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SINGAPORE: Political watchers expect Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to address in his National Day Rally issues like meeting the rising expectations of Singaporeans and how they can enjoy the fruits of growth.
They also expect Mr Lee to elaborate on the issue of foreigner integration during the annual Rally on Sunday.
Members of Parliament said Mr Lee is likely to expand on his televised National Day message on how Singapore will invest in its people and reinforce the Singapore team with numbers from abroad.
They expect him to address some key concerns, namely how foreigners can adjust to Singaporeans and vice-versa.
Mr Lee, in his National Day message, had asked Singaporeans to encourage those who will become citizens to strike roots here.
But some political watchers feel that with the recovering economy, the debate about foreigners would in fact sharpen.
Dr Amy Khor, Chairman of REACH and Mayor of South-West CDC, said: "For us at REACH, the issue of foreigners and integration has actually consistently remained as one of our hot topics of discussion on our discussion forum and feedback channels. And many of these feedback tend to be negative, which suggests that this will remain a major topic which will require more policy attention.
"Even though the government has put in place on the ground additional measures to sharpen the difference between foreigners and Singaporeans and to assure Singaporeans that their interests must and do come first - we have got a sharper differentiation in terms of school and healthcare fees, housing subsidies only for Singaporeans and higher priority allocation for primary school placements - Singaporeans still express discomfort and concerns of being crowded out by foreigners.
"The government really has to tread a fine balance between the two competing claims of addressing concerns of Singaporeans and at the same time not unwittingly stifling business expansion."
Dr Leong Chan Hoong, Research Fellow at Institute of Policy Studies, said: "The thrust of public policy all these years has never changed and that is to put Singaporeans first. There may be some Singaporeans who feel disadvantaged but by and large it is more of a lingering perception.
"Singaporeans always come first, be it housing, education or employment. But it is inevitable that some people may be disappointed that they did not get the job they wanted or be allotted the flat that they preferred. In these kinds of cases, the foreign talent become the scapegoats."
Dr Lam Pin Min, Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, added: "From the healthcare perspective, the influx of foreigners has stretched beyond the capacity of our healthcare system. The recent bed crunch and long waiting times in hospitals could be attributed to the surge in the residential population in Singapore.
"More infrastructures, such as polyclinics and hospitals, need to be built to cater to this rising demand. From a more positive angle, we need to hire more healthcare workers from overseas as an interim measure to provide the necessary manpower in the healthcare sector. Longer-term measures would be to attract foreign trained Singaporean doctors to return to serve in our public hospitals."
Political watchers said the income gap is another challenge which needs to be addressed and the country must continue to work towards narrowing this gap as the Singapore economy grows. Two groups of Singaporeans would need assistance in this area - the lower-income Singaporeans and the aged.
NTUC Deputy Secretary-General, Halimah Yacob, said: "When the economy is growing we want to make sure that everybody benefits from that growth. One would like to hear a little bit from him (Prime Minister Lee) how that inclusive growth idea is going to be enlarged and implemented.
"Specifically for us, we have launched the S$40 million Inclusive Growth Fund. That's how we also want to do our part to ensure that growth is a lot more inclusive and would include everybody."
Mr Seah Kian Peng, the Government Parliamentary Committee Chairman for Community Development, said: "We have set as a 2020 goal, an aim to raise the median income target of Singaporeans from S$2,420 to S$3,800 by 2020.
"This is a great and bold target that we have set for ourselves and will go a long way to helping us improve significantly the lives of Singaporeans. It would be good (for Prime Minister Lee) to share with all Singaporeans the plans to achieve this.
"I also feel we need to continue to put in more resources in strengthening social integration, which in my opinion, is one of our competitive edge and makes us economically and socially strong as a country, and as a people."
GPC Chairman for Trade and Industry and Finance, Jessica Tan, said: "Much has been covered in the Economic Strategies Committee recommendations for inclusive growth. There will need to be continued investments to enable Singaporeans to stay relevant and to be able to participate in higher skill jobs to be able to obtain real wage increase.
"These will include continual quality education to upskill and train as well as work with industry to rethink how work is done and increase the scope of work done to enable higher wages and real income growth."
MPs said they also expect Prime Minister Lee to talk about the training of workers and developing a first-class education system for young Singaporeans.
MediaCorp will broadcast Mr Lee's Rally speech "live" on its television channels (radio news and info channels) from 6.45pm and provide updates on the Channel NewsAsia website on Sunday.
- CNA/ir
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