Indranee Rajah
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, I would like to make a clarification in relation to two written answers on childcare leave issued by the Prime Minister's Office on 25 September 2025 and 3 February 2026 in response to Parliamentary Questions filed by Members of Parliament Ms Cassandra Lee and Ms Valerie Lee respectively.”
“Based on Year of Assessment (YA) 2025 data, about 9,500 working mothers claimed a lower amount of Working Mother's Child Relief (WCMR) under the fixed-dollar basis than they would have under the previous percentage-based basis, for children born or adopted on or after 1 January 2024.”
“We regularly receive feedback on enhancing child-related leave provisions, including the Member's suggestion. In recent years, parental leave provisions have been significantly enhanced, such that parents now have 30 weeks of paid leave, including 10 weeks of Shared Parental Leave.”
“The Government does not have data on the number of transactions involving multiple units on a single residential title that have not been subdivided. Such properties are treated as a single property for Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) purposes when it is bought, so no ABSD is foregone.”
“The Government publishes data on personal income tax, which is publicly available on www.data.gov.sg. This includes data on the number of course fees relief claimants and the amount of the relief granted. The Member may refer to the website to access the data for the first three questions.”
“In considering the duration of leave, we will look at the need. In this case, as I have explained, there is a difference between those who give birth physically to a child and those who adopt.”
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“So, I encourage everybody to participate with their ideas and feedback.”
“I will try to keep it as brief as possible. I thank Mr Chong for his clarification. It follows on actually to what Minister Desmond Lee said because the previous clarifications were all asking Minister Desmond Lee how can we have more and more buildings on this 734 hectare. [Please refer to "Clarification by Second Minister for National Development", Official Report, 5 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 130, Correction By Written Statement section.] But at the same time, in our conversations and as highlighted by Mr Chong, Singaporeans are also asking for more and more space, more recreational spaces, play spaces, places to breathe, places to walk. So, that is where the recreational master plan comes in. And that is where our agencies have actually been very creative. URA and its partner agencies have been working very hard to devise different ways to carve out recreation out of this limited space and there are different ways in which they do it. So, one example will be to bring different activities into the same space, such as at Bukit Canberra and Heartbeat@Bedok. There are recreational facilities there. It is a one-stop community hub and residents can access lifestyle and recreational amenities, such as eateries, shops, outdoor facilities and so on. But another is PUB's collaboration with URA and NParks to have the PUB Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters). That strings out the spaces, so that you do not concentrate it in one. It is a slightly different strategy. So, going forward, the recreation master plan will focus on a variety of ways. They will look at curating a variety of recreational nodes and trails island-wide. They will also look at weaving play into our everyday spaces as well as involving the community in shaping recreational spaces.”
“We can certainly look at those studies, but what is happening at the moment is a global phenomenon where, across the world, women are either choosing not to get married or deferring having children after they get married. If you look deeper into this, a lot of it has to do with the opportunity cost as well as the sense of wanting to be able to achieve certain milestones. In the past, the first milestone was to get married and have children. Now, there is a sense of "I need to achieve a career milestone", "I need to be able to travel and visit this country", "I want to be able to achieve other things" and then, marriage and children come further down along the line. These are personal choices, personal decisions. We have to see what we can do to encourage it and make it easier for people to get married and have children. And that was the focus of my speech in the Committee of Supply, looking at all of the various factors which operate in people's minds before they decide to get married and have children. So, fundamentally, we have got to move towards a society that supports family formation and parenthood. 11.02 am”
“Mr Speaker, I just need to clarify the first part of Ms Ng's question about longitudinal studies. Could the Member just repeat that?”
“In 2021 and 2022, around 33% of total live births were from women aged 30 years old and below. Around 44% were from women between 31 and 35 years old, and around 23% were from those 36 years old and above. Figures for 2023 are still being finalised. The information is published annually in the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's (ICA's) Report on the Registration on Births and Deaths, which contains key demographic statistics, including total live births by age of mother. The report is available on ICA's website.”
“Mr Speaker, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions." [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Resolutions accordingly agreed to. (proc text)]”
“I was not quite sure I understood the thrust of that projection on the endowment and the other funds. But if he was asking how we decide whether our funding for specific purposes comes from the funds or the annual Budgets, is that the thrust of the question? So, generally we fund our spending through the annual Budget and we use funds for specific needs, which we know will come up, including large commitments. And that, I think was dealt with by Deputy Prime Minister earlier. So that is the general approach.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Leong for his further clarifications. For his first clarification, he asked whether or not for the medium-term — actually no, before he got on to that, he was asking whether or not we could give even more granular detail on the "Other Taxes". I come back to the reply that I made earlier, which is that the Government's Budget is a huge budget. There are lots of different items and the question is what level of detail do you need? And already, as you can see from the Budget Book, a lot of detail is already given. So, there is a question of how much do you actually need for the purposes of the Budget and what we have given, as I said, is the same as what other countries give. We adhere to the same general standards, so it is the same level of transparency. Then the second question that he raised was for the medium-term fiscal projections. Now again, I come back to this – which is that firstly, they are driven by long-term drivers. But at the end of the day, when we put out our projections – it is the same kind of standards that other countries use. Mr Leong says that he has seen lots of other financial documents. They may be documents of companies, but financial documents of other countries? When you look at a country – that is very different from reporting like a company. The volume, the business, the things that a country has to look at and the Ministries, the items are huge. So, what you do is you put forward projections in a way that gives sort of a meaningful direction; it sets out the Government's thrust; it sets out the key items or things that you think you will have to deal with. If the Member has questions or queries, then of course the Member can file questions and then that will be answered at the appropriate time.”
