Ageing Singapore can stay economically vibrant by growing workforce, productivity: Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE can stay economically vibrant even as it becomes “super aged”, by continuing to grow the workforce and drive productivity, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Thursday (Apr 20).

Such workforce growth remains possible through supporting the participation of senior and female workers, and having complementary foreign labour, he added during the fourth day of debate on the President’s Address.

The economy was one of five areas in which Singapore is adapting as it ages, in what Ong called “the biggest social transformation for this generation”.

By 2026, the country will become what the United Nations defines as “super aged”, with those aged 65 and above forming 21 per cent of the population. 

Ageing has profound impacts, said Ong. It can cause population dispersion as the young leave the countryside for cities; threaten the sustainability of social welfare systems; and cause healthcare spending to balloon.

It also changes how people consume, save, learn and work, with significant economic consequences – including a shrinking workforce.

Singapore has managed to grow its workforce even as it ages, thanks to greater participation by seniors and women, and complementary foreign labour, said Ong.

Earlier in the debate, Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Edward Chia suggested that firms provide a further “wave of career pathways” for older workers to re-enter or stay in jobs. He asked if career assistance and training under the Government’s Jobs Transformation Maps would be available to seniors beyond retirement age.

Ong noted that “equally important” for workforce growth is encouraging the participation of women, with moves such as upcoming tripartite guidelines on flexible work arrangements.

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Also calling for more flexible work arrangements were PAP MP Ng Ling Ling, who said it would support parenthood, and Workers’ Party MP He Ting Ru, who wanted greater support for workers who are also caregivers.

Apart from growing the workforce, Singapore will continue to transform its economy for greater productivity, said Ong.

Other aspects of preparing for a super-aged Singapore are urban planning – with intergenerational mixing and senior-friendly living environments – and retirement adequacy.

Singapore’s individual-based Central Provident Fund (CPF) system has allowed it to avoid the unsustainability faced by countries with a shared national pension pot, said Ong.

Noting that the CPF system had been tweaked to tackle issues such as longer life expectancies or insufficient savings, he added that the Government would keep looking at ways to improve retirement adequacy.

Next, Singapore’s healthcare system is being reformed to cope with the greater disease burden that comes with an older population. This involves a preventive care strategy under Healthier SG, to be launched this July.

Beyond Healthier SG, the next priority is to build up community care and support ageing in communities, with another extensive national programme for this.

Finally, good governance is important as all these policy areas require “anticipatory policymaking”, said Ong.

Part of good governance is “responsible stewardship”, he added. He rejected the Workers’ Party’s long-standing proposal to increase the use of investment income from Singapore’s reserves, noting that the current model is designed to divide this equally between the current generation and future savings.

In conclusion, he noted the irony of how the challenge of ageing arose from “good things”: greater longevity and the fertility rate falling as aspirations changed.

“Perhaps the state of being a super-aged society can ultimately be an overall good thing too – where people live long fruitful lives; where there is healthy longevity; where there is warmth and care in every community,” he said.

Beyond seniors, inclusivity was a major theme on Thursday. WP’s He reiterated her appeal for better workplace safety standards for blue-collar workers and improved anti-discrimination legislation. PAP MP Rachel Ong advocated for employment of people with disabilities, especially in non-small and medium enterprises.

Youths were another group in focus, as MPs highlighted concerns from housing aspirations to career ambitions. Four of the day’s 10 speakers highlighted mentoring as a way to expose youths, particularly the less privileged, to different world views and careers.

National movement Mentoring SG has created 4,000 mentoring opportunities for youths so far, said Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan. The Mentoring SG office, to be set up later this year, will track the jobs and careers outcomes of these efforts.