home addendum to the president's address
쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 2009 PAGE B2
Developing good employment practices, upholding high standards of workplace safety and health, and having a “well-managed” foreign workforce are among the
plans lined up by the Ministry of Manpower to enable Singapore to attract and retain talent. ST FILE PHOTO
MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS
STAYING
TOGETHER
Plan for robust social safety net
with focus on kids and women
BY THERESA TAN
THE Ministry of Community
Development, Youth and Sports
(MCYS) is reviewing all its help
schemes to make sure that Singa-
poreans, especially children, do
not fall through the cracks during
the current recession.
Minister for Community Devel-
opment, Youth and Sports Vivian
Balakrishnan told The Straits
Times yesterday: “We are going
through all our schemes affecting
families to see if they are reces-
sion-proof, meaning that no mat-
ter how tough things get, children
must not suffer.”
Hence, the MCYS is studying
the eligibility criteria of various
schemes, working with its part-
ners, among other things, to come
up with a social safety net that is
“robust enough” to weather even
a prolonged recession.
Yesterday, the MCYS released
its plans and priorities for the
coming years, in its addendum to
the President’s Address.
In it, Dr Balakrishnan pledged
to update ComCare schemes
which provide financial aid,
among other help, to the needy,
so that they remain “relevant and
adequate”.
He said: “We will exercise
greater flexibility to help those at
the margins and provide more
financial support, especially to
children from low-income and
vulnerable families.”
Besides the poor and those
affected by the recession, the
MCYS will also extend more help
to dysfunctional families plagued
by multiple and chronic prob-
lems.
Dr Balakrishnan also told The
The ministry will pay special attention to strengthening marriages and will
extend more help to dysfunctional families. ST FILE PHOTO
Straits Times that its focus is also
on women, to ensure that they
have access to support services as
families face greater strain with
the gloomy economy.
The MCYS will also provide
more funding for the childcare sec-
tor and aims to facilitate the devel-
opment of another 200 childcare
centres in the next five years.
Turning to the elderly, the min-
istry said it will work with the
Health Ministry to ensure that
long-term care services are availa-
ble to seniors and their care-giv-
ers, and that the vulnerable elder-
ly receive enough protection,
among other plans.
The ministry will also pay “spe-
cial attention” to strengthen mar-
riages, Dr Balakrishnan said, with-
out elaborating.
Ms Anita Fam, who chairs Mar-
riage Central’s advisory board,
said the group is working with
agencies such as the Ministry of
Defence and Education Ministry
to change mindsets on marriage.
Ms Fam explained: “Some-
times people have overly romanti-
cised ideas about marriage. If you
want a perfect partner, you will
be disappointed.”
A one-stop resource centre at
the Registry of Marriages will be
set up this year, she added.
theresat@sph.com.sg
PMO (NATIONAL POPULATION SECRETARIAT)
Call to realise the Singapore Promise
BY KOR KIAN BENG
THE main lure drawing many peo-
ple to sink roots here has been dis-
tilled into a new catchphrase: Sin-
gapore Promise.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong
Kan Seng introduced it yesterday
when he urged Singaporeans and
new immigrants to strive togeth-
er to build a Singapore for all Sin-
gaporeans.
Mr Wong, the minister in
charge of population issues, said
many immigrants, both past and
present, came because they be-
lieve they can realise their aspira-
tions and build a good home here.
“It is through our ability to un-
derstand, appreciate and respect
one another that we can have a
Singapore for Singaporeans.
“All of us have a duty to con-
tribute to and deliver the
‘Singapore Promise’ for ourselves
and our descendants,” he said.
He made the call in his adden-
PMO (COMMITTEE ON AGEING)
Silver lining in an ageing society
SINGAPORE’S location in Asia,
the world’s fastest-ageing region,
places it in a prime spot to seize
the economic and social opportu-
nities that come with ageing, said
Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Office Lim Boon Heng yesterday.
He pointed out the silver lining
in Singapore’s ageing society,
which will see one in five people
aged 65 and older in 2030, up
from one in 12 today.
Said Mr Lim, the minister in
charge of ageing issues: “We will
develop Singapore as a thriving
business and research centre on
ageing.”
In an addendum to President
S R Nathan’s address on Monday,
Mr Lim outlined the ongoing ef-
forts and upcoming plans the Min-
MINISTRY OF MANPOWER
WORKING
TOGETHER
Making Singapore a home
for local and foreign talent
BY SUE-ANN CHIA
MANPOWER Minister Gan Kim
Yong made a pledge yesterday to
do more to make Singapore “a
home for talent”, both local and
foreign. His ministry has lined up
several plans to achieve it.
These include developing good
employment practices, high stand-
ards of workplace safety and
health, and a “well-managed” for-
eign workforce.
In laying them out in an adden-
dum to the President’s address on
Monday, he said: “We will do
more to position Singapore as a
home for talent, both local and for-
eign, with a compelling proposi-
tion of fulfilling career opportuni-
ties and high quality of life.”
The President, in opening Par-
liament’s second session, had pro-
vided an overview of the Govern-
ment’s strategies for the remain-
ing legislative term.