“Mr Chairman, all I am confirming is that in the Budget Book that is how it is presented. As to whether there is any further detailed breakdown elsewhere, I would have to check. But for today's purposes and in my response, because you must remember that the initial cut was that we did not explain what these other taxes were and that we did not give a breakdown of the taxes. And, hence, my reply was that we have given a breakdown of the taxes because we told you exactly what they are.”
“When you look at the Budget Book, Sir, what it says is that Other Taxes, which include the Foreign Worker Levy, Water Conservation Tax, Land Betterment Charge and Annual Tonnage Tax, are estimated to be $8.86 billion, which is $77.7 million or 0.9% higher than the Revised FY2023. Essentially, as I mentioned earlier in my reply, you would give as much information as is necessary for people looking at the Budget Book to use it meaningfully, but you do not go down into — you have got line item, then every single one, then you go down further and further and further. There comes a point where the degree of granularity does not really serve as much of a useful purpose when you are considering the Revenue and Expenditure Estimates for an entire financial year. So, basically, the information that is provided in the Budget Book is very similar to what is provided in many other countries and the purpose, of course, is to allow people to see what the Revenue and Expenditure Estimates are like, and for Parliament to be able to debate and decide on the financial policy.”
“I think we can certainly bring the attention of the SCAQ not just to civil servants but to everyone who is looking to come into the accountancy sector, looking to upskill, upgrade and find new career pathways. And the accountancy sector comes under MOF, so we would recommend it in general.”
“Mr Chairman, MOF is committed to ensuring fiscal sustainability, prudent spending and achieving good value-for-money outcomes for the benefit of current and future generations. Let us continue to work in partnership to build a strong, united, and inclusive Singapore.”
“This is not a case where it is the state funding their own personal things. They are allowed to do this because it is in the interest of the state that they do so. As such, it would be part and parcel of the normal expenditure that you would expect and it comes under the expenses reflected in two accounts, "2100 Consumption of Products and Services" and "2400 International and Public Relations, Public Communications", on page 8 of the Budget Book. In any case, there are very few who have done so. And I should also say that when the few Ministers travel in the private capacity, do not forget when they go there, they may well also have official meetings. In fact, to save time, very often, we would do that. So, one trip may serve multiple purposes, some in their official capacity and then, one or two meetings in their private capacity. The spending on all development projects is available in the Budget Book. This includes ongoing projects with total project costs exceeding $1 billion, such as the Woodlands Health Campus and Phase 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System. The focus of providing these spending figures is for accountability of spending on these projects. As the total project cost and annual spending of each development project is listed in the Budget Book, Mr Leong can look these up, based on his area of interest. And finally, regarding capital injections into Temasek Holdings, Mr Leong previously filed a Parliamentary Question (PQ) on this topic in January last year. MOF provided him the figures for 20 years up to March 2022. Since then, capital injections into Temasek are similar to the average annual historical capital injections mentioned in our earlier PQ reply.”
“Thank you. More generally, any report, including the Budget Book, presents data in meaningful ways for its users. So, not every single tax, fee, line item expenditure or capital receipt is listed. You can imagine how many more pages the Budget Book would need to have if that were to be the case. We therefore aggregate smaller items into larger groupings in our reporting and highlight the more salient changes. As it stands, our Budget Book has a comparable amount of detail to jurisdictions like Hong Kong and India. Moving on to expenditure, some of these cuts would have been better addressed by other Ministries. Nonetheless, since Mr Leong has raised them, I will touch on them briefly. On SPH Media Trust, the Minister for Communications and Information will share more at MCI’s COS. On HDB’s deficit, it is on the books of HDB, which is a Statutory Board. Hence, information on HDB’s deficit can be found in HDB’s Financial Statements, rather than the Revenue and Expenditure Estimates. Mr Leong can refer to the FY2022 Financial Statements available publicly for the latest figures. FY2023 and FY2024 information will be published in due course. With regard to Ministers travelling overseas for official appointments in their private capacities, this information is not tracked as a separate item of expenditure. First, it is important to understand that Ministers taking up international appointments in their private capacities are allowed to do so only when it is in the interest or in the service of the nation. In other words, in those situations, they are travelling and working on behalf of the state, albeit in their private capacity. In other words, they are doing it for the state even though they are using their private capacity.”
“Mr Chairman, Mr Louis Ng is right that the companies do need time to implement it if we make paternity leave mandatory. So, this is something that we are looking at and the Member can be assured that as and when it does become mandatory, actually when it does become mandatory, it will factor in a lead-in time for the companies as well. And I thank him for his suggestions with respect to the building code. We will look at that. 4.15 pm”
“The difference really is that planning for the future has become a lot more complex. There are a lot more variables. It is not like when Singapore was first starting off and you have a clear trajectory and you can say that there is this projection. So, having one particular figure does not really help because you would have a range of scenarios. That is what I was trying to explain just now. Essentially, there are birth rates, TFR, we have just seen that it has fallen to an all-time low, life expectancy, deaths, migrations. So, basically, for the Ministries to plan, they have to plan on a range of scenarios and not all of them will plan on the same variables. For example, if it is public housing, you would just look at Singaporeans, when you plan your BTOs. But, obviously, if you are looking at some other things, then you would take into account the foreigners who work here as well. One of the strategies we have for this is modular planning. So, for example, if you were building something like T5, you do not have to build the whole thing straightaway to take into account a very large number that is coming through. You would build stage one and then if it looks like you are having more traffic, then you can build stage two. We apply some of that when we are planning for public housing, for transport. So, having one particular figure does not really address the issue. I think for the agencies, they are learning over the years, to plan within a range of scenarios.”
