Budget 2024 > Latest > Commentary
Mr Speaker, I note that many of my hon colleagues have raised concerns about the sustainability of our fiscal health, given the generous support schemes that Deputy Prime Minister Wong announced, which Singaporeans are getting used to and some are starting to expect as a given.
In view of such concerns, I speak to the House again on well-being and emphasise its role as a critical success factor to continued growth, to sustained growth. In my Budget speech last year, I spoke of the need to consider a different model of progress that looked beyond economic growth. To be clear, I am not suggesting de-growth.
On the contrary, what I am advocating for is a mindfulness and a slowing down that can help to unlock more potential in order to sustain or even to leapfrog growth. Slowing down our minds and cutting away senseless busyness, to make time and space for things that nourish our hearts: one, family – to bear and nurture children because we desperately need to raise our total fertility rate (TFR); two, caring – to build stronger relationships and community to help alleviate costly institutional healthcare; and three, for dreaming – to nurture and actualise new aspirations.
These are all desirables that Singaporeans expressed in many Forward Singapore conversations. How do we put these words into action?
I use an advertising sector parlance from my early career and offer this House three strategic actions towards a big, hairy, audacious goal – the twin goals of well-being and high growth. The three strategies are: one, charting Singapore’s well-being with a Well-being Index; two, doing less to achieve more; and three, enhancing collaboration with citizens.
On the first, a National Well-being Index – because we love KPIs and what does not get measured does not get tracked. Now that we have made mental health a national priority, how do we know if we are doing better? And we would not, unless we start measuring and tracking.
There are already ongoing national mental well-being surveys or studies, such as the Quality of Life Survey, which is helpful to track people’s level of satisfaction with their lives. Well-being is not simply an existence of happiness or satisfaction. It is also the absence of dis-ease or dysfunctionality within our collective system.
Hence, what we also need to monitor are figures such as the rate and incidences of mental health conditions, suicide rates as well as chronic disease rate, and factor all these into a set of indicators that makes sense. We need to be accountable for all the strategies that have been announced by the national mental well-being task force and make the outcomes visible and trackable. It is human nature, that when people are unwell, they worry more and become more needy, whereas a people with high well-being will feel more secure and feel that they have more capacity to give.
Secondly, let us exercise our imagination to achieve more with less. It may sound easier said than done, but I offer a quick hack. Perhaps what we need to do is start approaching complex and wicked problems with new lenses – a strengths-based lens instead of a scarcity lens, a trusting lens instead of a skeptical lens. I spoke about this in my Adjournment Motion a few months ago on improving public rental housing to enable human thriving. That is one example.
What other policies need a fundamental shift in philosophy and thinking?
There were two things in Deputy Prime Minister Wong’s Budget announcement that signalled to me that this shift is taking place and I am glad for it.
One is the extension of preschool subsidies for non-working mothers. Removing the condition of the mother’s employment tells me that the Government respects the choices women are making, regardless of what they choose and that supporting children in their early years should not be conditional. This reduces stress and enables families more freedom to navigate their caregiving needs, enhance their well-being and ensure that all children have an optimal early childhood start.
The other is the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme – providing training allowance to those who embark on full-time courses. To me, that is a very empathetic policy, showing an understanding of people’s worries and making a full commitment to support and invest in anyone who wishes to grow and upgrade themselves. There has no bond of any kind that has been announced to date tied to this training allowance, and I hope it stays that way, which signals to me the Government’s willingness to trust. To trust that citizens will make the best of the opportunity to create the desired outcomes for themselves, which is a better livelihood, and that itself is aligned with national interest.
In this year’s Committee of Supply, I will be making cuts on issues related to the preschool sector, caregiving, sustainability and integrating persons with special needs, with suggestions on how shifting the underlying philosophy and narratives of some policies to a strength- and trust-based lens can help us improve and accelerate outcomes without spending as much money.
Third, enhancing collaboration with citizens. The Government cannot tackle wicked problems alone. As we transition and evolve our social compact from a less educated population leaning on intellectual elites to craft and implement policies as it was in the 1970s to the 1990s, we now have one of the most well-educated citizenry globally.
The Singapore Government Partnerships Office (SGPO) is hence a positive step forward that must be adequately resourced and developed. As we do this, we must recognise that we are somewhat new at this, and there may be some teething blues as we increase citizen participation and work more closely with one another.
Capability-building of facilitators who have ecosystem thinking, to be skilled at navigating cross-system cultures, mobilising people and building relationships across diverse sectors is key.
I recall in my first year as a Member of Parliament (MP), I sent an email to Deputy Prime Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat, who then forwarded it to the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Mr Edwin Tong. In the email, I recommended the formation of a team of 100 organisational development-trained facilitators from diverse sectors. I am not sure if they took up my suggestion but I do see many Public Service roles now titled “Community Engagement” and I see increase in efforts to train volunteers to help facilitate national dialogue sessions. This is good and we can do more.
I urge relevant resources for the SGPO and People’s Association (PA) to train and leapfrog facilitation capabilities to right-size salaries to make sure they are realistic and adequate to hire relevantly skilled people. Such support to public agencies is critical for meaningful inclusion to engage Singaporeans in sometimes contentious and difficult conversations and to do so in early stages of policy-making to avoid U-turns on policies and avoid unnecessary spending.
As a social entrepreneur, I have first-hand experience of how tenacity and sustained commitment is needed for real and sustainable change to happen. And it is not always easy to keep morale high as we go through the transition blues, messiness and pains as we will encounter along the way. It is also much easier to grouse and complain than to commit time and effort to create change. And how do we keep people enthused to contribute and to stay the course?
As my past three years being grassroots advisor in Nee Soon South has shown me, when people enjoy working together, they feel cared for and appreciated, the hard work is worth it. And this, we can only achieve by shifting the balance from a performance-based culture to an appreciation-based culture. To shift this, we have to slow down our pace and appreciate what we already have and take time to appreciate one another. Speaker, in Mandarin please.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] As the population ages, there is shortage of manpower and people’s mental health is beginning to decline. How can we achieve a society that is less stressful, physically and mentally healthy and yet, continue to prosper?
In the face of these challenges, it is necessary for everyone not only to be willing to speak but also be willing to act. Many people may have seen that there are many who can talk but very few who can truly do and are willing to do. Therefore, the Government continues to implement digitalisation and encourages both individuals and businesses to transform.
Some residents complain that excessive mechanisation for efficiency has reduced the personal touch and I understand this very well. But is it inevitable? How can we strike a balance, using technology with a personal touch, making it convenient for us without sacrificing the interaction and communication between people? This is something we should and must reflect on.
So how can we make everyone willing to act and willing to contribute? What I have experienced as a grassroots advisor in Nee Soon South over the past three years is that, as long as everyone cooperates happily, whether they are employees or volunteers, if they can be accommodating and show gratitute towards each other, they will be able to contribute joyfully and everyone can make a difference.
In unity, we learn to be inclusive. In giving, we learn gratitude. I believe this is an invaluable way of interaction in our society. I hope that in the future, through our own practice, we can pass on these values to the next generation of Singaporeans. Citizens and the Government can work together so that even with fewer people, we can still get things done and sustain physical and mental health as well as continued prosperity.
(In English): With that, I conclude with a prayer that the strategies I offer – tracking our well-being, achieving more with less, enhancing collaboration with citizens, and above all, adopting a strength-based and trust-based lens, will help us on a Uniquely Singapore holy grail, towards the biggest, hairiest and most audacious goal of them all – well-being while sustaining high-growth in our economy. I support the Budget.
Watch the speech here.