Moral leadership in a fragmenting world

PUBLISHEDJAN 25, 2020, 5:00 AM SGT

This is an edited transcript of the 24th Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration by ex-foreign minister George Yeo in Singapore in Jan 2020

This oration was originally planned to be held in Hong Kong last December in conjunction with an event co-organised by the Academies of Medicine of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Unfortunately, that event had to be cancelled because of the unsettled situation in Hong Kong.

No one expected the protests which began in June last year to become so big and to last so long. As a legislator of many years, I decided to download the Extradition Bill and read it for myself. Frankly, I did not find the proposed amendments to existing laws unreasonable. It did not seem right that one could commit rape or murder in China and find sanctuary in Hong Kong. However, most Hong Kongers viewed the Bill differently and were outraged that Chief Executive Carrie Lam was determined to get it passed despite mass opposition. Looking back, the Bill was only the spark that set off a forest fire. For many years after the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the fuel load in the forest had been building up. Social injustice had gotten worse. Most parents no longer believed that their children could do better than them. As a result, there is not a sense of hope and, without a sense of hope, society turns sour.

After leaving government in 2011, I joined Robert Kuok in Hong Kong. My wife and I shuttle back and forth between the two cities. Hong Kong has become for us a second home. We now have our own social circle there, including a number of young Hong Kongers interested in politics. Some of them are yellow, some are blue; all feel deeply for Hong Kong. We ourselves have developed an affection for Hong Kong and its people, and decided, after my retirement as chairman of Kerry Logistics last year, to buy an apartment near Hong Kong University. Like many others, we were shocked by the rapid deterioration of Hong Kong in the past eight months. Unlike many others, we remain cautiously optimistic for Hong Kong's long-term future because of its special position half-in and half-out of China and the resilience of its people. It is, however, not my intention to talk principally about Hong Kong today. The reason for my raising Hong Kong is because there are larger, deeper forces at work in Hong Kong which affect the whole world. We have to be mindful of them because they affect us in Singapore too. These forces are unleashed by technology and challenge us morally.

I would like to highlight four in particular - the social media revolution, fragmentation and reconfiguration of human society, growing wealth and income inequality, and mass manipulation by new masters of the universe.

SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION

When the Internet arrived in the 1990s, many saw it as liberating. It became much easier to access information. Patients now google their symptoms before seeing doctors and everything the doctor says and prescribes can be counterchecked on the Net. In the same way, teachers are challenged by students, and government leaders by the citizenry. The social media revolution has disrupted old relationships. Everywhere, we see hierarchies breaking down. Old institutions, once preserved and sustained by ritual, secrecy, information asymmetry, hypocrisy, deception and force are being corroded. When Pope Francis smacked an Asian lady twice on the arm after she grabbed him by his sleeve in St Peter's Square and refused to let go, it immediately became news. The Pope apologised the day after. A mainland Chinese friend of mine told me it made the Pope look quite good because it showed him to be human. It is just as well that Francis, since becoming Pope, frequently declares himself a sinner.

Old leadership models have become obsolete. Whether it is Pope Francis, President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Elon Musk or Greta Thunberg, we are in a new situation. It sometimes seems as if a necessary qualification for leadership is to be publicly a sinner. The term used nowadays is "authenticity" although that too is often manufactured.

FRAGMENTATION AND RECONFIGURATION OF SOCIETY

Human society takes time to adjust to new technologies. The IT revolution shows no sign of abating. In fact, it is setting off concomitant change in other technological fields like biomedicine, material science and manufacturing. These changes in turn act upon one another, often in unexpected ways, causing even further disruption to the old order.

In his analysis of economic cycles, Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter wrote about creative destruction. What we see all around is the destructive phase of the technological revolution which is fragmenting human society. This fragmentation... defines the age we live in.

Going back to Hong Kong, what characterises the protest movement is its fluid, leaderless, organic character. Social media reinforces beliefs and biases. Those who are yellow watch yellow sites, get angrier and become more yellow. For many, police officers have become the villains and even their family members are targeted.

For those who are blue, the demonstrators are cockroaches to be smacked down. Views become highly, absurdly polarised. Unmediated positive feedback loops quickly become unstable. The same phenomenon is evident in the US, Taiwan during the recent elections, the UK when the Brexit debate was raging, and in many other countries.

Fragmentation is, however, not the end state. Gradually, the fragments recombine in new ways, similar to the pattern of neural networks. Nodes grow and compete with other nodes with which they are linked through multiple pathways. There is a biological quality about these new forms of organisation.

It is almost as if we are witnessing a Cambrian explosion of diverse organisational species. Those which successfully adapt to the new environment proliferate while others reach dead ends. Apple, Samsung and Huawei have very different organisational structures and systems. Which will still be successful 10 years from now, no one can foretell but for sure there will be new winners and losers.

Losing faith in existing institutions, there is at one level a reversion to tribal networks of trust. Some of these networks are based on ethnicity and religion. We also see new tribal networks forming around specific causes, such as LGBT rights, climate activism, even veganism.

Positive or negative, politicians everywhere are quick to pick up populist causes to win votes, undermining the civil society which is the bedrock of democracy. Political systems are subject to the same creative destruction. Western democratic systems no longer function well. Established political parties are fissuring. In many democracies, domestic political debate has become toxic.

At all levels, from the family to companies to political structures, we see continuing fragmentation, experimentation and reconfiguration. The process can be described as Darwinian.

GROWING WEALTH AND INCOME INEQUALITY

The third force impacting society today is growing wealth and income inequality. The impact of technological change on individual fortunes is uneven. Once upon a time, hardworking, responsible employees could expect their lives to improve year by year. Today, many feel they are struggling to run up a downward-moving escalator. Those whose work is repetitive are at great risk. Their jobs can be outsourced to countries where labour is cheaper. Or be replaced by robots and algorithms.

In contrast, those who are well placed to seize new opportunities created by fragmentation prosper. For example, among new graduates, computer engineers command among the highest salaries. When we look at the league table of the most successful companies in the world, the top positions are increasingly held by those in technology. In Singapore, Sea, which is a company specialising in gaming and e-commerce - a company which most Singaporeans have not heard of - has quite suddenly become one of the top companies, with a capitalisation half that of Singtel.

Growing inequality of wealth and income exacerbates existing class and ethnic divisions in society. The "yellow vest" protests in France are part of this phenomenon. There are eerie similarities between the protests in Hong Kong and those far away in Barcelona and Santiago.

MASS MANIPULATION BY THE NEW MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

The fourth force challenging us is the way big data and social media are being used to manipulate the way we think.

The first phase of the Internet revolution opened the floodgates to information access and eroded old power structures. For a short while, there was an exhilarating sense of equalisation. That phase has ended. We are discovering how our minds are being manipulated by new masters of the universe.

Companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Alibaba and Tencent make use of the enormous data they collect to squeeze out competitors and influence our preferences, often without our knowledge.

In Singapore and elsewhere, a very high percentage of ad revenues is cornered by Google and Facebook because of the eyeballs they have captured.

A few weeks after the HK unrest started, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, in quick succession, blocked hundreds of sites which they claim besmirched protesters, giving the reason that these sites originated from China. Sites which supported the protesters were untouched. It is unclear who made these decisions but I don't think they were made in Hong Kong. There is no doubt that the way friction is increased or reduced in different parts of the Internet can significantly sway public opinion. 

Trapped in an old mindset, the Hong Kong government was unable or unwilling to intervene.

Other governments have no such inhibitions. India routinely shuts down the Internet in various cities when there are riots. When mass demonstrations erupted in Iran after fuel prices were raised, the government switched off Facebook, causing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to threaten sanctions on those responsible. In the battle for hearts and minds in Iran, the US actively intervenes in the way Facebook, Twitter and Instagram cover developments in the country. The big powers devote considerable resources to the exploitation of social media for political purposes.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed the existence of Prism, an incredible system developed by the US National Security Agency to collect Internet information worldwide. All governments would love to have such a capability but none can hope to, and certainly not on the same scale as the US except, possibly, China one day.

A key reason for the US campaign against Huawei is the fear that China may not only develop a similar surveillance capability but that Chinese equipment and Chinese systems will make it harder for the US to maintain the same surveillance reach. For some countries, like Singapore, the only safe assumption is that all systems expose us to external intelligence penetration. We have to find ways to protect ourselves and accept that nothing is foolproof. The challenge is made much harder with increasing dependence on clouds.

China makes no pretence about controlling the Internet. In fact, China is probably the first country to make extensive use of big data for national governance. Big data analysis has enabled China to overcome a problem which afflicted its governance system over the centuries. Because of the size of the country, there are many layers of administration, making it hard for Beijing to know what's happening on the ground. Corrupt officials often succeed in covering up problems by working with counterparts one level above to suppress complaints. When problems do reach the centre, it is because they have already become big and serious. To overcome this defect, Chinese dynasties developed elaborate systems of inspection. Wrongs did get righted but they were so rare, the stories are immortalised in Chinese operas. With big data analysis, it is easier for Beijing to be alerted earlier.

For many Westerners, China has become George Orwell's 1984. For many Chinese, the loss of privacy is a price worth paying for safety and convenience. There is probably no safer big country than China today. But will the centralisation of control lead to massive abuse one day? The Chinese Communist Party is not immune to the same forces of change in the world. It has to evolve in response to new circumstances. By cracking down on corruption and re-establishing moral authority, President Xi Jinping has bought time for China and the Communist Party.

In the US, what intelligence and law enforcement agencies are allowed to do is the subject of a raging debate. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation provides some safeguard to the misuse or abuse of data collection. This may make it more difficult for Europe to catch up with the US and China in AI. But the use of facial recognition technology is not likely to be held back because it is simply too useful.

Thus we see in the world today a range of responses to the challenge of big data, in particular, the loss of privacy and the mass manipulation of public opinion. In Singapore, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, commonly known as Pofma, is a brave attempt to stem the same incoming tide. It is not easy but we should not stop trying.

MORAL CHALLENGE

The IT revolution is enabling the collection, storage and processing of data on an unprecedented scale. It is almost as if nothing that happens will ever be forgotten. This leap in the collective intelligence of human beings has a god-like quality about it. What the technological revolution has unleashed is two-edged. There is always a temptation to weaponise the newest technology in order to gain a military advantage. It takes time for the moral sense of human beings to catch up with new technologies and to tame them. In the last century, mechanisation, mass production and nuclear energy led to the slaughter of over a hundred million people.

There is an air of hubris in the way the new masters of the universe view their growing capabilities. This hubris infects us at all levels - state agencies which are carried away by the use of technology; politicians who rely on clever data analytics to manipulate voters; generals who fantasise about unstoppable spears and impregnable shields; economists who believe the manipulation of money supply can rid us of economic cycles; corporate leaders whose ambitions know no bounds; successful tribes and wealthy individuals who are convinced of their own genetic superiority; scientists who tinker with germ lines to improve the quality of human beings; and computer engineers who see AI as the ultimate.

