GE2025 electoral boundaries announced: 15 SMCs and 18 GRCs

Extensive changes to electoral boundaries due to population shifts; number of MPs raised from 93 to 97

By Linette Lai, The Straits Times, 12 Mar 2025

Major changes ahead of Singapore’s next general election will see the creation of one more group representation constituency and an additional single-seat ward, bringing the total to 18 GRCs and 15 single-member constituencies.

The number of elected MPs will increase to 97, up from 93 now.

The revisions will see electoral boundaries change in 22 out of the current 31 constituencies.

The release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) report on March 11 marks a major step on the road to the next general election, which is expected to be held in the first half of 2025.

Explaining its recommendations, the EBRC said in its report that voter numbers have grown significantly in Pasir Ris-Punggol, Sembawang and Tampines GRCs, as well as the single seats of Hong Kah North and Potong Pasir.

This is largely due to population shifts and new housing developments in these areas, it said. Voter numbers in each of these constituencies have increased by more than 10,000 since GE2020.

Revisions to electoral boundaries in these areas had knock-on effects on boundaries in some surrounding constituencies, the EBRC said.

With the latest changes, the number of four-member GRCs will grow from six to eight, while the number of five-member GRCs will go down from 11 to 10.

One key change is the creation of a new four-member Punggol GRC. It will take in Punggol West SMC and parts of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, which will shrink into a new four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.

Five SMCs have been taken off the map, while six new ones have been added. The single seats removed are: Bukit Batok, Hong Kah North, MacPherson, Punggol West and Yuhua.

The new SMCs have mostly been carved out of existing GRCs. They are: Bukit Gombak, Jalan Kayu, Jurong Central, Queenstown, Sembawang West and Tampines Changkat.

Three polling districts in Tampines West, east of Bedok Reservoir, have been moved from the opposition-held Aljunied GRC to Tampines GRC.

Sengkang GRC, which is also held by the Workers’ Party, is among nine constituencies to see no changes to electoral boundaries. The other eight are Bishan-Toa Payoh, Jalan Besar, Marsiling-Yew Tee and Nee Soon GRCs; as well as Bukit Panjang, Hougang, Marymount and Pioneer SMCs.

An estimated 2,753,226 voters will head to the polls in 2025, an increase of 101,791 from GE2020.

The EBRC submitted its report to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on March 7. Its recommendations have been accepted by the Government, the Elections Department (ELD) said on March 11.

Significant changes have been made in the east and west of Singapore, where the fiercest electoral battles are expected to be fought.

In the east, the new Pasir Ris-Changi GRC will be formed by merging parts of Pasir Ris-Punggol and East Coast GRCs.

East Coast remains a five-member GRC. However, it will take in 15 polling districts from Marine Parade GRC – mostly flats in Chai Chee and private estates in Siglap. The constituency was hotly contested by the People’s Action Party and WP in 2020, with the ruling party eventually winning 53.39 per cent of the vote.

A new five-member Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC will absorb the single seat of MacPherson. It will take in two polling districts from Potong Pasir, where many new flats have been built in the Bidadari area, and parts of the existing Marine Parade GRC and Mountbatten SMC.

In the west, the new five-member West Coast-Jurong West GRC will take in estates from neighbouring Jurong West and Taman Jurong, which are in Jurong GRC.

Estates in Dover and Telok Blangah, which are part of the existing West Coast GRC, will be absorbed into Tanjong Pagar GRC. West Coast GRC saw the closest fight in 2020, when the PAP won with 51.69 per cent of the vote against the Progress Singapore Party.

Meanwhile, a new five-member Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC will take in polling districts from the existing Jurong GRC, as well as parts of three SMCs which have been taken off the map – Bukit Batok, Hong Kah North and Yuhua.

The EBRC, made up of five senior civil servants, was formed seven weeks ago on Jan 22. It was directed to keep the average size of GRCs, the proportion of MPs elected from SMCs, and the average ratio of electors to elected MPs, about the same.

The average number of MPs in each GRC will be 4.56, down from 4.65. In the coming general election, there will be approximately 28,384 voters per MP, compared with 28,510 now.

And about 15.5 per cent of MPs will be elected from single-seat wards, compared with 15.1 per cent at the last election.

