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Build a fair, inclusive society where no one gets left behind: Govt

SINGAPORE — In its bid to build a fair society where no Singaporean gets left behind, the Government will focus on building an inclusive society with opportunities to succeed regardless of background, support its seniors, foster a caring society, as well as increase support for young families to make parenthood more enjoyable.

SINGAPORE — In its bid to build a fair society where no Singaporean gets left behind, the Government will focus on building an inclusive society with opportunities to succeed regardless of background, support its seniors, foster a caring society, as well as increase support for young families to make parenthood more enjoyable.

These were the four key areas highlighted in the addenda to the President's Address by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on Friday (May 11).

MCCY minister Grace Fu stressed that Singaporeans need to play their part in building a strong society, particularly one that is "caring, cohesive, and confident", in order to overcome economic and demographic challenges that Singapore will face as it embarks on the next chapter of its journey.

"A society is cohesive when its members respect one another as equals regardless of differences, and when it works for everyone and not just a few," said Ms Fu.

To continue growing the common space for greater social mixing, the MCCY will increase its support for community-led initiatives that deepen understanding on sensitive issues of race and religion.

Local community stakeholders in Bedok and Jurong such as community partners, religious organisations, schools and merchants will get greater support to coordinate and mobilise resources. This will help strengthen a shared sense of responsibility and ownership towards their neighbourhood, she added.

MSF minister Desmond Lee pointed out that his ministry will push on with the transformation of the early childhood sector to allow more families to benefit from "accessible, affordable, and good quality early childhood services", in order to give every child a good start in life.

Children from low-income families will continue to be supported through the KidStart pilot, a S$20 million trial that identifies and provides children aged six and below with early access to health, learning and developmental support.

Two out of three preschoolers will have a place in government or government-supported preschools by 2023, said Mr Lee. In order to build a strong foundation for bilingual learning, anchor operator preschools which offer Malay, Tamil, and Chinese will be doubled.

For healthcare, MOH minister Gan Kim Yong said the vision is for all Singaporeans to "live well and live long, with peace of mind".

This will be achieved by institutionalising "major shifts" in the healthcare system from "healthcare to health", "hospital to community", as well as "quality to value" while the ministry implements its S$3 billion Action Plan for Successful Ageing comprising 60 initiatives.

With the shift from hospitals to the community, new polyclinics will be built while existing ones will undergo expansion to strengthen Singapore's primary care foundation, said Mr Gan.

He added that hospitals will partner primary care and community care providers to bring seamless care to patients, with a new healthcare services legislation to be enacted to enhance regulatory clarity, strengthen governance and safeguard patient safety and welfare.

Mr Gan said the MOH will also support new care models as they pop up by reviewing its healthcare financing policies.

He added: "This includes more targeted government subsidies to better direct support towards those in greater need, as well as timely and appropriate changes to MediShield Life and to Medisave usage and coverage."

Key initiatives for each ministry:

Ministry of Health:

  • New MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation to work with healthcare institutions to test new care models, regulatory sandboxes to be selectively deployed to facilitate experimentation in new services and care models while ensuring patient safety.
  • Publish fee benchmarks for medical procedures and services to help the public make more informed decisions.
  • Complete its review of ElderShield, which provides basic financial protection to Singaporeans who need long-term care.

Ministry of Social and Family Development:

  • National Committee on Prevention, Rehabilitation and Recidivism to devise strategies to grant at-risk youths and youth offenders opportunities to succeed in life.
  • Strengthen Social Service Offices' processes and partnerships with government agencies and community partners to enhance service delivery.
  • Introduce legislation and strengthen measures to protect vulnerable adults suffering from abuse, neglect or self-neglect in their homes.

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth:

  • Make legislative changes to better support preservation of Singapore's tangible and intangible heritage, and safeguard its archaeological history more effectively in the next two years.
  • Expose the young to topics such as preparing for jobs in the future economy, bridging social divides, and helping the underprivileged through its Youth Conversations dialogue series.
  • Set up a national resource centre to support arts and culture freelancers.
  • Expand outreach of Active Health to encourage Singaporeans to take ownership of their health and support each other in living an active lifestyle.

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