MEMENTO MORI

It is said that in Roman times, a victorious general in a triumphal procession would have behind him a slave whispering into his ears "memento mori", which means "remember, you will die". It is a warning against hubris.

Whether as parents, teachers, doctors, government ministers or corporate leaders, we must not lose our moral sense in the pursuit of achievement and success. It is important to contemplate human weakness, and the meaning of suffering and death. It is in pathos that we forge group solidarity. In an age of fragmentation, solidarity is vital. In everything we do, we must not ignore those who are wounded or have fallen by the wayside. Without this social glue, civilised society breaks down.

Tectonic change has caused the old edifices to crumble into smaller pieces. We must rebuild but with the expectation that the ground will continue to quake. Above all, we need solidarity which is the instinct to connect and bond.

THE GREATEST DANGER TO HUMANKIND

Human society cannot be organised on the basis of law and the market alone. Laws only mark outer boundaries. Laws can require parents to look after children. Laws cannot make parents love their children, or vice versa. The market is a powerful way of allocating resources in a complex economy. But the market alone cannot solve many human problems. Human society needs solidarity as a cohesive force to bind human beings together in cooperative effort. In Confucian teaching, stress is put on five core values: benevolence, justice, proper behaviour, wisdom and trust. All moral systems incorporate and elaborate these values. These values are deep in our nature and probably encoded in our DNA.

To remain relevant, these moral systems, which include religion and ideology, must adapt to new challenges thrown up by technology. Take proper behaviour as an example. For human beings to interact, we need protocols facilitating communication and cooperation. When individuals are masked, whether in public or on the Internet, protocols are hard to establish. In anonymous settings, individuals become irresponsible and abusive. Without a moral sense, the new freedom which technology offers destroys itself.

In all fields, we need moral leadership. The great danger is the revolution in technology outpacing the evolution of our moral sense. Whether in the private, public or people sector, in grappling with economic and technical questions, we should never de-emphasise moral considerations.

It is common nowadays for decisions to be taken in an amoral way. An indifferent, amoral approach in a period of rapid technological change is possibly the greatest danger to humankind today. We must not be beguiled by a so-called, post-truth world. The more complex the world becomes, the more must we affirm that which is at the core of our humanity.

Leadership is more about character than competence

Han Fook Kwang           Editor-at-Large

PUBLISHED  FEB 2, 2020, 5:00 AM SGT

As Singapore becomes more developed and the people more educated, the expertise level in the country will rise, and more sophisticated methods will be used to solve problems. Leaders will have to acquire more technical knowledge to keep up with the work of their organisations and stay on top of the issues. But even more important than domain expertise is the role leaders play in character building and in shaping the values of the organisation.

Recapture spirit of pioneers who succeeded despite lacking technical expertise

What will the Year of the Rat be like for Singapore?

If I were a geomancer, I might say it will be good if the people can develop the attributes of a good rat in popular Chinese zodiacal mythology: diligent, gregarious, quick to act on social occasions, with good intuition, foresight and business acumen. These are qualities Singaporeans can do more with, apart from being rational, law-abiding and cooperative.  In fact, I believe an earlier generation of leaders in politics, the public sector and business possessed these qualities and made the most of them despite their relative lack of academic and technical knowledge.

Singapore's success in the early years owed much to their rat-like capabilities.

Today, Singaporeans are better qualified, academically and technically, but do they have as much intuition, foresight and business acumen?

In an uncertain, rapidly changing world, the ability to make sound decisions with incomplete knowledge is critical.

The early pioneers were also men of strong character and personal conviction, which you had to be if you relied on intuition and foresight, or you would be dismissed as a charlatan. Men like Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Goh Keng Swee, Mr Sim Kee Boon, Mr Howe Yoon Chong, Mr Wee Cho Yaw and Mr Lien Ying Chow left their marks in their respective fields, not because of their technical brilliance but the strength of their character. By this I mean strong personal conviction about what is right or wrong, the courage to pursue their beliefs and ideas, and to move the people around them to do likewise. They were able to shape institutions and organisations accordingly.

I think Singapore needs to recapture the spirit of those days when character and integrity made a greater difference than technical competence and performance. Over the years, too much emphasis has been placed on the latter, and not enough on the former.

Of course, both are important. But without strength of character and the values that go with it, performance will suffer sooner or later, despite the best minds and technical resources.

In a piece published in The New York Times last month, political analyst Yuval Levin wrote about how institutions are important character-builders and suffer grave consequences when they neglect this aspect of their job. He was writing about the loss of trust in American institutions, and it is worth quoting him at length: "Each core institution performs an important task - educating children, enforcing the law, serving the poor, providing some service, meeting some need. And it does that by establishing a structure and process, a form, for combining people's efforts towards accomplishing that task.

"But as it does so, each institution also forms the people within it to carry out that task responsibly and reliably. It shapes behaviour and character, fostering an ethic built around some idea of integrity. That's why we trust the institution and the people who compose it.

"We trust political institutions when they undertake a solemn obligation to the public interest and shape the people who populate them to do the same. We trust a business because it promises quality and reliability and rewards its workers when they deliver those. We trust a profession because it imposes standards and rules on its members intended to make them worthy of confidence."

What Mr Levin wrote above is an ideal, a hope we all have about our institutions. But what happens when it doesn't work that way? He explains: "What stands out about our era in particular is a distinct kind of institutional dereliction - a failure even to attempt to form trustworthy people, and a tendency to think of institutions not as moulds of character and behaviour but as platforms for performance and prominence." Mr Levin was writing about a US problem aggravated by the deep political partisanship in the country that has resulted in a loss of public trust in its institutions.

Though Singapore does not face the same issue, at least not to the same extent, his comments about the important role institutions play in shaping character and integrity are as relevant here.

The Prime Minister spoke recently to public sector leaders about their role in a new, fast-changing world and the changes needed to respond to the challenge. He was spot on in identifying several of the key areas, including introducing greater diversity in the leadership by recruiting those with private sector experience, and encouraging officers to move to different parts of the service to "reinforce the idea of a collaborative network and a collective leadership".

As Singapore becomes more developed and the people more educated, the expertise level in the country will rise, and more sophisticated methods will be used to solve problems. Leaders will have to acquire more technical knowledge to keep up with the work of their organisations and stay on top of the issues. But even more important than domain expertise is the role leaders play in character building and in shaping the values of the organisation.

When I look back to my early years in the service in the 1980s, it often amazes me how limited our technical capabilities were. I was working on transportation issues - managing the growth in car population, developing the bus network, and the deliberations on whether to build the MRT - and most of the people I worked with had none of the technical qualifications you would expect today. They were mainly staff who worked the ground, dealing with transport operators: They were honest, diligent and conscientious about their work. But they were led by men of strong character and integrity in the ministry who knew that resources were limited and how to make the best of them.

In my recollection of those days, what stood out was not their technical competence but the strength of their character, and the values they represented. As a young officer, I was always encouraged by my permanent secretary, Mr Sim, to come up with new ideas to solve the transport problem and I felt at the time I could make any suggestion without fear. He had one constant refrain: "Be practical, and don't tell me what the theory is but whether it will work here."

Leaders of strong character and conviction are not afraid to have officers offering their ideas, challenge the status quo, and develop a culture in the organisation that encourages independent thinking.

From those early years of urban transport planning, despite the relative lack of technical expertise, came innovative ideas such as area licensing, which was the forerunner of Electronic Road Pricing, the vehicle quota scheme, and the decision to build the MRT, all of which are still relevant today.

As Singapore matures and its organisations become more complex, it is even more important for leaders to understand the critical role they play, particularly when they lead men who possess great technical knowledge.

They should see themselves not as problem-solvers first and foremost, but as builders of character and integrity.

• The writer is also senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

Returning ISIS brides and the obligations of citizenship

Jeremy Au Yong  Foreign Editor,  FEB 24, 2019, The Straits Times

Was it right of UK to strip teen ISIS sympathiser of her citizenship?

While we are rather more used to discussing citizenship in terms of what a government owes to its citizens (a discussion often framed as a comparison to benefits which foreigners gain), the matter of what obligations a citizen might have, if any, tends to get less attention. I say "if any" because it is not immediately obvious that there are any, or that there is even a consensus on whether there should be.

Shamima Begum was just 15 when she - for reasons that only she can ever completely comprehend - stole her elder sister's passport, fled her east London family home and headed to Syria to join ISIS. Almost nothing was heard from her for four years until she was recently discovered in a refugee camp in north-eastern Syria, voicing a desire to return to what is ostensibly her home country. That desire, and the subsequent actions of the British government to strip her of citizenship last week, made Begum the poster child of the dilemma countries are facing as they contend with what to do with citizens who are returning from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Begum is not the first ISIS sympathiser to try and flee, but with the terror group now a far cry from the organisation that once controlled a taxable population of some eight million, countries around the world are bracing themselves for the re-emergence of citizens who previously defected. The exact numbers are unclear but at least 40,000 fighters from more than 100 countries are thought to have gone to Syria to join ISIS when it declared a caliphate back in 2014.

With the dream of the caliphate now gone, many countries are expected to now deal with many trying to get back home. But that return is posing difficult questions about citizenship and the obligations both citizens have to their countries and vice versa.

Begum's story has resonated in part because it captures so much of the nuance of the issue. She doesn't fit any narrative about these fighters particularly well, yet there is enough about her to provide justification to nearly any argument one might want to make - the 19-year-old is something of a Rorschach test on returning ISIS brides.

For those convinced that the United Kingdom was right to deprive her of citizenship, Begum is a traitor, and a radicalised teen who married an ISIS fighter and has shown no remorse. In her interviews with British media, even as she was asking for sympathy, Begum never expressed any regret about joining the group.

"I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I've been through. You know, I didn't know what I was getting into when I left," she told Sky News.

She would even go on to argue that she did nothing wrong.

"When I went to Syria, I was just a housewife, the entire four years I stayed at home, took care of my husband, took care of my kids. I never did anything. I never made propaganda, I never encouraged people to come to Syria," she said.

For those who think the British government should not have revoked her citizenship, Begum is a misguided teen, now with a newborn, who can be treated with compassion without sacrificing security.

Tied intricately to this issue is a debate on citizenship and the obligations of citizens. While we are rather more used to discussing citizenship in terms of what a government owes to its citizens (a discussion often framed as a comparison to benefits which foreigners gain), the matter of what obligations a citizen might have, if any, tends to get less attention. I say "if any" because it is not immediately obvious that there are any, or that there is even a consensus on whether there should be.

