As the names of new PAP candidates emerge, some people have been asking what's the relationship between The National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the ruling party. At least six new faces come from NTUC.
The PAP describes it as a symbiotic relationship. But many people are not comfortable with the idea of the labour movement being wedded to the ruling party.
In most other democratic countries, workers have the right to carry out strikes in support of their demands over better wages and working conditions. But in Singapore such right is severely limited by law, thanks to the ruling party.
When there is a conflict of interest, the PAP MPs from NTUC will naturally support the ruling party, not the workers.
Flooding Singapore with foreign workers have depressed wages but since it's government policy, labour MPs have adopted a Silence is golden policy.
It's extraordinary that the Secretary-General of the NTUC is also a Cabinet Minister. Uniquely Singapore?
