New Prime Minister, new plans: 5 key takeaways from PM Wong’s maiden National Day Rally

2024 marks the year of many firsts for Mr Lawrence Wong—from being ordained as Singapore’s Prime Minister in May, to delivering his first National’s Day Message this month.

Last night (August 18) marked another first for the city-state’s fourth Prime Minister, as he delivered his first maiden National Day Rally speech.

PM Wong started his speech by paying tribute to his predecessors—Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Goh Chok Tong, and Mr Lee Hsien Loong—on various issues since entering politics, ranging from radicalisation and terrorism threats to uplifting vulnerable communities.

Addressing the current geopolitical landscape, PM Wong noted the growing tensions between the United States and China and its impact on Singapore as a small country reliant on external trade and a stable global environment.

He also brought up technological disruptions and climate change as the island’s key challenges, stating that the government will need to be both “prudent and bold” with their approach to the country and the world.

PM Wong emphasised the importance of the Forward Singapore roadmap in his speech for the country to have a “renewed social compact”, including creating a “renewed Singapore dream”, which will require a “major reset.”

Additionally, PM Wong stated that Singapore is moving on to the next phase of developing its economy. However, he warned that more challenges lay ahead for the country as more countries are looking to reshape the global supply chain in their favour.

“How do we even compete and earn our living in such an environment? We have work even harder to stay competitive and push the frontiers of innovation and productivity,” said PM Wong, adding that the country has been heavily investing in Research & Development (R&D) and new infrastructure and technologies.

From Singapore’s growing startup scene to providing more financial support to its citizens over the rising cost of living, here are some key takeaways from PM Wong’s maiden National Day Rally Speech:

1. Singapore startups are making their marks globally

PM Wong commended the performance of Singapore’s homegrown startups in creating and offering innovative solutions, which helped them grow and expand internationally, citing SEA, Grab, and Razer as examples.

Smaller enterprises have also been making strides in their development, PM Wong added, citing Morningstar Engineering. This company started out as a hobby and grew into a fully-fledged company with the support of Enterprise SG.

The Singapore government is currently working to reduce the regulatory burden imposed on local businesses, with PM Wong highlighting that a thorough and proactive review of rules and processes must be conducted every few years or so.

2. Support for Lifelong Learning

To support Singaporeans in their efforts to continuously upgrade their skillsets, a new training allowance will be given under the new SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme from 2025 onwards.

Singaporeans aged 40 and above will benefit from this allowance, with those taking time off to study full-time given up to 24 months worth of allowance of S$3,000 per month, which adds up to S$72,000.

Those taking part-time courses will receive a training allowance as well, with more details to be unveiled in due course.

“Another key pillar to SkillsFuture is to help those who are involuntarily unemployed,” PM Wong said—which includes retrenched workers or those whose companies have “gone bust.”

PM Wong has also announced the new SkillsFuture Job Seeker Support scheme, which is aimed to help lower and middle-income workers who have lost their jobs, and an alternative to unemployment insurance schemes offered by other countries.

Affected workers will receive up to S$6,000 over a period of six months—on the condition that they undergo training, career coaching and job-matching services.

More details of the scheme will be revealed by Mr Tan See Leng, Singapore’s Minister for Manpower, in the future.

3. Creating more family-friendly environments

PM Wong moved on to acknowledge the concerns of parents who struggle to enroll their children in a preschool with reasonable prices, adding that the government will continue to open more preschools and keep school fees affordable.

He also highlighted the attitude change amongst Singaporeans on paternity leave, with more than half of fathers taking it up as of this year.

“But it still means that close to half of fathers still don’t take their paternity leave,” he said. Paternity leave was doubled from two weeks to four weeks earlier this year, however it was not made compulsory.

PM Wong announced that four weeks’ paternity leave will be mandated from April 1, 2025 onwards, meaning that employers must agree if fathers apply for leave.

For those looking to start new families or have more children, parents will be entitled to an additional 10 weeks of shared leave, on top of four weeks of paternity leave and 16 weeks of maternity leave, where either the mother or father can take it.

This is an upgrade from the current shared system, where fathers can take up to four weeks of their wife’s maternity leave—meaning if the fathers take more, the mothers end up with less, which, according to PM Wong, is “not so ideal.”

The new additional 10 weeks of shared leave will be rolled out in two stages: six weeks for babies born in April 1, 2025, and the full 10 weeks a year later.

He also shared that the government is working on a new scheme to support families looking to have a third child or already have three or more children and hopes to share the “good news” during 2025’s Budget announcement.

4. Ramping up supply and access for affordable housing

Acknowledging the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, PM Wong shared that all Built-To-Order (BTO) projects delayed will be completed by next year.

The government is also committed to launching 100,000 new flats by 2025, as part of their goal to ramp up supply to bring the price of housing down.

That said, PM Wong highlighted that while the government has implemented cooling measures to stabilise the market and reduced the overall waiting time, more can be done.

In response, the government will increase the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant for first-time flat buyers, especially those from lower-income groups. More details will be soon announced by Mr Desmond Lee, Singapore’s National Development Minister.

Priority access to BTO flats near parents will be extended beyond married couples to include singles and will take effect mid-2025. PM Wong explained that the scheme was introduced to help families look after one another and should not be limited to married children only.

“After all, many single children also want to stay close to their aged parents to take care of them,” he said.

5. The Kallang Alive Master Plan

In his speech, PM Wong also congratulated some of Singapore’s local athletes for their achievements in their respective sports events, including 17-year-old kitefoiler Max Maeder, who recently won his bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making him Singapore’s youngest Olympic medalist.

Afterwards, he segued into the Kallang area, home to the Singapore Sports Hub and the Singapore Indoor Stadium. PM Wong expressed his ambition to revitalise the area and brought forward the following changes:

PM Wong has also elaborated on the government’s efforts to establish more precincts around Singapore’s waterfront, which include building more residential areas at these locations:

PM Wong ended his speech by giving words of encouragement to Singaporeans, circling back to the theme of the night, which earned him a standing ovation from the audience.

Can Singapore endure in this troubled world? I believe the answer is a resounding yes!

Featured Image Credits: Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) via Youtube