Those against the idea of a conditional citizenship argue that it demeans the value of citizenship and is potentially cruel or, if not, unfair. At the heart of the cruelty argument is the despair inherent in being stateless. Someone with no citizenship is deprived of some basic citizenship rights, including many protections that countries confer upon their citizens. The unfairness argument, in turn, stems from laws enacted that have attempted to avert the statelessness problem. In some countries, only those who have dual citizenship can have their citizenship revoked, thus creating on paper a second class of citizenship that is less durable than the first.

Having citizenship with a catch can also diminish what it means to be a citizen. As Canadian law academic Audrey Macklin wrote in 2014 in a paper discussing laws in the UK and Canada on citizenship revocation: "Citizenship emerges as an enhanced form of conditional permanent residence, revocable through the exercise of executive discretion."

On the other side is the argument that citizenship should be revocable because it is an implicit contract. Unlike, say, being a member of a family, citizenship is not some passive status that imposes no preconditions. This side doesn't suggest that citizenship can be taken away willy-nilly, but that there should be extreme scenarios in which someone's right to be a citizen is nullified. After all, if even families can disown their members, surely a country can too.

There is also a history of governments either locking away deviant members for life or imposing capital punishment. Both are examples of government taking actions that deprive their citizens of their core rights.

If one accepts the idea of a conditional citizenship, then the question becomes what that condition is. In Begum's case, those who want to keep her out would argue that treason - giving comfort and aid to an entity at war with your own country - is a reasonable condition.

I find elements in the arguments of both sides persuasive.

Intuitively, citizenship should be something that comes with duties. This is not to suggest that the actions most frequently associated with good citizenry - obeying the laws, paying taxes, voting, doing national service (in Singapore's case) - need to be prerequisites for citizenship. (A Singapore male who doesn't pay taxes, doesn't do national service and doesn't vote is still a citizen - a citizen in jail but a citizen nonetheless.) It is not so onerous an imposition to expect citizens not to side with the enemy in a conflict - whether this means taking up arms or simply looking after its fighters.

At the same time, the idea of a government turning its back on a citizen in this scenario poses its own set of dilemmas, foremost of which is the question of who is supposed to deal with the individual. Begum does not just disappear because her citizenship has been revoked. She has to live somewhere. The UK, for all its problems, would apparently be equipped to take Begum back, prosecute her and then punish or rehabilitate her. To respond to her desire to return by denying she is one of your own comes off as trying to make her someone else's problem.

If thousands more cases are to come, involving dozens of countries, that will be quite a number of people who are supposed to be someone else's problem. The risk this could have in making worse a terrorism problem that the denationalisation was supposed to fix is significant.

And that seems to be the rub between the conflicting sides on the citizenship issue.

While there is more than sufficient justification for unmaking a citizen, it may not always be the right thing to do.

Asia faces three tsunamis and it can look to Singapore's Budget for pointers

Ravi Velloor  Associate Editor  The Straits Times  22 February 2019

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat's Budget statement offers useful pointers for others in the region on meeting the challenges posed by the forces of change

A decade ago as the Global Financial Crisis raged and Mr Heng Swee Keat was managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country's central bank, I wrote in these columns that Mr Heng performed a dual role: watchdog and watch tower for the local economy. The watchdog kept a weather eye on what happened inside the nation's banks and businesses; the watch tower had its attention on the near and far horizons.

These days, as finance minister, he has a third role to play of course - as the gardener who nourishes the economy, particularly its greenest shoots - which explains the considerable time he spent on issues such as Singapore's expanding ecosystem of start-up companies in the Budget he presented on Monday.

Other nations, particularly those that are still hesitant about making the necessary adjustments, or are in outright denial about their portents, should pause and take note because what the sentinel that's Singapore is picking up applies to the broader region as well. And as the Chinese saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the next best time is now.

AI, AUTOMATION AND JOBS

Tsunami 1 is the gale force changes happening in the economic landscape brought on by the swift march of automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and digitisation. Six years ago this week, when a lot of these developments were specks on the landscape, I had drawn attention in these columns to the gathering trends and wondered aloud whether the world would need the equivalent of a Non-Proliferation Treaty to calibrate their advance until statesmen and diplomats work out solutions to share the fruits of science rather than live in their dread. Since then, the various tendrils of this phenomenon have gathered into a perfect storm cloud, one that continues to gather force.

The major Asian population centres, starting with China and India, are poised to be the most affected. In the national election looming in India, slow employment generation in the formal sector is rising as a major headache for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he seeks re-election. That phenomenon will only deepen. The import lists of big nations with young populations - take Indonesia and India as prime examples - reveal robotic equipment and automation to be among the fastest-growing items.

Last year, a McKinsey study estimated that a quarter of work activities in Singapore could be displaced by 2030. Still, the island will probably cope. Last year, almost one in two Singaporeans made some effort to skill up, according to the figures Mr Heng cited.

Its SkillsFuture programme is being studied around the world even if it comes with its own quirks and probably needs fine-tuning. It would, for instance, be interesting to see how much of those credits were used up for Korean language studies. That said, to the extent that every new language opens up a fresh universe of ideas and thoughts for the learner it is probably a positive thing, even if the initial benefit flows towards the propagation of Korean hallyu.

Later this year, we will have a better sense of direction after the Tripartite Workgroup gives its recommendations on retirement and re-employment, and pension payments of older workers.

AGEING POPULATION

Tsunami 2 is the silver tsunami - rapidly ageing populations in parts of Asia, including at home, that bear close watching.

Singapore's population is ageing faster than even Japan's and this comes with profound implications.

Meanwhile, life expectancy today is almost 85 years. The happy news is that quite unlike the Japanese minister who urged the old in his country to "hurry up and die", Singapore has been moving to turn the aged into an asset, including extending retirement ages. Some years ago I moderated a World Economic Forum panel on healthcare where Health Minister Gan Kim Yong spoke strongly and convincingly about how Singapore was planning for active ageing. This week, a top executive of Mercer suggested to me that the island should consider a retirement age of 70.

Contemporary research indicates that in the world of robotics and Artificial Intelligence, experience, emotional quotient and other skills that reside in the older generation will find increasing salience in business.

But if Singapore has started the journey to tackle this surge that cannot be said for the rest of Asia.

According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap), all Asia-Pacific countries are ageing at an unprecedented pace, although the timing and pace of this transition varies across the region. Whereas in 2016, approximately 12.4 per cent of the population in the region was 60 years or older, this is projected to increase to more than a quarter - or 1.3 billion - people by 2050. In countries with significant ageing populations, such as Japan and South Korea, over a third of the population is expected to be 60 years or older by 2050. France and Sweden took 115 years and 85 years respectively to move from an ageing to an aged society, whereas China is expected to make the transition in 25 years, Singapore and Thailand in 22 years, and Vietnam in only 19 years, according to Unescap projections.

Naturally, all of this has profound implications for healthcare and long-term care.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The third tsunami is natural disasters, including actual tsunamis. These have been occurring around Asia with increasing frequency and intensity, some without doubt the result of climate change whose manifestations include warming temperatures and rising sea levels. The people of South-east Asia are highly vulnerable given their exposure to climate change risks, according to the Asian Development Bank. Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand were among 10 countries in the world most affected by climate change in the past 20 years.

This vulnerability will only rise as populations increase. Between 2007 and 2016, disasters triggered by natural hazards in the Asia-Pacific region were estimated to have cost damage worth US$76 billion (S$103 billion) a year, twice the cost in the decade before. Thirty years from now, the region is projected to be home to 760 million people, mostly living in low-level, coastal areas. The largest South-east Asian nation, Indonesia, has the world's second longest coastline and six in 10 people there are at risk of being exposed to floods and sea level surges. Fishing, agriculture and tourism - to name just three industries - will all be hit. Asian megapolises such as Shanghai and Mumbai are located in low-lying areas and will not escape the effects of rising sea levels.

Singapore is adopting a multi-pronged approach in meeting the challenges posed by climate change. To meet the threat of rising sea levels, it is experimenting with the use of polders and dikes on Pulau Tekong. Low-lying roads near coastal areas have been raised and Changi Airport's Terminal 5 will be built at 5.5m above sea level. That is about a half-metre higher than the terminals built before. From 2011, the Government has required all new reclaimed land to be at least 4m higher than the mean sea level, up from 3m previously. Much of Singapore's coastline is protected with hard structures such as seawalls and rock slopes.

Indeed, rather than be seen as some oracular Merlion rising triumphantly in Asian waters, Mr Heng's instinct, if you were to read the text closely, is to tell Singaporeans to emulate the sharp-witted and swift Sang Kancil mousedeer, and I would add, rather than to be stags with prickly antlers. Combined with his call to build cross cultural literacy among our youth, his approach should hopefully help carry his message of the Three Tsunamis beyond this island. After all, when it comes to climate issues and even megatrends, we are all affected. There is no "over there". And no piece of land, even if surrounded by water, can truly be considered an island.

Now to secure the new digital frontier

The Straits Times 22 Feb 2019

In a significant upgrade of its national security vision, Singapore will introduce digital defence as the sixth pillar of its Total Defence framework. The move represents a substantial addition to the security calculus whose trajectory has helped ensure the country's security, unity and independence. Indeed, its singularity is emphasised by the fact that this is the first time that a new pillar has been added to the framework which launched 35 years ago. In a move that should also buttress the sixth pillar, the Ministry of Defence is on a recruitment drive for cyber-security specialists.

The five original pillars of Total Defence are comprehensive: military defence is meant to defend Singapore when it is attacked or to deter foreign intervention; civil defence involves taking care of family, friends and other people in times of crisis; economic defence focuses on the need to create an economy that is robust enough to sustain Singapore through challenges and national emergencies; social defence seeks to enlarge the space of harmony among people of all races and religions; and psychological defence underscores the importance of the willed resilience of Singaporeans that is crucial in overcoming a crisis.

But clearly, the need for digital defence today is as compelling as these efforts to buttress Singapore's security and well-being. And while the Ministry of Defence's recruitment move is timely, the threats in today's world go beyond military action into the online sphere and involve national concerns in the digital sphere. Globally, there are concerted and often coordinated attempts, notably by state actors, to use disinformation to influence people's thinking and actions through the placement and broadcast of carefully packaged fake news. There are also attempts to hack into national, parliamentary and party political computer systems. Singapore's experience of digital breaches has been telling. It is highlighted by last year's cyber attack on SingHealth which compromised the personal information of 1.5 million patients, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the recent leak of details from the HIV Registry. Malicious malware and fake news might not appear to be hard threats like invasion or terrorism, but their effects can be as deadly.

