SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday (Apr 27) that he does not fault labour chief Ng Chee Meng or the labour movement for having supported the aborted Income-Allianz deal.

Addressing a point made by Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh on Saturday that not a single labour MP had raised the issue in parliament, Mr Lee said it was understandable why they did not do so, as the deal was initially seen as reasonable by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

But he noted that only one WP MP had filed a parliamentary question about the deal as well. The party also abstained from an Amendment Bill to block the merger.

"If it had been left to the Workers' Party as government, the deal would have gone through because they didn’t oppose it, right?" said Mr Lee at the People's Action Party's (PAP) rally at Fern Green Primary School.

WP had said in a Facebook post in Oct 2024 that the bill undermined legal and regulatory certainty, as it involved changing the law during a major ongoing transaction. While it supports blocking the deal, WP had questioned whether the urgent amendments were truly necessary.

Mr Lee was the last speaker of the night, right after Mr Ng. 

Also present to deliver their speeches earlier in the evening were Ang Mo Kio GRC candidates Darryl David, Nadia Samdin, Jasmin Lau, and Victor Lye, Sengkang GRC candidate Lam Pin Min, Kebun Baru SMC candidate Henry Kwek, and Yio Chu Kang SMC candidate Yip Hon Weng.

Mr Lee noted that Mr Singh, in his criticism of the labour MPs, failed to mention that six non-labour PAP MPs had asked questions about the deal, including Mr Ang Wei Neng, Mr Yip Hon Weng, Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Saktiandi Supaat. 

Only one Workers' Party member filed a question about it, he noted, referring to Ms He Ting Ru. 

"In fact, you don't need the Workers' Party to ask one extra question, right? Six? It covers everything already." 

Mr Lee said that while the government initially agreed with NTUC’s view, it changed its position after conducting further due diligence and reviewing additional details provided by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), ultimately deciding to block the deal by amending the law.

He also said that the government had to openly explain to Singaporeans why the deal was opposed and blocked, as only the government has the authority to take action, and NTUC does not have the power to do so.

"It shows that we are brothers with them, a symbiotic relationship. You make a decision, and I look at it impartially and objectively, afresh. There's no groupthink."

Mr Lee said the Workers' Party had "nothing to do with this" when pushing for the legislation, as they had abstained. 

"Now, you didn't do anything. And you want to tell me that 'vote more of me in so that I can do more for you'? What for? Zero is zero. Two times zero is zero. Ten times zero is also zero," he said. 

On Mr Ng's role in the labour movement, Mr Lee said that while it was unfortunate the PAP had lost Sengkang GRC – and with it, Mr Ng’s parliamentary seat – the union chief showed "grit and a sense of responsibility" by continuing to serve in the NTUC.

"He helped us, and got the unions to help us with his NTUC team to see through the crisis, help workers, train them, support them, encourage them, take care of them," he said. 

"And at the end, we came through. He proved himself reliable, trustworthy, committed."

Mr Lee said he had therefore recommended fielding Mr Ng again in this election, a decision the prime minister agreed with.

"I commend him to you wholeheartedly. I ask you to give him your full support. He will serve you well."

THE INCOME-ALLIANZ SAGA

Mr Ng had publicly endorsed the proposed sale on Aug 5, 2024. The sale, announced on Jul 17, 2024, would have resulted in German insurer Allianz acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Income for about S$2.2 billion (US$1.6 billion).

However, it triggered a public outcry over whether Income would be able to continue its social mission. 

Mr Ng said then that while he fully appreciated and understood the public concern, he noted that NTUC Enterprise – the parent company of Income – had "already put in significant amounts of money into Income over the years" and was unable to "do this on its own".

He also said then that NTUC would remain deeply committed to its social mission, and that NTUC Enterprise would "continue to retain a substantial stake in Income" if the sale went through.

The Singapore government blocked the deal last October, with Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong saying in parliament that it was deemed not to be in the public interest.

This was followed by NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan’s revelation that the NTUC central committee had no knowledge of a S$2 billion capital extraction plan under the proposed deal, due to commercial sensitivities.

Allianz eventually withdrew its offer to acquire Income Insurance on Dec 16, 2024.