Acknowledgement to the Chair

3.56 pm

The Leader of the House (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mr Speaker, we have come to the end of the Budget debate and the Committee of Supply but I think for Members who are new, especially the first-time Members, it should be made known to you that there are two more speeches to go through. [Laughter.] Just in case Members thought it was over.

Mr Speaker, this year’s Budget Debate and Committee of Supply has many firsts. It is the first full Budget delivered after GE2020. This is the first Budget session for the first-term constituency Members of Parliament and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament, as well as the newly appointed Nominated Members of Parliament. For many of the Nominated Members, the Budget debate was the occasion of their first speech in Parliament.

There were 65 speakers over the three days of the Budget debate, the highest number in the past five years. The Committee of Supply saw 569 cuts filed, also the highest number of cuts in the past five years. With backbenchers having up to 20 minutes of speech time, 18 minutes of cuts and additional time for clarifications, we spent 4,290 minutes, or 71.5 hours debating this year’s Budget and Committee of Supply, culminating in the unanimous support of all Members for Budget 2021.

In addition, we cleared 195 Parliamentary Questions, dealt with one Adjournment Motion and a Ministerial Statement on a matter of some importance.

But it is helpful to look beyond these facts and figures to the values which we have upheld in approving this Budget.

Our endorsement of the COVID-19 measures reflect our determination to bring Singaporeans safely through this pandemic and to build resilience. We agreed on the approach to open up safely, bring our economy back to normalcy and provide targeted support for affected sectors, businesses and workers that remain hard-hit by the pandemic.

We rightly acknowledged the invaluable contribution of our healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19 and the tremendous debt of gratitude we owe them for the sacrifices they have made and continue to make. We wholeheartedly supported the salary enhancements for healthcare workers, with Members putting forward suggestions for enhancing the career prospects and progression opportunities for nurses and healthcare professionals.

We recognised that even as we tackle the immediate challenges presented by COVID-19, we have a rare window of opportunity to act to position ourselves to emerge stronger for a post-pandemic world.

We focused on helping our businesses and our workers to ride the winds of change, to look forward, not back, but providing the necessary support to see them through.

Members noted the need for companies to adjust to major structural shifts, such as accelerated digitalisation, rising protectionism, remote working and the reconfiguration of supply chains, as well as the need to seize new opportunities in growth areas and plug into critical parts of emerging business opportunities.

We affirmed support for business transformation, growth and innovation as well as cross-border collaboration.

We considered how to help SMEs leverage digital solutions and other resources and through collaboration with GLCs and MNCs to help them scale up and venture into global markets.

We were concerned for our workers and the need to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow while paying close attention to those in sunset industries, to help them to reskill and gain access to opportunities in growth industries.

The Labour Members of Parliaments laid out proposals to better protect jobs and empower and support vulnerable workers such as the low-wage workers and senior workers. Members remained concerned about job security and employability of Singaporeans, highlighting issues such as increased competition from foreign manpower, unfair hiring practices and workplace discrimination and put forward many suggestions to address these. MOM in reply, spoke about the legal and regulatory measures that are in place to keep our workplaces progressive, fair and inclusive.

4.00 pm

We reaffirmed our commitment to be a caring and inclusive society. COVID-19 has increased inequalities and the impact of the digital divide. Members called for greater support to ensure social mobility and to bridge gaps, especially for the lower income. The expansion of ComLink will be a critical step towards achieving these objectives. We affirmed our support for children with special education needs and students from disadvantaged families. We will build capabilities and leverage technology to provide more seamless and integrated support for lower-income households.

We put the spotlight on mental health, which has been made worse worldwide by COVID-19. We agreed to enhance mental health services, improve outreach and intervention, and provide a supportive environment for those with mental health issues.