“I thank Ms Soh for her clarification. We do have a lot of sympathy for those who, for whatever reason, were not able to try for children earlier. The only thing is that the fact remains that age does remain a factor. It does affect the success or the outcomes. So, we can certainly look at it and study it and, as time goes by, if technology gets better, if there are advances and improvements in medical science, then we can see how that can be done. This comes under the purview of MOH. We will certainly refer it to them. We will do our utmost but, at the same time, just to remember, age is a factor. So, where possible, if we can encourage Singaporeans to have children earlier, that would be really the best solution.”
“All that I said earlier about welcoming foreigners here extends to those groups as well. So, in conclusion, Mr Chairman, Singaporeans and their well-being are at the heart of our population strategies. These strategies aim to build a resilient nation, anchored on the key thrusts of the Forward Singapore Report: opportunities, assurance and collective responsibility. The Government is committed to building an economy that will provide opportunities for all to achieve their aspirations. The Government will also provide assurance for Singaporeans at every stage of life. We will not let up on efforts to support Singaporeans in starting and raising families so that we may forge a strong Singaporean citizenry. For this to happen, we need everyone to do their part. While some of the bolder changes and mindset shifts may require more time, I call on everyone – individuals, families, employers and communities – to contribute towards shaping a Singapore that is Made for Families so that we can secure our future and thrive for years to come.”
“Foreign workers create value for Singaporeans, for example, by filling manpower gaps in sectors that Singaporeans are less keen to work in, or in disciplines where we may need more time to develop our own pool of local workers. They can also generate opportunities for Singaporeans by bringing in new investments, networks and expertise. So, even as we welcome these complementary foreign workers, we will continue to strengthen the development of the local workforce. As detailed in the Forward Singapore report, SkillsFuture is a key pillar of our social compact. We will also support Singaporeans in gaining overseas work experience to provide opportunities for career development and progression. More information will be provided during MTI’s and MOM’s Committee of Supply segments, and we encourage all Singaporeans to make the most of these opportunities. Mr Chairman, I have outlined how our marriage and parenthood, immigration and workforce policies work in tandem to help us overcome our population challenges. However, these policies can only succeed if we remain an inclusive society. Globally, sentiments of disenfranchisement and xenophobia have gained momentum. A growing number of politicians across the world have stoked xenophobia to gain popular support. Some have been voted into office, the result of which has been division and instability. We must not go down that path. The well-being of Singaporeans remains at the heart of what we do. But this does not prevent us from welcoming foreigners who can contribute to our economy and add richness to our multicultural society. And we must, of course, also work hard at integration. This response extends to the enquiry Mr Faisal Manap made about how we can welcome Malays and others from the region to come and join us.”
“Our immigration policy also helps us to meet our future population needs. For example, in recent years, we have granted a higher number of PRs to healthcare workers to support our growing healthcare needs. One such immigrant is Ms Josephine Marie Baljon Celis, who was granted PR in 2023. She has been a valued staff nurse at SingHealth Community Hospitals for almost 15 years, consistently delivering a high standard of care to her patients. Josephine’s colleagues describe her as friendly, positive and dedicated to her work. Beyond her core nursing duties, she has served as a Clinical Instructor for many years, guiding and training numerous batches of nursing students to help meet Singapore’s healthcare needs. She also does volunteer work. Like our forefathers, many immigrants have found their way here and stayed on because they hope for a better life in Singapore. With time, they become our friends and ultimately, our fellow countrymen who will work alongside us to build a brighter shared future. But crucial to this brighter shared future is a strong economy, supported by a dynamic and productive workforce. As Mr Patrick Tay, Ms Joan Pereira and Mr Yip Hon Weng have noted, for Singaporeans to have good jobs, good incomes and access to services for a high quality of life, we need a strong economy. Our low birth rates and ageing population have resulted in slowing local workforce growth. Even with immigrants, we do not have enough working locals to support continued good economic growth. We must, therefore, remain open to a diverse foreign workforce that complements the local workforce.”
“This is the key purpose of Age Well SG, which complements Healthier SG by anchoring ageing well in the community. Through Age Well SG, we will encourage active ageing, improve support for seniors with care needs, and make our homes and neighbourhoods more senior-friendly. MOH, MND and MOT will share more information on their Age Well SG plans during their respective Committee of Supply segments. Mr Gan asked about the number of Migrant Domestic Workers, or MDWs, needed to support our ageing population. We expect that demand for elderly caregiving services will rise in the coming years, and MDWs play an important role in supporting households with caregiving needs. However, the scale of this increase is uncertain. It will be dependent on a host of factors, including how well our society ages and other efforts to support seniors with care needs. Even as we strive to support Singaporeans in their marriage and parenthood aspirations, and help seniors live healthier and more fulfilling lives, low birth rates and ageing will undeniably impact our economy and society. Our immigration policies play an important role in mitigating this. In 2023, we granted about 23,500 new citizenships, including about 1,300 to children born overseas to Singaporean parents. We also granted about 34,500 new Permanent Residencies (PRs). We continue to maintain a measured and stable pace of immigration, which moderates the impact of demographic trends on the size and age profile of the citizen population. The average number of new citizenships and new PRs granted per year since 2019 is slightly higher than that over the preceding period. We grant PR or citizenship to those who can integrate well, contribute to Singapore and are committed to making Singapore their home.”
