In his speech, Mr Murali gave an example of a speech by a MP during the Budget debate this year, though he did not name who it was or which party the MP came from.
Mr Murali said that the MP highlighted how “costs are spiralling”, causing local businesses not to do well.
On the other hand, Mr Murali said another MP from the same party stated that wages for workers are too low, and should be raised.
“Now, if both messages were saved by the same person, the audience will be confused. If the cost is too high, how can wages be too low? It can, if you are populist,” said Mr Murali.
“One will sound good to SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) bosses, and the other message will sound good to the workers. These are not hard truths, these are half-truths, and they create a house of cards.
“If you really want to make a difference, we would have to make a more nuanced speech. And in this speech, which is admittedly more difficult, we have to realise something, that not all businesses are weak and not all workers are underpaid,” he said.
“So if we identify the weak companies and the workers who aren’t who are underpaid, then we will be able to take steps to resolve the issues, and that’s the right thing to do.”
Mr Murali has previously spoken against populism in Parliament, such as during the Budget 2024 debate, noting at the time that there was bipartisan support from the PAP and the Workers’ Party to stand against populism in Singapore.
