SINGAPORE: The fourth-generation leadership is willing to slay sacred cows in relooking its governing assumptions alongside society’s changing needs and expectations, but will not do so for the sake of it, said Mr Lawrence Wong.
Speaking to the media ahead of his May 15 swearing-in as Singapore’s next Prime Minister, Mr Wong said his team will adopt a more consultative approach to policy-making, but will at times have to make unpopular decisions that it deems necessary for the country.
In such instances, he will take on the responsibility and face the public to explain the government’s rationale behind its policies, said Mr Wong.
Political opposition is here to stay – gone are the days of the People's Action Party's (PAP) one-party dominance, he added.
But he emphasised that he will do everything he can to make sure the party continues securing the mandate from Singaporeans to govern the country. The next General Election has to be held by November 2025.
Mr Wong said the new leadership is prepared to relook everything in refreshing Singapore’s social compact.
“It is not so much that we are going to slay a sacred cow for the sake of doing so, but we are prepared to re-examine all our assumptions and consider under different circumstances, different societal expectations and needs; how might we do things different?”
This process is already underway through the Forward Singapore exercise, which Mr Wong launched in June 2022, with the final report released in October last year.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong speaking at a Forward Singapore conversation with social service industry representatives on Oct 10, 2022. (Photo: MCI)
Mr Wong cited the update to definitions of public housing as “a big move”.
At last year’s National Day Rally, it was announced that the Housing Board will do away with the decades-old labels of mature and non-mature estates, and replace them with a new public housing classification system.
The “significant and substantial improvements” to the SkillsFuture programme is another example, said Mr Wong.
In his Budget speech this year, Mr Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, announced moves to encourage mid-career workers to take up SkillsFuture training programmes that are more closely related to work skills, including a S$4,000 (US$3,000) top-up in SkillsFuture credits for those aged 40 and above.
“Soon we will be announcing the new details of the unemployment benefit scheme which we talked about, which in the past had said this was not something we would do,” he said.
Such a support system is now deemed necessary with changing circumstances, given that “the economic environment is going to be more volatile, that the pace of change will be faster, technological advancements are continuing and therefore jobs will be disrupted more and more”.
Mr Wong first announced the new temporary financial support scheme to help retrenched workers in this year’s Budget speech. The number of retrenchments last year had more than doubled from the year before.
The scheme is being designed in a way that will let those unemployed get new skills through “a new wave of learning, not as a burden, not for grades”, but to provide a second boost in their careers and help them secure better jobs, said Mr Wong.
When sensitive issues emerge in the country, the government has to facilitate dialogue and bring people together to find consensus on how best to move forward as one “without fracturing our society”, said Mr Wong.
“We have had to deal with this in sensitive issues like the tudung and the S377A in the past. I do not know what new issues will emerge, but there will be, there will continue to be issues like that down the road, I am sure, where there will be different views among different segments of the community.”
At the 2021 National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Muslim nurses in the public healthcare sector can wear a tudung with their uniform if they wanted to.
Parliament also voted in November 2022 to repeal the colonial-era Section 377A in the Penal Code to decriminalise gay sex, and to protect the definition of marriage against legal challenges.
“And in some of these instances, not all, the government does not necessarily have to lead from the front,” said Mr Wong, adding that social norms have to evolve more organically.
He said his approach would be to listen and engage widely, but at the end of the day, he will make the final decisions and be responsible for the choices made.
“And when I do so, I will have to explain to the public, especially when it comes down to decisions that may not be so popular, but the government feels are important for Singapore,” he said.
It is an approach that he adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was co-chair of the multi-ministry task force, and also during the annual Budget statements, said Mr Wong.
Mr Lawrence Wong (second from left) at a COVID-19 multi-ministerial task force press conference on Aug 19, 2021. (Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
Mr Wong said Singaporeans will get a better sense of him and his leadership style over time.
“I do not have to write my legacy today. Hopefully at the end of my time and my tenure, I will leave people to write my legacy and what kind of a Prime Minister I am.
“But for now, entering this role and taking on this responsibility, I will only endeavour to do my best and to serve with all my heart, Singapore and Singaporeans.”
Mr Wong noted that Singapore is becoming a more diverse society, and will continue to move in that direction.
He said the approach in Singapore is one where “we do not accentuate our differences”, and find ways to accommodate and compromise between contrasting views.
“The way forward is for us to embrace that diversity, continue to engage one another, and at the same time, work even harder to find unity amidst diversity, to find common ground.”
He said the government wants to open up the space for different groups to be involved in shaping Singapore’s future, emphasising that “we take this very seriously.”
He cited the Forward Singapore engagements, National Youth Council (NYC) youth panels, Alliances for Action and the Singapore Government Partnerships Office launched in January this year, as examples of platforms for people not to just give their views, but to participate in decision-making.
However, Mr Wong noted that there will be times when people would have to agree to disagree due to the differences in views.
“There will be instances where the government, after sounding out different segments, may have to embark on policies that are not so popular, but we think necessary and important for Singapore and for Singaporeans,” he said.
