A 250-strong “Town Hall” meeting in Singapore publicly launched a “People’s Manifesto” on August 3. Green Left’s Peter Boyle spoke to Adi R, a member of Workers Make Possible and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Financial Aid Friends, two of the grassroots organisations that initiated the manifesto project.
Workers Make Possible is an organisation that aims to build worker power in Singapore. It is part of a growing labour movement amongst other worker groups, such as Sick and Tired (collective of healthcare workers), SG Bus Drivers, SG Riders (platform delivery workers) and Makan Minum Workers (food and beverage workers). Its slogan is: “For workers, by workers!”
NTU Financial Aid Friends is a group of students campaigning to improve NTU's financial aid system and reduce barriers to education. Made up of working-class students who are deeply inspired by Singapore's rich history of student movements, it recently won its key demands for better financial aid after a year-long campaign.
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Who initiated the People's Manifesto and what was its objective?
The People's Manifesto was the initiative of a collective of grassroots organisations, workers, students, community groups, researchers, artists, environmentalists and more from various walks of life in Singapore. We wanted to engage with the upcoming general elections [widely expected this year] — when all the political parties put forward their own manifestos — on our terms, by putting forward the key reforms, policies and issues which are the most urgent and alive for the ordinary people of Singapore.
Singapore's increasingly stifling restrictions on free speech, public protest, freedom of information and press freedom have pushed the people of Singapore out of any participation in the creation or discussion of the policies which dictate our daily struggles and livelihoods.
Often, it is the people in power who set the terms for discussion — through feedback sessions, consultations and so on. Very often, we have no idea how our feedback is considered in the final policy decision. Our intention was to return power to the people, by engaging with the policy space on our terms, by penning the Manifesto collectively as the grassroots organisations which intimately know the issues every day people face. We then invited all major political parties to engage with the manifesto.
What is Workers Make Possible's assessment of the response to it and the launch on August 3?
As one of the signatories, and a group which brought together many workers and community members to contribute to the Manifesto, we are delighted at the outpouring of support the Manifesto has received. On August 3, audience members could speak about the issues in the Manifesto to discuss and debate their ideas.
In our political climate, it is difficult to find large enough affordable indoor venues that can pack more than 200 people. To our surprise, more than 250 people packed the room and the town hall was a fantastic demonstration of the exact values the Manifesto espoused: that there is so much wisdom that comes from the commons, and when the people of Singapore are given some space and freedom to speak, incredibly generative and revolutionary possibilities spring forth!
What are the next steps?
This first iteration of The People’s Manifesto is a modest effort, focusing on the most urgent issues that are alive for a wide cross-section of Singapore’s communities. In the years to come, the Manifesto will continue to expand and evolve, through the collective efforts of even more communities and practitioners, and cover areas such as education, law and justice, and international relations.
We hope to continue efforts to communicate the ideas in this year's Manifesto more accessibly through an explainer video series, so that everyone can understand and feel ownership over the process of building onto this collective effort through critique and collaboration!
We want to encourage more grassroots groups and individuals to join The People's Manifesto Team for future iterations, and are excited to help widen the space we have for participation in and ownership over our democracy together.
We are also hoping to engage with political parties in Singapore and engage them in sessions to discuss their responses to the Manifesto. We feel this is a rare opportunity for the people to engage these political parties on our terms, and to see where they stand on the issues closest to our hearts, minds and rice bowls.
Most importantly, we want to keep the spirit and aims of the Manifesto alive. We want to keep building on efforts that return power back to the people and keep pushing for more space for the ordinary people of Singapore to have a say in our democracy, instead of keeping it only to the control of the ruling technocrats and corporate interests.