Today is International Women's Day, but MSF has gone further, declaring 2021 as the year of celebrating SG Women. The women Members of Parliament rose to the occasion – quite literally – by standing to speak in sisterhood on women's issues. They canvassed ideas to support women in their career and parenthood aspirations, as well as their care-giving responsibilities. We will also be having the Conversations on Women's Development, with a view to a White Paper later this year, as mentioned by Minister of State Sun Xueling.

In this Budget, we also signalled clearly that the little red dot has a big green agenda. Climate change adaptation and sustainability have taken the forefront in our plans for the future. These have been consolidated into the Singapore Green Plan 2030, which was debated in the joint segment in the Committee of Supply as execution will be across different ministries.

We were agreed on future plans and the need to do more to support Singaporeans. At the same time, all these good things need to be paid for. Hence, a crucial part of the debate was on our fiscal strategy. We began the financial year with a deficit following a year that saw the largest deficit in our history due to circumstances beyond our control. We have had to seek a draw on our reserves to the tune of up to $53.7 billion to fight the crisis. Current revenues and taxes are inevitably impacted by the economic downturn. We are already using 50% of our net investment income (NII) and net investment returns (NIR). At the same time, Government is called upon to do more.

How do we fund all the good things we want to do going forward? Members welcome the use of borrowing to finance the cost of nationally significant infrastructure such as new MRT lines. The long lifespan of such infrastructure makes it equitable to distribute the cost across different generations who will benefit directly from it. Mr Liang Eng Hwa also suggested funding economic investments to help us emerge stronger through one off special purpose borrowing. The Government will study the suggestion.

For recurrent expenditure, however, the Government reiterated that it should be funded through recurrent revenue. Even before COVID-19, we had already signalled the need to raise GST to fund the anticipated structural increase in healthcare spending correlated to an ageing population. As these structural trends remain unchanged, the GST raise remains on the cards with the exact timing subject to the economic outlook. Alternatives such as wealth taxes were proposed and discussed. Some Opposition Members of Parliament suggested tapping on land sales proceeds, or using 100% of the NIR instead of 50%, both of which essentially involve using more of our reserves.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng addressed these, explaining the need for fiscal prudence in order to ensure fiscal sustainability. He reiterated the Government's commitment to help our people manage the impact of the GST rate increase through: first, enhancement of the permanent GST voucher scheme when the GST rate is raised; second, the $6 billion Assurance Package to offset the GST increase which will effectively delay the GST rate increase for the majority of Singaporean households for five years and 10 years, for lower income Singaporeans; and third, keeping our overall taxes and transfer system fair and progressive.

Mr Speaker, while we are in agreement on the fiscal approach for Budget 2021 based on what Opposition Ministers of Parliament have said on GST, I rather suspect we may have to debate this issue again at a future time. I wish only to leave Members with this thought: if we want to do more for our people, we will have to spend more. In a tight fiscal situation, this Parliament will not be able to avoid having to make difficult decisions. We will have to choose between what may be popular and what is right. This will require political courage.

Mr Speaker, let me conclude by thanking Members for their active participation over the past weeks and for their support for Budget 2021.

On behalf of the House, I would also like to thank you, Mr Speaker and your deputies for presiding with great stamina over the proceedings. You have taken pains, Mr Speaker, to be fair and even-handed to Members of Parliament on both sides of the House. We are also grateful to the Clerk of Parliament, the Parliament Secretariat and the staff for their support behind the scenes. Members should be aware that for every late night spent in the Chamber, the Parliamentary staff have to stay even later to ensure that all is in order for the next day's proceedings. [Applause.]

A big thank you also to the translators who have had to follow the speeches in two languages simultaneously. [Applause.]

And I would also like to express our thanks to the teams from Speedoc Pte Ltd, BGC Group Ptd Ltd and Chye Thiam Maintenance Ptd Ltd who – if you are wondering what they did – facilitated the smooth running of the Antigen Rapid Testing in Parliament. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

4.07 pm

Mr Speaker: This is, I promise, the last speech. I will not repeat the details that the Leader has shared but clearly, it has been a really long session. But the 569 cuts that Leader mentioned is not only the highest in five years. Actually, it is the highest in the last decade!