The next big step will be when Parliament is dissolved and the Writ of Election issued. The writ sets out a date for Nomination Day, when candidates confirm the constituencies in which they will stand.

Nomination Day will likely be followed by the minimum nine-day campaign period and Cooling-off Day – when campaigning is banned – before Polling Day.

In the past four general elections, the time between the release of the EBRC report and Polling Day has ranged from two to four months.

In a Facebook post, PM Wong acknowledged that the report had been submitted.

“The next milestone will be to update and certify the Registers of Electors, before the elections are called later,” he said.

Political observers noted that it is the first time in several decades that the EBRC has laid out reasons for its decisions. Past reports since the 1990s have typically set out boundary changes with little explanation.

The committee may have done so in response to calls for greater transparency on how it works, they suggested.

In a statement, the PAP said its branches and activists will make the “necessary adjustments” to prepare for the general election.

“Meanwhile, residents can continue to seek assistance from their existing PAP branches,” it added.

Party branches will continue to listen to residents’ feedback, understand their needs, and act on their behalf to improve their communities, it said.

GST hike did not ‘turbocharge’ inflation, says PM Lawrence Wong as he acknowledges cost-of-living concerns

Budget 2025 Debate Round Up Speech

This Government will always uphold fiscal responsibility, says PM Lawrence Wong

By Wong Pei Ting, The Straits Times, 1 Mar 2025

The PAP Government will never take risks with Singaporeans’ lives and their future – this means ensuring that it keeps public finances healthy year after year and spending within its means, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

PM Wong also cautioned against attempts to portray a healthy surplus as somehow detrimental to Singaporeans as he addressed criticism from opposition MPs about poor budget marksmanship.

“Let’s try not to put a wedge between the Government and the people... A strong fiscal position for Singapore is not at the expense of Singaporeans,” he said. “In fact, it benefits Singaporeans in so many ways, because we are able to invest more in Singaporeans.”

In an hour-long speech wrapping up the Budget debate on Feb 28, he also responded to the opposition’s suggestion that the Government had raised the goods and services tax earlier than it needed to, given an expected surplus of $6.4 billion for financial year 2024, compared with the $778 million that had earlier been projected.

Singapore is in a strong fiscal position today precisely because it took the necessary steps early in this term of government to raise revenues ahead of expected structural spending needs as the population ages, said PM Wong.

While the Republic was fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, it could already foresee spending needs going up on the horizon.

“This was 2020, 2021 – we had no way of knowing when the pandemic would end, how the virus would mutate, how many more new waves of infection would we face, how many more restrictions we have to impose, and how much deeper a fiscal hole we would end up with,” PM Wong said.

The authorities made the decision to proceed with the GST increase in Budget 2022, accompanied by enhancements to a package to delay the increase for most Singaporean households, when there were signs that the economy had stabilised.

“We must ask ourselves, do we want short-term populism or long-term stability?” PM Wong asked. “Do we want to kick the can down the road or take the hard but necessary decisions?”

With the GST increase in place, the Government has the additional revenues – mostly from those who are better off, foreigners and tourists – that it needs to improve healthcare infrastructure and take better care of seniors, he said.

Were it not for the GST hike, and unexpected upsides in corporate income tax collections, FY2024 would have ended in deficit, as would projections for FY2025, he added.

“That would have meant less funding for essential services, less support for our seniors and fewer resources to invest in our future,” he said.

“Basically, Singapore and Singaporeans would have ended up in a much weaker position.”

PM Wong refuted Leader of the Opposition and Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh’s proposition that the GST hike had “turbocharged” inflation.

As Singapore is a small and open economy, inflation was driven primarily by global factors, such as war and supply chain disruptions, said the Prime Minister.

In the two years when GST was raised, price increases actually moderated, from 6.1 per cent in 2022 to 4.8 per cent in 2023 and 2.4 per cent in 2024, he pointed out.

He noted that in most countries, poor budget marksmanship refers to when governments severely overestimate revenue collections and underestimate expenditures.

This results in unfunded promises that a country cannot keep, because there is not enough money. Alternatively, it borrows to meet these commitments, thereby leaving a growing burden for the next generation.