Following it, ministries are lay-
ing out their respective plans in
their addenda, which provide a
framework for MPs to debate
when Parliament sits next week,
from Monday.
As the Ministry of Manpower
(MOM) maps out its long-term vi-
sion, it faces one immediate task:
tackling the current crisis.
At a press briefing on MOM’s
addendum, Mr Gan said govern-
ment measures to minimise job
losses have worked, keeping un-
employment levels low.
He showed a chart comparing
the jobless rates of various econo-
mies. Singapore’s rate in March
was 3.2 per cent, lower than that
in economies such as the United
States (8.9 per cent), the United
Kingdom (7.1 per cent) and Hong
Kong (5.1 per cent).
Credit, he said, should go to
schemes such as Jobs Credit
which subsidises employers’ wage
bill, and the Skills Programme for
Upgrading and Resilience (Spur)
which subsidises worker training.
Giving an update on Spur
which his ministry administers,
he said 1,400 companies have
dum to the President’s parliamen-
tary address.
Mr Wong, who is also the
Home Affairs Minister, stated
that citizens come first in the na-
tional drive to build a “sustaina-
ble, connected and integrated
population” that will ensure Sin-
gapore survives and thrives.
“Citizen interests will always
be accorded a higher priority over
those of permanent residents and
foreigners.”
He cited two areas that affect
citizens: growing the local popula-
tion and reaching out to overseas
Singaporeans.
But it is premature to assess if
the Enhanced Marriage and Par-
enthood Package, launched last
August, has worked in coaxing
couples to marry and have more
children, so its effectiveness will
continue to be monitored.
Overseas Singaporeans, who
exceed 150,000, will be engaged
even in these hard times, he add-
ed, because they are a part of the
Singaporean family.
isterial Committee on Ageing has
in place to tackle ageing issues.
On employment, he said the
Ministry of Manpower is pushing
ahead to implement re-employ-
ment legislation in 2012, which
will encourage firms to hire or re-
tain their older workers.
To help Singaporeans save for
old age, the Central Provident
Fund Life Scheme will be in place
from 2013 to provide CPF mem-
bers a regular income for the rest
of their lives.
He said there will be efforts to
raise awareness of the HDB’s new
Lease Buyback Scheme, which al-
lows elderly owners of smaller
flats to sell to the HDB the
tail-end of their lease at market
rate. Proceeds will be used to buy
an annuity from the CPF Board.
committed themselves to sending
94,000 workers for training.
Spur, he added, has been con-
tinually refined, with more help
going to white-collar workers
who have been hit more by this re-
cession than past slumps.
He further pledged to provide
locals with more training opportu-
nities by expanding the infrastruc-
ture of national adult training cen-
tres.
This will help meet workers’ de-
sire for training, according to a
survey by recruitment agency Kel-
ly Services.
It found that more than eight
in 10 Singaporeans believe they
need to upgrade their skills to stay
ahead in the workplace, with al-
most half saying the training pro-
vided by employers failed to meet
their future career needs.
As for a possible second wave
of layoffs this year, Mr Gan said
he was not keen to give projec-
tions but assured Singaporeans
the Government was “prepared”
to deal with any outcome.
The National Wages Council,
he added, will release its recom-
mendations by early next month.
Coping with the economic cri-
sis is just one of six priority areas
for MOM.
The other plans go beyond the
downturn, such as building work-
force capabilities by raising pro-
ductivity and quality of locals and
foreigners.
MOM’s Minister of State Lee
Yi Shyan added that Singapore
needed to keep its doors open to
foreign talent to continue to
grow.
He assured Singaporeans that
“when foreign talent is intro-
duced, new jobs will be created
for locals”.
MOM also addressed the needs
of an ageing society, like helping
older folk work longer and save
for retirement. This will be done
through a re-employment legisla-
tion and CPFLife, which gives Sin-
gaporeans a steady stream of re-
tirement income for life.
sueann@sph.com.sg
Integrating Singaporeans and
new immigrants is also important
in this recession, said Mr Wong.
He added that the new Nation-
al Integration Council will har-
ness efforts from all sectors to
help integrate Singaporeans in all
areas, including their homes,
workplaces and schools.
Business development manag-
er Dennis Quah, 32, felt the “Sin-
gapore Promise” phrase was un-
likely to strike a chord with Singa-
poreans the way “the American
Dream” does for Americans.
“In reality, we’re just a manu-
factured society,” he said.
Regional sales manager Yeo
See Yeong, 37, on the other hand,
finds comfort in Mr Wong’s state-
ment that citizens will come first.
But the Government would
need to demonstrate it, especially
in aiding “the many who are
struggling in this downturn and
looking to the Government for ba-
sic care, such as job creation and
social assistance”.
Through various programmes,
Singapore is also being made ac-
cessible and safe for all, including
the less mobile, and Singaporeans
will get more housing options
too, said Mr Lim.
He said the Government will
expand the health-care sector
and promote active ageing.
It will develop more services
and support schemes for families
and caregivers, and introduce the
pilot Wellness Programme to
more constituencies to help the
elderly stay healthy and socially
connected.
Said Mr Lim: “Families should
remain the bedrock of care and
support for our elders. We will
forge an inclusive society for
young and old.”
KOR KIAN BENG