I was curious, I asked my Parliament colleagues as to which had the highest number of cuts. I was told that there was one year there were 700-over cuts, but please do not get any ideas. The important thing is not to mistake volume for quality.

I would like to also Leader in thanking both my deputies and all of you, Members of this Chamber, my Clerks, my Parliament colleagues and all our public offices out there for making this Budget and COS possible. Last year has been extraordinary and it continues to be challenging. I think it is just for all of us to share a big word of thanks to all public offices out there for serving our country diligently. [Applause.]

Before I share some reflections from this Chair to round up the debates, you would have noticed that some Ministers like to distribute this or distribute that before their speeches. So, because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), I also would like to do the same. [Laughter.]

So, Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to distribute some handouts to our fair Members on occasion of today being International Women's Day. Yes, please proceed. Feels quite "shiok". [Roses were distributed to hon Members.]

It is only for the women, so the men, please. [Applause.] I am sure the roses are suitably disinfected as well.

So, if I may put this to all of you in Parliament, the question is that, "This being the year of celebrating our better halves in family and society, we, the lesser halves here in Chamber, present a small token to say thank you to all our ladies here, whether serving as Members of Parliament, Non-Constituency Members of Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament, Clerks, interpreters and our wonderful assistants".

As many as of the opinion say aye. [Hon Members say "aye".] To the contrary say no. I think the ayes have it; the ayes have it!

We may not realise that this year is also the 60th anniversary of the Women's Charter in Singapore. We began putting in place these moves many years ago in 1961. We continue to strengthen our efforts over the years. Today, we have high literacy rates, low maternity mortality rates, high life expectancy, high full-time employment rates or just simply providing a safe environment for our womenfolk to operate in. I raise this as a first reflection – that what we do is often built on the hard work of all our predecessors.

In our yearly Budget and Committee of Supply debates, we rightfully dive into the weeds because details do matter. There will always be shortcomings. There will always be areas that we can do better in as we seek to ever improve and to introduce new initiatives and new ideas. Let us not also forget the efforts by many that have come before us. Let us not just latch onto one negative issue or another negative issue and just forget completely all the wonderful work that has been done over the years. Let us remember the giants on whose shoulders we stand.

In the 2018 COS wrap up speech, I talked about not missing the woods for the trees. I think this analogy is particularly apt this year, given the concerns over the developments in Clementi and Kranji. And this is my second reflection. Let us all have a sense of perspective and context.

Are there genuine concerns with what has happened? For sure. I think I share the horrors that many felt when we read the news and saw the clips on the forest being cleared when permit was not given. But is our green conversation just about this alone? Do we not forget that we live in an island state that is just 40-plus km east to west, 20-plus km north to south. Where do we live? Where do we work? Where do we play? How many reservoirs do we have? How many air bases do we have? Where do we retain the green? Where do we conserve the heritage?

For those of you who are familiar with the game SimCity, I think you will know exactly what is at stake. As Senior Minister Teo shared, the trade-offs are real, and often, the choices are difficult. We cannot wish this away. By all means, please do grapple with the Clementi and Kranji issues, but do ask ourselves which other country in the world even comes close to having to make these difficult choices, both as a city and as well as a nation? And despite the constraints that we have, do actually take a look and read what has been done and what will be done under the green plan.

The deep division and polarisation that we saw in the recent, very bruising US Presidential campaign serve as a reminder to never take what we have for granted, and how very easily things can go south. We have also seen how politicians in many countries wave the anti-foreigner flag often enough, whether accurately or not, just to get people stirred up. The sad truth is that these efforts actually work and the temptation to play these political games are very real. Do we want to play to the gallery and distil everything down to a provocative speech, an emotive meme, an inflammatory post? Or do we want to listen, sense-make, address head-on, the issues that are in front of us? Make the right and often difficult tough choices, and help to carry our people along.