This is not the case in Singapore, as the Republic practises responsible and prudent budgeting, PM Wong said.

Earlier in the debate, Mr Singh had called the Government’s fiscal projections “so unpredictable, but somehow always so healthy when elections have to be called”.

This point was echoed by Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai, who said that “so much pain” had been inflicted on Singaporeans by the decision to raise GST in 2023 and 2024.

PM Wong said that, ultimately, it was not a matter of marksmanship, but a question of right or wrong fiscal principles.

“The WP and the PSP may think that we are being overly cautious in our projections, but this Government will never take risks with Singaporeans’ lives and future,” he said.

This includes raising revenues should new spending needs arise, he added.

On the charge by opposition MPs that the Government had been relying on temporary measures such as vouchers to deal with cost pressures instead of making structural reforms, PM Wong said that cost-of-living support and the SG60 package accounted for just 5 per cent of the Budget.

A far larger part of government spending is in structural programmes such as SkillsFuture to empower Singaporeans through skills and job training, he said.

“This will ensure Singaporeans do not just receive help, but are able to stand on their own feet and seize better opportunities for themselves and thrive in a rapidly changing world,” he said.

Objectively speaking, this has helped Singaporean households across different income levels achieve higher real income growth in the past decade than countries like the United States and Japan, he added.

For instance, the bottom 20 per cent of households here saw their wages rise 3.6 per cent per annum between 2013 and 2023, compared with 2.1 per cent in the US and minus 1.6 per cent in Japan.

Singapore’s fiscal approach has also stood it in good stead – while many countries use their tax revenues to service interest payments, the Republic instead receives an annual boost from its investment returns.

“Countries that have this luxury of investment returns are the ones that are endowed with oil and gas or some other natural resources – they have been blessed by the heavens with these endowments,” PM Wong said.

‘We have nothing, and yet we are in this position. It is truly unique, and it is a Singapore miracle.”

Singapore’s fiscal strength is a vital source of competitive advantage in these turbulent times, which look likely to get worse, said PM Wong.

He flagged the ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the possibility of conflict in Asia.

Today’s environment means global responses to these threats will sadly not be as well coordinated or effective as before, he added.

“But in Singapore, we know that if such shocks were to arise, we have the ability to respond swiftly to them, like we did during Covid-19,” he said.

“Our reserves and our fiscal strength will enable us to protect Singaporeans when it matters, and to turn adversity into opportunity.”

In a Facebook post in the evening, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore must continue to spend prudently, so that it can tackle and recover from future challenges swiftly, as it did with Covid-19.

Reflecting on SG60 – the country’s 60th year of independence – SM Lee said the country’s strong fiscal footing has been built through the careful stewardship of the earlier generations. He said: “It gives us confidence to move forward sustainably, so that future generations can enjoy the fruits of Singapore’s progress.”

PM Wong said the Government’s approach has also achieved outcomes that reflect Singapore’s values as a society – one that is fair, prudent and progressive, where the better off contribute more to lift up those with less.

For instance, the bottom quintile of households receives $4 in benefits for every dollar of tax paid, while the top quintile of income earners receives 30 cents.

“There is no fiscal system in the world that can deliver perfect precision and equity. But I think we have found an approach in Singapore that works for us,” he said. “It’s not perfect, but we continue to make it better.”

At the end of the day, PM Wong said, Singaporeans will decide whether they prefer a government that underestimates needs and spends more from the reserves, leaving the country weaker, or one that steadfastly upholds fiscal responsibility and discipline so that current and future generations have the resources to handle unexpected challenges.

“We will continue to do our best to convince Singaporeans that ours is the right approach. It has served us well these last 60 years, and it will continue to keep Singapore on the right track in the years ahead,” he said.

Singapore Budget 2025: Onward Together for a Better Tomorrow

PM Lawrence Wong unveils bumper SG60 Budget for all Singaporeans

By Goh Yan Han, The Straits Times, 19 Feb 2025

Every Singaporean will receive something from Budget 2025, from vouchers for all adults to personal income tax rebates, as part of an SG60 package.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Feb 18 unveiled what he termed “a Budget for all Singaporeans”, which includes expanding existing schemes to benefit more citizens and greater support for seniors as well as the vulnerable.

