SINGAPORE – As he laid out plans for Singapore’s way forward, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong stressed that the Government would not take a top-down approach but consult Singaporeans to find solutions.
He was responding to a question at a press conference on the Forward Singapore report, on what he saw as the biggest departures from the way things are being done now, in the new way forward.
“This is more than just an engagement exercise. It’s really a partnership. And that partnership is between Government, people, community groups, employers, businesses. It encompasses our tripartite partnership, but it’s really a whole-of-Singapore partnership,” said Mr Wong, who led the People’s Action Party’s fourth-generation (4G) team in the nationwide engagement exercise.
The 180-page Forward Singapore report unveiled on Friday was the culmination of about 16 months of dialogue.
The report calls for a greater helping hand for groups such as the less well-off, mid-career workers and seniors, through means like additional financial support and improved infrastructure.
It also articulated the mindset shifts required for Singapore to achieve the goals set out, such as for wider definitions of success and a stronger sense of collective responsibility towards one another.
On how the 4G team will prioritise the various moves laid out in the report, Mr Wong said it will look at issues that are more salient and of greater concern to Singaporeans, such as housing and retirement, where changes in policy have already been announced.
It is based on the needs on the ground, the concerns Singaporeans have, and the time needed to introduce and implement changes, he said.
“Most that we have announced are the ones that we have already started prioritising and are implementing. There are other moves that we are discussing and deliberating over. They will take some time. The next milestone will be Budget 2024, where we will be able to flesh out in greater detail some of the other moves,” he added.
He cited two initiatives that will be further elaborated on before the year ends: Age Well SG, a national programme to help seniors age comfortably in place, and ComLink+, which is an enhancement to the existing ComLink programme that supports low-income families living in rental flats.
Another initiative that will see more details in the coming months is the support scheme for the involuntarily unemployed, which will be raised in Budget 2024.
As Singapore enters a phase where more disruptions will impact people’s lives, the Government will have to do more for Singaporeans and provide more assurances, said Mr Wong.
This will require a lot more resources, he noted.
“And so we have to design our policies and programmes carefully, and in a responsible manner. But we think this additional spending will be necessary,” he added.
Mr Wong noted that there is a full agenda of work ahead for the 4G team, the Government and Singapore, who will all have to work together.
“The road ahead will not be easy, but we can draw confidence from what we have been through in Singapore’s history and also from the three years of tackling Covid-19 together,” he added.
“The way in which we have undertaken this Forward Singapore exercise also reflects very much the desire of everyone in the team in how we want to engage and work with Singaporeans.
“It is an approach where we will continue to listen and engage widely and work closely with partners,” he said.
On how the 4G team worked together on the report, Mr Wong said they met as a work group monthly and had very intense discussions.
Beyond the work group meetings, they also met separately to hold deep-dive sessions on specific policies involving various ministries.
“The whole experience, building on top of what we had gone through in the last three years of Covid-19, has really enabled the team to come together very well. We have a much better understanding of each other’s strengths, how we can complement one another as a team and how the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts,” Mr Wong said.
Asked when he would seek a fresh mandate to implement the agenda laid out in the report, he said: “We will announce and you will know all that is to be known in due course.”