“We will have to explain, engage with the public, why we think this is important and hopefully be able to persuade Singaporeans to move along.”
During the interview, Mr Wong acknowledged that opposition in local politics is here to stay, and he expects all seats to be contested at future elections..
“We accept that it is going to be a permanent feature in our political system. In the past, when you think about the days of PAP dominance under Mr Lee Kuan Yew – those days are over.”
Deputy Prime Minister and People's Action Party deputy secretary-general Lawrence Wong speaks at the PAP's awards and convention on Nov 5, 2023. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
The opposition is now looking to win at least one-third of the seats in parliament, noted Mr Wong. To amend the Constitution, an Act must be passed by at least two-thirds of the total number of Members of Parliament.
At the Workers’ Party’s annual members’ forum in 2019, party chief Pritam Singh set a target of securing one-third of seats in parliament “as a medium-term objective”.
“In most countries in the world, the goal of any political party must be to form government so it can implement the wishes of the electorate and shape the government’s policies differently from the incumbent,” Mr Singh had said.
Mr Wong highlighted that there were “quite a number of hotly contested seats” based on the last election results.
“And if you were to take not just the Workers’ Party but one or two other opposition parties in the next election, the contest is fiercer and we were to lose just a few percentage points, it is not unimaginable for two or maybe three opposition parties to come together, form a coalition and run the government,” he said.
As such, Mr Wong said he “seriously” does not assume the PAP will win the next election or that he will automatically be the Prime Minister after the electoral contest.
Mr Lawrence Wong with the People's Action Party (PAP) team for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, after filing nomination papers at Chong Fu School on 30 Jun, 2020. (Photo: Ray Yeh)
“This is the reality of our political situation today. It is no longer a dominant system, one-party system,” he said.
“It is a system where there are alternative voices in parliament, where there are diverse views that can be heard on any issue. And it is a system where there is consent, but there has to be a mandate and effective governance for whoever is given the mandate.”
Mr Wong said that as Prime Minister and later leader of the party, he will do his very best to make sure that the PAP earns the confidence and trust of Singaporeans and gets the mandate to govern.
If the PAP is one day unable to meet the standards that Singaporeans expect and an alternative party or group of parties emerge with better solutions to the nation’s problems, then they deserve to get the mandate, said Mr Wong.
“But so long as it is under my watch, I will do everything I can to make sure that the PAP earns (the) confidence and trust of Singaporeans,” he said.
Continue reading...
Speaking to the media ahead of his May 15 swearing-in as Singapore’s next Prime Minister, Mr Wong said his team will adopt a more consultative approach to policy-making, but will at times have to make unpopular decisions that it deems necessary for the country.
In such instances, he will take on the responsibility and face the public to explain the government’s rationale behind its policies, said Mr Wong.
Political opposition is here to stay – gone are the days of the People's Action Party's (PAP) one-party dominance, he added.
But he emphasised that he will do everything he can to make sure the party continues securing the mandate from Singaporeans to govern the country. The next General Election has to be held by November 2025.
SLAYING SACRED COWS
Mr Wong said the new leadership is prepared to relook everything in refreshing Singapore’s social compact.
“It is not so much that we are going to slay a sacred cow for the sake of doing so, but we are prepared to re-examine all our assumptions and consider under different circumstances, different societal expectations and needs; how might we do things different?”
This process is already underway through the Forward Singapore exercise, which Mr Wong launched in June 2022, with the final report released in October last year.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong speaking at a Forward Singapore conversation with social service industry representatives on Oct 10, 2022. (Photo: MCI)
Mr Wong cited the update to definitions of public housing as “a big move”.
At last year’s National Day Rally, it was announced that the Housing Board will do away with the decades-old labels of mature and non-mature estates, and replace them with a new public housing classification system.
The “significant and substantial improvements” to the SkillsFuture programme is another example, said Mr Wong.
In his Budget speech this year, Mr Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, announced moves to encourage mid-career workers to take up SkillsFuture training programmes that are more closely related to work skills, including a S$4,000 (US$3,000) top-up in SkillsFuture credits for those aged 40 and above.
“Soon we will be announcing the new details of the unemployment benefit scheme which we talked about, which in the past had said this was not something we would do,” he said.
Such a support system is now deemed necessary with changing circumstances, given that “the economic environment is going to be more volatile, that the pace of change will be faster, technological advancements are continuing and therefore jobs will be disrupted more and more”.
Mr Wong first announced the new temporary financial support scheme to help retrenched workers in this year’s Budget speech. The number of retrenchments last year had more than doubled from the year before.
The scheme is being designed in a way that will let those unemployed get new skills through “a new wave of learning, not as a burden, not for grades”, but to provide a second boost in their careers and help them secure better jobs, said Mr Wong.
Related:
GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP STYLE
When sensitive issues emerge in the country, the government has to facilitate dialogue and bring people together to find consensus on how best to move forward as one “without fracturing our society”, said Mr Wong.