He also set out measures to grow Singapore’s economy, help workers upskill and meet its green targets.

The broad suite of measures announced tally up to a record $143.1 billion, an increase from the $134.2 billion spent in the 2024 financial year.

This is about 18.7 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product, and is in line with projected trends for government spending that is expected to reach about 20 per cent of GDP by 2030.

The moves are financed by changes to the tax system made earlier in this parliamentary term that put Singapore “on a stronger fiscal footing”, and larger-than-expected revenue collections.

Corporate income tax collections were more than expected in the 2024 financial year. This is now the single largest contributor to total government revenue, higher than the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC), said PM Wong as he set out the Government’s fiscal position. The NIRC refers to the returns on investments of Singapore’s reserves.

He expects a surplus of $6.8 billion, or 0.9 per cent of GDP, for the 2025 financial year.

“When Singapore thrives, every citizen benefits,” said PM Wong, who is also Finance Minister.

“Every Singaporean is supported from birth to old age, with more support given to those with less. No one is left behind.”

PM Wong said the Budget was “shaped together with all Singaporeans”. It lays out the second instalment of plans on the Forward Singapore agenda, which seeks to keep society strong and united.

He noted that Singapore has to navigate a turbulent external environment, with the US and China locked in a fierce contest for global supremacy. Despite the global uncertainties, the Republic can look ahead with a degree of confidence as it is far stronger than it was 60 years ago, he added.

Noting that 2025 marks the country’s 60th year of independence, PM Wong said: “It has been a remarkable journey, reflecting the grit and resilience of generations of Singaporeans in building our nation.”

Something for all Singaporeans

He announced a new SG60 package to recognise the contributions of all Singaporeans and share the benefits of the nation’s progress.

In July, all Singaporeans aged 21 to 59 will receive $600 in SG60 vouchers, while those aged 60 and above will get $800. These vouchers, amounting to about $2 billion, will function like the CDC ones.

Under the package, individuals will also get a 60 per cent personal income tax rebate, capped at $200, for the 2025 year of assessment.

All Singaporean babies born this year will get an SG60 Baby Gift, PM Wong added, among other measures in the package.

The hotly anticipated Budget, which comes ahead of an upcoming general election widely expected by mid-year, also tackles top-of-mind issues for Singaporeans such as cost-of-living pressures and job insecurity.

To alleviate rising costs, PM Wong announced another $800 of CDC vouchers for all Singaporean households, totalling about $1 billion. The first $500 will be given out in May 2025, while the remaining $300 will be issued in January 2026.

He also announced more utility rebates and credits for families with children to defray household expenses.

While inflation is expected to ease further in 2025, PM Wong acknowledged that Singaporeans are still adjusting to new price realities. “We will continue to provide support for as long as needed, within our means,” he said.

To help parents who have or plan to have three or more children, PM Wong detailed a new Large Families Scheme.

The scheme will disburse $16,000 to such families for each third and subsequent child born from Feb 18, and help to cover pre-school and healthcare expenses, as well as household spending.

PM Wong also announced that several schemes will be extended to private property owners, including the climate vouchers programme that all Housing Board households can currently tap to buy energy- and water-efficient household appliances.

HDB households will get an additional $100, on top of the $300 they received last year, while households in private properties will get $400 in climate vouchers.

The Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) scheme that provides subsidised senior-friendly fittings and installations in HDB households will be extended to private property households up to 2028, said PM Wong.

Supporting workers, securing the future

While the Government has taken measures to mitigate the impact of rising costs, the best way in the longer term to adjust to higher prices is to grow the economy and increase productivity, he said.

Dedicating a significant portion of his Budget speech to new moves to grow the economy, he announced more funding for research and development and a new $1 billion fund to provide more financing options for high-growth local enterprises.

At the same time, workers must be equipped with the skills needed to stay competitive and relevant, said PM Wong.

He said that the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, announced in 2024 to support mid-career Singaporeans who are upskilling full-time, will also be extended to part-time training.

The Workfare Skills Support scheme, which currently covers short courses for lower-wage workers, will have an enhanced tier of support that covers longer-form courses, he added.