Digital attacks can cripple entire systems while fake news can cause distrust and riots. The first step towards security lies therefore in public awareness of the reality of digital vulnerability. As with the traditional pillars of Total Defence, which involve the public playing their part, the latest pillar will be strong only to the extent that ordinary Singaporeans take it seriously. Members of the public must play their part in distinguishing between what is real and what is fake information so as to decide what to pass on to others via e-mail or phone messages. Since disinformation can be lethal, every citizen is a soldier in the digital war.

Women's quest for justice and equality - a short history

Tommy Koh   PUBLISHED 19/2/2019

Singapore women have done well in achieving parity with men but in other parts of the world, the struggle continues

Women's rights are human rights. The struggle by women for justice and equality is one of the longest in the history of human rights. Although much progress has been made, the struggle is not over in some parts of the world. Boys and girls are born equal. Inequality sets in as they grow up. The causes are many, with history, religion and culture all playing a part.

In the ancient world, women were treated as chattel. They could be bought or sold. Women had to marry the men chosen for them. They had no legal personality. They could not own property. They had no freedom of movement. Men's oppression of women is therefore an evil which has ancient roots.

Religion has generally reinforced gender inequality with precepts and doctrines that subordinate women to men. Some Christian denominations bar women from the priesthood or leadership positions. In Islam, women face restrictions on leading public prayers. According to some Buddhist texts, women can attain Buddhahood only by first being reborn as men. In Hindu literature, women are sometimes depicted as being weak, sinful and irresponsible. The two religions which treat men and women equally are Sikhism and Baha'ism.

Confucius taught that a daughter should obey her father, a wife her husband and a widow her son. Confucianism has had a pernicious influence on the status of women in Asia as it continues to influence the behaviour of men towards women in North-east and South-east Asia. The male chauvinist teachings of Confucius may be the reason why societies in these parts of Asia have such low fertility rates.

COLONIAL SINGAPORE

What was the situation in colonial Singapore? The British rulers of Singapore were all men. Reflecting the attitude back home, their attitude towards women was unenlightened. Professor Aline Wong, in her book Women In Modern Singapore, described the situation in colonial Singapore in the following way: "The cultural traditions of the major ethnic communities in Singapore place a greater premium on the male compared with the female. Whether born as a Chinese, an Indian or a Malay, a woman is subjected to sociocultural and religious pressures to conform to the roles of wife and mother and to lead a secluded life." Although several women's leaders such as Shirin Fozdar, Seow Peck Leng and May Wong had petitioned the British Governor and the British Parliament to abolish polygamy, their petition was rejected. Chinese men were free to have as many wives and concubines as they wished. Women occupied an inferior status during British rule. In 1877, the British Government established the Chinese Protectorate. Its objective was to look after the needs of the Chinese community. To its credit, the protectorate did try to tackle the problem of the trafficking of women and girls for prostitution. They also tried to ensure that the sale of young girls to rich families as mui tsai was not a form of slavery.

WOMEN'S CHARTER OF 1961

In its early days, the People's Action Party (PAP) was a revolutionary party. In 1959, it campaigned for the policy of one man, one wife. In 1961, the Singapore Government enacted the Women's Charter. It was nothing less than the Magna Carta for women in Singapore.

What are the most important provisions of the Women's Charter?

• First, it abolished polygamy for all non-Muslim men and required that all future marriages be registered.

• Second, a married woman could continue to use her own name.

•Third, husband and wife were treated as equal partners in a marriage.

• Fourth, women had the right to own, buy and sell property.

• Fifth, the Charter safeguards the rights of women in matters relating to marriage and divorce.

• Sixth, the Charter also protects the right of the wife to matrimonial assets, maintenance and the custody of children.

THE PAP AND WOMEN

In the 1950s and 1960s, the PAP had several women leaders such as Chan Choy Siong. It was a pro-woman party. However, by the 1970s and 1980s, the PAP no longer had any women in its leadership. The party drifted away from its origin and became anti-women. Let me cite three examples to support my point.

Quota for women in medical school

In 1979, the Minister for Health, Dr Toh Chin Chye, announced that women would be restricted to one-third of the intake for medical school. This unreasonable discrimination against women was abolished only in 2003.

Lower admission requirements for male students

In 1983, the National University of Singapore modified its entry requirements for male students. Why? In order to prevent any imbalance in the sex ratio in favour of women. Speaking in justification of this discrimination, the NUS vice-chancellor, Professor Lim Pin, said that a gender imbalance in the university would only aggravate the "problem of having unmarried graduate women".

Home economics not for boys

In 1984, the Ministry of Education stopped all Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 girls from taking technical studies. Henceforth, all girls had to study home economics and the boys had to take technical studies.

THE UNITED NATIONS' POSITIVE INFLUENCE

Some foolish people think the world would be better off without the United Nations. Without the UN, we would not have the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and, most importantly, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw). Cedaw was adopted in 1979 and came into force in 1981. Singapore became a party to the Convention in 1995. Article 16 of Cedaw requires all state parties to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family matters.

What are the rights of women protected by Cedaw? First, the right to freely and consensually choose her spouse. Second, to have personal rights to her children even in the event of divorce. Third, the right of a married woman to choose a profession or occupation. Fourth, to have property rights within marriage.

Before leaving the subject of the UN, I would like to acknowledge the important contributions which a Singaporean, Dr Noeleen Heyzer, the former executive director of the UN Development Fund for Women, has made. In 2000, Dr Heyzer succeeded in persuading the UN Security Council to adopt Resolution 1325. The resolution calls on states to safeguard the rights of women and girls in armed conflict.

Judge Navanethem Pillay of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said: "From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as one of the spoils of war. Now it is a war crime. We want to send out a strong message that rape is no longer a trophy of war."

STATUS OF WOMEN IN SINGAPORE

Have Singapore women succeeded in achieving justice and equality with men? I think it would be fair to say that in most important respects, women have achieved equality with men. Our women have achieved parity with men in education at all levels. Women's participation in our workforce is at about 60 per cent but there is still a wage gap between men and women. Women outlive men. Most glass ceilings impeding the rise of women in Singapore have been broken. We have a woman as our President. We have several very capable woman ministers, permanent secretaries, judges of the Supreme Court, CEOs of statutory boards and leading corporations.

The only two areas which need improvement are the number of women in Parliament and the under-representation of women on corporate boards and in senior decision-making positions.

The world has recognised the tremendous progress which women in Singapore have achieved in the past 50 years. In 2016, the UN Human Development Report ranked Singapore No. 11 out of 159 countries on its Gender Inequality Index. In 2017, the US News and World Report published a list of the 23 best countries in the world for a woman to live in. Singapore was ranked No. 22.

CONCLUSION

Women's quest for justice and equality has made tremendous progress in the past few decades.

In Singapore, women have largely achieved parity with men. The Singapore Council of Women's Organisations and the Association of Women for Action and Research should be acknowledged for their pivotal role in fighting for equal rights. Singapore has become one of the world's most women-friendly countries.

However, women in some other parts of the world are not so fortunate. They are still treated as second-class citizens and continue to live under the oppression of men. The struggle is not over.

• Professor Tommy Koh, a veteran diplomat, is chairman of the Centre for International Law and rector of Tembusu College, both at the National University of Singapore.

Budget 2019: Excerpts from Budget speech

Taking Singapore forward in a fast-changing world

PUBLISHED  19/2/2019 The Straits Times

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat yesterday delivered a Budget aimed at helping Singapore thrive in a rapidly changing global environment as well as meet longer-term domestic challenges such as ageing, social mobility and economic transformation. Highlights include a Merdeka Generation Package that will benefit nearly 500,000 Singaporeans and a special $1.1 billion Bicentennial Bonus to mark what he called a key turning point in Singapore's development. Here are edited excerpts from his Budget speech.

This year marks 200 years since Sir Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore. 1819 was a key turning point in Singapore's development. The British decision to declare Singapore a free port plugged us into an emerging network of global trade. This, and subsequent developments, transformed Singapore into a global node. In our bicentennial year, let us reflect on the twists and turns in our history, so as to chart a path forward for an even better future for our people.

CHARTING OUR PATH FORWARD

Today, we are in a different phase of globalisation, with new forces reshaping the global environment. In last year's Budget Statement, I mentioned three major shifts:

• The shift in global economic weight towards Asia;

• Rapid technological advancements;

• And changing demographic patterns.

A fourth major force that is gaining prominence is the decline in support for globalisation. Some countries are benefiting from globalisation, while others are questioning its value.These four major forces are interacting in complex ways, at the global, regional, and national levels. On the global stage, the trade frictions between the US and China are developing into a deeper strategic competition of strength and of governance systems. This is raising geopolitical uncertainty. Domestically, we need to address longer-term challenges, including ageing, social mobility, inequality, economic transformation, and climate change.

OUR STRENGTHS AND OUR SINGAPOREAN DNA

The changing global and domestic landscape presents both challenges and opportunities. We will continue to chart our way forward confidently in the Singapore way, building on our distinct strengths and our Singaporean DNA. We must always respond to challenges with grit and determination. There were episodes in the centuries of Singapore's history where our island's fortunes waned due to external forces. These are sobering reminders that we have to constantly build up our security and resilience, and plan long-term.

As a multi-cultural society, our openness to diversity is our strength. It has inculcated a global mindset and deepened our knowledge of Asia. We strive to be a place where people and ideas congregate, at the frontier of global developments. We want to be a Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise.

We turn our size and strategic location into an advantage.

Technological shifts have spread economic activities more widely, and at the same time, made cities more important as key nodes of enterprise and innovation. As a city-state, we are nimbler and can adapt to changes faster. We serve as a neutral, trusted node in key spheres of global activity. Like Sang Kancil, the small but quick-witted mousedeer, we can make our way in the world.

Budget 2019 is a strategic plan to allocate resources to build a Strong, United Singapore. In this bicentennial year, let us draw on our strengths, and our Singaporean DNA - openness, multiculturalism, and self-determination - to continue to progress.

At a fundamental level, we must keep Singapore safe and secure. We must continue to transform our economy, for only a vibrant and innovative economy can provide opportunities for our people to realise their potential.

We must continue to build a caring and inclusive society, one where we look out for one another, and all of us play our part in weaving a tightly-knit social fabric.

We must continue to build Singapore as a global city and home for all, keeping it smart, sustainable, and globally connected.

Last but not least, we must achieve these goals in a responsible and fiscally sustainable way.

KEEPING SINGAPORE SAFE AND SECURE

A safe and secure Singapore gives us the confidence to chart an independent course. Against an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment, our commitment to defence and security cannot waver. Diplomacy and deterrence are the twin pillars of our approach. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs works continuously to build good relations with our neighbours and the major powers, and to promote a rules-based international order with international laws and norms. A strong Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) lends weight to our diplomatic efforts and ensures that negotiations with Singapore are taken seriously. Should diplomacy fail, we must stand ready to safeguard our interests, and defend ourselves. The Home Team also works round-the-clock alongside other security agencies, to ensure a safe environment for all. We also now have the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore leading our efforts to protect our Critical Information Infrastructure from cyber threats, and to create a secure cyberspace for businesses and communities.

