A PART FOR ALL TO PLAY IN BUILDING OUR SHARED FUTURE
His Excellency Chen Wen Qing, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, People’s Republic of China
His Excellency Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Republic of Singapore
His Excellency Yin Bai, Secretary-General of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, People’s Republic of China
Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
- Good morning. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr Chén Wén Qīng and your delegation to Singapore. We are glad to host the 4th Singapore-China Social Governance Forum this year. The Forum affirms the commitment of both China and Singapore to build harmonious societies in our two countries.
- In the past decades, both our countries have developed rapidly and achieved a rise in living standards for our people. Our Governments have laid strong foundations for individuals to be able to access education and further opportunities.
- Looking ahead, there will be new challenges as our societies evolve. We have already started to experience the impact of an ageing population. This is one of several things that we have in common, and today, we have the opportunity to share experiences and learn from one another’s perspectives, with the objective of building harmonious and cohesive societies for both China and Singapore.
SOCIAL COMPACT AND THE FORWARD SG EXERCISE
- We believe that a country is made up of not just the Government, but other segments including businesses, the community, and ultimately the people. To be cohesive, there must be a shared understanding of how we in society relate to one another, and our respective roles and responsibilities. We call this the ‘social compact’.
- A social compact that is deemed fair by all segments of society will strengthen social capital and foster trust. It is what will enable us to progress together as a nation.
- Singapore’s social compact has evolved alongside our development as a nation. When we were first thrusted into independence, the Government’s role was to provide a stable and conducive environment for businesses to grow and to create jobs. We invested in defence. The Government also worked to provide housing, education, and healthcare for our people. Families played their roles in nation building, including sending their sons for compulsory national service to defend the country and Singaporeans adopted English as our working language.
- With the transition to the 4th generation or 4G leadership and Prime Minister Wong taking the helm, we took the opportunity to refresh our social compact and build a collective vision for our future. Amidst the changing context and circumstances, such as the differing aspirations of our youth compared to their parents’ generation, we felt that it was important to update our social compact and build cohesion for the road ahead.
- In 2021, we launched the Forward Singapore exercise and engaged more than 200,000 Singaporeans over a 16-month period. Through dialogues with citizens from all walks of life, corporates and the community, we gathered diverse perspectives and discussed the future we want to build together.
- For instance, Singaporeans shared that their vision for Singapore was more than material success; it was also about fulfilment and purpose.
- They wanted our society to be vibrant and inclusive, where there are multiple pathways of success.
- Many Singaporeans also wanted Singapore to be a place that is conducive for families.
- Fundamental to our social compact is the belief that everyone in society has a part to play in building our shared future. I will talk about this approach in two areas:
- First, strengthening families.
- Second, sustaining social mobility.
BUILDING A SINGAPORE MADE FOR FAMILIES TOGETHER
- First, strengthening families. Families are the cornerstone of our society. They are where individuals are nurtured, and where character is built from a young age. In families, we learn how to relate to each other as fellow members of society, and our duties and responsibilities to one another. During the ForwardSG exercise, there was strong consensus for Singapore to be a place where families can thrive.
- Therefore, a key agenda that Singapore has ahead of us is building a Singapore that is Made for Families, a Singapore that supports families across different chapters of life. And this effort to strengthen families is a whole-of-society one.
- The Government takes this responsibility seriously, and is committed to developing policies and measures that support families. To support families, we prioritise married couples in public housing, and provide generous grants to ensure parents are supported in raising their children. Beyond young couples, our policies for families extend to ageing families, and we have expanded our support for caregivers in recent years.
- We develop plans and see them through. Our track record builds trust with our people, who too are prepared to do their part to strengthen families.
- Community partners themselves have taken the initiative to roll out programmes to support families. The Centre for Fathering, for example, runs programmes and workshops for fathers, after they noticed a gap in this area and a desire among fathers to be more involved in parenting and family life.
- Many citizen volunteers give of their time and energies in these efforts. At Families For Life@ Community, a national movement which organises programmes at the local level in neighbourhoods, volunteers come in to take care of children while their parents attend marriage and parenting workshops, which are also run by trained volunteers.
- The close collaboration across segments of our society enables us to roll out measures that support families, incorporating different interests and balancing them well.
- For example, a tripartite workgroup, representing the Government, employers, and unions was formed, to look into the issue of flexible workplace arrangements. This enabled employers to share their considerations, including concerns on implementing these arrangements for certain job roles, while keeping the objectives of supporting families in mind.
- The trust across different segments of our society and close collaboration enable us to chart a way forward, rather than be stuck in gridlock. The Government has since implemented the Workgroup’s recommendations and introduced guidelines for flexible workplace arrangements earlier this year.
- Singaporeans say they want a society that values family. Together, across different sectors, we work together to make this vision a reality.
UPLIFTING THOSE IN NEED
- The second area is sustaining social mobility. Beyond pushing positive agendas, we also need to address challenges that confront us as a people. A home is not only defined by moments of ease and prosperity, but by the determination of everyone to build up our home, even on rainy days.
- Sustaining social mobility is a key challenge that Singapore is facing. Based on a 2015 survey of Singaporeans in the 30s, 14% of those with parents in the lowest income quintile managed to move up to the top quintile of income earners. While the proportion is higher than the 7.5% in the US, 9% in the UK, and about 12% in Denmark, we want to do better.
