Government looking into cost-of-living concerns, taking better care of seniors: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong

100 days as PM: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's press conference with local media on 23 August 2024

Govt studying how to tackle cost-of-living concerns, take better care of seniors: PM Wong

More help for larger families, needs of sandwiched group being explored

By Wong Pei Ting, Correspondent, The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2024

Tackling cost-of-living concerns and taking better care of seniors are two key areas of focus for the Government, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Aug 23.

In a press conference five days after his maiden National Day Rally speech, PM Wong said he is looking into longer-term care for seniors and their housing needs. This is a big issue that will continue to grow as more people age, he noted while outlining what Singaporeans can expect in the months ahead.

Besides helping older seniors who are in their 70s or 80s, there will also be support for their children – younger seniors who are entering or in their 50s and feel “sandwiched” with both ageing parents and children to look after, he said.

On cost-of-living concerns, PM Wong said his Government is looking at doling out more help to specific segments of the population, including those with larger families and more young children, where “costs add up quite quickly”.

Such additional support will add to broad-based schemes such as CDC vouchers, and cost-of-living payouts and U-Save rebates that target the lower- and middle-income groups.

During the press conference at the National Press Centre in Hill Street – PM Wong’s first after he took office as Singapore’s fourth prime minister on May 15 – he said there are different aspects to the cost-of-living issue, which is a major concern.

There are day-to-day expenses such as groceries, food and daily essentials, as well as big-ticket items like housing, he noted.

Asked if the Government will provide more CDC vouchers, given that the $300 in vouchers to be disbursed in January 2025 is less than the $800 given to each Singaporean household in 2024, PM Wong replied: “We haven’t had the 2025 Budget yet. That’s next year.”

PM Wong, who is also Finance Minister, added: “So whether or not there will be more CDC vouchers, I think everyone should just wait and see what is in the Budget announcement.”

The Government will continue to review how best to provide appropriate support, whether through broad-based or targeted measures, he added. “And we will do so in the Budget in 2025.”

At the rally on Aug 18, PM Wong had set out a major reset of policies, which included granting more paid leave for new parents, giving temporary financial help to lower- and middle-income workers who lose their jobs, and updating the Gifted Education Programme.

PM Wong said he had sought to flesh out, in more concrete terms, the aspirations and hopes that Singaporeans have shared during the Forward Singapore engagement exercise.

These are underpinned by two key pillars, he said – a renewed social compact and a refreshed Singapore Dream.

The renewed social compact relates to how all Singaporeans will get support despite their setbacks in life and get a fair shot in life, said PM Wong.

“At the same time, everyone has to do their part, work hard, make the effort to excel and uplift their families,” he said.

“If they do that, the Government will be there to support them every step of the way and help them to get ahead,” he added.

PM Wong said the refreshed Singapore Dream relates to how Singaporeans can find their own paths and not have to compare with one another.

“We can all be the best possible versions of ourselves,” he said. “In other words, we can thrive and flourish on our own terms and in ways that are less prescribed and more open.”

Realising these two shared goals requires a “major reset” of certain policies, attitudes and mindsets, he said.

Besides studying measures to help seniors and to address cost-of-living concerns, PM Wong said, his Government is also looking out for other issues that Singaporeans care about.

This is why regular engagement with Singaporeans is a very important aspect of his work, he added.

Since taking office, he has embarked on visits to several districts across the island. These are “very good opportunities for me to meet residents and to hear first-hand their perspectives and feedback”, he said.

PM Wong noted that he had previously committed to hold press conferences from time to time to share his thoughts with Singaporeans through the media.

He said he thought it useful to hold a press conference at this juncture, to take stock of what his Government has done and what is next on the agenda.

He also said he will continue to hold dialogues with different segments of society, and engage Singaporeans through social media and press conferences such as this one.

These engagements can help everyone see a common picture of why the Government is embarking on certain plans, where the nation is heading towards, and what everyone can do in big and small ways to realise a shared vision, he added.

“This is the commitment from me and my team,” he said.

“We are here to listen to you, understand first-hand your concerns, hopes and dreams, and build a stronger, more meaningful connection with every Singaporean.”

Asked if he had met his priorities after 100 days in office, PM Wong said his key priority after taking over was to think about the new directions that his Government would set to take Singapore forward in its next lap, and what that would mean for Singaporeans.