These are fundamental to our sovereignty, our success, and to safeguarding our vital interests.

Beyond physical threats, malicious cyber activities are growing. The networked nature of our society has enhanced connectivity. But this can be exploited to disrupt and divide society, through cyber attacks, the spread of falsehoods, or other means. In particular, foreign actors will try to influence our domestic affairs and politics. To stay ahead of these threats, we must continue to innovate and build new capabilities to meet our security needs. Both the public and private sectors have a major role to play. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will set up a Home Team Science & Technology Agency by the end of this year, to develop science and technology capabilities to support the Home Team's operational needs. These capabilities will strengthen the Home Team's ability to carry out its mission of safeguarding Singapore. With our Smart Nation drive, digital technology has become an integral part of our lives. To harness the digital advantage, we must be prepared to also deal with the threats that arise inevitably from its more pervasive use. Digital Defence has now been incorporated as the sixth pillar of Total Defence. The Government is also engaging our tech community with programmes such as the Government Bug Bounty Programme, to achieve a higher level of collective cyber security. Given its strategic significance, the Government will continue to invest a significant share of our resources - about 30 per cent of our total expenditure this year - to support our defence, security, and diplomacy efforts. This spending is significant, but indispensable.

SKILLED WORKFORCE, INNOVATIVE FIRMS AND A VIBRANT ECONOMY

A vibrant and innovative economy provides our people with the opportunities to realise their potential and to have a better life. Our efforts to transform our economy are bearing fruit. In tandem with the global expansion, the Singapore economy grew by 3.2 per cent in 2018. Good growth translated into good outcomes for our workers. Over the past five years, the real median income of Singaporeans has grown by 3.6 per cent per year.

Global growth is expected to moderate in 2019, while uncertainties and downside risks in the global economy have increased. Over the years, our sound monetary and fiscal policies have enabled us to weather global economic crises and keep inflation stable. These provide a stable environment for investors to make long-term investment decisions.

Beyond maintaining a supportive macro-economic environment, we need to build a sound micro-economic foundation, so that resources can be allocated to their best possible uses; and to undertake structural reforms, to enable our workers and firms to adapt and stay competitive.

In Budget 2016, we launched the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs), which drive transformation at the company, industry, and economy-wide levels. Each ITM integrates four key pillars of transformation: jobs and skills; innovation; internationalisation; and productivity. These are mutually reinforcing pillars to maximise impact. To coordinate efforts, the Future Economy Council brings together leaders from the Government, industry, trade associations and chambers (TACs), unions, and academia. After three years of intensive work, I am glad that all 23 ITMs have been launched, covering about 80% of our economy. We are seeing good progress, aided by the global economic upturn in recent years:

Productivity, as measured by real value-added per actual hour worked, grew by 3.6 per cent per year in the past three years, higher than the 1.6 per cent per annum growth recorded in the preceding three years, from 2012 to 2015. In particular, we have seen strong performance by outward-oriented sectors such as manufacturing, while others like construction and some service industries continue to show weaker productivity growth. But this is a continuing journey. There is much more we can do, especially in sectors like domestic services. We must press on. Let me now outline three key thrusts in this Budget to support industry transformation:

• First, building deep enterprise capabilities.

• Second, building deep worker capabilities.

• Third, encouraging strong partnerships, within Singapore and across the world.

BUILDING DEEP ENTERPRISE CAPABILITIES

The basic building blocks of a vibrant economy are strong, competitive companies that maximise value creation. Hence, the first thrust is to support the building of deep enterprise capabilities. Companies at different stages of growth have different needs. The leadership of each company is in the best position to lead and drive changes, while our agencies can provide support at each stage of growth.

A vibrant start-up ecosystem encourages budding entrepreneurs to try out their business ideas. Such an ecosystem enables entrepreneurs to connect to mentors, prospective business partners, customers, and investors. Two years ago, we launched Startup SG to provide holistic support for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Such support ranges from co-investments and proof-of-concept grants, to mentorship and physical space. Our start-up ecosystem is flourishing. There are now over 220 venture capital deals per year in Singapore, worth close to US$4.2 billion, a significant rise from the 80 deals worth US$136 million in 2012. Today, more than 150 global venture capital funds, incubators, and accelerators are based in Singapore, supporting start-ups here and in the region.

Start-ups can only thrive if they scale up, and venture into new markets. To help them do so, we will provide support in three areas: providing customised assistance, better financing options, and supporting technology adoption. Customised support can enable firms to identify and overcome the unique challenges they face, and scale up quickly. Enterprise Singapore will launch a Scale-up SG programme in partnership with the private and public sectors. Scale-up SG will work with aspiring, high-growth local firms to identify and build new capabilities, to innovate, grow, and internationalise. To support innovation, we will launch a pilot Innovation Agents programme, for firms to tap on a pool of experts to advise them on opportunities to innovate and commercialise technology.

Having smart, patient capital that attracts investors with the expertise and the right time horizon is another way to help firms scale-up. Over the past few years, the Government has worked on improving access to private capital for start-ups and SMEs. The pool of private equity and venture capital managers in Singapore has grown. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has simplified the regulatory regime for venture capital managers, and launched a US$5 billion private markets programme to encourage global private equity players to deepen their presence here.

To further deepen the pool of smart, patient capital: The Government has, since 2010, set aside $400 million through two rounds of fund injections for the Co-Investment Programme (CIP) to invest in our SMEs, alongside the private sector. So far, the Government's investments have catalysed approximately $1.3 billion of additional funding for our SMEs.

This year, I will set aside an additional $100 million to establish the SME Co-Investment Fund III. As part of the CIP, it will catalyse investment in Singapore-based SMEs that are ready to scale up. We expect that this will bring in at least $200 million of additional funding.

Loan financing remains an important source of funding for SMEs. Our banks have been responding. To catalyse these further, we will enhance the accessibility of loans. Today, our economic agencies have different financing schemes. To make it simpler for companies, we will streamline the existing financing schemes offered by Enterprise Singapore into a single Enterprise Financing Scheme that will cover trade, working capital, fixed assets, venture debt, mergers and acquisitions, and project financing. This will be launched in October this year. In addition, the Enterprise Financing Scheme will provide stronger support for companies that have been incorporated for less than five years. The Government will take on up to 70 per cent of the risk for bank loans to these young companies, compared to the current 50 per cent under most existing loan schemes.

HELP FOR SMES TO GO DIGITAL

To support viable SMEs in their day-to-day operations, I will extend the SME Working Capital Loan scheme for about two more years, till March 2021. Since its launch in June 2016, the scheme has catalysed more than $2.5 billion of loans. We expect the extension to catalyse a further $1.8 billion. Support for working capital will be folded under the Enterprise Financing Scheme from October.

Our companies and workers must stay on top of rapid advances in technology, especially in digital technology. We will continue to help our SMEs adopt digital technologies:

We launched the SMEs Go Digital programme in Budget 2017. Since then, around 4,000 SMEs have adopted pre-approved digital solutions. We will expand the SMEs Go Digital programme.

First, Accountancy, Sea Transport, and Construction will also get their own industry digital plans, with more sectors to be added later. These will guide SMEs on relevant digital technologies and skills training programmes.

Second, we will expand the number and range of cost-effective, pre-approved digital solutions that will be supported under SMEs Go Digital, to boost technology adoption among SMEs.

MAS and the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) will also jointly pilot a cross-border innovation platform for SMEs, known as the Business sans Borders, with an artificial intelligence-enabled marketplace to help our SMEs match with buyers and vendors globally.

To help companies in the services sector capture opportunities from digitalisation, the Ministry of Communications and Information launched a pilot of the Digital Services Lab (DSL) in November last year. The DSL brings together industry and the research community, to co-develop digital solutions with sector-wide impact. For example, the DSL is exploring the development of solutions to integrate the logistics chain for retail in malls.

Besides digital technology, we will support our firms to integrate technologies and re-engineer business processes to raise efficiency and enhance product development. Last year, I announced the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), to help firms adopt off-the-shelf technology. This year, we will extend the Automation Support Package (ASP) by two years. Introduced in Budget 2016, the ASP supports firms to deploy impactful, large-scale automation, such as robotics, Internet of Things solutions, and other Industry 4.0 technologies. Since its launch, the ASP has helped more than 300 companies to automate their operations and raise productivity. We will extend the ASP to encourage more companies to do so.

In the same spirit, our government agencies must also embrace technology to serve companies better. We have made progress in this area.

• The Business Grants Portal, launched in 2017, provides a one-stop shop for businesses to identify and apply for the right grant for their plans.

• To make it easier for businesses to transact with the Government, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and relevant agencies are developing a one-stop portal, with a pilot to be launched for the food services sector by 3Q 2019. Businesses will deal with only one point of contact, instead of up to 14 different ones.

• BCA and HDB are also testing the use of drones to inspect building facades more effectively.

• Learning from these pilots, government agencies will continue to innovate, and improve the ease of doing business.

ENTERPRISE-CENTRIC APPROACH

Let me now touch on other ways to help build deep enterprise capabilities. We have more than 200,000 enterprises in Singapore, ranging from large MNCs to our neighbourhood shops. Today, across each of the four pillars of our ITMs, different agencies provide support in each area. While helpful, companies have given feedback that we could streamline these. I agree. To better support this broad base of companies with diverse needs, we will draw resources from each agency, but focus support in an enterprise-centric way to better help enterprises at each stage of growth. This will be done in a tiered manner.

• Firms with large and complex needs or with strong growth potential will be provided a range of customised support by the Economic Development Board (EDB), Enterprise Singapore, and other agencies.

• The large numbers of SMEs facing common challenges will be supported through scalable solutions that are easy to adopt.

For instance: I recently visited Precursor Assurance, a local accounting firm. Precursor has developed an integrated digital solution with modules for corporate functions, such as HR, customer relationship management, and finance. SMEs can simply plug and play, and scale up the use of these modules when they expand. For medium-sized companies that are seeking to grow, we will provide targeted support, in each of the different industry clusters, to better address their needs as they grow.

HELPING SINGAPOREANS SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES

I have touched on the measures to support our enterprises to build deep capabilities so that they can succeed in the global competition. But our ultimate goal is to enable our people to continue to have good jobs and opportunities, and to be at their best. Hence, the second thrust of our economic transformation in this Budget is to deepen the capabilities of our workers. We want our people to have the skills, knowledge, and attitude to adapt and thrive in this competitive and technology-intensive environment.

