Good evening, fellow Singaporeans.
Thank you for braving the crowds and the weather to join us tonight. To those watching from home across the island, thank you for your interest in our shared future.
My name is Andre Low Wu Yang, and I am your candidate for Jalan Kayu SMC.
Our team #
Look around at the team assembled before you.
We are educators, innovators, advocates, professionals.
We come from all walks of life. Yet we stand together, united by a vision of a more compassionate Singapore.
We are the Workers’ Party team for GE2025.
Why I’m here #
Why politics? Why opposition politics?
For me, it starts with a healthy skepticism, instilled by my parents from an early age. I was taught by them—both teachers—to embrace curiosity. To be bold and question what I was told—even from authority—something I turned back on them quite often!
That bold curiosity led me to leave behind a promising career in law to explore technology. To question if the straight and narrow path was right for me.
That same bold curiosity is what led me to volunteer with the Workers’ Party, back in 2020.
But with my first child due in August, becoming a candidate was an entirely different proposition. How can I be the best father to my daughter, and still give my all to Singapore? But I looked around, and I knew that I could count on my family. My friends. My village.
What also convinced me was remembering those brave explorers who paved the way for us. Mr Low Thia Khiang. J.B. Jeyaretnam. They stepped up when it was unthinkable. They had the iron in them! I have the iron in me!
They laid the foundations for me to step up.
My commitment to you #
Residents of Jalan Kayu and Fernvale, here is my commitment to you.
I will be a dedicated MP. I will be a present MP.
I will listen to your concerns, and advocate for you in Parliament.
I live right next door in Punggol and intend to walk the ground in Jalan Kayu regularly.
My father, a design and technology teacher, taught me to be hands-on. We bonded by changing light bulbs, and fixing leaks.
I will take this same hands-on approach to Jalan Kayu and Fernvale. I set up the Meet-the-People sessions from scratch in Rivervale! If elected, my team and I will do the same in Jalan Kayu. We will hit the ground running from day 1!
What I stand for #
Let me share what I stand for.
First, I stand for making life more affordable for every Singaporean household. Rising prices are squeezing family budgets. The GST increase to 9%, high utility bills, and escalating costs are making life harder. We need practical solutions like exempting essential goods from GST. Tiered pricing for utilities. Free off-peak public transport for our seniors and pioneers!
Second, I stand for supporting younger Singaporeans and families. Housing remains a top concern. We need a clear affordability metric for BTO pricing, to allow singles to apply for flats earlier, and to bring wait times back to what they were decades ago.
Third, I stand for education that nurtures creativity and critical thinking for our youngest minds. We must reduce examination pressure. Cap class sizes. Start schools later so that our children can relax at the end of a school day. And encourage our youth to be bold and explore!
Fourth, I stand for future-ready jobs and skills. In a rapidly evolving economy, Singaporeans need both protection during transitions and support to develop new skills. We need mandatory retrenchment benefits, and improved access to upskilling programs.
Standing up for accountability #
But most importantly, I stand for Singapore. And standing for Singapore means holding those in power to account.
That is why, when Pritam needed someone to step up and contest in Jalan Kayu, I put myself forward.
In July last year, a deal was announced to sell a majority stake in our homegrown NTUC Income to German multinational Allianz. What we did not know at the time was that it included a plan to return $1.85 billion to shareholders—including Allianz itself—within three years.
Despite public assurances that Income’s social mission would be protected, there was little that I could see in the way of concrete legally binding safeguards in the offer.
Remember, Income was built on the backs of ordinary Singaporeans, with a mission to serve our local community and provide affordable insurance to those who could not get it elsewhere. A few years ago, it was allowed to convert from a cooperative to a company with the understanding it would remain committed to this mission. Yet barely two years later, the NTUC was prepared to approve this troubling deal. Even Professor Tommy Koh, the esteemed Professor Tommy Koh spoke out publicly against it!
In August, the NTUC issued a statement supporting the deal, claiming that Income needed access to additional resources to fulfil its social mission. Yet according to NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Desmond Tan’s statement in Parliament on 16 October, the NTUC central committee was unaware of the capital extraction plan until it was revealed in Parliament on 14 October.
Let me ask you this: Is this what we deserve? Is this the leadership we want?
The situation was so serious that the previous administration had to pass emergency laws to block the deal. A deal that the NTUC had publicly endorsed just months before. This despite the NTUC’s close relationship with the PAP.
This is why we need strong opposition voices in Parliament. Because without proper checks and balances, without proper oversight, without people willing to challenge those in power, these kinds of decisions get made behind closed doors. We were so lucky that the NTUC Income-Allianz deal was blocked. We may not be so lucky again.
I promise you this: if elected, I will never plead ignorance. I will never say ‘I didn’t know’ when it comes to matters affecting Singaporeans’ livelihoods and future. I will ask the hard questions before decisions are made, not after the damage is done.
The Singapore I envision and a commitment to serve #
Because I want a Singapore where your voice matters.
A Singapore where progress means everyone moves forward together.
I believe this is the Singapore that you want too.
Residents of Jalan Kayu and Fernvale, I invite you to vote for me, Andre Low, and vote for the Workers’ Party!
Together, let us build a Singapore we can all be proud of.
Thank you.
Photo credit: Thank you Edwin Koo @singaporeson for the cover photo