He took reference from the Forward Singapore exercise, and the rally was where he sought to “crystallise” these shared ambitions in clearer and more concrete terms, he added.

On the foreign policy front, PM Wong said he will, in the months ahead, visit more Asean countries before making trips to the country’s key partners outside of South-east Asia.

He is also set to attend a few international summits, including the Asean Summit in Laos from Oct 6 to 11, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru in November, and the Group of 20 summit in Brazil from Nov 18 to 19.

PM Wong said it is important for him to meet leaders of other countries in his new capacity to establish good personal relations with them, as this will set the tone for Singapore’s overall relationship with those countries.

PM Wong also said he will find future occasions to elaborate on Singapore’s foreign policy and the external environment.

“It’s important for me to engage Singaporeans on these issues because I think everyone needs to understand what’s at stake, especially on critical issues where our collective security and fundamental interests are involved,” he said.

“We must be able to come together as one people, despite our differences and perspectives, and take a common, pro-Singapore position to advance our national interest together.”

The policy shifts and politics of rage in a contested Singapore: DPM Lawrence Wong

In his speech on the President’s Address, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong outlined five key shifts as part of a new social compact. What was equally important was what he said about politics and the role of the opposition.

By Grace Ho, Deputy News Editor, The Straits Times, 19 Apr 2023

A new approach on skills, social support, and caring for seniors.

A new definition of success.

A renewed commitment to one another.

These were the five key shifts Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong outlined on Monday as part of a new social compact, on which discussions are well under way with the nationwide engagement exercise Forward Singapore.

The ideas are not dramatically new, but reinforcing them ahead of the Forward SG report, due in the second half of 2023, will keep them fresh in the public consciousness.

More importantly, what the 4G leadership stands for is finally coming into sharper focus after 2018 when succession first became a hot-button issue, while not necessarily signalling a radical departure in policy.

Mr Wong himself took care to disabuse commentators of the view that the 4G team has shifted to the left. He pointed out that it is not a simple case of characterising positions along the traditional political spectrum of left and right, but appealing to a broad base instead of blindly copying models from other countries.

Take broadening meritocracy, for example. Mr Wong and others such as Education Minister Chan Chun Sing spoke on it during Monday’s and Tuesday’s debate on the President’s Address – and before that, Mr Wong at the launch of Forward SG in June 2022.

But even as far back as in 2013, then Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was already speaking of a broader, “continuous meritocracy”, regardless of one’s academic background, in an interview with The Straits Times.

The proof is in the pudding. The raft of policy changes in the ensuing decade, from doing away with the PSLE T-score, to full subject-based banding and lifetime cohort participation rate, are the clearest realisation of this consistency and continuity in policy and messaging.

Ample hints have been given of other substantive changes in the works. These, too, have their early advocates.

Mr Wong’s mention of a targeted re-employment support scheme is something which labour MPs such as Mr Patrick Tay (Pioneer) have pushed for – the latter when he called for a more permanent scheme following the Covid-19 Recovery Grant, which provided temporary financial support for workers experiencing involuntary job loss and income loss during the pandemic.

More social support for vulnerable groups to ease the financial burden on parents of children attending special education schools and care centres, for example, have been prefaced by recent Budget announcements and championed by both sides of the House, including backbenchers.

“We intend to make this shift in our social strategy so every Singaporean can be confident: In this harsh, unpredictable world, we will have your back, and we will support you,” Mr Wong said on Monday.

Role of a responsible opposition

Amid the policy shifts announced, which have gathered broad support, however, the negativity in the Facebook comments on Mr Wong’s speech gives cause for concern.

Social media draws out the most misanthropic segments of the public. Yet, it is this loathing and distrust of anything the People’s Action Party (PAP) government says and does, displayed among some netizens, which I fear will become increasingly hard to stem.

It is what American political journalist Ezra Klein calls negative partisanship, or being driven not by positive feelings about what you support, but bad feelings towards the party you oppose.

Here, the opposition has a role to play. Mr Wong threw down a challenge on Monday when he said that instead of putting forth opportunistic or populist ideas that chip away at trust in the Government, the opposition should offer a serious alternative agenda and be upfront about the trade-offs and funding.

That might be a bridge too far to cross for politicians with little technocratic policy experience, but there are simple ways in which parliamentary debates can remain constructive and helpful.