On the part of the Government, we will continue to invest in our people across all stages of their lives, from pre-school to work. Over the years, we have instituted a range of support measures for workers, including the Workfare Income Supplement, Special Employment Credit, and Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs), to name a few.

With the national SkillsFuture movement and the Adapt and Grow initiatives, we have made a stronger push to enable our people to reach their fullest potential throughout life, and help Singaporeans affected by restructuring.

Our investments in supporting our people in their careers, including Adapt and Grow initiatives and continuing education and training, reached more than $1.1 billion in FY2017. The percentage of residents in the labour force who participated in training grew from 35 per cent in 2015, to 48 per cent in 2018. From 2016 to 2018, more than 76,000 jobseekers found employment through the Adapt and Grow initiative. Workers need to embrace upskilling and reskilling, and make the most of new opportunities both locally and overseas. In 2015, we launched the Career Support Programme to provide wage support for employers to hire eligible Singaporeans who are mature and retrenched, or are in long-term unemployment. We will extend this programme for two years. We must also ensure that the benefits of enterprise transformation are passed on to our workers. Starting from April 1, 2020, all transformation efforts supported by Enterprise Singapore's Enterprise Development Grant must include positive outcomes for workers, such as wage increases.

Although some firms have done well to deploy their staff efficiently, productivity growth has been uneven across sectors. The manufacturing sector, which faces strong global competition, has done well. In the service sector, while some firms have done well despite a tight labour market, some segments like F&B and retail remain very labour-intensive. Growth in S Pass and Work Permit holders in the service sector has also been picking up pace. The number has risen by about 3 per cent per annum or 34,000 in the last three years. In particular, the S Pass growth in services is the highest in five years. If this trend persists, foreign manpower growth may be on an unsustainable path.

We need to act decisively to manage the manpower growth in services, and encourage our companies to revamp work processes, redesign jobs, and reskill our workers. Our workforce growth is tapering, and if we do not use this narrow window to double down on restructuring, our companies will find it even harder in the future. Relying on more and more foreign workers is not the long-term solution - other economies are developing too.

What we need is to have a sustainable inflow of foreign workers to complement our workforce, while we upgrade our Singaporean workers and build deep enterprise capabilities in these sectors. We must enhance the complementarities of our local and foreign workers. Based on evidence on the pace of foreign worker inflows, and the progress being made in raising productivity across sectors, we need to calibrate our policies. The Government recognises the economic headwinds and cost pressures ahead of us. But if we do not take action early, our firms will find it harder to compete in the years ahead, and our workers will be left behind.

After much deliberation, we will adjust the workforce quota for the service sector: Reduce the service sector Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) in two steps, from 40 per cent to 38 per cent on Jan 1, 2020, and to 35 per cent on Jan 1, 2021. We will also reduce the service sector S Pass Sub-DRC in two steps, from 15 per cent to 13 per cent on Jan 1, 2020, and to 10 per cent on Jan 1, 2021.

We are announcing these changes about a year ahead, to give companies time to prepare. For firms whose existing workers are in excess of the new limits, the DRC will apply as and when these firms apply for renewals of permits. To support firms as they adjust to these changes, we will put in place the following measures, till FY2022. First, the 70 per cent funding support level for the Enterprise Development Grant was due to lapse after March 31, 2020. I will now extend this enhanced funding support for three more years, up to March 31, 2023. Second, we will do the same for the Productivity Solutions Grant, and expand its scope to support up to 70 per cent of the out-of-pocket cost for training.

Separately, firms can continue to apply for additional manpower flexibilities in certain cases. The Lean Enterprise Development Scheme provides support to firms that undertake transformation projects which lead to a more manpower-lean business. Transitional manpower flexibilities can be considered if firms need more resources in the short term to transit to new operating models. On a case-by-case basis, firms can bring in foreign workers with specialised skills that are in demand globally. This is provided that they still face a shortage after having given fair consideration to Singaporeans. As the marine shipyard and process sectors have only begun showing early signs of recovery, I will defer the earlier-announced increase in Foreign Worker Levy rates for these sectors for another year.

Let me now touch on the third key thrust to support economic transformation - building deeper partnerships within Singapore, and across the world. To succeed, companies need to both compete and cooperate - compete to differentiate themselves, and cooperate to solve common challenges. Our TACs can play an important role in developing industry-wide capabilities. This includes supporting members in getting business advice, and improving access to local and international networks. TACs have done well in helping our companies build overseas partnerships. For example, the Singapore FinTech Association has forged many partnerships with foreign FinTech associations, and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has organised Singapore's commercial participation at numerous overseas trade fairs including the 2018 China International Import Expo. The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also developed the Trade Association Hub, which now houses 39 TACs, to raise the level of services for members. SBF is also working closely with our TACs.

We will strengthen our support for TACs through the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme. Enterprise Singapore will be developing five-year road maps with TACs that have demonstrated strong leadership and shown ambition to do more for the business community. This will enable them to take on a more strategic and longer-term approach in driving industry transformation. These TACs will be able to access funding and potentially take in public sector secondees through LEAD.

We will also develop stronger partnerships around the world, at the Government-to-Government and Business-to-Business levels. Our TACs, such as the SBF, have developed international linkages for our businesses. Over the years, we have negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs) with partner economies, which enlarge our businesses' access to new markets. Just last week, the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) and the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (EUSIPA) received the European Parliament's consent with a clear majority. To draw greater value from these trade networks, we will streamline and digitise our trade processes further to raise efficiency. This will enable easier access to overseas markets, and help firms make better use of these FTAs. Last year, I launched the Networked Trade Platform (NTP), to streamline trade processes and provide a one-stop information management system for traders. We will also be working with partners to facilitate the secure exchange of electronic trade documents, to unlock further productivity gains.

GLOBAL-ASIA NODE OF TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE

Over the years, we have forged deep partnerships with the G3 economies of US, Europe and Japan, as well as China, India and Asean. With the centre of economic gravity shifting to Asia, and with the technological depth of partnerships with G3, we should position Singapore as "Asia 101" for global MNCs looking to expand into Asia's growing markets, and as "Global 101" for Asian companies ready to go global.

For our next phase of growth, as we press on with industry transformation, we will continue to build Singapore's position as a Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise. This will open up new opportunities for our firms and our people to ride on the wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our efforts to achieve this will build on the same three key thrusts as laid out for the broader economic transformation. First, investments in research and innovation by our universities, research institutes, and our firms; second, investments in our people; and third, building global partnerships.

First, we will continue to invest in R&D to support the push to make innovation pervasive. We have set aside $19 billion as part of our five-year Research, Innovation, and Enterprise 2020 plan. Our investments in R&D in our universities and research institutes are bearing fruit.

NUS and NTU are ranked the best in Asia in areas such as materials science and chemistry, and among the top 50 globally for engineering and computer science. Many of our researchers are regarded by their peers as among the world's best, especially in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and biomedical sciences.

But for R&D to make an impact, our companies must take the lead. To tap on the demand for high quality food, and to build on our progress, Enterprise Singapore's investment arm, SEEDS Capital, has appointed seven partners to co-invest in Singapore-based agri-food start-ups, to catalyse more than $90 million of investments. Leading MNCs and our large local companies are also establishing their R&D centres in Singapore, in different areas of technology. We now have 14 corporate laboratories in our universities, doing cutting-edge work from cyber-physical systems to power electronics. Last year, we opened four corporate labs with major companies - Applied Materials, HP, Wilmar, and Surbana-Jurong - to work on advanced manufacturing, biochemicals and smart cities.

I recently visited LUX Photonics Consortium, which brings together researchers in NTU, NUS, A*Star, and the industry to translate cutting-edge photonics research into practical applications. There, I met Nanoveu, a Singapore start-up specialising in nanotechnology applications. One of its prototype products, a high-tech screen protector, promises to allow long-sighted users to see clear images on digital devices without their glasses. I am sure this House will support the enabling of us to see issues, far or near, with greater clarity!

To keep the momentum going, we will continue to invest in Centres of Innovation at our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and research institutes, and to support companies in innovation. The spirit of entrepreneurship is critical for all these endeavours - having a vision of the future, and taking practical actions, day in, day out, to explore a range of possibilities and solve a myriad of problems. It is the grit and determination of our entrepreneurs that make a difference.

Mr Sim Wong Hoo, CEO of Creative Technology, brought us the popular Sound Blaster sound cards in the 1990s. Creative Technology went through a difficult patch after its initial success with the Sound Blaster, but Mr Sim and his team pressed on. After 20 years of R&D costing US$100 million, the company recently launched the Super X-Fi, a technology that recreates the holographic sound experience - or 3D sound - with headphones. It has already won 14 awards at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in the US. Mr Sim's story illustrates the point that to succeed, we must learn, we must walk the ground, and we must persist.

Singapore as a Global-Asia node will bring new opportunities for our people, in new frontiers. The second thrust is to prepare and develop our people to make full use of this node. We are partnering firms to invest in our people, including young Singaporeans, to provide them with opportunities to gain working experience abroad. For students who are currently in IHLs, we will combine the current local and overseas internship programmes into a single Global Ready Talent Programme. It will have enhanced funding support for our students interning overseas with Singapore firms. The programme will also support high-growth Singapore firms to send Singaporeans with up to three years of working experience, for postings in key markets such as South-east Asia, China, and India. By giving young Singaporeans overseas exposure, they can develop new skills to better support our firms' overseas expansion. For instance, Oceanus Group, a local seafood supplier, sent interns from Republic Polytechnic to its operations in China in a range of jobs. One of their former interns, Bernice Chan, is now a management trainee in Oceanus' farm in Fotan, China.

Our third thrust is to build global partnerships, so that our firms and people can forge new areas of collaboration with other innovation centres. In Budget 2017, we started the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), one of the Committee on the Future Economy's recommendations. We have now established nine nodes in global start-up hot spots, including Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Jakarta, and San Francisco. These GIA nodes give our entrepreneurs and students opportunities to learn and build networks globally. We are also bringing the global innovation community to come together in Singapore, to explore and collaborate. Last year, we held the third edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival. This is now the world's largest FinTech event. As part of this festival, the Global Investor Summit brought together investors on our Meet Asean's Talents and Champions (MATCH) platform. These investors expressed an interest to invest up to US$12 billion in Asean enterprises in fintech, info-communications technology, and MedTech over the next three years. Another technology event, the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) brought together more than 350 exhibitors, and 1,000 promising startups and financiers from 75 countries. This year, SWITCH and the Singapore FinTech Festival will be held in the same week in mid-November. We can draw in even more entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, from around the world, to explore and collaborate in technology innovation in this Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Our economic transformation is progressing well. We must persist with our industry transformation efforts. At the same time, the pace of technological innovation is rapid, and global economic weight is shifting towards Asia. We will position Singapore as a Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise. Economic transformation is critical. We expect to spend $4.6 billion over the next three years on the new and enhanced economic capability-building measures in Budget 2019, and to support Singaporean workers. $3.6 billion will go towards helping our workers to thrive amid industry and technological disruptions $1 billion will go towards helping firms build deep enterprise capabilities. But let me emphasise that supporting companies and supporting workers are mutually reinforcing - stronger companies provide better jobs and pay for workers, and highly skilled workers make companies stronger.

