Caring For All Singaporeans.
The plan incorporates feedback and observations gathered by the SDP’s Policy Unit’s direct engagement with residents, revealing the pressing need for comprehensive mental health reforms.
It aims to bring mental healthcare centrally as a critical component of Singapore’s national healthcare plan.
But how can we talk about mental health when the government is pushing policies that increase stress at every level of society?
Unfettered immigration, job competition, cost of living, cyberbullying and caregiving are major pressure points the SDP identified fueling this mental health epidemic:
Yet, while the stresses grow heavier, Ong Ye Kung tells us the situation should be dealt with preventively.
What he fails to see is that the problem is already upon us and has to first be dealt with curatively. Otherwise, how do you deal with a problem that is leading to high suicide tendencies?
Meanwhile, mental health funding remains paltry.
Singaporeans can only withdraw $500 to $700 a year from MediSave for psychiatric treatment – when monthly costs alone can reach $380.
And our system is overstretched, underfunded. There are only 4.3 psychiatrists and 21.86 mental health nurses for every 100,000 people – well below developed nations’ average.
Only 22 out of 26 polyclinics provide mental health services – while private psychiatric clinics, mostly located in Singapore’s downtown, and private counselling services are expensive and above the reach of ordinary people.
The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) believes that mental health is not just about treating the symptoms; it’s about addressing the root causes – which means undertaking structural reforms.
The SDP’s suite of policy papers lays the ground for addressing the following root causes:
- Place limits on immigration and increase support for public infrastructure to catch up with growing user demands.
- Amidst competition from abroad, install a Talent Track Scheme for businesses to provide job opportunities for Singaporean workers first.
- Cost of living controls, lower the GST, including removing GST on essential items and removing land costs from HDB prices.
- Support systems and public awareness campaigns to combat cyberbullying, including trolling of those advocating for political change.
- Undertake healthcare reforms that make healthcare universal, streamlined and affordable, where mental health care is made an essential part of public health care.
But beyond structural reforms, the SDP also recognises the urgent need for specific, targeted measures to address mental health challenges.
These proposals will lead to a national re-prioritisation, bringing mental healthcare as a key component of the national healthcare plan.
One, we will launch sustained, nationwide mental health education campaigns – to break the stigma and promote early help-seeking.
Two, we will build community-based mental wellness centres, with a focus on our youth and young adults – accessible hubs for care, counselling and crisis support.
Three, to tackle the growing problem of workplace stress, the SDP will advocate for formal mental health leave and flexible work arrangements.
Four, we will expand financial support schemes to ease the burden and support of caregivers.
Fifth and finally, the SDP will fight to create and expand more parks and green spaces, giving every Singaporean an accessible place to rest, recharge and find peace amidst the stresses of city life.
The SDP’s National Mental Health Plan is a long-term vision to build a healthier, more resilient Singapore.
Let’s be clear: Singapore’s mental health crisis is not a product of fate.
It is the result of years of negligence, bad policies, and the absence of effective action by the PAP government, Lawrence Wong, and especially Ong Ye Kung when holding the health ministry portfolio – while asking for re-election, side-step the root cause of this mental health crisis confronting Singapore.
The SDP offers something different.
We are committed to building a Singapore
- where mental healthcare is a national priority,
- where mental healthcare services are accessible at the constituency level,
- where the pressures of life don’t drive us to the edge,
- where every individual has the support they need to thrive
- and where the root causes are tackled.
The SDP is ready to lead the way.
Vote SDP. Vote SDP MPs.
We are looking for a strong mandate from you, so we do not have to re-elect under-performing PMs, Ministers, MPs and their entourage inexperienced candidates.
Thank you.
Read SDP’s Policy Brief “Nationalising Mental Health Care” here.