Acknowledgement to the Chair

Mdm Speaker, we have completed Budget 2015/2016. Allow me to make some round-up remarks.

Since this term of Government began in 2011 and after four consecutive Budgets, the strategic directions as set out by Prime Minister Lee in his National Day Rally (NDR) speeches and during the debate on the President's Address following the prorogation of Parliament last year, have been followed through in the plans of various Ministries working in concert to flesh out these directions. With this Budget passed, we are another step closer to achieving the vision of a "fair and inclusive society". Surely and steadily, deep structural changes have been enacted to better prepare Singapore for significant challenges ahead. The silver tsunami as our population ages and the need to maintain a strong social compact in a rapidly evolving world stand as the most important challenges for Singapore's next frontier.

As promised, the new initiatives and programmes by the Government over the past four years have significantly strengthened social safety nets and redistributed more wealth to the lower- and middle-class. But as a result, too, commitments on the Government's recurrent Budget have also been increased, pari passu. As an example – through Workfare and Silver Support – the Government has now put in place a permanent financial support scheme for 20% to 30% of all citizens aged from 20 or so, and for as long as they live. This represents a fundamental shift that has occurred. What has happened?

If previously, Singapore were a fleet of fast moving cars and trucks gunning for fast growth on the quicker right lanes, we have now added a sizeable fleet of coach buses that will keep to the slower left lanes, to bring along our elderly, the disadvantaged and less able so that we can maintain our precious social compact and bring opportunities and benefits to all. The entire fleet must arrive at our destination.

Members' speeches during the Budget debate and Committee of Supply supported this shift, whether they were from the Government Party, the Opposition Members or Nominated Members. But some hon Members also advised caution on fiscal sustainability and were right to do so. They showed good judgement and honesty because it would have been so much easier and populist not to sound these warnings but instead give false assurances that all will be well. The simple truth is that uncertainty does exist, even if our projections assure us for the short and medium term. Beyond that, no one can see that far ahead. The only certainty we have is that there will be unexpected events. And whether these commitments on future spending are sustainable will depend on the ability of

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Singaporeans to work together in the years ahead to ensure that Singapore continues to thrive in our region and globally.

Not surprisingly, with the PG package and Silver Support introduced, wages up and more affordable housing, fewer Members this year asked if the Government was doing enough for the poor, for older Singaporeans and lower-skilled workers. With the introduction of MediShield Life, cuts for MOH fell quite noticeably, too, displacing it from the "top three". So, too, the concerns on the influx of foreign labour, as tightening measures have worked. Instead, this year, there were more cuts and speeches focused on SkillsFuture, stimulating productivity and innovation, equipping more Singaporeans to be the core to drive our economic engines. In our Golden Jubilee year, many Members also focused on Singapore's "soul" – what makes us unique and the need to retain these cultural and historical traits, including our hawker food. There were many calls to cultivate ourselves to be a more civil society or, at the very least, to be more green and clean, like Taiwan and Japan. Hon Members also asked that more be done to assist single mothers, disadvantaged children and our brothers and sisters with disabilities. All these calls represented earnest aspirations for a better Singapore, and much work remains to be done.

This Budget was also the debut for our Nominated Members of Parliament, sworn in less than six months ago. I believe that they got into the swing of things quite well and some made passionate and stirring speeches. Members in this House would agree with me that the new Nominated Members have added substance and style to our deliberations.

So, after nine days, we have come to the end of the FY 2015/2016 Budget debates. We have had good productive debates and scrutinised the Government's spending to satisfy ourselves and Singaporeans that we represent, that the direction Singapore is taking is the right one. The high standards and good functioning of the proceedings were made possible by the staff of the Secretariat in Parliament and the able but firm hand of our Speaker.

Mdm Speaker, we are, indeed, grateful for your patience in sitting through all our speeches and debates, and for guiding the proceedings onto their satisfying conclusion. We express our deep and special thanks to you and your Deputies. [Applause.]

With speeches made and the Budget approved, what remains is for us in Government and all Members in this House, to serve our people faithfully and conscientiously, with honesty and trustworthiness, to ensure that all these good plans come to fruition for their benefit.

