Friday, 6 Mar 2015
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Budget for 'fair, progressive system that is sustainable'. Tharman says approach is about empowering people and aspirations.
Published on Mar 6, 2015 2:12 AM
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam (above), speaking after 55 MPs weighed in on the Budget over the last three days.
By Rachel Chang Assistant Political Editor
THIS year's Budget seeks to put in place a fair and progressive system that can be sustained beyond the current generation and into the future, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.
He said that the Budget concludes the Government's major initiatives in recent years to forge a new social compact for Singapore.
Urging MPs, including the opposition, to support what he passionately called "the right path for Singapore", Mr Tharman emphasised that the new compact is not one that apes the "cradle- to-grave welfarism" of Western countries.
"Our approach is about empowering people and aspirations, and rewarding responsibility through life," he told a packed House at the end of a three-day debate.
That is, the major pieces of the Government's strategy are designed to reward personal responsibility and self-reliance, while actively intervening to temper life's inequalities.
In a 90-minute speech after 55 MPs had said their piece on the Budget, Mr Tharman told the House how the Government will unsparingly support local small and medium-sized enterprises, build a fair and inclusive society, and work to produce a fair and progressive Singapore system that is fiscally sustainable beyond the current generation.
Its fundamental goal is social mobility, where Singapore has done better than most.
Of those who start life in the bottom one-fifth of families, 14.3 per cent move up into the top one-fifth as working adults.
This shows a far more fluid situation than in the United States, the United Kingdom or the Nordic countries, where only 7 per cent to 12 per cent of those who start at the bottom can climb to the top.
But with each decade, sustaining social mobility gets more difficult as the natural workings of society accentuate inequalities, he said. Hence, the Government has committed significant resources to try and tilt the balance back.
It wants to boost educational achievement and home ownership among those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to counteract the forces that leave them behind.
So, the SkillsFuture initiative, which gives every Singaporean adult an initial grant of $500 for approved training courses, is not just an economic strategy, but "a major force for social mobility".
"At its heart, it is about helping every individual (fulfil) their potential through life. Everyone has a strength, although we may not figure it out during our school years... and it's never too late in life to identify your strengths, identify your interests and push your potential. It's never too late to learn," he said.
As he rallied MPs to back the new social compact, Mr Tharman also assured them he had his eyes fixed on sustainability, so that future generations do not end up paying for benefits they themselves will not enjoy.
Singapore's social spending ballooning into dangerous territory had been a dominant concern in the House.
Mr Tharman made clear the Government will not cross the "red line" of failing to balance its Budget in every five-year term of government - a requirement that is set out in the Constitution, he pointed out.
The $6.7 billion deficit in Budget 2015 is largely due to investments in infrastructure and is fully plugged by surpluses from the last few years - with a few billion more left over.
Noting the Workers' Party's support for "all the major thrusts of the Budget", he thanked the party and said: "I trust you have the courage to take the same position and extend the same support during the elections."
Despite making clear that this year's Budget puts in place the final pieces of Singapore's new social compact, Mr Tharman said the country is just at the beginning of a long road.
Harking back to the Singapore Pledge's promise of justice and equality, he said: "These values and aspirations are what we started with. But achieving them is continuous work in a changing environment and with a changing society."
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