“Building owners, lessors and lessees of eligible private developments may also tap on BCA’s Accessibility Fund to co-fund the construction costs of such features as well as lactation pods. BCA has actively promoted the Fund via press releases, social media posts, industry seminars and targeted engagements. They will continue to reach out to building owners to encourage adoption. But ultimately, it will require a whole-of-society effort to build the family-friendly workplace culture that Members have called for. All of us have a role to play, whether as parents, employers or co-workers. We want parents to be able to tap on workplace flexibilities without fear of stigma. Every small act counts, from exercising patience when a colleague’s child interrupts a work call, to being understanding when a co-worker takes time off at short notice to care for their children. We also trust that parents will tap on these flexibilities responsibly, and stand ready to reciprocate when other colleagues have urgent personal or family needs to attend to. Together, we can make Singapore a great place for all to work and live in, for generations to come. Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about supporting the needs of an ageing population. Indeed, a key thrust of Forward Singapore is enabling our seniors to age well. Primarily, we want our seniors to have good health. Good health is a lifelong commitment, as lifestyles in earlier years affect how healthy we are in our golden years. Therefore, we will step up the preventive health focus through Healthier SG, to empower Singaporeans to live healthily with support from their regular family doctor. We also want our seniors to age well in their homes and the community.”
“We are glad to see more employers distinguishing themselves by implementing family-friendly practices and features. One such local company is Hegen, which develops infant care products. Hegen offers its employees various forms of workplace flexibility, including work-from-home arrangements, staggered hours, part-time work and compressed work schedules. Hegen's family-friendly culture has helped the company to attract and retain talent, showing that businesses can pursue excellence and innovation while at the same time implementing family-friendly practices. We encourage all employers to establish family-friendly workplaces and make a difference in practical ways. For example, fathers ought to feel supported when taking time off for their families. A CNA report cited an example of a father who wanted to take paternity leave, but encountered resistance from his female manager. She made passive-aggressive comments and pointed to the backlog of work he would accumulate if he did so. It would have been more helpful to discuss a mutually satisfactory covering arrangement instead. 4.00 pm Employer support can also include family-friendly office features, such as lactation rooms, which Mr Louis Ng spoke about. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has progressively enhanced the building design requirements for lactation rooms and will continue to review them. We encourage building owners to voluntarily provide such family-friendly features beyond the minimum Code requirements. Premises which lack space for separate lactation facilities can consider lactation pods which are commercially available.”
“We must recognise that this requires workplace adjustments and that employers may face challenges in making arrangements to cover for employees' extended absences. We will therefore closely engage tripartite partners on further enhancements and pace out any proposed changes. Caring for and raising our children is a long-term endeavour. As Ms Hany Soh and Miss Rachel Ong have pointed out, this can be especially challenging when children fall sick or for certain groups, such as parents of children with severe disabilities or rare disorders. Hence, beyond leave provisions, we are exploring other sustainable ways to help parents better manage work and family commitments. These include flexible work arrangements, or FWAs. We must strengthen workplace flexibility in a manner that meets the needs of both employees and employers. As Ms Carrie Tan mentioned, we want to provide parents with the flexibility to optimise their energies as they navigate the demands of work and family. At the same time, employers' ability to meet their business needs will be critical in sustaining such flexibility. Through open communication and mutual trust, employers and employees can work out arrangements that meet both their needs. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is working with tripartite partners to develop new Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests. MOM will share more at their COS. Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked about Government support for companies. We recognise that some employees, including SMEs, may find it more challenging to adopt FWAs. We will consider ways to help all employers implement FWAs well and manage their teams productively. These are HR capabilities that will enable our employers to optimise their workforce and position themselves as employers of choice.”
“At Budget 2023, we increased Government-Paid Paternity Leave by two weeks effective from 1 January 2024, for fathers whose employers are ready to provide it. One father, Mr Daniel Lim, looks forward to this. He and his wife have two children and are expecting another in April this year. Daniel welcomes the additional paternity leave as it allows him to focus on supporting his wife and caring for his children during this important period. Mr Louis Ng asked when we will mandate this additional paternity leave. We will do so as soon as possible, to benefit more fathers. In the meantime, we encourage all employers to start adjusting to ensure a smoother transition when the mandatory provision eventually kicks in. During our Forward Singapore engagements, parents shared that care needs are greatest during a child's first 18 months. We will continue to strengthen support for parents during this critical period. MSF has been ramping up infant care capacity. It also plans to grow childminding services as an additional infant care option for families. MSF will share more at their COS. That said, we know many Singaporean parents prefer to care for their infants themselves and have asked if more leave can be given. We have studied the leave provisions of other developed countries like France and Denmark which have higher TFRs. These countries tend to provide parents with longer periods of leave during their child's infancy, sometimes at reduced pay. Parents appreciate the greater peace of mind, as they can care for their infants for longer while remaining employed. They can then return to work more easily once their children are older. We are therefore actively exploring how to increase paid parental leave.”
