SINGAPORE: MPs have welcomed this year's Budget as prudent, visionary and responsive - but the call for more direct assistance for the low income group also continued.

Speaking on the second day of the debate on the Budget Statement in Parliament, MP for Jalan Besar GRC, Dr Lily Neo urged the adoption of a three-pronged approach which should focus on human capital investment, to help this group become more upwardly mobile.

This include direct assistance in the form of a comprehensive package.

Firstly, it should provide help for everyone in the family, such as unemployed spouses and school-going children.

Secondly, there should be better delivery of help schemes to reach the target groups. And finally, there should also be constant updates to training programmes.

She said that this would enable existing retraining programmes to be expanded to help workers move from sunset sectors to new and relevant ones.

Dr Neo said: "We would have to explore the need for a stronger, direct social safety net which would enable us to take advantage of globalization more quickly and boldly.

“The continued evolution of our Workfare or WIS is a step in the right direction. These should be coupled with initiatives aimed at maximizing our human capital investment.

“A key strategy to circumvent the effects of wage stagnation and job volatility is to focus on upward mobility. In other words, we need to help this vulnerable group of Singaporeans who are running harder just to remain where they are, to move forward."

The MP also commended the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth And Sports for the increase in the Public Assistance Allowance from S$290 to S$330 a month.

Dr Neo, whose constituency has a high proportion of the elderly poor, had led calls for an increase in the allowance in 2007.

She said: "I am sure the 286 public assistance recipients in my constituency and throughout Singapore would appreciate the increase in their monthly public assistance allowances." -CNA/vm