As GST goes up, is it time to rethink support from Government?

As prices stay high and Singaporeans get older, some are calling for more government help. But what kind of help do they need, and where should the money come from?

By Grace Ho, Insight Editor, The Straits Times, 1 Jan 2023

For many, getting older stirs mixed feelings of anticipation – finally, retirement! – and anxiety for the future.

With one in four citizens here aged 65 and older by 2030, more Singaporeans will have to grapple with the challenges of living longer, from maintaining job security and health, to caregiving and finances. As seniors become more well-educated and have richer work experience, they, too, are likely to be more vocal about their needs and wants.

How can their expectations be funded sustainably? Is government aid a universal right of citizenship, or should it be targeted at the poor? These and other burning questions were tackled in a recent study on ageing-related policies by researchers from the National University of Singapore.

As part of the study, two workshops were conducted with 82 citizens of different ages and socio-economic backgrounds. Participants took a survey before the first workshop to establish their baseline sentiments on policies, and were surveyed again after the second workshop to measure the change in their opinions.

More help wanted for caregiving and health

When asked how they would make use of an extra $10,000 per person for age-related government policies and programmes, participants cited the following:

• Health ($2,900)
• Caregiving, to help with physical mobility ($1,700)
• Transfer payments to seniors ($1,700)
• Housing ($1,200)
• Social and emotional support ($1,200)
• Transport ($970)

Health and caregiving were top-of-mind. Those in the sandwiched generation were worried about sacrificing their wages and time, should they become caregivers for their elderly family members and children.

They felt that the Home Caregiving Grant – $200 a month in cash to support family members with at least permanent moderate disability – was not enough to tip the balance in making the decision to take on caregiving responsibilities easier.

They also wanted the state to come up with nursing care and broader caregiving arrangements, including those to manage dementia among the growing number of seniors.

Middle-income participants felt they did not have the heavily subsidised support that lower-income households enjoy. Means-testing, they said, is too blunt an instrument, especially for those who are asset-rich yet cash-poor. They proposed assistance that is more attuned to the health rather than socio-economic status of seniors.

What about caregivers whose work is unpaid and invisible? The study suggests that tax reliefs and having caregivers’ savings multiplied through the Central Provident Fund (CPF), compared with just having family members contribute to their personal bank accounts, can move the needle.

Today, the maximum annual tax relief for cash top-ups to family members’ Special/Retirement Accounts and/or MediSave Accounts is $8,000 – not a huge sum considering that some caregivers have to completely give up work, and hence their retirement security, to look after an unwell senior.

One solution is to extend this tax incentive so that caregivers have up to the Basic Retirement Sum for CPF Life, or achieve a payout equivalent to it, said Institute of Policy Studies deputy director for research and senior research fellow Gillian Koh, who is one of the study’s co-authors.

“The difference would be to either remove the current cap of $8,000 or provide more leeway to reach a sensible limit, so that anyone who is a caregiver has that assurance of a basic payout sum from CPF upon reaching 65 years of age,” she said, adding that a more ambitious target could be the Full Retirement Sum.

Depending on whether the support is more generous or restrained, some criteria can be set, such as whether there has been significant disruption to a person’s earnings. More discussion and design work are needed to identify a suitable upper limit for the top-ups. But as Dr Koh pointed out, this is not an insurmountable problem.

Where will the money come from?

At first, the participants’ preferred sources to fund the increase in public expenditure were:

• Corporate tax ($2,200)
• National reserves ($2,100)
• Income tax ($1,600)
• Stamp duty on purchases of property ($1,600)
• Goods and services tax ($1,300)
• Carbon tax ($1,200)

This isn’t surprising; people the world over love taxing corporates and the rich. But what’s interesting is that after they attended the workshops, 15.2 per cent of the participants said the Government should draw more on GST to meet demands for ageing-related social support.

There was a distinct shift in attitudes towards the use of GST when the policy trade-offs – as well as greater help for lower-income households, such as permanent GST vouchers and cash transfers through the Assurance Package – were explained to them.

There’s an educational dimension here: Participants with only post-secondary education were more likely than those with polytechnic diplomas, university degrees or other professional qualifications to indicate support for generating more resources from GST.

