Social support, healthcare and education are key: PM Lee

Singapore

AS FAMILIES gather for their reunion dinners tonight, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has signalled two key issues that will feature in the 2018 Budget to be unveiled on Monday.

These are the creation of strong social support and healthcare systems for seniors, and spending more on education and training for younger Singaporeans.

In his annual Chinese New Year message, he also outlined the challenges facing Singapore, adding: "These issues guide the thinking behind the Budget."

He urged Singaporeans to reflect on the issues in the quieter moments of the festive season.

"The government too will not stop thinking about what it needs to do, to ready our society for these challenges," he added.

For Singapore's greying population, he sees the need to create strong social support and community networks to help them lead active and meaningful lives.

There is also a need to build healthcare systems and services, he added, as demographers calculate that by 2030, one in four Singaporeans would be 65 and older.

As in past new year messages, Mr Lee underlined the importance of keeping traditions alive.

"We stay up through the night to see the year in for our parents' longevity, and give our children red packets for good fortune," he said, referring to the Chinese belief that staying awake for the night will add years to the lives of one's parents.

"These customs reflect the enduring hopes of every generation, that our ageing parents live well in their silver years, and our children grow up happy and successful, in a peaceful and prosperous world."

These are values and attitudes which hold society together as well, he said.

"As a people too, we should look after the elderly as we are the beneficiaries of their labours, and care for the young who carry our hopes for the future."

But even as Singaporeans care for their elderly parents, they need to look ahead and provide for their own silver years, he added.

Mr Lee then called on Singaporeans to make full use of new technology to get ahead, and, with Asia rising, "to seize the many economic opportunities around us".

The government, meanwhile, will invest heavily in the young through education and training.

"We will help our young to uncover their diverse talents... so that when they grow up, they can strike out on their own, build their own families and careers, and fulfil their aspirations and dreams," he said, in a return to the theme of family that often resonates in his Chinese New Year messages. He also wants Singaporeans to uphold the time-tested Asian values of thrift, self-reliance and leaving something more for the children, rather than burdening them with their parents' debts.

"We must always think beyond the immediate and beyond ourselves, to look and plan over the horizon on behalf of future generations," he said.

He added: "As we usher in the year of the Dog, let us be dogged in our efforts to create a better Singapore and a brighter future for our children."

Mr Lee wished Singaporeans a Happy Chinese New Year.