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Hon Members, first, I wish to thank the Leader of the House and the Government Whip, as well as their Deputies, for their support and cooperation which have enabled us to conclude this COS successfully. I also wish to thank all hon Members for your active participation and support throughout the COS.

A total of 65 hon Members submitted 466 cuts this year. Fifty-four Members also spoke on the Budget Statement. The "star" Ministry, as the Leader has mentioned, attracting the most number of cuts is MOM, which is understandable because of the various new initiatives that were announced in this Budget which are covered by the Ministry.

It is clear that there was unanimous support for this year's Budget, not just from the Government Members but also from the non-Government Members. There is a general consensus that this Budget has, indeed, lived up to its name of being a Jubilee Budget, to prepare us for the future and to build a fair and inclusive society.

This year's COS also saw the active participation of our nine newly appointed Nominated Members, who made robust speeches and had contributed to the debate. I am proud to have with us, for the first time in our history, a Nominated Member representing the special needs community, Ms Chia Yong Yong. I am glad that our Parliament is truly inclusive and no disability or impairment is an impediment to any Singaporean who wants to contribute and has the people's welfare at heart.

This year's Budget gives depth and meaning to the Government's move towards a broader definition of success, one that is not circumscribed or limited by grades linked only to academic achievements. Members were concerned that our society is becoming polarised by this rigid definition of success and wondered about its impact on social mobility. Hence, Members strongly supported the SkillsFuture scheme, in particular, the thinking behind it, which is to give all Singaporeans a chance to uplift their lives.

But Members also agreed that for SkillsFuture to succeed, a policy alone is insufficient. We need truly committed employers who will give every worker a chance to develop his capabilities. We also need individuals who will take greater ownership over their own growth, instead of just waiting for the Government or their employers. As many Members had pointed out, beyond SkillsFuture, we need a quantum leap in mindset change among all the actors.

Many Members also supported this Budget's provision of greater stability, security and peace of mind to Singaporeans, even as we weather the changes that arise from economic restructuring and a rapidly ageing population. Change is not easy for anyone, least of all if it results in uncomfortable disruptions and dislocations. People embrace change better if there

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is some buffer for them to fall back on, a safety net to catch them if they fall.

To that extent, many Members applauded the Silver Support Scheme, the higher CPF interest rate on the first $30,000 in the RA, the other social schemes. But as pragmatism is deeply ingrained in our psyche, many Members asked whether these social programmes are sustainable or will they leave our future generations in shackles. Members were also concerned whether the shift towards greater risk pooling and collective responsibility will erode individual responsibility. The Finance Minister had given an excellent response to these concerns, and I do recommend all Singaporeans to read his summing up speech.

So, did we turn to the left, an ideological debate the likes of which one has hardly heard in this august Chamber? One Member reminded us that if we move too much to the left, we will have nothing left, to which another Member promptly countered that moving too much to the right is also not right. The last words came from a Member who pointed out that the real issue is not whether we should turn left or right but whether we are moving forward. Again, pragmatism dictates that ideology should not determine how we craft policies, but rather what is really of benefit to our people and what really works for us. It is all about building a fair and inclusive society.

Members will agree with me that we still have a lot of work to do. Last week, after the Finance Minister had tabled his Budget Statement, I had lunch at my kopitiam in Bukit Batok East and I met two women who worked as cleaners at a nearby condominium. They were both in their 50s and I asked them whether they knew that they would be getting an additional 1% for the first $30,000 in their CPF RA account. They were not only not aware of it, but one of them even thought that if anything were to happen to her, her children would not get her CPF savings.

I took the opportunity to set the facts straight. However, this shows just how much misinformation there are on the ground on some of our policies and why the end of this Budget debate is but the beginning of more concerted efforts to reach out to Singaporeans on these policies.

Let me conclude by thanking hon Members, once again, for the many thoughtful speeches that you had made that had added colour and life to this debate. I also wish to thank my two helpful and reliable Deputy Speakers, Mr Charles Chong and Mr Seah Kian Peng, for their assistance.

My thanks, too, to our Parliament staff who have been working quietly but tirelessly behind the scene to ensure that Parliament runs smoothly throughout the Budget debate.

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Our commitment is to serve the people of Singapore. On this note, thank you, once again.

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