7 key focus areas for Singapore's future: Forward SG report

This includes further reducing wage gaps, supporting job transitions, and working with employers and industry associations to nurture local talent to become specialists.

Singapore has launched the Forward Singapore (Forward SG) report, which articulates how the Government will work with Singaporeans to refresh its social compact for the road ahead. Announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, the recommendations and key policy shifts were built from suggestions from Singaporeans and stakeholders during the Forward SG engagement sessions.

The Forward SG exercise brought together more than 200,000 Singaporeans (including those overseas) over the last 16 months, to contribute ideas through 275 partnerships and engagement sessions, as well as via surveys, roadshows, and digital platforms. Engagements adopted various formats and methods, and were designed to be inclusive to reach and engage Singaporeans from all walks of life; they were held in different languages and in every neighbourhood, both in-person and online. 

 Through these Forward SG engagements, Singaporeans shared that they wanted a society that is:

1. Vibrant and inclusive, filled with opportunities for all to learn and progress across diverse pathways, and where everyone is valued and respected for who they are, and what they do.
2. Fair and thriving, where Singaporeans are assured of access to basic needs through every life stage, and can pursue fulfilling and dignified lives, with more help given to fellow citizens with less.
3. Resilient and united, with a strong sense of shared identity and collective responsibility amongst all Singaporeans to do their part for the common good, and for future generations.

In achieving these, the Forward SG report outlines the seven key shifts and the relevant areas of focus. These seven key shifts aim to ensure that the broad middle of society and their children see improvements in their lives and continued care for society’s most vulnerable:

Embracing learning beyond grades, so that Singaporeans pursue education instead of grades, with lifelong learning, to fulfil their potential and realise their dreams. This requires:

• Giving every child a good start; paying more attention to children from low-income families, in particular.
• Broadening the definition of merit and develop more diverse patways, such as the move to full subject-based banding. 
• Providing a significant boost to SkillsFuture to help mature mid-career Singaporeans reskill and upskill. This includes a substantial top-up of the SkillsFuture Credit and support for Singaporeans obtaining another publicly funded diploma.

Respecting and rewarding every job to support the growing desire for meaningful jobs, and the opportunity to develop mastery of skills. This will also include empowering Singaporeans to build career agility and resilience. This shift requires:

• Further reducing wage gaps, via recognition and better pay for those in ‘hand’ and ‘heart’ jobs, and enabling more Institute of Technical Education graduates to upskill and upgrade early by defraying education costs.
• Supporting job transitions by providing personalised recommendations on careers and skills pathways, through digital tools and career guidance services. There will also be a new financial support scheme to help involuntarily unemployed jobseekers in the lower and middle-income groups bounce back stronger.
• Working with employers and industry associations to nurture local talent to become specialists and leaders in their fields, especially for top regional roles in multi-national corporations.

Supporting families through every stage of life, to grow or nurture Singaporean families. This means giving more assurance to families, helping them balance work and family commitments and manage raising their children while caring for elderly parents. This requires:

• Ensuring that HDB flats remain affordable, fair, and with a good social mix, such as through the new classification framework for HDB Build-To-Order (BTO) projects (Standard, Plus and Prime).
• Providing more support for parents of infants. This includes mandating the additional two weeks of paid paternity leave and exploring further increases to paid parental leave; and expanding centre-based infant care places and childminding service options.
• Supporting Singaporeans’ mental well-being and work-life harmony, by developing a set of Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements to be released in 2024.
• Enhancing support for caregivers by increasing the affordability of early intervention, education, and care services for families with children with developmental and special educational needs.

Enabling seniors to age well through Healthier SG and Age Well SG. This requires:

• Encouraging active ageing in the community by expanding the network of Active Ageing Centres and revamping their operations.
• Strengthening the community-based aged care system; making seniors’ care journey simpler and more seamless.
• Making homes and environments more senior-friendly, by incorporating more senior-friendly features and offering more housing options integrated with care provisions.
• Ensuring seniors retire with peace of mind, by enhancing existing schemes (e.g., Silver Support Scheme, Matched Retirement Savings Scheme), and the Majulah Package.

Empowering those in need by uplifting lower-income families towards sustained progress, closing early gaps for children from lower-income families, and making society more inclusive for persons with disabilities. This requires:

• Working with community partners to provide additional support to empower these families to sustain progress in improving their life circumstances.
• Enabling children to attend preschool regularly, by making preschool education more affordable and accessible.
• Strengthening support for persons with disabilities’ lifelong learning, and creating more inclusive environments where they can participate and live independently.

Investing in Singapore's shared tomorrow, to deal with today’s challenges while providing a strong foundation for the future, despite limited resources. This requires:

• Planning for the long term, to optimise limited land and secure a climate-resilient future.
• Strengthening food and water security.
• Upholding fiscal prudence and responsibility by taking care of today’s needs and ensuring a better future for the next generation.

'Doing our part as one united people', as the collective strength of Singapore’s society depends on unity. This requires:

• Nurturing a stronger culture of giving, especially among those who have done well, and better connect donors and volunteers to local community needs.
• Strengthening multi-racialism and Singaporean identity, by encourage more interactions between different groups, and creating more avenues for civic participation.

DPM Wong shared that Singapore has started implementing some of these key shifts and will announce more details of other Forward SG initiatives in the coming months, as well as at Budget 2024.

Commenting on the publication of the report in a LinkedIn post, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay said: ""I strongly welcome the key tenets, thrusts, and tenacity that came out of the report", adding that "this is a great step forward for the renewed workers’ and social compact".

Lead image / Our SG – Home of Forward SG Facebook