Budget 2023 debate: Leon Perera on meritocracy in Singapore
What kind of meritocracy do we want in Singapore? The answer, said MP Leon Perera in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 23), is one that strives for equality of opportunity and social mobility, but also ensures a decent standard of living and societal respect for those who are less successful in conventional terms. Mr Perera suggested several ways to achieve this. He said a concerted policy effort is needed to improve wages, skills, productivity, working conditions and societal respect in trades jobs to attract a Singaporean core. Singapore’s economic development agencies could also nudge foreign investors and local firms towards hiring some Singaporeans with lesser educational credentials and retrain them to be more productive so they can command better pay. Highlighting the importance of bringing about equality of opportunity for children, he proposed making preschool education compulsory and free for kids from lower-income families. Mr Perera also reiterated a previous call by the Workers’ Party for SkillsFuture to disburse a zero-interest education loan for adults who cannot competitively secure scholarships and places in retraining programmes.
What kind of meritocracy do we want in Singapore? The answer, said MP Leon Perera in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 23), is one that strives for equality of opportunity and social mobility, but also ensures a decent standard of living and societal respect for those who are less successful in conventional terms. Mr Perera suggested several ways to achieve this. He said a concerted policy effort is needed to improve wages, skills, productivity, working conditions and societal respect in trades jobs to attract a Singaporean core. Singapore’s economic development agencies could also nudge foreign investors and local firms towards hiring some Singaporeans with lesser educational credentials and retrain them to be more productive so they can command better pay. Highlighting the importance of bringing about equality of opportunity for children, he proposed making preschool education compulsory and free for kids from lower-income families. Mr Perera also reiterated a previous call by the Workers’ Party for SkillsFuture to disburse a zero-interest education loan for adults who cannot competitively secure scholarships and places in retraining programmes.
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