- We want to be a society where Singaporeans will always have opportunities to forge a better life for themselves, regardless of their starting position. It is important that our youth have hope for the future, and believe that they can achieve their aspirations, not constrained by the social class they were born into. We want to avoid going the way of other countries where rising social inequality leads to the stratification of society – growing distrust towards the Government and disunity amongst the people.
- Where we previously uplifted many from poverty by building infrastructure and providing public goods such as schools, healthcare, and housing, we are now at a different season of our development. The problem of inequality is not so easily resolved. Previously, a rising tide lifted all boats. Now, we have to expend considerable effort to ensure that some boats do not get left behind.
- Therefore, the Government has doubled down on our efforts to uplift lower-income families and to provide assurances to their families.
- Our approach is to go upstream and think long-term. We step in early, instead of waiting for problems to arise. We intervene when there are early warning signs, before they turn into bigger problems later.
- We are convinced by evidence that the early years build a strong foundation in our children’s lives. Therefore, we have made significant investments to make preschool education accessible and affordable. We are also providing intensive support for parents and children in need through a programme called KidSTART. We reach out to parents as early as during the mother’s pregnancy. These measures prevent disparities in the early years from snowballing into greater disparities down the road.
- A strong social compact is key to sustaining social mobility. People start to realise that they are on the same boat after all, and are determined to make things work. Together, they desire and accept policies which even out the disparities because they want Singapore to be a caring and inclusive society. And they can contribute.
- We have seen many come forward to address intractable problems like inequality. Knowing and trusting that the Government is doing our part, that they too can contribute to uplift the lower-income.
- Businesses support policies like the Progressive Wage Model that uplift lower wage workers, even though it requires paying higher wages to individuals as they upgrade their skills. Many businesses also engage in corporate volunteerism where they provide mentoring and internship opportunities and run programmes for children and youth from less fortunate backgrounds.
- Individuals step forward as volunteers with social service agencies and give of their time and energies to befriend and journey with families.
- Underpinning their willingness to contribute is their care for others in society, and a sense of moral duty. They know that their success is not just a result of their own hard work. They acknowledge the role the Singapore system has played in enabling their success, and they gladly give back and share the fruits of their success with others.
- With many hands on deck and the determination to work towards the same goals, we are able to amplify the impact of our collective actions. The ComLink+ programme is one example of this. Under ComLink+, businesses, community partners, volunteers, and the Government work alongside each other to uplift families with children living in rental housing. A volunteer befriender and Government officer from a local branch called the Social Service Office are paired with each other to support the families. Besides referring them to Government schemes and support, families are also directed to resources and programmes provided by community partners and businesses. For instance, companies like banks and technology companies offer their expertise and teach financial literacy and data science in the community. Instead of going at it individually, we are able to tap on our respective strengths and expertise to address the needs of families, and sustain our efforts over a longer period of time. The Government helps to organise this.
- Addressing issues like inequality is hard work and it usually takes a long time before we see outcomes. But because of the trust that people have in the Government, and across communities, we are able to prevent issues from sparking division in society. Instead, we channel our energies to work at addressing the core issues.
A STRONG AND UNITED PEOPLE
- Ladies and gentlemen, many people from other countries come to Singapore and they express admiration at our rapid development and infrastructure despite our lack of natural resources. But as precious as natural resources, and sometimes more precious, is the spirit of our people. It is what sustains our social compact. This spirit has been built over decades since independence and we continue to cultivate it today.
- This spirit was tested during the largest crisis of our time – the COVID-19 pandemic. But we are glad that our society remains cohesive. According to a survey by the Pew Research Centre in 2022, 3 in 4 Singaporeans said that our country was more united than before the pandemic, compared to other countries where the same proportion found their country to be more divided.
- When the social compact is strong and there is trust and care for one another across society, the spirit of people creates energy and resources to address challenges.
- During the pandemic, the Government drew upon our reserves to preserve jobs and secure vaccines. At the same time, our people self-organised and rallied resources to support needs on the ground. More than 300 non-government groups and initiatives sprung up to address needs in the community, from delivering food to vulnerable groups, to developing mental health resources. Foundations and philanthropists developed new schemes to fund these ground-up initiatives. We saw a groundswell of care and support for one another.
- This experience during the pandemic showed us what Singapore can be when all segments of our society come together in a common cause. Therefore, although we have laid strong foundations to ensure cohesion in our society, we will never stop working at maintaining our unity for therein lies our strength.
CONCLUSION
- To conclude, Singapore has seen some success because each one of us in society has worked and played our part.
- But our work to build economic progress and social harmony is never finished. It will always remain a work-in-progress. As society evolves, new sets of challenges will inevitably rise, whether it be social issues or demographic challenges like an ageing population. The ForwardSG exercise has helped our society refresh our social compact, and develop a shared vision for the road ahead. Now, it is incumbent on us in Singapore to maintain our unity and come together to tackle the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead of us.
- I look forward to our discussions this morning. I believe this exchange of views and experiences will enable us to develop approaches to uplift the lives of our citizens and maintain social harmony in our societies.
- Thank you.