Parliament takes mid-year break, to reconvene in May

SINGAPORE — Parliament will be prorogued on Tuesday (April 3), and will reconvene on May 7 when President Halimah Yacob announces the Government’s priorities, policies and programmes for the remainder of its current term.

The House will deliberate on the policies and programmes during the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s Address, the Government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong indicated earlier that he planned to reshuffle the Cabinet after Parliament prorogues, in a move to give Singapore’s fourth-generation leaders more exposure and responsibility.

This keenly watched reshuffle will be the fourth set of Cabinet changes since the start of the incumbent Government’s term from January 2016.

In a Facebook post in February, Mr Lee wrote: “I am asking the fourth-generation ministers to draft the Government’s agenda for the President’s Address. It will give Singaporeans a better sense of them and their thoughts.”

Elaborating on what will happen in May, Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung — who is among the cohort of fourth-generation ministers mentioned by Mr Lee — said in a statement on Tuesday that the President’s address will review the progress made by the Government during the first half of the term, and outline the priorities for the next half.

During the debate on the President’s Address, several younger political office holders will be speaking about what they see as the long-term challenges for the nation, their “hopes and dreams for Singapore”, and how they can work with Singaporeans to take the country forward, Mr Ong said.

Madam Halimah’s upcoming address to the 13th Parliament will be her first. The former Speaker of Parliament became the first woman and first Malay in 47 years to become President last year, following changes to the Elected Presidency scheme.

ONLINE FALSEHOODS, GST, ECONOMY  

On what could be on the Government’s agenda for the second half of its term, political analysts told TODAY that one topic would be ways to deal with deliberate online falsehoods, which a Select Committee is in the midst of studying.

The eight days of public hearing conducted by the committee ended on March 29 and it is due to mull over the evidence and resume work on its report when Parliament reconvenes. 

However, any proposed law is unlikely to be ready for its first reading until the last quarter of this year, Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said.

“That major issue generated a lot of interest and concern, and the Government will want this law ready in good time before the next general election,” Associate Professor Tan said.

Perennial bread-and-butter issues concerning Singaporeans will likely be on the agenda as well, particularly topics that were raised in the first half of the parliamentary term that were not fully fleshed out.

Dr Felix Tan, associate lecturer with SIM Global Education, who researches on comparative politics, said that Singaporeans are still “wary and weary” about the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) hikes, and further discussion about it needs to take place. 

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in February during the Budget statement that GST will be raised from 7 to 9 per cent some time between 2021 and 2025.

With Singaporeans having to save up, Dr Tan questioned whether there are measures to help those who “fall below certain thresholds”. “These are things that need to be considered in the lead-up to the first phase of the GST hike,” he said.

Dr Gillian Koh, deputy director of research at the Institute of Policy Studies, said that some other bread-and-butter issues might include the shape of a revised ElderShield scheme under the Central Provident Fund, and new initiatives to strengthen healthcare provisions “in light of an ageing population”.

“There should be some policy thinking about how to better help support those who are more ill, and older folk as they spend their last days in care facilities,” she said.

Apart from these, the economy and the workforce may also come up for debate. Assoc Prof Tan noted that these are important issues as the domestic workforce is shrinking.

"To maintain economic activity as the domestic workforce shrinks, overall productivity would have to increase," he said, suggesting that the Government might have to import more foreign manpower if productivity growth does not match economic growth.

However, Dr Koh reckoned that the discussion might lean towards the “exploration of mobilising technology and artificial intelligence”, since there have been talk about whether new technology will “augment rather than replace workers”.

Towards the end of the first half of this Government’s term, the younger political office holders were taking on greater prominence in parliamentary debates, and the analysts expect this to continue after Parliament reconvenes. 

Dr Koh said that it will be an opportunity for these younger leaders “to stamp their mark on new policies, policy reforms or new programmes”. 

Assoc Prof Tan anticipates that there will be “a concerted effort” during the debate on the President’s Address, for the fourth-generation ministers “to take a more prominent place in the articulation of where the Government is going, and where the country is headed for the rest of the term and beyond”.

“It’s a very tall order for (them). They really have to capture the imagination of Singaporeans and inspire trust and confidence in their leadership. This will certainly play a big part in the next General Election,” he said.