“Today, a Singaporean child can receive around $200,000 worth of education subsidies, including preschool subsidies, by the time the child completes secondary school. And, of course, there are significant subsidies for studying in the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). In addition, all Singaporean babies are covered by MediShield Life from birth and their parents receive a MediSave Grant for newborns to help with the premiums. And Singaporean children also enjoy fully-subsidised nationally-recommended childhood vaccinations and developmental screenings at polyclinics and GP clinics under the Community Health Assist Scheme. We had just enhanced the Baby Bonus Scheme last year and will consider the suggestions raised, bearing in mind the overall suite of grants and subsidies available. Next, we are also focusing on supporting men in their role as husbands and fathers. Members on both sides of the House support this, and Mr Louis Ng, in particular, has been an active advocate and champion. Our leave provisions are differentiated between mothers and fathers to meet their respective needs. For example, maternity leave is longer to allow mothers to recuperate physically from childbirth and to care for and bond with their newborns. Nevertheless, parenthood is a shared responsibility. This is especially so, as more women want to continue to work while raising their children. Currently, around half of our eligible fathers take paternity leave. We encourage more to do so and play a part in caring for your newborns. Studies have shown that children benefit physically, cognitively and emotionally when their fathers are more involved in parenting.”
“The Ministry of National Development (MND) will help families awaiting the completion of their BTO flats by doubling the supply of flats under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme, or PPHS, to 4,000 units by 2025. In the meantime, as announced at Budget 2024, MND will also introduce a one-year PPHS (Open Market) Voucher, to support PPHS-eligible families to rent an HDB flat or bedroom from the open market and MND will share more at its COS. As Mr Yip Hon Weng highlighted, some couples may also face fertility issues. Couples undergoing Assisted Conception Procedures at our public hospitals can tap on Government co-funding and use their MediSave to offset treatment costs. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is also studying the merits of extending co-funding to the private sector, taking into account clinical outcomes and costs. He asked about elective egg-freezing. Based on preliminary data, approximately 200 women underwent elective egg-freezing since it was implemented in June last year. But whilst this may be an available option for women, we still do encourage them to try for children earlier, to reduce age-related risks of conceiving and carrying a baby successfully to term. Ms Ng Ling Ling and Ms Hany Soh asked about support to alleviate Singaporeans' concerns regarding child-raising costs. The Government is investing heavily to ensure preschool, education and healthcare remain affordable for families. The Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) will lower childcare fee caps in Anchor and Partner Operator Preschools by $40 in 2025 and will lower them again in 2026. MSF will share more at their COS.”
“But there is no denying that starting a family becomes more challenging with age. Singaporeans may prioritise their education or careers in young adulthood, only to face difficulty conceiving when they eventually try for children. We therefore strongly encourage young Singaporeans to actively build and develop relationships and intentionally factor marriage and parenthood into their life plans early on. Several Members have asked on how we will support marriage and parenthood. We will provide a conducive environment for couples who wish to start, grow and nurture their families. We made significant moves in this regard at Budget 2023. To support working parents, we doubled Government-Paid Paternity Leave to four weeks on a voluntary basis. We also increased Unpaid Infant Care Leave to 12 days per parent per year in their child's first two years. To strengthen financial support for young families, we enhanced the Baby Bonus Cash Gift for all birth orders. We also enhanced the Child Development Account, or CDA, by increasing the First Step Grant and raising the Government co-matching caps. We are continuing to address the housing needs of Singaporean couples and families. The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has ramped up Build-to-Order (BTO) supply and remains on track to launch 100,000 BTO flats from 2021 to 2025. Furthermore, HDB is catching up on BTO projects delayed by the pandemic, having delivered 80% of such projects as of end-2023. As announced at the National Day Rally last year, the new framework of Standard, Plus and Prime flats will take effect later this year, and cater to Singaporean families' different budgets and needs.”
“Thank you. Members may also access these materials through the MP@SGPARL app. What I am circulating is the list, but the articles are accessible there, through the QR code and the links. These articles reflect a generational change in priorities and how young people around the world are increasingly finding meaning in other pursuits. They may not even see marriage or parenthood as important life goals. Our falling TFR has serious implications for Singapore's future. We are already seeing the impact of our falling TFR on our society. Families today are smaller than before, with more sandwiched couples having to care for both the young and old. A growing proportion of Singaporeans are remaining single and will have weaker familial support networks when they grow older. Our falling TFR will also impact our economy. As several Members have mentioned, a strong and vibrant economy is critical for Singapore, as it helps raise our standard of living and gives us resources to tackle challenges. However, a vibrant economy is ultimately driven by people. With fewer births, we will face a shrinking workforce. It will be increasingly challenging to maintain our dynamism, attract global businesses and create opportunities for the next generation. This has been the experience of countries like South Korea and Italy, who are grappling with economic slowdowns and declining wages, further compounded by low fertility and the resulting demographic changes. We are therefore determined to address these challenges. The bright side is that our young Singaporeans still aspire towards marriage and parenthood. However, as several Members have noted, they may not proactively plan towards these goals. As a Government, we respect Singaporeans' personal decisions on marriage and parenthood.”