This is because those in the lower socio-economic strata, of which education is a proxy indicator, understood that they would benefit significantly from the help.

Another notable point is that participants ranked the national reserves second highest among the funding sources.

Not only did this not decrease after the workshops, but 8.3 per cent of the participants allocated even more to the reserves to finance expanded age-related policies. A similar proportion of participants also allocated more to property tax.

Does this mean that Singaporeans expect the Government to tap its own resources before relying on individual efforts or families? Not quite: The participants said in the same breath that they planned to save more and get more help from family and friends.

Singaporeans cannot have it both ways – more opposition MPs but also effective PAP government: PM Lee Hsien Loong at PAP Conference 2022

PAP needs strong mandate to govern Singapore firmly and decisively: PM Lee

By Hariz Baharudin, Assistant News Editor, The Straits Times, 6 Nov 2022

Singaporeans cannot have it both ways, where many want the People’s Action Party (PAP) to continue governing the country but also to have more opposition MPs elected to keep the Government on its toes, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

After many years of the PAP in power, many Singaporeans want the party to continue governing the country as it has been doing a good job, and no one else can do it better, he noted.

So they vote for the opposition, fully expecting that the PAP will still be returned to power and can function as effectively, regardless of whether it receives strong or weak support at the polls, he said in a speech at the PAP’s biennial party conference on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, we cannot have it both ways. Whether voters give the new Government a strong or weak mandate makes a very big difference,” he told over 3,000 party members and activists.

“With a strong mandate, when the Government needs to act strongly and decisively – whether at home and abroad – everyone will know that it is acting with the people’s support. And everyone will know that Singaporeans are united, tackling problems as one and moving ahead together.”

PM Lee, who is the PAP’s secretary-general, said a strong mandate will give the government the confidence and backing to make tough calls and steer Singapore safely through ups and downs. He cited how the Government could impose tough measures such as the circuit breaker, mandatory mask-wearing, strict border controls and vaccination regimes as there was no doubt it had the people’s full confidence.

Had the PAP won the 2020 General Election narrowly with a 51 per cent vote share, instead of 61.2 per cent, it would have still formed the government and ruled Singapore to the best of its ability, said PM Lee.

But it would have lost many good MPs and ministers, and its leadership team would have been considerably weakened, he added.

“Singapore would have gone into battle with Covid-19 divided and disheartened. It would have been much harder for the Government to act decisively, or for Singaporeans to respond cohesively and resolutely,” he said.

“Our Covid-19 experience might well have been very different... And I can assure you our international position would have been considerably weakened too, both regionally and globally. A Singapore ruled by a government hanging on to power by its fingernails is bound to be pushed from pillar to post by other countries.”

PM Lee said the stakes are raised at each successive election. The more seats the opposition wins, the more the general election becomes a decision on which party will form Singapore’s next Government, he added. At the 2020 election, the Workers’ Party won 10 seats – two group representation constituencies in Aljunied and Sengkang, as well as the Hougang single seat. The PAP has delivered on its policies and promises through the decades, but this is not enough, PM Lee said, stressing that it needs to convert people’s approval of its performance into votes.

He sketched out three things it must do to “win the political battle”.

First, the party must put across its political message so that people know PAP leaders are “conviction politicians” who adopt policies and programmes because they are convinced these will benefit Singapore in the long term.

“But, more important than the details of policies, we have got to convince Singaporeans why the policies matter to them, and how they match people’s needs and aspirations,” he said.

Second, the PAP has to counter moves by the opposition and show voters where the opposition falls short, he said.

While it is the opposition’s job to scrutinise government policies and highlight mistakes, the PAP, too, has to point out instances when its opponents fail to measure up or they act against Singaporeans’ interests, he added.

“It is very easy for the opposition to support only the pleasant things the Government does, but to oppose the harder moves that are sometimes not avoidable,” he said, adding that a responsible opposition should be accountable for what it proposes and what it opposes.

Third, PAP MPs and branch activists must work the ground and show residents how the party makes a difference to them by improving the amenities in their towns, resolving conflicts and issues and advocating their concerns.

PM Lee said that party branches need to ramp up physical activities, which were paused during Covid-19, and make up for lost time by wearing their party whites and covering the ground comprehensively.