The Prime Minister also outlined measures to support more vulnerable groups of workers, including older workers, former offenders looking to reintegrate into society, and people with disabilities.

PM Wong said the Budget also lays the groundwork for the country to become stronger and more resilient.

It includes measures to tackle climate change, like a $5 billion top-up to the Coastal and Flood Protection Fund. The fund covers long-term plans such as land reclamation for Long Island and structures like sea walls and tidal gates.

Singapore will need to have its own domestic sources of clean power to ensure greater energy resilience, PM Wong said, adding that the country will study the potential deployment of nuclear power and take further steps to systematically build up capabilities in this area.

Apart from plans to access more sources of clean energy, the Government will accelerate efforts to decarbonise the transport sector, he said.

It will roll out a new emissions scheme and electric charging grant to incentivise the purchase of clean energy variants of heavy vehicles. Adoption of such vehicles has been slower compared with that of electric and hybrid cars.

Singapore will continue to improve its public transport system, said PM Wong, noting that $60 billion will be invested in this decade to grow and renew the rail network.

“We are continuing to study how our rail network can be expanded,” he added.

Concluding his speech, PM Wong said Singaporeans have to brace themselves for new challenges in the next phase of nation building.

The country has confronted tough external circumstances repeatedly over the past six decades, and “we can draw confidence from what we have been through together”, he added.

At every turn, Singaporeans have chosen determination over despair, innovation over stagnation, and solidarity over division, said PM Wong.

“Budget 2025 sets out clear plans for us to continue this journey with confidence.”

CPF system geared to meet retirement needs as people live longer: PM Lawrence Wong

In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong discussed how the system has evolved and how the Government will continue supporting the housing, healthcare and retirement needs of Singaporeans throughout different stages in their lives. Here is an edited extract of his interview.

The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2025

Zaobao: What makes the CPF (Central Provident Fund) system unique, and how has it helped our CPF members?

PM Wong: Our CPF system has been improved and enhanced over many years and decades. The system we have today is very different from the one that we started with, or even the one that was in place 20 or 30 years ago. And there are several unique features in our system.

In some countries, they have what you call a defined benefit scheme. So when a person retires, they get a defined payout after retirement, and that funding is supported by taxpayers. It sounds very attractive, but it can be difficult to sustain because with a rapidly ageing population, it means that there will be fewer taxpayers to support a rapidly growing pool of seniors. And then the burden continues to grow, which is why commentators looking at some of these pension systems describe it as a pension time bomb. And there are no very good solutions. People are just kicking the can down the road.

In some other countries, they do not have comprehensive support for individuals, and they ask the individuals to rely more on their own efforts to save and look after their own retirement. But that is also not ideal because then the burden on the individual is considerable. So, our system is unique because it brings together different stakeholders, individuals, employers and the Government. We all do our part, and it reflects our social compact in Singapore.

We want to help one another, and it means, within our CPF system, the individual contributes, saves part of their income every month into their CPF account. Employer pays CPF, but the Government also does its part. We run the entire system for CPF, we provide guaranteed risk-free interest rates on CPF savings. And importantly, we provide additional support for the more disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in different ways, and by all parties coming together, we have a CPF system that can look after individuals’ retirement, housing and healthcare. And that’s also quite unique.

While the system is primarily designed for retirement, it is a system that has also enabled Singaporeans to take care of their own healthcare needs. They can use their MediSave for hospital bills and also for payments of their insurance premiums. As they start work and they want to set up a family, they can use their CPF for housing. Eventually, when they retire, they have CPF Life to take care of their retirement needs. So this is how we have over the years improved and enhanced considerably our CPF system. It is now a critical pillar in our social safety net. But of course, while it is a good system today, we are not resting on our laurels. We will continue to improve and enhance it, and make sure it remains a critical plank in our social security system, and can meet the current and future needs of all Singaporeans.

ZB: PM, you talked about Singaporeans living longer, so this means that they will need more funds for their retirement years. Some are worried that they may not have enough to support their golden years. How is the Government responding to this?

PM Wong: This is an issue that many countries are grappling with, especially those with rapidly ageing populations. And there are no easy answers. Because as the population ages and you have more seniors to look after, then whatever funds you have for retirement must stretch out for a much longer period.

