David Neo
Singapore
“Take-up rates were approximately 80% of the 11,000 job taster opportunities in 2025. About 78% of the participants reported being more aware of the potential pathways to achieve their career goals.”
“From 2021 to 2025, the Office of the Commissioner of Charities received about 310 applications per year from charities wanting to obtain or extend their Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status. Within this five year period, less than 2% of the total number of applications received were rejected.”
“(In Mandarin): First of all, we Ministers have no time to watch movies. [Laughter.] (In English): But to the Member's question about the Hokkien and dialect classes, I think we work with the clan associations all the time and they are very interested in promoting their dialects, as well as all our own respective cultures, because like I s…”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her support. As I explained earlier, MCCY and MDDI are open to ideas about how can we preserve dialect cultures while upholding the importance of Mandarin, and we will continue to take in all the feedback and consider carefully the appropriate next steps on how to do this well.”
“Against such a backdrop, we take a practical and long-term view to partner with our stakeholders and invest in sports that show potential, building pathways and community participation, because we value sport and the positive benefits it brings to Singaporeans in and of itself, in addition to being ready should opportunities arise.”
“More than 1.78 million MyActiveSG+ members, comprising more than 42% of eligible Singaporean Citizens and Permanent Residents, claimed their SG60 ActiveSG credits. About 40% of them have used their credits at least once, most commonly for purchase of gym or pool passes, or booking of sport facilities, such as badminton courts.”
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“To ensure a vibrant arts scene with diverse cultural spaces, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth provides support to arts and culture groups through a wide range of initiatives, such as direct grants, arts housing, platforms and spaces, to showcase their work and facilitating partnerships with the wider community and private sector. Financial support to arts and culture companies include: schemes, such as the National Arts Council's (NAC's) Major Company (MC) Scheme, that offer multi-year funding for professional and artistic development of arts organisations. These grants help preserve cultural spaces, by providing financial stability for arts organisations to pay rent and venue hire costs; NAC's project grants, such as the Presentation and Participation Grant and Market and Audience Development (MAD) Grant that support artists and arts organisations in showcasing their works and reaching audiences locally and internationally; as well as the National Heritage Board's Organisation Transformation Grant that helps heritage businesses adopt transformative projects that contribute to long-term viability. Our key cultural programmes, such as the Singapore Art Week (SAW), Singapore Festival of the Arts (SIFA) and Singapore Writers' Festival (SWF) provide presentation opportunities for our artists and arts organisations. At SAW earlier this year, a large majority of the events featured were self-organised initiatives, ground-up events that added to the lustre and success of the week-long event. Besides funding and presentation opportunities, NAC also offers support in terms of spaces.”
“We also remain on track to make all ActiveSG gyms inclusive by 2026.”
“Sport Singapore works closely with partners to ensure that competition venues are accessible and meet international standards for international competitions that cater to athletes of all abilities. For instance, the World Para Swimming Championships 2025 is hosted at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. The OCBC Aquatic Centre has universal design features that cater to diverse needs of athletes and spectators. These include step-free access for para-athletes at the competition venue, and dedicated wheelchair bays with lift and ramp access for spectators. Where appropriate, Sport Singapore will also work with event organisers and stakeholders on additional requirements to ensure that the venue is accessible for all participants and spectators. The Disability Sports Master Plan (DSMP) was recently refreshed in 2024 and seeks to increase accessibility to disability sports activities and programmes, enhance awareness of disability sports and inclusive sports activities, and fulfil aspirations of persons with disabilities who desire and have the potential to do sports at high performance level. The DSMP includes the launch of the Enabling Sports Fund which provides funding support for programmes and activities that enable more persons with disabilities to participate in sports. All mainstream schools will aim to conduct programmes for students to experience disability sports by 2028 to build understanding and empathy of challenges faced by persons with disabilities when doing sports. Sport Singapore has also steadily enhanced accessibility in its facilities over the years, to encourage more persons with disabilities to use them. For example, the number of public swimming pools retrofitted with wheelchair-accessible ramps will increase from six in 2023 to 10 by end-2025.”
“Next, in our push to make sports a viable career, we also recently announced enhancements to our Sport Excellence (spex) programmes. To bolster the financial stability of our top athletes, we introduced monthly Central Provident Fund top-ups for our spexScholars from April this year. This helps them accumulate savings while they compete full-time. The spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship, launched in 2024, supports our athletes' academic aspirations alongside their sporting ambitions, whether during their sporting career or after they retire from active competition. Furthermore, in April this year, the Singapore Sports School and the six local autonomous universities signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance athlete-friendly practices on campus, helping our national athletes better balance academics with their sporting commitments. Corporate partners on our spexBusiness scheme provide not only employment opportunities to current and ex-sportsmen, but also career development support for active athletes through internships and apprenticeships. They have also put in place flexible work arrangements that enable our sporting talents to balance work and sporting commitments. The Government cannot do this alone. To create a truly supportive environment for our athletes requires the collective commitment of our society. I call upon fellow Singaporeans to support our athletes' development through contributions to the One Team Singapore Fund. I also encourage corporates to join the spexBusiness network and strengthen our support for athletes' employability. Together, we can foster a culture where we celebrate our athletes' dedication and effort not merely when they win medals, but throughout their sporting journey.”
