AS the pains of economic restructuring become more evident, questions have once again been raised over whether the growth Singapore is sacrificing in the short-term will pay off. Specifically, will the targets of 2010 be met?

The government's answer to that now, it seems, is that success should be defined less by the attainment of a certain number - whether this is GDP, wage or productivity growth - and more by factors not so easily quantified: quality of life, diversity of opportunities, jobs that meet aspirations, social inclusiveness.

When the national drive towards productivity-led growth was launched in 2010, clear targets were set for the decade ahead: productivity should rise 2 to 3 per cent a year and the median income should rise 30 per cent over the ten years till 2020. Soon after, amid the clamouring for curbs on foreign worker inflows to be removed, industry groups such as the Singapore Business Federation said that the productivity target looked out of reach. By 2013, official documents such as the Population White Paper were describing the 2-3 per cent productivity goal as "an ambitious stretch target".