He also paid tribute to party members working in opposition wards in Aljunied, Hougang and Sengkang, and commended them for engaging residents, helping needy households and supporting bereaved families, even though they cannot hold Meet-the-People Sessions.

If Singapore’s politics go wrong, its governance will go wrong too, and so will the lives of all Singaporeans, he warned.

He cited how politics in other countries have turned contentious and volatile – governments get distracted and paralysed, and society becomes divided.

“The government has neither the ability nor the mandate to push through hard decisions or to see beyond immediate problems. What is politically expedient overrides what is in the longer-term good of the people and country. And then, we are all in deep trouble,” he said, noting this has happened in the United States and United Kingdom.

PM Lee noted that the US is having its midterm elections on Tuesday. “There is great foreboding on how the results will turn out, and how that will change their politics, possibly even making it worse”, he said.

Some think that Singapore politics will always work well as it has for 60 years, and that the natural order of things is for the country to keep on succeeding, with the Government always thinking and planning 30 or 50 years ahead, PM Lee said.

But what Singapore has today is not natural at all, and the sort of Government that it has is rare, he said.

Almost everywhere else, the Government hardly thinks beyond the next general election, and Singapore has only become like this through the blood, sweat and tears of many generations.

The PAP does not take its duty lightly, and things can easily go wrong here as well. PM Lee said that Singaporeans are not inherently better, smarter or more virtuous than people in other countries.

“Maybe we are more cohesive (but) there is no vaccine to protect us from the same dark forces of anger, fear, racism, xenophobia,” he said.

“Similar divisive emotions and tensions can build up here too, can well up here too, can explode here too. We can end up with the same messy politics and broken country that we see elsewhere.”

“To prevent this and to keep things working well for Singaporeans, the PAP must stay true to its founding mission. Not only to continue to deliver results, but to keep on convincing minds and appealing to hearts, and winning the political battles.”

On party renewal, PM Lee said the PAP has already identified some promising potential candidates for the next election, with more in the pipeline.

“I am confident that come the next general election, we will again be able to present a talented, diverse and representative team of candidates, both experienced and new, ready to work with voters and take Singapore forward.”

Singapore GE2020: PAP spells out reasons vote fell below expectations

GE2020 results a ‘clear mandate’ although 61.2 per cent vote share lower than 65 per cent PAP hoped for: Lawrence Wong
But it says GE result is still a solid majority and its heartland base kept faith with the party
By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Sunday Times, 19 Jul 2020

The voters made it clear that they wanted a People's Action Party (PAP) government at the helm by giving it 61.2 per cent of the vote in the general election, but the result fell slightly short of the party's own expectations, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong yesterday.

It was nevertheless a solid majority, given the difficulties that people were facing on the ground, he added.

"And that's because the base kept faith with the PAP, knowing that the PAP kept faith with its base. What is this base? They are the working class, the middle class, the heartland of Singapore," said Mr Wong, who shared the party's preliminary analysis of the recent election.

He acknowledged that the result was lower than the 65 per cent the party had hoped for, with that 4 percentage point gap translating to around 100,000 votes.

To close the gap, the party must do better at appealing to the young and work to address the economic pain of voters in their 40s and 50s, Mr Wong said.

"We are unlikely to exceed 65 per cent of the vote in future," he added. "The desire for diversity in Parliament, for checks and balances, is permanent. It is here to stay, and we must be prepared for this new reality."



Mr Wong, a member of the PAP's central executive committee, was addressing party activists in a speech streamed live from the PAP's Bedok headquarters, and took questions from reporters afterwards.

Putting the party's performance in context, he said pundits and commentators had predicted that the PAP could get more than 70 per cent of the votes as voters sought safety amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling party itself did not expect that, given the pain on the ground.

In fact, over the past nine general elections, it had approached or surpassed the 70 per cent mark only twice, said Mr Wong. In 2015, it got 69.9 per cent of the vote. In 2001, it won with a 75.3 per cent vote share. In contrast, the party got 63 per cent or less in four out of these nine races, he added.



This year's result is at the "low end of the expected range", which is between 60 and 65 per cent.

"It is not a very good result, but it is within the range of expectations, and we've been here before," he added. "The expectation that the PAP should have had a result at the top end this time, I think, has coloured the outcome as a setback."

He set out several reasons for the PAP's performance in the polls.

