SINGAPORE — In the past few days of debating Budget 2024, several Members of Parliament (MPs) have warned that the various government handouts being offered to Singaporeans could lead to a sense of entitlement and dependency among the populace. 

To this, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong responded on Wednesday (Feb 28) that the Government has been very careful to get the balance right. 

“We have not changed our ethos of social support. It is not just about giving handouts, but it's about giving people a leg-up,” he said in a speech rounding up the three-day debate. 

For example, schemes such as Comlink+, which provides help to lower-income families with children, and the SkillsFuture Level Up Programme announced in Budget 2024 were designed so as not to erode personal and family responsibility, he added.

An upcoming temporary support scheme to help workers who have been retrenched while they look for another job will also abide by the same principles.

"We catch Singaporeans when they fall and we make sure they do not fall behind," Mr Wong said. "We invest in them and we provide them the support to bounce back from life's setbacks, and do even better for themselves."

He noted that some MPs would like the Government to do even more to support Singaporeans, "but other members have reminded us that the Government should proceed carefully, so as not to breed a sense of entitlement, dependency or to undermine individual responsibility and self-reliance".

GOING FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

Repeating a point he made in his Budget 2024 speech on Feb 16, Mr Wong said that the best long-term way to help Singaporeans deal with inflation is stronger economic growth, so that workers can enjoy real wage growth.

He added that he was not advocating growth for growth's sake, but sustainable growth that can secure better outcomes for Singaporeans. 

For instance, moves such as the upcoming workplace fairness laws and the Institute of Technical Education Progression Award are about investing more in Singaporeans and uplifting those who face more challenges.  

He noted that over the last 20 years, social spending has increased fourfold as a share of the budget, and that in this budget, more has been spent on social support, with a substantial portion on structural schemes rather than temporary measures. 

And over the past decade, the lower-income groups in Singapore have progressed faster than the rest of the population.

The real incomes of the bottom 20 per cent increased slightly faster than those of the middle-income group and twice as fast as the top 20 per cent of income earners, he noted.

He added that this metric is based on income alone and does not take into account Singapore’s progressive system of taxes and benefits, which favours the lower-income.

RISK OF BREEDING DEPENDENCY

After Mr Wong’s speech, Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai from the Progress Singapore Party asked whether the Government would consider more permanent schemes rather than temporary measures, saying that lower-income Singaporeans have not been able to build up their savings through past government initiatives. 

Mr Wong replied that Mr Leong seemed to be suggesting that handouts breed dependencies whereas permanent schemes do not, but this is not true. 

“A poorly designed permanent scheme will breed dependencies permanently, forever. Isn't that worse?” 

Instead, the Government does a mix of both temporary and permanent schemes, Mr Wong added.

“We continue to fine-tune them, make sure that they are designed well so that we are providing all the support and assurance we need while also upholding our key ethos of individual responsibility and self-reliance and avoiding dependency and entitlement.”