SINGAPORE: It is a "balancing act" to respect the past but not allow it to constrain Singapore's options for the future, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday (Aug 23) – his 100th day in office.
Mr Wong said in his first National Day Rally speech last week that his team would honour and respect the past by upholding the fundamentals that served Singapore well. However, he added that his team must also be bold, look for better solutions and choose the best way forward for the country.
Elaborating on this during a press conference on Friday, Mr Wong said multiculturalism, an ethos of self-reliance and a focus on families are important values and fundamentals that his team wants to preserve.
"So if we understand what these are, then we don't discard and we retain them, even as we think about making bold changes," he said.
A "clear illustration" of this is how his team thought about unemployment benefits, he said.
"It's something that the government, all this while, for many, many decades, has had reservations about. For good reasons, because we have seen how unemployment insurance in other countries has led to negative effects.
"But it doesn't mean that we cannot do something different in Singapore, appropriately designed for our circumstances and well-designed to minimise the negative effects we've seen elsewhere."
During his National Day Rally speech, Mr Wong introduced a new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme to help lower- and middle-income workers with temporary financial support if they lose their jobs. Job seekers will get up to S$6,000 (US$4,600) over up to six months while they go for training, job matching and career coaching.
"(The scheme) allows us to find that right balance, doing something different, something new. But at the same time, putting in place appropriate conditions that will also require individuals to do their part, to work hard, to get career coaching, to get skills training and job management."
Responding to a reporter's question about how the Budget will be adjusted to accommodate the additional expenses, Mr Wong said: "We will find the budget ... a lot of the initiatives that we are undertaking under Forward Singapore, which I've announced, will require additional resources."
He added that the government had already started thinking about rising expenditure requirements due to aging populations and rising social expenditures, and knew that it would have to put in place tax changes and adjustments to ensure sufficient revenue for the medium term.
"We will make sure that ... all of these new social initiatives that incur additional resources will be met by sufficient revenues in a way that's fiscally sustainable."
Mr Wong also spoke about cost of living concerns as another issue to tackle.
While different schemes such as Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers and U-Save rebates are in place, the government is looking at providing more help for specific groups, such as larger families with young children.
“We are prepared to and we are thinking about how we can provide more help. So we are indeed focused on looking at all of these different segments and thinking of different ways in which we can help them,” he said.
The government is also keeping an eye on inflation, which Mr Wong said has shown some signs of moderation.
He said 2023 was “a difficult year” with high inflation and weak growth of about 1 per cent. Many Singaporeans experienced a drop in real wages, said Mr Wong.
“So we will have to look at the data and what the indicators are with regard to income and inflation this year and next year. And think about how we can put together appropriate help,” he said, adding that the government will do so in Budget 2025.
Reflecting on his first 100 days in office, Mr Wong said his immediate priority was how to take Singapore forward in the next phase of nation-building.
"To do that, I took reference, of course, from the exercise which we had just completed, the Forward Singapore exercise, which indeed set out very clearly our shared ambitions for our next bound.
"One of my key priorities, at the beginning, is to flesh out what Forward Singapore means beyond the slogan ... what does it mean in concrete terms?
"I've tried to do (this) ...over the last few months, since taking over, in different engagements and different dialogue sessions. But the National Day Rally itself was an opportunity for me, for the first time at such a national platform to bring it all together and crystallise it, hopefully in clearer and more concrete terms.
"I hope I have been able to do that but this is not the end of it. As I said, there will be more to come, and we are continuing to work on different issues."
Continue reading...
Mr Wong said in his first National Day Rally speech last week that his team would honour and respect the past by upholding the fundamentals that served Singapore well. However, he added that his team must also be bold, look for better solutions and choose the best way forward for the country.
Elaborating on this during a press conference on Friday, Mr Wong said multiculturalism, an ethos of self-reliance and a focus on families are important values and fundamentals that his team wants to preserve.
"So if we understand what these are, then we don't discard and we retain them, even as we think about making bold changes," he said.
A "clear illustration" of this is how his team thought about unemployment benefits, he said.
"It's something that the government, all this while, for many, many decades, has had reservations about. For good reasons, because we have seen how unemployment insurance in other countries has led to negative effects.
"But it doesn't mean that we cannot do something different in Singapore, appropriately designed for our circumstances and well-designed to minimise the negative effects we've seen elsewhere."
During his National Day Rally speech, Mr Wong introduced a new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme to help lower- and middle-income workers with temporary financial support if they lose their jobs. Job seekers will get up to S$6,000 (US$4,600) over up to six months while they go for training, job matching and career coaching.
"(The scheme) allows us to find that right balance, doing something different, something new. But at the same time, putting in place appropriate conditions that will also require individuals to do their part, to work hard, to get career coaching, to get skills training and job management."
Responding to a reporter's question about how the Budget will be adjusted to accommodate the additional expenses, Mr Wong said: "We will find the budget ... a lot of the initiatives that we are undertaking under Forward Singapore, which I've announced, will require additional resources."
He added that the government had already started thinking about rising expenditure requirements due to aging populations and rising social expenditures, and knew that it would have to put in place tax changes and adjustments to ensure sufficient revenue for the medium term.
"We will make sure that ... all of these new social initiatives that incur additional resources will be met by sufficient revenues in a way that's fiscally sustainable."
Related:
COST OF LIVING CONCERNS
Mr Wong also spoke about cost of living concerns as another issue to tackle.
While different schemes such as Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers and U-Save rebates are in place, the government is looking at providing more help for specific groups, such as larger families with young children.
“We are prepared to and we are thinking about how we can provide more help. So we are indeed focused on looking at all of these different segments and thinking of different ways in which we can help them,” he said.
The government is also keeping an eye on inflation, which Mr Wong said has shown some signs of moderation.
He said 2023 was “a difficult year” with high inflation and weak growth of about 1 per cent. Many Singaporeans experienced a drop in real wages, said Mr Wong.
“So we will have to look at the data and what the indicators are with regard to income and inflation this year and next year. And think about how we can put together appropriate help,” he said, adding that the government will do so in Budget 2025.
FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE
Reflecting on his first 100 days in office, Mr Wong said his immediate priority was how to take Singapore forward in the next phase of nation-building.
"To do that, I took reference, of course, from the exercise which we had just completed, the Forward Singapore exercise, which indeed set out very clearly our shared ambitions for our next bound.
"One of my key priorities, at the beginning, is to flesh out what Forward Singapore means beyond the slogan ... what does it mean in concrete terms?
"I've tried to do (this) ...over the last few months, since taking over, in different engagements and different dialogue sessions. But the National Day Rally itself was an opportunity for me, for the first time at such a national platform to bring it all together and crystallise it, hopefully in clearer and more concrete terms.
"I hope I have been able to do that but this is not the end of it. As I said, there will be more to come, and we are continuing to work on different issues."
Continue reading...