First, the Workers' Party ran a good campaign that spoke to the desire of many voters to have more checks and balances in Parliament, he said. The emergence of the Progress Singapore Party cut into the PAP's western strongholds.

The PAP's online campaign also did not connect well with voters, Mr Wong noted. "We produced a lot of good content online, but not all of this connected with netizens - especially on newer platforms like Instagram and Telegram."



While there has been much talk of younger voters turning away from the party, the swing against the PAP was also seen among voters above 40, who make up a much larger proportion of the electorate, Mr Wong said. This group faced economic hardship due to job or income losses from the pandemic, he added.

The PAP also saw support fall among those who lived in private property, who may have felt they were not sufficiently supported during the crisis, he said.

The party will conduct a thorough review of the general election, identifying two areas that the party will have to work on. It must better connect with younger voters and address the "real economic pain" that a substantial segment of older voters are feeling, he said.

The emphasis on the base will remain unchanged. "Our policies must always tilt in favour of the less fortunate and vulnerable," said Mr Wong. "This is in the PAP's roots and DNA. We must never waver in our commitment to social justice, to preserve social mobility for all Singaporeans, and to build a more fair and just society."

GE2020: Lessons learnt from Singapore's first true Internet election; IPS Post-Election Survey on GE2020

Online engagement, authenticity are vital, but may not always translate into votes
By Hariz Baharudin and Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 15 Jul 2020

While physical rallies were absent during the hustings for the recently concluded general election, some politicians did not seem to need them.

By the midpoint of the campaign, Progress Singapore Party (PSP) chief Tan Cheng Bock was able to reach out to 12,000 followers with each Instagram post - thrice the capacity of Clementi Stadium, where rallies for West Coast GRC were held in past elections.

The veteran politician wooed younger voters online by posting videos of himself responding to their attempts to educate him on slang terms like "woke".

Dr Tan, who now has over 70,000 Instagram followers - more than local celebrities like TV personality Denise Keller and rapper Sheikh Haikel - was among the politicians who thrived in what experts have dubbed Singapore's "first truly Internet election".

Political parties have traditionally relied on mass rallies to rouse the electorate and drum up support. But this time, restrictions on large gatherings due to COVID-19 measures saw the battle for hearts and minds take place mostly in the digital realm.

Some observers have argued that an Internet campaign benefits the opposition parties, as it enables them to raise their profiles quickly, affordably and widely.

And even though the Internet had been around during the past three or four elections, it was the current social distancing restrictions that necessitated the use of online campaigning by parties and candidates, said Associate Professor Eugene Tan from Singapore Management University's School of Law.

"For many voters, it was their only means of finding out information about parties, their candidates and their policy platforms," he added.

AN ONLINE ADVANTAGE?

In lieu of physical rallies, parties held talk shows - such as Straight Talk by the People's Action Party (PAP) and the Hammer Show by the Workers' Party (WP).

These programmes allowed parties to engage with voters on a more intellectual level than at physical rallies, where voters can be moved by emotion, noted Prof Tan.

The Singapore Democratic Party and Peoples Voice also featured candidates' speeches on their Facebook pages.



All 11 parties in this year's general election had their own e-rallies and participated in televised constituency political broadcasts.

Such efforts gave voters a better sense of the parties' ideas, said former Nominated Member of Parliament Lim Sun Sun, who is head of humanities, arts and social sciences at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

"Unlike public rallies where candidates tend to engage in histrionics and grandstanding, the e-rallies and public broadcasts were calmer and more measured, thereby enabling voters to concentrate on the substance of the issues and the strength of the arguments," she said.

Dr Natalie Pang, a senior lecturer in the communications and new media department at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said the online hustings gave voters opportunities to hear from more parties and candidates, compared with the past, when there was a limit to the number of rallies they could attend.

But the glut of content also resulted in "information overload", said NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser, with netizens finding it hard to follow all the political discussions online.



Dr Felix Tan, an associate lecturer at SIM Global Education, said political parties could have missed out on engaging some segments of society, such as senior voters who are tech-averse.

Another disadvantage of e-rallies instead of physical ones is that parties lose opportunities to connect emotionally to voters, said experts.

Parties also lose the opportunity to raise funds by selling merchandise or appealing for donations at physical rallies, said Prof Eugene Tan.