The challenge is how do you look after people who are living longer? And in the end, the answer is that you need more funding. But the big question is who pays for the funding? We have been grappling with this issue for some time because we could see the trends. Even 20, 30 years ago, we could already see the trends. And we have been grappling with this.

When Singapore started out in the 1960s as an independent country, our average life expectancy was about 60-plus. People retired in their 50s, and they just needed to look after about 10 years of retirement. Nowadays, average life expectancy is around 85. And if you drill into the data, you have more and more people who are living beyond 90, even beyond 100. Our number of centenarians is growing rapidly. So when you retire, you have quite a long period of retirement to look after and to ensure that you have enough funds for your retirement years. What is the answer, then? How do we help everyone ensure that they have peace of mind during retirement?

I think there are two parts to it. One is we have to be prepared to stay employed and work longer. And that’s why we have been talking about raising the retirement age and the re-employment age for some time. Today, our retirement age is 63, the re-employment age is 68, which means employers must be prepared to offer the seniors a re-employment contract to work up to 68. And we have shared that we plan to raise this to 65 and 70 by 2030.

But we also know that it’s not easy for people, for older workers, to stay employed. And so we are not leaving Singaporeans to fend for themselves. It’s one major reason why we are investing so much in SkillsFuture, and we want to make sure that we continue to reskill and upskill our older workers, give them a substantial injection of new skills so that they can stay competitive and relevant.

And of course, all of us must start to change our mindsets and attitudes. Because in the past, it was very simple. Study, work – and often the work involves one career, one job – and then they retire. I think with longer lifespans, we have to be prepared for studying, but you are in fact going to continue learning throughout life, and your work will have multiple phases. Even if it’s one industry, you may have different kinds of job responsibilities, and very often it will be different industries, different seasons, different second, third acts in life, before you eventually retire. And SkillsFuture is there to support Singaporeans through these different phases. That’s one important way in which we help.

The second way we help is when someone retires, for example at 65, you want to ensure that their retirement savings can go on throughout their lifetime no matter how long they live. So we have CPF Life, which we implemented some time back, and this provides an annuity payout for the individual’s lifetime. And if you have your Basic Retirement Sum at 55 in 2025, by the time you are 65, you should be able to get a CPF Life payout of around $900 a month on the Standard Plan (in 2035). If you are able to work in a job that pays more, and you accumulate the Full Retirement Sum, the payout will be higher at around $1,700 a month (in 2035).

So it’s a scheme that allows you to design payouts, provide some flexibility. You can decide how much you want to save, and you can design the payouts to suit your own lifestyle and needs. What we want to do is to assure every Singaporean that so long as you make the effort, you work consistently throughout your lifetime – it doesn’t mean that you have to work every single year, but as long as you put in consistent work, and if you start young – by the time you get old and you want to retire, you should have enough protection through the CPF system to provide for your retirement. That’s our assurance to all Singaporeans.

Singapore and China chart next lap for 30-year-old Suzhou Industrial Park

SM Lee Hsien Loong at the Suzhou Industrial Park 30th Anniversary Commemorative Event on 25 November 2024

It would be myopic to “write off China”, says SM Lee.

By Joyce ZK Lim, China Correspondent, The Straits Times, 26 Nov 2024

Singapore and China inked a 10-year blueprint for their flagship Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) project, as Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong underscored the city-state’s continued confidence in China’s future despite the challenges it faces.

Over the next decade, both countries will grow emerging sectors such as green development, the digital economy and biomedical sciences, with upcoming projects that will help the 30-year-old SIP stay relevant and attract investments from China and beyond, he said in Suzhou on Nov 25.

Speaking at a forum attended by more than 200 government and business leaders, including Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, SM Lee said that even as China faced both domestic and external challenges resulting in slower growth, it would be “short-sighted and unwise” to dismiss the world’s second-largest economy.

China has shown that it can take a strategic perspective, maintaining consistent policies over the long term to ride through transient ups and downs, and Singapore is committed to deepening cooperation with it, including through the SIP, he added.

SM Lee was in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu – on the first leg of a six-day official visit to China – to take part in a day-long series of activities to commemorate the 30-year milestone of the first intergovernmental project between both countries. It is his first time in China since stepping down as prime minister in May 2024 and being appointed as senior minister.

