S’poreans need to build ‘muscles’ to prepare for uncertain future

SINGAPORE — Faced with an unpredictable future, Singaporeans need to build strength and resilience, said Nominated Member of Parliament Tan Tai Yong during the Budget debate in Parliament yesterday.

“How prepared are we then, psychologically, in the face of unexpected crises?” he questioned.

To make the country more resilient, he suggested that more students take the school bus to school, rather than being chauffeured by their parents, and for pupils to be responsible for their school environment instead of relying on cleaners. Young Singaporeans need to build “muscles” to give them the will, capability and strength to face tough conditions, he said.

The nation can also take a leaf out of Australia’s books by conducting regular water rationing to remind people that water is scarce, he added.

Prof Tan, who is also executive vice-president (Academic Affairs) at Yale-NUS College, called for a “new kind of Singapore ... that does not come from stronger social security alone, but (also from) the sense that we can be strong even without having to rely solely on inanimate things such as infrastructure ... but on people and communities that can count on one another”.

Every successive Budget since 1965 has tried to introduce initiatives to “deliver the good life to Singaporeans”, he said. “But to truly build a future, to make sure Singaporeans are ready for the future, we need (to) not just ensure comfort and peace, but also prepare for difficult conditions and uncertainty.”

Singapore remains “quite vulnerable” when it comes to adapting to changing realities, he said. “If under severe conditions, our infrastructure, much-lauded forward planning can no longer cushion us from the very worst, what will happen to us on the day systems fail?” SIAU MING EN