The PAP was returned to power after winning 83 of 93 seats with 61.24 per cent of the votes, down from the 69.9 per cent vote share it received in the 2015 General Election.

Singapore Together movement: 4G leaders want to partner citizens in more areas

Range of issues the Govt hopes to work with people on is virtually endless, says Indranee Rajah
By Tham Yuen-C, Senior Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 3 Jan 2020

Six months after the fourth-generation political leaders launched a new movement to get citizens to help shape policies in areas such as work-life harmony and recycling, they want to do more.

A Citizens' Workgroup is being set up to explore ways to reduce the use of single-use plastics, and a Community Link-Uplift collaboration is being launched for residents and others to better support children from low-income families.

At an interview with local media on Monday, Second Minister for Education and Finance Indranee Rajah said the range of topics that the Government hopes to work with people on "is virtually endless". Even contentious issues will not be taboo, she said when asked if the Government would partner people on issues such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights, and Housing Board leases.

Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said such issues have already been discussed and the Government's forays into new approaches could provide new ways to "solve certain challenges and build consensus".

The two ministers, who are key members of the ruling People's Action Party's fourth-generation (4G) leadership team, were giving an update on SG Together, which was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in June last year.

Since then, various ministers have spoken about how their ministries plan to work with people on issues as diverse as housing, the digital economy and education.



Ms Indranee said this represents an evolution of the way the Government has been doing things, and will become part and parcel of the way it engages with citizens.

"Going forward... everything that we do that impacts on citizens, and depending on the nature of the things, will involve some form of citizen engagement," she added.

"The 4G leaders are very conscious of the fact that it is not just about being in government. You are elected by the people...(and) Singaporeans must have the ability to have a say and shape our future."

By bringing people together, said Mr Lee, the Government also hopes to create opportunities for groups with different viewpoints to talk and try to find win-win ways forward. This can help to prevent the kind of polarisation that has happened in many countries, where people with different interests have pulled society apart, he added.

"We do this to also harness the energy and the collective wisdom of the community. Government won't have all the solutions and won't be able to solve every problem on its own with increasing difficulties and challenges ahead of us."

Working with Singaporeans and community groups has also changed the Government's viewpoints and approaches to certain issues, both ministers said. For instance, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) had asked to partner a network of non-governmental organisations helping the homeless.

Mr Lee said: "Working with partners, we changed our mindset. We have improved our processes and we have adopted new ideas."

Engagement sessions with social service agencies also informed the new approach of the Ministry of Education and the MSF towards helping disadvantaged children by better coordinating the available social services, said Ms Indranee.



Some initiatives under SG Together could also translate into measures in this year's Budget. The RecycleRight Citizens' Workgroup has resulted in four pilot projects which will be formalised early this year, while the Citizens' Panel on Work-Life Harmony has concluded with 17 recommendations that the Government will respond to early this year.

"Not all of the ideas are going to be able to be translated into Budget measures. But the ones that can and the ones that are relevant and timely, we will," said Ms Indranee.

As to how the Government will measure the success of SG Together, she said: "When it becomes an automatic reflex action that whenever we want to do things, agencies' first thought will be: How can we get people's input and participation in this?

"On the other hand, when the citizenry wants to do something, their first thought is: How can we work together with others and the Government to make this happen?"

DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Singapore Summit 2019

Business leaders can do more to bridge social divides: Heng Swee Keat
Singapore not immune to global challenges, and is renewing its social compact, he says
By Adrian Lim, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 21 Sep 2019

Business leaders need to do more than ever to help tackle challenges that undermine social cohesion, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.

He identified three divides that all societies have to address: Growing inequality as a result of globalisation and advances in technology, a widening divide among different generations and the deepening political polarisation that is made worse by social media.

Unless resolved, the tensions will make it difficult for countries, including Singapore, to weather the challenges of a slowing economy, Mr Heng added yesterday.

And companies can do more in this effort by becoming more socially responsible in areas such as gender equality, environmental sustainability, and promoting education and healthcare, he said in a speech to 400 business and thought leaders at the annual Singapore Summit, which discusses global trends.

Noting the economic and political influence of big businesses today, Mr Heng said companies can do even more to make a difference, by working together as well as with governments to create solutions to improve people's lives.

"More than ever before, business leaders must play a greater role - to renew the social order of the countries they operate in and revitalise the international system," Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister, said at the Shangri-La Hotel.

