Government to update policies based on Forward Singapore feedback; plans to be shared in Budget 2023: DPM Wong
SINGAPORE: The Government will update its policies based on feedback and ideas given in the Forward Singapore exercise since its launch in 2022, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said on Friday (Feb 10).Â
Plans will be shared at the upcoming Budget next Tuesday, Mr Wong said in a TikTok video.
Providing an update on the project, Mr Wong shared that the Government has engaged more than 14,000 Singaporeans across 140 sessions held online and in neighbourhoods and schools.
Mr Wong launched Forward Singapore in June 2022 shortly after he took on the role of deputy prime minister. He is also the overall lead for the year-long exercise, which aims to "review and refresh Singapore's social compact".
The deputy prime minister reiterated the message in his latest video, in which he spoke up about engaging Singaporeans to co-create this new social compact for the country's "next bound of development".
Forward Singapore is organised along six pillars - economy and jobs, education and lifelong learning, health and social support, home and living environment, environmental and fiscal sustainability, and the Singapore identity - each led by 4G leaders.
”You’ve shared a wide range of views and ideas with us, including on social mobility and inequality, and uplifting those with less, reskilling and upskilling to secure good jobs,” Mr Wong said in the video.
“And for young parents, your aspirations and concerns about raising families,” he added.
Mr Wong also said that the next phase of the exercise will “go deeper into specific solutions” and focus on co-creating solutions with Singaporeans.
The exercise will conclude in the second half of 2023, where the collective vision and recommendations will be shared in a Forward Singapore report, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI)Â said on Friday.
The Forward Singapore exercise website was updated on Friday with details on the feedback from the engagements.
These include concerns about job and training opportunities, as well as upskilling. Many shared that current definitions of merit and success are too narrow and should be broadened, the findings said.
Some spoke about the stark disparities in rewards and recognition across the job market, which disadvantage lower-wage workers and those who choose less conventional career paths.
Many also wished to see more family-friendly workplace practices and better sharing of parental responsibilities.
On the topic of housing, participants agreed that Singapore should continue to be a home-owning society and called for some groups of first-timers looking to purchase their first home to be given more support and priority.