Launched in 1994 when China was reforming and industrialising its economy, the SIP – a brainchild of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Deng Xiaoping – was intended as a platform for China to adapt Singapore’s development experiences to its own context, and for Singapore to develop an external wing to its economy.

The SIP has since transformed from low-lying farmland into a modern integrated township housing high-tech industries. The development, spanning 278 sq km and home to 1.17 million people, has been China’s top-ranked economic and technological development zone for the last eight years.

It grew at 5.9 per cent in 2023, outperforming the national average of 5.2 per cent. Other parks modelled after it have also sprung up across the country.

At a bilateral meeting and lunch between SM Lee and Mr He on the same day, the leaders celebrated the SIP’s successes to date, and expressed confidence that the project would continue to serve as a “pathfinder and model for future bilateral cooperation”, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

The leaders articulated how the SIP had benefited each country in different ways.

Mr He, who is responsible for China’s economic and financial affairs, said to SM Lee that through the SIP, China had gained know-how on cooperating with foreign governments to stimulate business activity, and on promoting the development of industrial parks.

He also told the forum that the SIP was an “important window for China’s opening up”, raking in over 5,000 foreign-invested projects and more than US$40 billion (S$53.8 billion) in foreign investments utilised over 30 years.

SM Lee, who had been involved in the early years of the project, highlighted that Singapore had learnt from China the challenges of operating at scale, and the complexity of developing a project in a transitioning economy.

Singapore’s stake in the SIP – and role in working closely with China to see it to fruition – earned the Republic international credibility, he said. “It also helped build up our reputation all over China, opening many doors for us.”

In addition, the project served as a catalyst for the broader Singapore-China partnership, giving both countries the confidence to launch more intergovernmental projects in Tianjin and Chongqing, he added.

Today, almost a half-century after China embarked on its reform and opening up that ushered in a period of rapid progress, China faces a very different set of challenges, said SM Lee.

In addition to domestic factors that will slow down growth, China also faces a more complicated external environment with geopolitical tensions making conditions everywhere less conducive to growth, he noted.

At home, China has had to contend with a maturing economy, a shrinking workforce, and structural problems such as a property overhang, indebted local governments and weak domestic consumption.

And abroad, heightened United States-China competition, which could sharpen with a second Donald Trump presidency, has clouded the outlook for China’s foreign trade and investments, a key driver of its economy.

“Facing these external pressures and uncertainties, China has placed more emphasis on political, social and national security considerations,” said SM Lee.

“Economic development is still of high importance, but it is no longer the pre-eminent national priority. Policy trade-offs are unavoidable, and will imply less exuberant growth for China,” he added.

Even so, he stressed that it would be myopic to “write off China”, whose population’s determination to succeed should not be underestimated.

The world’s second-largest economy retains considerable capacity to grow, with untapped potential in its workforce as people stay healthy for longer, and as an urbanising population leads to productivity gains, he said.

It also has a highly competitive tech industry with market leaders in sectors from electric vehicles to solar panels.

“In fact, in some industries, Chinese companies have been so successful that it is causing concern to China’s trading partners,” he noted.

Said SM Lee: “Singapore continues to have confidence in China’s future. We believe that a growing and prospering China can and should play a major constructive role internationally – contributing to the prosperity and well-being of other countries, and a stable international order where all countries big and small coexist peacefully together.

“We therefore wish China well in its efforts to transform its economy, integrate into the global economy, and enhance win-win relations with regional partners and other major powers.”

For its part, the SIP would demonstrate China’s continued openness to the world, and its desire to welcome investors, he noted. “In an era of uncertainty and anxiety, it will be a beacon of cooperation and hope.”

In his speech at the forum, Vice-Premier He described the anniversary as marking a “new starting point” as both sides work to attract more investments and develop innovative industries.

Both leaders witnessed the signing of the 10-year blueprint and a separate agreement facilitating digital trade cooperation at the SIP. They also planted a persimmon tree by the park’s iconic Jinji Lake – mirroring a tree-planting that had been carried out at the Singapore Botanic Gardens two weeks prior by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang.