A CARING AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETY

I have spoken about how we invest to secure our home and grow our economy. At the heart of these efforts is the desire to improve the lives of current and future generations of Singaporeans. We strive to ensure that all Singaporeans, regardless of background, enjoy a quality living environment and have good access to healthcare. And, we provide targeted support to those who are less advantaged, so that they too have a fair chance to succeed; and to those who fall on hard times, so they can bounce back. Our efforts were affirmed by the World Bank when they ranked Singapore top in the Human Capital Index last year.

We recognise that Singapore, like many advanced economies, will have to deal with issues such as:

• Maintaining social mobility;

• Supporting healthy and purposeful ageing;

And fostering a stronger sense of unity amid polarising forces.

Over the past decade or so, we have significantly increased our social spending. Social ministry expenditures have doubled from $15 billion in FY2009, to $30 billion in FY2018. The social measures in Budget 2019 are part of our long-term plan to build a caring and inclusive society. They are driven by three main strategies:

First, uplifting Singaporeans to maximise their potential and providing access to opportunities through their stages of life. We pay particular attention to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, to give them a good start in life. With increasing lifespans, we are also helping older Singaporeans stay in the workforce, so that they can earn and save more for retirement.

Second, providing greater assurance for healthcare. We will continue to strengthen support for the healthcare needs of Singaporeans. In particular, we want to help our seniors stay active, healthy, and engaged in their silver years.

Third, fostering a community of care and contribution, through strong partnerships. We strive to nurture an ethos in our society, where we support one another, giving a helping hand where we can. Those who succeed should help to uplift others, just as they have benefited from the support of others around them.

We invest heavily to provide a world-class education for young Singaporeans. This is to bring out the best in every child, no matter his or her starting point. Pre-schools support parents in laying a strong foundation for children - by helping to develop children's cognitive, language, social, and emotional skills. The Government spent about $1 billion on the pre-school sector in 2018. This is more than two and a half times of the $360 million that we spent back in 2012. And this support continues throughout the schooling years. The Government subsidises over 90 per cent of the total cost of educating our children. This means that a child entering primary school in 2018 will receive over $130,000 in education subsidies by the time he or she completes secondary education.

Children from lower-income families get even more support, for example, through the recently enhanced MOE Financial Assistance Scheme. We have been doing more to better support children from disadvantaged backgrounds, by intervening earlier, with new forms of proactive and targeted support. One such effort is KidSTART. KidSTART practitioners, pre-schools, and community partners work together to provide health, learning, and developmental support for children and their families. Since the pilot programme began in 2016, more than 900 families have been supported by KidSTART.  Last year, we set up the Uplifting Pupils in Life and Inspiring Families Taskforce (UPLIFT). This taskforce will pilot upstream interventions and partner communities to help disadvantaged children and their families, to ensure that no child is left behind. A recent initiative is the UPLIFT scholarship for Independent Schools. This will provide a monetary award of $800 per year for eligible lower-income students in Independent Schools, to cover their out-of-pocket expenses.

The taskforce is also looking at how to strengthen after-school care and support for disadvantaged students in school-based Student Care Centres.

Our support for Singaporeans continues into their working lives. Workfare, together with Silver Support, is a key pillar of our social security system. The two schemes supplement incomes and mitigate inequality in the working and retirement years respectively. The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme provides cash payouts and CPF top-ups for workers whose earnings are in the bottom 20 per cent, with some support for those slightly above. The scheme has raised their incomes, encouraged employment, and helped them save more for retirement. We will enhance WIS to better support lower-wage workers. From January 2020, the qualifying income cap will be raised from the current $2,000 to $2,300 per month. The maximum annual payouts will also be increased by up to $400. Older workers will see higher increases in payouts. For example, workers aged 60 and earning $1,200 a month will now receive $4,000 per year from WIS, or almost 30 per cent of their wages. These enhancements will cost an additional $206 million a year. In total, we expect the enhanced WIS to cost close to $1 billion a year, and benefit almost 440,000 Singaporeans.

As our society ages, older workers will make up an increasing share of our workforce. Today, about one in four of our workforce is aged 55 and above. They continue to make important contributions to our economy and society. Some are giving back by mentoring the younger generation, while others wish to continue working. We are doing more to help older Singaporeans earn more, save more, and have greater peace of mind during their retirement years. The Government has set up a Tripartite Workgroup to study the concerns of older workers. The Workgroup is reviewing policies such as the retirement and re-employment age, and the CPF contribution rates of older workers. They will present their recommendations later this year. To support employers in hiring older Singaporean workers, the Government introduced the Special Employment Credit (SEC) scheme in 2011. Since then, we have extended and made changes to the SEC in response to labour market and economic conditions. We have also introduced an Additional SEC (ASEC) scheme, to encourage employers to hire workers who are above the re-employment age.

I am happy that companies have responded by hiring older workers, tapping on their experiences, and supporting them in upgrading their skills. With a tighter labour market, and more Singaporeans choosing to work longer, more companies will be hiring older workers. The Government will study better forms of support to continue to help workers to remain productive, earn more, and save more for retirement. We will review the relevance and structure of the SEC and ASEC, in tandem with the recommendations from the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers. In the meantime, I will extend the SEC and ASEC for another year, until Dec 31, 2020. To support this extension, I will top up the SEC Fund by $366 million.

HEALTHCARE NEEDS

As more Singaporeans enter their senior years, healthcare needs will grow. Over the years, we have implemented major changes to make healthcare more affordable, accessible, and comprehensive.

We have also been providing greater social support within the community to help seniors stay active, through programmes such as the PA Wellness Programme and the Community Networks for Seniors.

Our second social strategy is to provide greater healthcare assurance. First, doctors at our neighbourhood clinics provide primary care that is easily accessible. This helps us stay healthy. To enhance access, we will make it more affordable to consult doctors in our neighbourhoods. We introduced the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) in 2012. CHAS subsidies help lower-to middle-income families by making primary care and basic dental care at clinics near their homes more affordable. Over 97 per cent of existing CHAS and Pioneer Generation cardholders have access to more than one CHAS clinic within 10 minutes from their homes.

We will enhance CHAS subsidies at GP clinics in three ways:

i. we will extend CHAS to cover all Singaporeans for chronic conditions, regardless of income.

ii. Second, lower-to middle-income Singaporeans who are CHAS Orange cardholders currently receive CHAS subsidies for chronic conditions only. We will extend subsidies for common illnesses to this group.

iii. Third, we will also increase the subsidies for complex chronic conditions.

CHAS makes it possible for more Singaporeans to turn to GP clinics near their homes to manage their chronic conditions. But we must also put in the measures to ensure that CHAS clinics are delivering good outcomes. To this end, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be looking at how to help CHAS clinics better track their patients' progress and outcomes. In a similar vein, MOH will also review its clinical guidelines for care provided at CHAS dental clinics, to ensure that the care delivered is appropriate to the needs of the patient. With these changes, we expect to pay out more than $200 million a year in CHAS subsidies.

Second, we will strengthen financial protection for long-term care. As we age, the chances of having one form of disability or another rises significantly. MOH estimates that one in two healthy Singaporeans aged 65 could become severely disabled in their lifetime, and may need long-term care. Some of us face a higher risk, some lower. But regardless, low risk does not mean no risk. The best way of protecting ourselves is to lead a healthy lifestyle, and take preventive actions.

At the same time, we need to guard against unpredictable events. The most efficient way is to help one another, by pooling risk through an insurance scheme. Today, we have MediShield Life, for all Singaporeans, to provide financial protection against large hospital bills, for life. As we live longer, there is a higher chance that we will need long-term care towards the end of our lives. We need to prepare for this. The Ministry of Health has announced that it will be introducing the new CareShield Life from 2020, an enhancement of the current ElderShield scheme. CareShield Life will provide lifetime coverage, with higher monthly payouts of at least $600 a month for those who become severely disabled. This offsets the costs of long-term care for individuals and their families. The Government will provide subsidies and premium support to ensure that CareShield Life premiums are affordable. We will also offer participation incentives for existing cohorts, born in 1979 or earlier, to join CareShield Life, so that they are better protected should they need care in the future. CareShield Life will offer much greater peace of mind for Singaporeans.

In addition, we will also launch ElderFund next year, to help severely disabled, lower-income Singaporeans who need additional financial support for long-term care. This includes those who might not be able to join CareShield Life, or have low MediSave balances.

The cost of long-term care is not only high, but will also increase as our population ages. Last year, I earmarked $2 billion for premium subsidies and other forms of support for Singaporeans. This year, I will set aside another $3.1 billion. The Government will put this $5.1 billion into a new Long-Term Care Support Fund. This will help fund the CareShield Life subsidies and other long-term care support measures, such as ElderFund. This is a significant commitment to help Singaporeans with their long-term care needs.

MERDEKA GENERATION PACKAGE

As the Prime Minister mentioned at the National Day Rally last year and the Tribute event earlier this month, we would also like to express our appreciation and support for our Merdeka Generation. The Merdeka Generation is a resilient and independent generation. They played a critical role in our nation's development. The Merdeka Generation was among the earliest batches to serve National Service, build up our public services, and modernise our economy. They came together to forge our multi-cultural, multi-racial society.

The Merdeka Generation Package is a gesture of our nation's gratitude for their contributions and a way to show care for them in their silver years. It will provide them better peace of mind over future healthcare costs, while helping them to stay active and healthy.

The Merdeka Generation Package, or MGP, comprises five key benefits.

First, to support their active lifestyles, all Merdeka Generation (MG) seniors will receive a one-time $100 top-up to their PAssion Silver cards.

• They can use this to pay for activities and facilities at the Community Clubs, entry to public swimming pools, public transport, and more.

• We will also work to introduce more active ageing opportunities for seniors, such as lifelong learning under the National Silver Academy and volunteerism under the Silver Volunteer Fund.

Second, we will provide a MediSave top-up of $200 per year for five years. This will start from this year until 2023. This will help them save more for their healthcare needs. This is on top of the GST Voucher - MediSave top-ups that eligible seniors aged 65 and above receive every year.

Third, MG seniors will receive additional subsidies for outpatient care, for life. They will receive special CHAS subsidies, for common illnesses, chronic conditions, and dental procedures. The subsidy rates will be higher than the CHAS Blue subsidies. All MG seniors will receive these enhanced subsidies, regardless of income, including those who do not have a CHAS card today. At polyclinics and public Specialist Outpatient Clinics, they will receive 25 per cent off their subsidised bills. This is on top of the prevailing subsidies available.

