Key Highlights from PM Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally 2024
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Get up to speed with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's biggest takeaways from the National Day Rally 2024. Discover the bold initiatives that will shape a future-ready Singapore.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
Get up to speed with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's biggest takeaways from the National Day Rally 2024. Discover the bold initiatives that will shape a future-ready Singapore.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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NewsTranscript
00:00I was still the Principal Private Secretary to former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
00:05I often helped him with his speeches.
00:09Look at that.
00:13We were both so young then.
00:17Now, SM Lee's hair has greyed.
00:22I don't know when mine will be turning grey,
00:26but I'm mentally prepared for it.
00:28Mr Lee was Finance Minister when I was at the Ministry.
00:32As a young officer, I supported him on a few budgets.
00:36Later, he became Prime Minister and he was looking for a Principal Private Secretary, or PPS.
00:43I was nominated to go for an interview, but I didn't expect to get the job.
00:49Yet he gave me a chance to work alongside him.
00:52So I did the best I could, and I learnt much from him.
00:59APPLAUSE
01:06Politics then was the furthest thing on my mind.
01:09Frankly, no one in my family or circle of friends expected me to take this path.
01:14But when Mr Lee asked me in 2011,
01:18I could already see the difficulties he faced in putting together a younger team.
01:24I had been in the public service long enough to know
01:27that without effective political leaders, our system would not function effectively.
01:34And that's why I decided to step forward to serve.
01:38Many of us have grown up thinking that studying and learning
01:41is all about passing exams and getting the qualifications for a job.
01:47That mindset really has to go.
01:50We study not for the exam or the paper qualification.
01:54We study to improve our skills and to keep on doing better.
01:59And that process of learning and achieving skills mastery must continue throughout life.
02:05That's why we introduced SkillsFuture nearly a decade ago.
02:10And we are now giving this a further boost
02:12to strengthen SkillsFuture as a key pillar in our social compact.
02:19One new scheme is the SkillsFuture Level Up Programme.
02:23All Singaporeans aged 40 and above
02:26would have received a $4,000 SkillsFuture credit top-up in May.
02:31The credits are already in your accounts.
02:35Please take full advantage and make good use of them.
02:38So from next year, we will provide a new training allowance
02:42under the SkillsFuture Level Up Programme.
02:46Essentially, if you take time off from work to study full-time,
02:50you will get an allowance of up to $3,000 a month.
02:54Every Singaporean aged 40 and above can benefit from this.
02:59Many of you in this room, I'm sure.
03:03And you have 24 months' worth of allowance.
03:07Everyone.
03:08What about those who choose to train part-time?
03:11They will continue to receive their salaries, of course.
03:15But it's not easy to work and go for classes after that.
03:19There will also be expenses associated with training, like fees and books.
03:25So we will extend some of the training allowance
03:29to those who attend part-time courses as well.
03:33They will get some of it.
03:34MOE is working on this and will share more details when ready.
03:38Another new move we will make under SkillsFuture
03:41is to help those who become involuntarily unemployed.
03:45For example, when they are retrenched or when their companies go bust.
03:50Now, we are ready to introduce a new SkillsFuture JobSeeker Support Scheme.
03:58The scheme will focus on helping lower and middle-income workers.
04:02If you lose your job, we will provide you with temporary financial support.
04:08How much?
04:09In total, up to $6,000 over a period of up to six months.
04:14We will help you get through the setback and bounce back stronger.
04:18But you must do your part too.
04:19What should you do?
04:21Go for training, career coaching, as well as job-matching services.
04:28These are essential investments that you need to make in yourself to find better jobs.
04:33So this is the essence of our renewed social compact.
04:38We will have your back.
04:39We will stand by you.
04:41But you too must take responsibility for your actions and make an effort to pull yourself up.
04:48When paternity leave was introduced more than a decade ago,
04:52only about 25% of fathers took it up.
04:55Just one in four.
04:58Today, more than half do.
05:00So it's more than one in two.
05:02That's a big improvement.
05:05But it still means that close to half of fathers don't take their paternity leave.
05:11Earlier this year, we doubled paternity leave from two to four weeks.
05:16We left employers to offer the additional two weeks on a voluntary basis.
05:22From 1 April next year, we will make this mandatory.
05:26Tonight, since it's my turn to be your housing agent, I will give you a sneak preview.
05:34The October sales exercise will include BTO projects in many towns like Sengkang,
05:39Bayshore and Kallang Wampu.
05:42Let's take a young couple who hopes to buy a four-room BTO flat in the new
05:47Bayshore Vista project.
05:49It looks something like this.
05:51A resale flat in this area is quite expensive.
05:54I'm sure all of you know that.
05:56But this will be sold as a BTO Plus flat at the lower price of $580,000.
06:04The couple has a combined income of $7,000.
06:07They will enjoy an enhanced CPF housing grant of $25,000.
06:12So they can take a 25-year HDB loan and they will be able to service their mortgage
06:19mostly with their CPF savings, with minimal cash outlay.
06:24So that's how we keep flats in this area affordable for young couples.
06:31Take another example of a couple with lower income applying for a three-room flat.
06:37They can try for a unit at Sengkang.
06:39There's a project at Fernville Sales.
06:42This is a standard BTO flat.
06:44It will cost about $300,000.
06:49This couple has an income of $4,000.
06:52And because the income is lower, they will enjoy a higher grant of $55,000.
07:00They too can get a 25-year HDB loan and they can finance it entirely with their CPF.
07:06That means zero cash outlay.
07:10Currently, they can get an enhanced CPF housing grant of up to $80,000.
07:16We will increase the grant, especially for the lower-income groups.
07:21Now that the Government has taken over the Sports Hub,
07:24we have the ability to unlock its full potential and make the whole Kallang area more alive.
07:31So we call this our Kallang Alive Master Plan.
07:35Let me share some of our ideas.
07:37The indoor stadium is already 35 years old
07:40and no longer meets the requirements of today's sporting and entertainment events.
07:45So the first idea is to build a new indoor arena at this location.
07:53It will have a capacity of 18,000, bigger than the current indoor stadium.
07:58So we can host more top-tier events here.
08:01And our athletes can compete on home ground.
08:04And Singaporeans will have more opportunities to cheer them on.
08:09Second, we will build better facilities for our team Singapore athletes at this location.
08:18We will have new sports science and sports medicine facilities.
08:22We will bring together the national training centres for several key sports,
08:26which are now spread out all over the island.
08:29And we will site them here under one roof for better synergies.
08:35We will move the sports school here from Woodlands.
08:47And in this way, our student athletes can study and train together with the senior athletes.
08:53So this will be the new home for Team Singapore.
08:58Third, we will make Kallang a place for all Singaporeans to enjoy sports.
09:03You don't need to be an elite athlete to enjoy the facilities at Kallang.
09:07You may be a weekend player, or a beginner, or someone trying to pick up a new sport.
09:13Whatever your level, so long as you have an interest in sports,
09:17there will be something for you here.
09:20Currently, a main road runs through the sports hub.
09:23We will convert it into a pedestrianised community boulevard.
09:27We will inject sporting facilities and programmes along this stretch for everyone to enjoy.
09:33Let me show you a video of how it will look like.
09:37Here is the boulevard.
09:39It's a long stretch that goes all the way to the waterfront.
09:44We will have activities for everyone.
09:47And we will make the entire area come alive.
09:53We will make Kallang a new lifestyle destination for people to watch more sporting and entertainment events,
10:02take part in sports, and enjoy quality family time together.