“We have had to deal with this in sensitive issues like the tudung and the S377A in the past. I do not know what new issues will emerge, but there will be, there will continue to be issues like that down the road, I am sure, where there will be different views among different segments of the community.”
At the 2021 National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Muslim nurses in the public healthcare sector can wear a tudung with their uniform if they wanted to.
Parliament also voted in November 2022 to repeal the colonial-era Section 377A in the Penal Code to decriminalise gay sex, and to protect the definition of marriage against legal challenges.
Related:
“And in some of these instances, not all, the government does not necessarily have to lead from the front,” said Mr Wong, adding that social norms have to evolve more organically.
He said his approach would be to listen and engage widely, but at the end of the day, he will make the final decisions and be responsible for the choices made.
“And when I do so, I will have to explain to the public, especially when it comes down to decisions that may not be so popular, but the government feels are important for Singapore,” he said.
It is an approach that he adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was co-chair of the multi-ministry task force, and also during the annual Budget statements, said Mr Wong.
Mr Lawrence Wong (second from left) at a COVID-19 multi-ministerial task force press conference on Aug 19, 2021. (Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
Mr Wong said Singaporeans will get a better sense of him and his leadership style over time.
“I do not have to write my legacy today. Hopefully at the end of my time and my tenure, I will leave people to write my legacy and what kind of a Prime Minister I am.
“But for now, entering this role and taking on this responsibility, I will only endeavour to do my best and to serve with all my heart, Singapore and Singaporeans.”
ADDRESSING DIVERSE VIEWS
Mr Wong noted that Singapore is becoming a more diverse society, and will continue to move in that direction.
He said the approach in Singapore is one where “we do not accentuate our differences”, and find ways to accommodate and compromise between contrasting views.
“The way forward is for us to embrace that diversity, continue to engage one another, and at the same time, work even harder to find unity amidst diversity, to find common ground.”
He said the government wants to open up the space for different groups to be involved in shaping Singapore’s future, emphasising that “we take this very seriously.”
He cited the Forward Singapore engagements, National Youth Council (NYC) youth panels, Alliances for Action and the Singapore Government Partnerships Office launched in January this year, as examples of platforms for people not to just give their views, but to participate in decision-making.
However, Mr Wong noted that there will be times when people would have to agree to disagree due to the differences in views.
“There will be instances where the government, after sounding out different segments, may have to embark on policies that are not so popular, but we think necessary and important for Singapore and for Singaporeans,” he said.
“We will have to explain, engage with the public, why we think this is important and hopefully be able to persuade Singaporeans to move along.”
PRESENCE OF OPPOSITION IN POLITICS
During the interview, Mr Wong acknowledged that opposition in local politics is here to stay, and he expects all seats to be contested at future elections..
“We accept that it is going to be a permanent feature in our political system. In the past, when you think about the days of PAP dominance under Mr Lee Kuan Yew – those days are over.”
Deputy Prime Minister and People's Action Party deputy secretary-general Lawrence Wong speaks at the PAP's awards and convention on Nov 5, 2023. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
The opposition is now looking to win at least one-third of the seats in parliament, noted Mr Wong. To amend the Constitution, an Act must be passed by at least two-thirds of the total number of Members of Parliament.
At the Workers’ Party’s annual members’ forum in 2019, party chief Pritam Singh set a target of securing one-third of seats in parliament “as a medium-term objective”.
“In most countries in the world, the goal of any political party must be to form government so it can implement the wishes of the electorate and shape the government’s policies differently from the incumbent,” Mr Singh had said.
Mr Wong highlighted that there were “quite a number of hotly contested seats” based on the last election results.
“And if you were to take not just the Workers’ Party but one or two other opposition parties in the next election, the contest is fiercer and we were to lose just a few percentage points, it is not unimaginable for two or maybe three opposition parties to come together, form a coalition and run the government,” he said.
As such, Mr Wong said he “seriously” does not assume the PAP will win the next election or that he will automatically be the Prime Minister after the electoral contest.
Mr Lawrence Wong with the People's Action Party (PAP) team for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, after filing nomination papers at Chong Fu School on 30 Jun, 2020. (Photo: Ray Yeh)
“This is the reality of our political situation today. It is no longer a dominant system, one-party system,” he said.
“It is a system where there are alternative voices in parliament, where there are diverse views that can be heard on any issue. And it is a system where there is consent, but there has to be a mandate and effective governance for whoever is given the mandate.”
Mr Wong said that as Prime Minister and later leader of the party, he will do his very best to make sure that the PAP earns the confidence and trust of Singaporeans and gets the mandate to govern.
If the PAP is one day unable to meet the standards that Singaporeans expect and an alternative party or group of parties emerge with better solutions to the nation’s problems, then they deserve to get the mandate, said Mr Wong.
“But so long as it is under my watch, I will do everything I can to make sure that the PAP earns (the) confidence and trust of Singaporeans,” he said.
Continue reading...