In his broad speech on problems confronting societies and the way forward, Mr Heng urged the business leaders to do more to strengthen the social compact, saying that "doing well and doing good need not be contradictory".



He pointed out how some businesses have been championing "conscious capitalism", or the idea that companies should not only serve their shareholders, but customers, employees, suppliers and the environment as well.

He called on countries to work together to tackle global challenges such as climate change, poverty, food security and cyber security.

Likewise, he urged them "not (to) forsake multilateralism simply because the current ground sentiments are shifting away from it". "Instead, it is our role as leaders to uphold this system collectively and convince others that this remains the best way forward," he said.

The need for each society to renew its social compact is urgent amid global economic tensions.

Societal interests have fractured, he noted, making it difficult for governments to secure a mandate to make important decisions.

"Politics is increasingly marked by snap polls, hung Parliaments and government shutdowns, which in turn engender further distrust towards governments and the political system. All these point to a fraying of the social compact that holds societies together," he said.



The relationship between companies and societies has altered too.

"Singapore has so far been spared the full force of these challenges, but we are not immune to them," he added. "We are renewing our social compact. We do not have all the answers to these complex issues."

Every society has to find its own formula to give citizens a stake in shaping its future, Mr Heng added, citing the Singapore Together movement he launched in June to get citizens together to find common cause and create solutions.

Other countries have embarked on similar journeys, he noted, citing France's Great National Debate and Japan's Society 5.0. "We can all learn from each other," he said.

Adversarial political system not good for Singapore: DPM Heng Swee Keat

DPM says people should have different ideas and debate them, but agree on decision afterwards
By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 30 Jul 2019

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat believes a more adversarial political system will not be good for Singapore.

Instead, what the country needs is a "certain political maturity" in which people are encouraged to come up with different ideas on how to get things done, said Mr Heng, who is tipped to lead the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and be the next prime minister.

"At the end of the day, the country cannot be going in 10 different directions because then we go nowhere," he said, stressing it is important that energy is not frittered away on disagreements.

"What is important is that having debated the options, we agree - let us do this, or let us do that."

He was responding to Mr John Teo of Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times, who had asked if Singapore's political system needs to evolve into a more adversarial one, with "more team rivalry even within the same party".

Mr Heng said that worldwide, systems that have done well and delivered a better life for their people are those that are prepared to deal with differences, but not in an adversarial way.

"I prefer to be a constructive problem solver," Mr Heng told the eight Malaysian journalists who met him last Saturday as part of a programme to give foreign journalists a sense of key policies in Singapore. "If there are problems, let us work together to see how best we can solve them, in as constructive a way as possible, that can meet the needs of as many people as possible."

"And if there are differences that we cannot agree on, we should set them aside and say, let these differences not impede us from cooperating closely to achieve things that we can achieve. I think that is a more practical way," he added.



Mr Firdaus Azil of TV news channel Astro Awani asked the Deputy Prime Minister what his "ideal Singapore" looks like.

It is one in which every Singaporean feels that this is a country where he can realise his potential and fulfil his aspirations, Mr Heng said. To this end, the Government emphasises education, job creation and economic transformation. It also ensures that seniors' healthcare needs are met through schemes such as the Pioneer and Merdeka Generation packages.



On the regional front, he underlined the importance of working with other ASEAN members to achieve economic progress.

The regional grouping has brought peace and stability to the whole region, and all member countries have grown economically, he said.

Asked for his thoughts on being poised to take up the mantle of prime minister in the future, Mr Heng said that his focus is, at present, on restructuring the Singapore economy to catch up with global changes.

"Our term of government is up to April 2021. We want to make the best use of the time to ensure that we deliver on the policies, and that we can help to improve the lives of our people over this period," he added.

On how Singaporeans can treasure their racial and religious harmony, Mr Heng replied that they must celebrate diversity and promote deeper understanding among different faiths.

"For instance, in the area of religion, I think it is important for us to respect what each of us believe."

He highlighted that Singapore has laws on the maintenance of religious harmony, and that leaders from the Inter-Religious Organisation meet regularly to discuss what can be done to promote deeper understanding.

"And, of course, we must start young, in our schools," he said. "Because when our kids go to school and they interact with people from different faiths, they must learn to appreciate that diversity."