“Others cite concerns about the financial costs of child-raising, pressures to be an excellent parent, or difficulties managing work and family commitments. More broadly though, our low fertility reflects a global phenomenon where individual priorities and societal norms have shifted. This can be seen from a slew of articles on the TFRs of other countries. Mr Chairman, Sir, with your permission, may I please distribute an Annex which has some of these articles, to Members of the House?”
“9 million by 2030. This planning parameter remains relevant for the 2030s. Beyond that, our population size will depend on various demographic trends, such as birth rates, life expectancies, deaths and migration; as well as future social and economic needs. In planning for the longer-term, we develop various scenarios to ensure that we are adequately prepared for a range of possible outcomes, rather than focus on a single number. In all scenarios, however, supporting marriage and parenthood remains a fundamental priority. We have been and will continue to invest heavily in families as this is an existential issue for us. Also, our efforts to raise fertility will take time to show results. A carefully managed immigration policy is hence an important supporting measure to moderate the impact of low birth rates and an ageing population on our society and economy. 3.45 pm So, let me now elaborate on our population strategies, the trade-offs we face and the whole-of-society effort needed. At the core of our population vision are strong and stable families. Last year, there were 26,500 resident marriages. We were also delighted to welcome 30,500 resident births. Overall, however, there were fewer resident marriages and births annually on average over the last five years, as compared to the preceding five-year period. Our resident total fertility rate, or TFR, has continued to decline. Preliminary estimates indicate a resident TFR of 0.97 in 2023, the first time it has dropped below 1.0. There are various reasons for Singapore's low fertility. Some are temporal, for instance, couples that had their marriage plans disrupted by COVID-19, which may in turn, have delayed their parenthood plans.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their cuts. Our vision for Singapore’s population is: a thriving people, a dynamic economy, an inclusive society and a resilient nation – a Singapore where all Singaporeans can achieve their personal and family aspirations; have good jobs, good incomes and good careers; and live fulfilling lives. We must also lay the foundations for future generations to do the same. However, we are confronted with the twin demographic challenges of a persistently low fertility rate and an ageing population. These challenges are not unique to Singapore. Many other advanced societies also face rapidly declining fertility. South Korea continues to grapple with a fertility rate below 1.0 – far below the replacement level of 2.1. Closer to home, Malaysia and Thailand saw their fertility rates fall in 2022. European countries, such as Italy and Spain, continue to see record lows in births year on year. Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about the key population outcomes we want and our strategies for achieving them. Fundamentally, we need more Singaporeans. A strong Singaporean citizenry is the bedrock and wellspring of a thriving nation. We must hence continue to support Singaporeans in starting and raising families. Second, we must manage the practical impact of slowing local workforce growth and an ageing population on our society and economy. This is where our immigration, foreign workforce and integration strategies come in. Third, we must understand that this task cannot be undertaken by the Government alone. We can only succeed through our collective efforts. Mr Gerald Giam asked about our population projections and how we plan our population policies. As indicated at last year's Committee of Supply, our total population is likely to be below 6.”
“Mr Speaker, I understand that Deputy Prime Minister Heng will be speaking next. May I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No 48(8) to remove the time limit in respect of Deputy Prime Minister Heng's speech?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn." And just one correction. It should have been Elizabeth Barrack Browning and not Robert Barrack Browning. Robert Browning was her husband. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)] Building a Heat-resilient Singapore 9.07 pm”
“I thank Mr Leong for his clarification. It is actually a very straightforward principle: 20% of our revenue comes from NIRC. So, that is the full revenue. We allocate this for education, for the Ministries; and some part of that goes into funds. So, the entire revenue is fungible, as Mr Leong said. So, that is all mixed up. I did not say – and I am not sure why Mr Leong thinks so – that we take just that 20% slice of NIRC and park that in a fund. It does not work like that. It all comes into the big pool of revenue and then we slice up the pie differently. Then, when it goes into the fund, it is spent on Singaporeans. Some of it may be spent now because, like he mentioned a whole lot of infrastructure funds, but he omitted mentioning the other funds which I talked about in my reply earlier – like, for example, the Pioneer Generation Fund, the Merdeka Generation Fund and the GST Voucher Fund, which we draw down and we draw down now for today's generation; and some of it may be later. But the most important point is that this is for Singaporeans. And for the infrastructure ones, because the spending is lumpy, we do not want to wait until one day when we have to pay a very large amount and suddenly, we do not have the money. So, we set the money aside and we are able to stream it out, and we ensure that we have infrastructure available for Singaporeans.”
“Essentially, when we sell land, it is done either by way of Government land sales tenders or we sell it in accordance with market value. We remove the temptation to push the price higher because that becomes the only source of revenue or major source of revenue. But before we even get there, we must go back to the fundamental point – which is that it is not revenue. We are just converting the asset from one form to another. I am sorry, the other, the second question? Oh, stamp duty. That is a very different nature of asset. Different assets have different attributes.”
“The short answer is that we cannot always guarantee that they will have high returns or that the rates will be positive. It might be negative sometimes as well. So, the system that I described earlier is actually the better system: you put your money in the CPF and the CPF returns yield certain rates; and you are assured of those rates because of the system that we have set up.”
“When this point was raised earlier, I think Mr Leong misquoted me. He said I claimed that state land is not a sacrifice or something like that. That was not what I said. I said that there are some lands, which are state lands, which were not acquired under the Land Acquisition Act and that is all that I said.”