During his visit, SM Lee toured the exhibition centres of two major projects in the biomedical and green development sectors, which Singapore companies are jointly developing at the park.

The first is the China-Singapore Life Sciences Park, or Biosparc, which Singapore’s investment company Temasek is working on with the SIP.

It aims to build on the SIP’s strengths in the biomedical sector, providing research and development centres and manufacturing facilities to advance cutting-edge innovations from drug development and medical devices to artificial intelligence-driven medical technologies.

The park is currently under construction and expected to launch in 2026. It will occupy a total land area of about 21 football fields (116,000 sq m), with an estimated total investment value of about 800 million yuan (S$148 million).

The second is the China-Singapore Green Digital Hub, which Keppel and Surbana Jurong are developing with Sungent Holding Group, a Chinese state-owned enterprise based at the SIP.

The project is positioned as a trailblazer for future net-zero industrial districts in Singapore and China, and a pilot zone for decarbonisation solutions.

It aims to attract industries in the green and digital spheres, in facilities with ambitious sustainability goals that cover the life cycle of the entire industrial district. The project will span 170,000 sq m, and is expected to be completed in 2027.

These new joint projects in the SIP will continue to “strengthen its global relevance and role as a platform for Singapore and China to showcase international standards and contribute to global development”, said Minister-in-charge of the SIP Chan Chun Sing in a statement from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

After wrapping up his programme in Suzhou, SM Lee left for Beijing, where he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend a dinner hosted by the Chinese leader.

Stakes high in GE2025; no guarantee PAP will win and form a stable government, says PM Lawrence Wong

People’s Action Party Awards and Conference 2024

By Kenneth Cheng, Assistant News Editor, The Straits Times, 25 Nov 2024

The upcoming general election in 2025 will be a high-stakes one, and Singapore risks ending up with a much weaker government if there is just a modest swing in popular votes against the ruling party, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Speaking at the People’s Action Party conference at the Singapore Expo on Nov 24, he told party members: “Please don’t think it is guaranteed that the PAP will win and form a stable government.”

In a speech lasting about 40 minutes, the Prime Minister also highlighted the need for Singaporeans to stay united in the midst of trying circumstances beyond the country’s borders, and spoke of the urgency for the PAP to have a fresh crop of younger candidates who can take the nation forward.

He noted that in the 2020 General Election, the opposition had warned Singaporeans against an “opposition wipe-out”.

“Actually, there is no chance of that happening at all,” he said, adding that the opposition in Singapore is here to stay.

There have been opposition MPs in Parliament since 1981, and the Non-Constituency MP scheme guarantees at least 12 opposition MPs in the House, noted PM Wong, who is set to take over as PAP secretary-general. He is now the party’s deputy secretary-general.

“In fact, given the desire for more opposition voices, the bigger risk we face is the loss of a stable and strong and good government,” he said.

The opposition admits it is far from ready to form the Government, he told an audience of about 3,000 PAP cadres, activists and guests.

“They say that partly because they know that Singaporeans will not support them if they openly declare their intention to govern,” he added.

But if more and more voters are persuaded by the opposition’s argument to vote them in so they can oppose the government of the day, “you can be sure that what is now the opposition will soon be the Government”, said PM Wong.

He cautioned that such a scenario would not require a large swing in votes at the next general election, which must be held by November 2025.

A modest swing in popular votes against the PAP, he noted, can lead to very different electoral outcomes, and very possibly the loss of another three or four group representation constituencies or GRCs.

This means the party will lose four or five ministers – or a quarter of the Cabinet.

“We will end up with a much weaker government, with far less ability to solve the problems facing our people and our country at a time when the world is becoming more uncertain and troubled,” he said.

“So, comrades, the stakes in the next election are high.”

PM Wong urged the party to work hard for every vote, to earn the confidence and trust of Singaporeans, win the mandate to govern, and ultimately, serve fellow Singaporeans.

“We know from the last election, and more so in the next election, there are no longer any safe seats,” he said.

“So every resident, every vote counts, and all our efforts matter.”

He noted that the PAP faces a rather unique political challenge, having governed Singapore for 65 years.

It is the party’s desire to keep serving Singaporeans for as long as possible, but he warned that members must never assume they will not see a change in government in their lifetime.