“The Government is committed to supporting our athletes throughout their sporting careers and their transition beyond competitive sport. In April this year, we integrated the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI) and the National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI) to create the High Performance Sport Institute (HPSI). This structural change enhances our ability to support our athletes holistically across youth to senior levels. HPSI supports our athletes’ holistic development through Sport Psychology and Athlete Life Management, integrating sports performance with overall well-being, mental health support and preparation for life outside sports. Our national athletes receive comprehensive mental health support throughout their sporting careers. First, through psychoeducation, which are one-on-one consults and imparting skills and knowledge to help them cope with mental and emotional issues. Second, regular proactive monitoring by HPSI to screen for possible psychological and mental distress, where cases requiring attention are flagged and assessed by the HPSI's sports science team and further clinical expertise sought, where necessary. Third, resilience training that simulates high-pressure situations athletes are likely to encounter. This equips them with the knowledge to recognise symptoms of poor mental health and employ appropriate coping mechanisms and self-care practices. We have robust support systems in place and are actively enhancing our support. HPSI is looking at ways to reduce the stigma of help-seeking, establish more partnerships with private practices and further upskill stakeholders and support staff to enhance support for our athletes.”
“Sport Singapore is committed to providing affordable access to sports facilities for Singaporeans. The closures of Kallang Basin ActiveSG Swimming Complex and St Wilfred ActiveSG Sport Centre will enable public housing plans to be considered at these sites. This is part of the Government's ongoing efforts to address the strong and broad-based demand for housing in recent years. At the same time, the community in Kolam Ayer and Jalan Besar can look forward to new sports facilities in the vicinity, including a new Sport-in-Precinct (SIP) facility in Kolam Ayer and a new SIP facility in Whampoa, set for completion by the end of this year. Residents will also be able to maintain their active lifestyles at nearby existing facilities, namely: ActiveSG Swimming Complexes at Serangoon, Geylang East, and Jalan Besar; squash and tennis courts at Kallang ActiveSG Squash Centre, Burghley ActiveSG Squash and Tennis Centre and Kallang Tennis Centre; an indoor sports hall and free-to-play field at Bendemeer Primary School under the Dual-Use Scheme; and a football field at Bendemeer Secondary School under the Dual-Use Scheme. We encourage residents in Kolam Ayer and Jalan Besar to continue to stay active and live healthy by using these new and existing sports facilities.”
“Over the past five years, Kallang Basin Swimming Complex (KBSC) received an average annual non-unique visitorship of about 52,000, with about half of them aged between 20 years old and 59 years old. Over the same period, St Wilfred Sport Centre (SWSC) received an average annual non-unique visitorship of about 124,000, with slightly more than 80% of them aged between 20 years old and 59 years old.”
“For example, since 2023, NAC has commissioned a Singapore stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the world's largest annual trade fairs for the book publishing industry. In 2024, our delegation of 10 publishers and the Singapore Book Publishers Association conducted over 140 business meetings over the course of the fair. Through these efforts, we are building an ecosystem where our artists can pursue excellence as well as sustainable careers. It is not something that the Government can achieve alone. It requires a whole-of-society effort. This is why we launched the SG Culture Pass on 1 September, to encourage Singaporeans to do their part in supporting our arts and culture sector. I encourage Singaporeans to use their SG Culture Pass credits and attend the wide variety of programme offerings available. This will go a long way towards helping our artists build flourishing and sustainable careers.”
“Under Our SG Arts Plan (2023-2027), the National Arts Council (NAC) takes a multi-pronged approach to support our artists to build sustainable careers and develop artistic excellence. At a broad-based level, NAC offers grants to artists and arts groups to create and showcase works both locally and internationally. From 2022 to 2024, for example, over 190 artists and arts groups tapped on NAC's Marketing and Audience Development Grant, with many presenting their works at overseas exhibitions, biennales and book fairs. NAC also supports independent arts practitioners in developing their professional and business competencies through the Arts Resource Hub, which offers mentorship and peer learning. NAC has also partnered SkillsFuture Singapore to establish a Skills Framework for the Arts, which helps practitioners better plan their further development and their careers. Besides grants and capability development, NAC also directly supports many platforms at which our artists can showcase their work and build a wider audience. NAC's three festivals, Singapore Art Week, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and the Singapore Writers Festival, are key platforms for our artists. More than 360 local artists and crew were involved in SIFA 2025, reaching a total of over 77,000 audience members. NAC has also worked with partners to create platforms to bring local art to everyday spaces across Singapore, such as ArtsEverywhere@CDC, Poems on the MRT and I Play SG Music, where local music is played in spaces, like shopping malls. These programmes have raised the profile of our artists and their works. In tandem with these local platforms, NAC supports our practitioners to boost their market presence overseas.”
“The Government remains committed to ensuring that the CDC Vouchers Scheme best serves Singaporean households and boosts our local businesses. We will continue to monitor and review its implementation from time to time, to ensure its reach and effectiveness.”
“The Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme was first introduced in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with two key objectives: to help Singaporean households cope with the cost of living; and to support hawkers and heartland merchants. In line with the policy intent, our aim is to onboard hawkers and merchants in the Housing and Development Board (HDB) heartlands, such as those in the National Environment Agency (NEA)-managed centres and HDB heartlands, including shops which offer daily goods or services. However, there are instances where few or no heartland merchants are found within or near residential areas. In such locations, we have onboarded, on a case-by-case basis, small businesses that provide goods and services needed by residents. In 2023, we responded to residents' requests to further alleviate their expenses by widening the usage of CDC Vouchers to supermarkets. However, only half of the vouchers received could be used at supermarkets, and the remaining half were for use at heartland merchants. This balanced approach meets both the needs of residents as well as supports our heartland businesses. The spend rate for the 2024 tranche of CDC Vouchers was 97%. In a January 2025 survey, 98% of residents responded that there were "enough participating merchants" near their homes to patronise and spend their vouchers. To date, we have onboarded over 23,000 hawkers and heartland merchants on the CDC Voucher scheme. The CDCs will continue to work closely with key partners, including the Federation of Merchants' Association, Singapore, Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore and various merchant and hawker associations, to onboard eligible merchants in the heartlands.”