“I thank the Member for his clarification, because it also reminds me that there was one other point that I did not make earlier, which was that since 2007, we have acquired the land at market value. So, the law changed and that was because Singapore's circumstances had improved. But coming back to his point, the answer simply is this: the Government has to decide when to use the land, what to do with the land. At that time when the land was acquired, it was acquired based on the Land Acquisition Act at that time; and when it is required to be deployed, it will be deployed. It does not in any way diminish the fact that the person may have lost their land, but it was acquired legally and under the Land Acquisition Act for national purposes, and in the fullness of time, dealt with as required.”
“On the first question, he said Government should not take everything from us. Is Mr Leong familiar with Robert Browning? He is a poet and there is a famous line, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." And there are many ways. By having MediFund, by having ComCare, by having Silver Generation Package, Pioneer Generation Package, Silver Support Scheme, CDC vouchers, Assurance Package, subsidised healthcare, subsidised housing. There are many ways in which we give and care for Singaporeans. So, it is not a matter of taking things away from Singaporeans. It is a question of stewardship, that whatever we have or whatever we have had to acquire, we act as stewards and we find a way to return that. On the question of land acquisition, well, I do not have details with me, but I can say that much of the land would have been used for public purposes. Some of it may have to go into our land Reserves, but for strategic reasons, we may not want to use the land immediately, but we would have long-term plans for it or we may need to keep that land as a buffer zone. So, the short answer is, when the Government acquires land, it does so for a public purpose or a national purpose. The Government will use it as required, but it is for the national interest.”
“I thank Mr Gerald Giam for his question. I think the answer really is this. We all know that when information is shared, one is a secret, two is not. That is the general principle. It is very difficult to control information flows when they go out beyond a certain number of people. When it comes to sensitive information, especially with regard to the Reserves, it is not that there is no information. Please understand that. It is not that there is no information. Because there is information on MAS, there is information on Temasek. GIC and Temasek put out information on their assets and returns every year. But this is a strategic asset and hence, one should not put out all the information. Rather than going into all the details, I would just simply put it this way because it is a matter of principle. If Singaporeans needed somebody to defend them, on the one side you have the PAP and the other side you have the Opposition. The PAP keeps some powder dry to make sure that we will always be able to defend Singaporeans in crises. The Opposition's approach is, "I have to defend you, but by the way, let me just tell everybody everything, all my secrets, all my assets. And I will defend you." And I think the judgement for Singaporeans to make is, who do you think would be able to defend you strategically in such a situation?”
“For 99 years, we transfer the title, the leasehold title. Rental, we do not. There is a difference. And again, rental periods are usually shorter, so it is a question of how we manage the asset.”
“I understand the point, which in Minister Tan See Leng's words, is more of a comment than a clarification, but it does not really detract from what I said, which is that we lose the use of the land for the 99 years, when we could have used it for other purposes. And here what we are really doing is, when the land has a value, we put it in, we invest it, that is surely unobjectionable. At the end of the day, if the Member thinks about it, there is not much difference in our positions as I explained, because we do use the land sale proceeds. The difference is, what the PSP and WP, in different forms, are asking us to do is, use it now and use it directly. What we do is we take it, we invest it and we use it, but we use it in a sustainable manner by streaming it out through the NIRC. So, we are not so far apart. And philosophically we have a different approach, but we can have a debate and we are having a debate on which is the better approach. But we think ours is better because it is a fair, sustainable and prudent approach.”
“I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his clarification. On the point of the 99-year lease, the simple answer is that you would have lost the use of the land for the 99 years or the 30 years. You can set the limit where you want to. If it is below 10 years, we do not do that. Anything above that, because you have lost the use of that land. I had actually explained that in quite great detail in that Parliamentary answer that I mentioned and I would encourage the Leader of the Opposition to read that. Then, on the second point, the reference to the IPS study, the main point I really wanted to highlight was that if we want to have a full conversation, we should be fair and objective and set up all the material facts. So, just because it is out there does not mean that that is guaranteed.”
“Not for now because we need to make sure that we have enough ballast to keep us going. We have faced four major crises between 1997 and 2020 – the Asian Financial Crisis, the SARS outbreak, Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. In a more uncertain and volatile world, we cannot expect less. In a crisis, we can draw on our Reserves, but having such solid Reserves in itself also means that we have a rock on which to anchor ourselves in turbulent times. Our Reserves give us confidence and give others confidence in us. In times of crisis, we become the harbour in the storm for many investors. We must and will continue to do right by Singaporeans, for Singaporeans. Doing right by Singaporeans is not just about meeting the needs of Singaporeans today; it is about looking after our children, grandchildren and generations of tomorrow. That is the approach our Pioneers took with regard to the Reserves, the result of which is that we all benefit today. As stewards of our Reserves, we have the obligation to manage it judiciously, make refinements where needed, so that it will continue to serve its purpose for Singaporeans today and in years to come. Mr Speaker, I support the amended Motion. [Applause.]”