Fourth, MG seniors will have additional MediShield Life premium subsidies, for life. All MG seniors will receive subsidies for their premiums, starting from 5 per cent of their MediShield Life premiums, and increasing to 10 per cent after they reach 75 years of age. This is on top of the means-tested subsidies that lower-to middle-income Singaporeans are already receiving.

Finally, we will provide an additional participation incentive of $1,500 for MG seniors who join CareShield Life, when it becomes available for existing cohorts in 2021. In addition to the $2,500 previously announced, this means that all MG seniors who join CareShield Life will receive participation incentives totalling $4,000 each. This will cover a significant portion of their premiums, and is on top of the regular means-tested premium subsidies. I hope that this will encourage our MG seniors to join CareShield Life, to have peace of mind against the risk of high long-term care costs.

The Merdeka Generation Package will benefit close to 500,000 Singaporeans. Those born in the 1950s and who obtained citizenship by 1996 will be eligible for the MGP. In addition, we will extend the MGP benefits to those born in 1949 or earlier, but missed out on the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP), if they obtained citizenship by 1996.

All eligible seniors will receive the MGP benefits, regardless of their income.They will be notified by April 2019, and will receive their Merdeka Generation cards starting from June 2019. The Merdeka Generation is aged 60 to 69 today. At the same time, Singaporeans' lifespans are increasing - our life expectancy is now 84.8 years. This is good news. It also means the Merdeka Generation will be able to enjoy the benefits for many years. We estimate that the package will cost over $8 billion, in current dollars, over the Merdeka Generation's lifetimes. This Budget, I will set aside $6.1 billion for a new Merdeka Generation Fund. With interest accumulated over time, this will cover the full projected costs of the Merdeka Generation Package.

This is a significant commitment by the Government. It is important that the Government of the day continues to monitor the patterns and cost of healthcare utilisation, and life expectancy over the next 30 years or more, so that the Government is able to meet this commitment. To better prepare for increasing lifespans, we should encourage everyone to set aside something for the future.To help Singaporeans who are younger than the Merdeka Generation with their future healthcare expenses, I will provide a MediSave top-up of $100 a year, for the next five years, for Singaporeans who are:

a. Aged 50 and above in 2019; 

b. And who do not receive the MGP or the PGP.

This is a generation who are even younger and healthier, and I hope that everyone will make the extra effort to stay active and healthy.

Our third social strategy is to foster a community of care and contribution, and build strong partnerships in our society. The Government will continue to make every effort to care for our seniors, the disadvantaged, and vulnerable families. The ComCare Long-Term Assistance scheme provides basic monthly cash assistance to those who are permanently unable to work and have little family support, to support their living expenses. Additional assistance is provided for households with additional needs, such as medical supplies. We will raise the cash assistance rates for this scheme. For example, a two-person household, where both are on ComCare Long-Term Assistance, will receive an additional $130 a month. This brings the total cash assistance to $1,000 a month. To help government pensioners who draw lower pensions, we will increase the Singapore Allowance and monthly pension ceiling by $20 per month each, to $320 and $1,250 respectively. This will benefit about 9,300 pensioners.

COMMEMORATING OUR BICENTENNIAL

The spirit of giving back has a special meaning this year, as we commemorate the Singapore Bicentennial. Therefore, I will launch two special initiatives in support of this.

First, I will set aside $200 million for a Bicentennial Community Fund. Today, we encourage individuals and corporates to give back to the community in various ways. Donations to Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) qualify for a 250 per cent tax deduction. Businesses also enjoy a 250 per cent tax deduction on qualifying expenditure when their employees volunteer or provide services to IPCs, under the Business and IPC Partnership Scheme. The new Bicentennial Community Fund will provide dollar-for-dollar matching for donations made to IPCs in FY2019. With this, we hope to further encourage more Singaporeans, including younger Singaporeans, to embrace the spirit of giving back. At the same time, we are encouraging IPCs to reach out to more donors. The fund will be designed to ensure a good distribution of support for all donations to IPCs which do not currently receive government matching, and to increase the impact of the good work they are doing. We have also enhanced our one-stop platform, Giving.sg, to better match donors and volunteers with meaningful causes. This platform provides charities with an easy and secure way to establish an online presence, and receive donations digitally. Donors, too, can quickly navigate and find a worthy cause that matches their passion and commitment, and start on their giving journey.

Second, I will introduce a $1.1 billion Bicentennial Bonus. From time to time, when our finances allow, we share the surpluses with Singaporeans, and provide more help to those with specific needs. With this Bonus, I hope that all Singaporeans, young and old, will join us to commemorate this significant moment in Singapore's history.

The Bicentennial Bonus has several components:

For lower-income Singaporeans, I will provide additional help with their daily living expenses. I will provide up to $300 through a GST Voucher - Cash (Bicentennial Payment). This will benefit 1.4 million Singaporeans. In addition, lower-income workers who received WIS payments will get a Workfare Bicentennial Bonus. They will receive an additional 10 per cent of their WIS payment for work done in 2018, with a minimum payment of $100. This will be given in cash. I will provide a 50 per cent Personal Income Tax Rebate, subject to a cap of $200, for the Year of Assessment 2019. I have set the cap at $200 so that the benefits go mostly to middle-income earners.

For parents with school-going children, we will provide additional support for their children's education. Each year, the Government contributes to the Edusave accounts of all Singaporean students at primary and secondary school levels. This helps to pay for school enrichment activities, to better develop students holistically. This year, we will provide a $150 top-up to their Edusave accounts. This is on top of the annual Edusave contributions that they already receive from the Government. In addition, Singaporeans aged 17 to 20 will receive up to $500 in their PostSecondary Education Accounts (PSEA). This will go towards helping parents to save for their children's tertiary education.

We will also provide additional support for older Singaporeans, who are near retirement. I will provide a CPF top-up of up to $1,000 for eligible Singaporeans aged 50 to 64 years old in 2019, who have less than $60,000 of retirement savings in their CPF accounts. This will be credited into the Special Account for members aged 50 to 54, and the Retirement Account for members aged 55 to 64. About 300,000 Singaporeans will benefit from this CPF top-up. The majority of these recipients will be women. Many of them left the workforce early, and took up important roles as mothers, caregivers, or housewives. As a result, they had fewer years to build up their savings. This top-up is a way to recognise their contributions and to help them save more.

In addition to the CPF top-up, Singaporeans in the age group of 50 to 64 who qualify for Workfare will also benefit from the WIS enhancements. Most of those in the 60 to 64 age group will also receive the Merdeka Generation Package, while the rest will receive the five-year MediSave top-ups. These are all on top of the targeted benefits such as the GST Voucher.

Together, we hope that these measures will provide greater peace of mind for our older workers now and later in their silver years.

In addition to the special Bicentennial initiatives, we will provide another year of Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebate to HDB households. Eligible Singaporean households will receive S&CC rebates of between one and a half, and three and a half (1.5 to 3.5) months. This will cost $132 million and benefit about 930,000 households.

Finally, I will top up the Public Transport Fund by $10 million, to continue helping commuters in need with their transport expenses, such as through Public Transport Vouchers for lower-income families.

The Government keeps a close watch on the cost of living. Over the years, we have done much to alleviate cost pressures - whether in healthcare, education, or day-to-day expenses. Good macro-economic management has enabled us to keep inflation low, while the Singapore dollar has been strengthening over time. Over and above these favourable conditions, this Budget continues to provide significant support for Singaporeans, especially our seniors and lower-income households.

Budget 2019 supports the Government's long-term strategy to build a caring and inclusive society. This is our continued effort to improve the lives of our people and our future generations.

A GLOBAL CITY AND HOME FOR ALL

Infrastructure takes time to build, but once built, can serve us for a long time. We must take a long view for our development plans. The upcoming URA Master Plan 2019 will guide our urban development over a 10-to 15-year time frame. As our home, and a global node, our city has to be well-connected within and with the world. Within Singapore, we now have about 230km of MRT lines. This will rise to about 360km in the 2030s when major MRT projects such as the Cross Island Line are completed. To enhance our global connectivity, we are increasing the capacities of our airport and sea port. This will strengthen our role as a key node within Asia and to the world.

ENSURING A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL

Beyond the next decade, we must also plan for climate change. Climate change and rising sea levels threaten our very existence. As a low-lying island nation, there is nowhere to hide when sea levels rise. Other small island nations like the Maldives are already facing risk of flooding, with severe implications. The Government is studying the implications carefully and will come up with measures to prepare ourselves adequately. Our Climate Action Plan, which was launched in 2016, sets out the strategy for mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change, especially on our infrastructure. In line with the Action Plan, low-lying roads near coastal areas have been raised. Changi Airport Terminal 5 will also be built at 5.5 metres above mean sea level. The use of polders and dikes is already being piloted on Pulau Tekong. These will help us to learn how to deal with rising sea levels. To protect ourselves against climate change and rising sea levels, we will have to invest more. Together with existing infrastructure needs, our total bill for infrastructure will increase significantly.

Tackling climate change requires global cooperation. Singapore is committed to doing our part. The carbon tax will be applied on this year's emissions. This is an important signal to companies and households to reduce emissions and adopt energy-efficient practices.

As individuals, we too must change our way of life and work towards becoming a zero waste nation, by adopting the 3Rs: reducing consumption, reusing, and recycling. The Zero Waste Masterplan will be launched in the second half of this year. Among other issues, it will look at better management of food waste, e-waste, and packaging waste including plastics.

We have also taken steps to discourage diesel consumption. To continue the restructuring of diesel taxes, I will raise the excise duty for diesel by $0.10 per litre, to $0.20 per litre. This takes immediate effect. At the same time, I will permanently reduce the annual Special Tax on diesel taxis by $850. I strongly urge taxi companies to pass on the savings to their drivers, like they did in 2017 - this will on average reduce the impact of the duty increase by more than three-quarters for taxis. I will also permanently reduce the Special Tax on diesel cars by $100. This will on average reduce the impact by more than half. To help businesses adjust, I will provide a 100 per cent road tax rebate for one year, and partial road tax rebate for another two years, for commercial diesel vehicles. I will also provide, over three years, additional cash rebates of up to $3,200 for diesel buses ferrying school children.

A FISCALLY SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Singapore's ability to plan for the long term is our strategic advantage. But our best-laid plans to develop our people and transform our city can only be realised with a sound fiscal plan. Our fiscal discipline and prudence gave us the resources to respond decisively to unexpected challenges, such as the 2008 global financial crisis. We must not take this for granted. While our nation's needs are growing significantly, we must continue to take a disciplined and prudent approach.