In providing re-employment support, will Singapore’s fourth-generation leadership remain wary of giving too much?

IN HIS debut National Day Rally (NDR) speech on Sunday (Aug 18), Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is expected to announce – among other things – the long-awaited details of upcoming re-employment support for retrenched workers.

Questions that remain to be answered include the eligibility criteria, and the length and quantum of financial support.

For decades, Singapore’s politicians have shunned the idea of unemployment benefits, warning against abuse and arguing that such support could incentivise the wrong sort of behaviour: reducing the motivation to pursue employment and eroding self-reliance.