“The WP has suggested a slew of tax measures in lieu of the latest GST increase, including to introduce a tax on net wealth above $10 million and further raise property taxes. Effectively, they seek to impose more taxes on the wealthy, rather than raise the GST as a broad-based consumption tax. Their ostensible objection to the GST increase was that it would negatively impact the lower-income groups. The fact is that the higher-income groups are already paying more in taxes, and that is how we have designed our overall fiscal system – to be fair and progressive. Remember, the GST increase was done together with enhancements to the permanent GST vouchers. This ensures that the well-to-do pay more GST and the lower-income are impacted the least. In other words, the wealthy, who consume more, will also contribute their fair share of taxes. The Opposition's other suggestion is to spend more from the Reserves – for example, tweak the NIRC formula or fund land purchases from the Reserves rather than the current Budget. But is this really the best course of action for Singapore? Given significant uncertainties in the current geopolitical situation, this would not be wise. As such, we must use our Reserves wisely. Today, we preserve our principal and strike a balance between our current and future needs by spending 50% of the investment returns, while putting the remaining 50% back into the Reserves to grow it for the future. We believe this to be fair to current and future generations of Singaporeans. We should not be too quick to change this. I think WP alluded to the fact that they are not saying to touch the principal. That is fair enough. And they had suggested 60:40. Deputy Prime Minister Wong has addressed this before. He had said, "Never say never", but not for now.”
“This ensures that Singaporeans do not experience fluctuating CPF rates and will continue to receive stable rates to grow CPF balances for retirement adequacy. On the question of the rate of growth of the Reserves, Mr Leong Mun Wai has suggested that the Government is growing our Reserves faster than necessary. If we were truly over-accumulating our Reserves, the NIRC would be growing at a much faster rate than GDP. But do remember that our economy is growing and our population has higher needs. In fact, NIRC has kept pace with our economy. Over the past five years, NIRC has remained stable at about 3.5% of GDP and we expect this trend to continue. As Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has explained previously, at the current pace of accumulation, Reserves' growth will not greatly outpace economic growth. So, in truth, we are not at all over-accumulating our Reserves. If we slow down the pace of saving, the value of our Reserves will diminish over time. The fact of the matter is that our spending needs are growing and these need to be funded. We do not have a lot of fiscal space, contrary to what PSP suggests. The WP has acknowledged that there is a medium-term funding gap and that taxes need to be raised. They opposed all the previous GST increases, but recently changed their position and said they accept the GST at 7%. We are able to enjoy today's sound and stable fiscal position because the Government introduced the GST in 1994 and revised the rate prudently in good time. This GST increase is needed, too, in light of the spending trends I have shared. We have to spend more in several key areas and we will need the revenues very soon.”
“Mr Louis Chua has also suggested to directly pass through GIC's returns to CPF members. In 2014, then-Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam explained in Parliament at great length, how we set our CPF interest rates and manage CPF proceeds. Our CPF rates are fair. They are pegged to returns on investments of comparable risks and duration in the market. The rates are risk-free for members. Regardless of the interest rate environment or the returns that the Government actually earns in a particular year, we continue to pay the CPF rates that we have committed. Over the past 20 years of low interest rates, the Government has continued to provide members with 2.5% minimum interest on OA monies, and since 2008, a 4% minimum interest on Special, MediSave and Retirement Account (SMRA) monies, extra 1% interest on the first $60,000 of combined CPF balances for all members and an additional 1% interest on the first $30,000 of combined CPF balances for members aged 55 and above. While the Government expects to earn returns over the long term that will be able to cover CPF interest rates, there is no assurance that GIC's returns will exceed CPF interest rates in the shorter term, let alone every year. There have been years where GIC's returns fall below CPF interest rates, but we do not cut CPF interest rates. The Government is able to maintain CPF interest rates regardless of the interest rate environment or the financial performance of our investment entities only because we have a buffer of net assets. In effect, where GIC has earned returns higher than that of CPF interest rates, it is used to cover for the many years of low interest rates and when GIC earns returns below CPF rates.”
“Yes, Sir. The Leader of the Opposition, in his speech said, "The IPS working paper referred to earlier in my speech revealed relatively low levels of trust in journalists and the media on the topic of reserves policy. For this House's information, Opposition politicians scored higher in this regard." Nothing wrong with that statement, perfectly correct. But the Leader of the Opposition did not highlight the other statement which was just on top of the statement that he referred to which is that, "The highest trust level was accorded to the PAP Government." There is a chart which shows the PAP Government at about seven. Then, it was scholars, then families and friends, then fellow citizens, then followed by Members of the Opposition. The IPS survey is fully transparent. But just because it is fully transparent does not mean that everything will necessarily be highlighted or a conversation taken on a particular trajectory. I have no quarrel with the Leader of the Opposition for highlighting his particular statement, but I just want to say that full transparency does not actually always mean the full picture, depending on what is done with the information. Next, I move on to PSP's contention that because our TFR is declining, we will need less resources in the future. Do not forget that while we may have fewer babies born, we have a population that is living longer and yet, we will have fewer children to support them. A smaller workforce will have to support a larger, ageing population. We will need the additional resources to provide Singaporeans with greater healthcare and ageing support in their silver years. On CPF, Ms Hazel Poa suggested that the Government is paying out less interest than it should for CPF.”
“For example, in June last year, we worked with the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) to discuss how employers can be family-friendly while staying competitive and productive. We will continue to work closely with Tripartite Partners and community partners, such as Families for Life Council and Centre for Fathering (CFF), to encourage employers to foster a progressive and supportive workplace culture for fathers. The CFF engages companies to promote the importance of supporting fathers in managing work and family and greater paternal involvement in child-raising. CFF's Great Companies for Dads Award, also recognises companies that have put in place family-friendly policies and initiatives and can inspire others to do so too.”