Forward Singapore report: Key plans and how they will affect Singaporeans

SINGAPORE — Singapore unveiled on Friday (27 October) the Forward Singapore report, which outlines what the city-state's fourth-generation leadership plans to make for a more equitable and vibrant country in the coming years.

The wide-ranging report is the culmination of a nationwide engagement exercise headed by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, involving the views of more than 200,000 Singaporeans since it was started in June 2022.

Here's a summary of the key plans laid out by the Singapore government in the report, and how they will affect the various members of the Singapore society:

Refreshing the Singapore Dream

The Forward Singapore report outlines several ways to encourage Singaporeans to continue pursuing their dreams in the city-state:

• Embrace learning beyond grades: Instead of getting caught up in an education arms race, Singaporeans should reorientate mindsets towards becoming a full-fledged learning society, in order to learn and improve throughout their lives.

• Respect and reward different jobs: Singaporeans should embrace our talents in different areas and create diverse pathways to make a difference in their own ways.

• More support for families: Help to be given to Singapore families through every stage of life, so they can better adapt to their evolving circumstances and needs.

• More support for seniors: Help them retire with peace of mind and live meaningfully and healthily in their golden years.

• More support to bounce back from setbacks: Setting up a better system of social support so that everyone can improve their circumstances and chase their own dreams.

Embrace learning beyond grades

The report outlines plans to support Singaporeans to fulfil their diverse potentials:

• Abolish streaming and move to Full Subject-Based Banding: This will cater to diverse learning needs, interests and abilities of the students, instead of their overall academic abilities.

• Special-needs students: Deepening support for students with special-educational needs in both mainstream and Special Education schools, as well as in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).

• Broadening the definition of merit: More students can go through the Direct School Admission avenue to give more emphasis to holistic education.

• Training for mature mid-career Singaporeans: There will be a further, substantial top-up of the SkillsFuture Credit, as well as training allowances so that these Singaporeans can have some financial support when they take time off for full-time, long-form training.

Respecting, rewarding different jobs

The report stresses the need to further reduce wage gaps across professions to avoid entrenching a rigid hierarchy of jobs based on salary sizes, and to recognise and reward all jobs more fairly:

• Better recognise skilled trades: NTUC, industry associations and IHLs will develop new initiatives to provide better support of individuals pursuing these careers.

• Encouraging ITE graduates to upskill and upgrade early: Plans to help younger ITE upgraders defray the costs of obtaining a diploma. When they graduate, their CPF can also be topped up to give them a head start to purchase a home or save for their retirement.

• Making long-term career plans: The government plans to help Singaporeans better plan for their long-term careers through digital tools and career guidance services. It will study how to improve job matching, and also provide more support for vulnerable groups.

• Managing inflow of foreign workforce: Singapore will continue to take a strong stance against workplace discrimination, and do more to support skills and technology transfer from MNCs and foreign professionals. More Singaporeans should venture overseas, and be developed for top regional roles in MNCs.

More support for families

With Singaporean families facing greater stress, the Forward Singapore report seeks to provide more support for them through every stage:

• Adjusting the way HDB sells flats: Under the new framework, there will be three types of flats: Standard, Plus and Prime. This will offer home options that meet the different budgets and needs of citizens.

• Supporting parents in care of children: Singapore is exploring how paid parental leave can be further increased. Centre-based infant care places will be increased by about 70 per cent, and child-minding services will also be introduced as an additional infant care option for families.

• Making flexible work arrangements (FWAs) more prevalent: The government is developing a set of tripartite guidelines on FWAs to be released in 2024. It will support employers in building stronger human resource capabilities to implement FWAs wells.

• Supporting caregivers: The government is studying suggestions to better support working caregivers through measures such as caregiver leave, FWAs or other forms of workplace support.

Enabling seniors to age well

With Singapore one of the fastest ageing nations in the world, the report outlines policies that could help ageing Singaporeans live a better quality of life:

• Age Well SG: This new national programme will aim to help seniors to age gracefully in the community. This includes having more active ageing centres, such that eight in 10 seniors will live close to one by 2025.

• Retirement adequacy: Enhancements to programmes such as the Silver Support Scheme and Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, and raising the CPF Enhanced Retirement Sum, to help seniors be financially sound after retirement.

• Reorganising the aged care landscape: This will make it easier for seniors to remain in the community even as their care needs increase. There will be more housing options with integrated care provisions, and the government will also work with the private sector to offer seniors more residential options.

• More senior-friendly amenities: Expanded Friendly Streets initiative to cover all towns, which will have more pedestrian crossings and wider and more accessible footpaths.

More support to bounce back from setbacks

The report stresses the need to do more among the Singapore society to provide equal opportunities, temper unequal outcomes and prevent people from getting trapped in a permanent underclass:

• New ComLink+ scheme: CommunityLink officers will work with each family to co-develop customised action plans that are more tailored to each family’s needs.

• New Singapore Government Partnerships Office: This office will facilitate interactions between citizens and government agencies.

• Linking donors to communities: There will be a better linking of donors to local communities and less privileged groups over a sustained period. Continued efforts to be made to expand spaces for more interactions between different groups, such as collaborations between self-help groups.

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