In my maiden speech as Speaker, I said that Parliament needs to be a beacon from where Singaporeans can take reference with confidence when addressing and understanding issues that will matter greatly for our collective well-being.

So, my third reflection is how we conduct our business in Parliament, what we say and how we discuss the issues matter a great deal. We need to be circumspect. We need to help our people understand why we do what we do. We can agree, we can disagree, we can agree to disagree, but to do so in a way that edifies and not spiral to the lowest common denominator.

The question we need to ask ourselves: are we leaders or are we politicians?

My concluding reflection is that I am grateful for who we are and what we have. There are no throwing of chairs and slippers and fists. Well, that is why the chairs fixed. You cannot do that anyway. We may debate and argue but it has always been with a decorum befitting our Parliament, and I thank you for it.

There is also a growing consciousness and passion for not just the material development of our country but also our heart and soul. MSE receiving 80 cuts, with MCCY coming in second with 50, tell us something. The fact that we have moved on from slaying sacred cows to fiddling with Minister Lawrence Wong's sacred stones also reflects a sort of progress.

Remember how excited we all got when Minister Desmond Lee said that we will have parks within 10 metres of all our homes? This was about as rousing as Assoc Prof Jamus Lim's very intimate sharing of his feeling very dangerously close to agreeing with Minister Chan after his Committee of Supply (COS) speech. But unfortunately, it was 10 minutes and not 10 metres from the park and our Assoc Prof did not quite totally agree with everything

But it is not bad. There is progress.

Politics is such that people like to focus on the negative and the tensions because it makes for better news. But there is much positivity and alignment that we can also celebrate. Like past years, there is a unanimous support for the Budget and the Government's approach even if there are alternative views and disagreements on some details.

As a collective leadership body here in Parliament, we need to ensure that we really do emerge stronger together across the aisle as well. Can we evolve a different democracy where even as we are divided by our political colours, we remain a strongly unified Singapore red?

I recently met with our Singapore ambassador to a well-respected and often admired developed country, which shall remain unnamed. Many politicians, government officials, business leaders, medical experts and media there were very keen to understand what we were doing in Singapore. They envied our contact tracing efforts and the use of technology to help with the SafeEntry and TraceTogether token. The way we managed our hospitals and healthcare resources without straining struck a chord with them as they were struggling. They were surprised at how extensive our Budget programmes were at every level to look after our people and to keep the economy going, and were even more surprised at how we financed it. They had a deep regard for our efforts to ensure continued supply chain connectivity, especially of essential items.

Above all, they were struck by the trust and confidence in the Government. They envied that this whole-of-society collaboration has strengthened Singapore to fight cohesively against the pandemic.

Budgets 2020 parts 1 to 5, and Budget 2021 – I am not whether there are other further parts – will not only decisively deal with the here and now, but also position ourselves for the future.

There is indeed much that we can be proud of. There is still much to improve on and there is much to do.

This year, I am not sure why Westlife's songs featured quite so prominently in the COS. Even today, there were a couple of songs that were quoted. I could suggest some versions: "Everybody Knows" that when "We are One", "Nothing is Impossible" as we go "Against all Odds" and make our "Dreams Come True".

But I would rather end with the lyrics from two Singaporean popular songs in Singapore, quoted by our two new Nominated Members of Parliament, Dr Shahira and Dr Tan Yia Swam.

From Ilham Pujangga: "Kasih sesama manusia, Seperti anda sayangkan diri anda, Pandang yang satu kepada yang ramai sayang, Pandang yang ramai kepada yang satu." Love humankind as much as you love yourself, as how each individual beholds the community and as how the community beholds each individual.

And from 小人物的心声: "也许我一个人 不能成就一番大事业 但我尽力贡献一份微薄的力量". Though I may be but one person and may not achieve much, I will do my very best to give what little I can.

And on those notes, thank you very much. [Applause.]