SINGAPORE’S endeavours to learn from its pandemic experience will not end with the debate on the Covid-19 White Paper, and is instead “an ongoing multi-year effort”, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in Parliament on Tuesday (Mar 21).

“We will continue to consider additional inputs, put our plans into action and adjust them along the way,” he said, closing off the debate on the White Paper that reviews the handling of the crisis.

He welcomed academics to do their own assessments, adding that having a different conclusion from the government is “perfectly okay”.

“In fact, we welcome the diverse perspectives because this will help us challenge our own assumptions, and learn and improve.”

While learning lessons, the key is to have the flexibility and wisdom to adapt them and devise solutions fit for the situation at hand, said Wong, who co-chaired the Covid-19 multi-ministry taskforce.

Through its Covid-19 experience, Singapore has expanded its toolkit for disease outbreaks, he added.

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For example, it has a wider range of border measures: testing, quarantine or even barring visitors from landing. Five key parameters have been distilled for safe management measures: group sizes, mask-wearing, workplace requirements, safe distancing, and capacity limits.

But he acknowledged that much work remains to prepare for the next pandemic, as pointed out by the 27 Members of Parliament (MPs) who spoke in the debate.

This includes building healthcare expertise and local production capabilities; strengthening infrastructure and transport links; improving public communications; and caring for the vulnerable.

Said Wong: “We will follow up on all of these systematically, in order to strengthen our crisis management muscles.”

MPs’ concerns were in three broad areas, he noted: preparing for the next pandemic, ensuring effective government spending, and upholding solidarity and trust.

The first is of “great urgency” due to the increasing risk of animal viruses spilling over to humans, exacerbated by the climate crisis. An enhanced global surveillance system is crucial, especially in potential hotspots, said Wong: “If we know this before the virus reaches our shores, we will be able to buy precious time to decide on our posture and measures.”

Singapore is thus involved in global research to improve the world’s collective pandemic response.

Fellow co-chairs of the former taskforce also spoke on the issue. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung laid out healthcare moves such as retaining transitional facilities – which supported hospital capacity in the pandemic – and setting up a Communicable Diseases Agency.

Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said Covid-19 underscored the importance of having various strategies to enhance supply chain resilience, including diversifying imports and increasing local manufacturing capability.

Key food supply facilities – such as Jurong Fishery Port and Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre – are being upgraded to improve security, surveillance and access control systems, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Defence Zaqy Mohamad.

After facing overwhelming Covid-era demand for quarantine and temporary accommodation, Singapore is also developing facilities that can be used both during peacetime and crises, he added.

As for the effectiveness of public spending, Wong noted that Singapore spent S$72.3 billion over financial years 2020 and 2021 – about 15 per cent of gross domestic product in FY2020 – after budgeting for S$100 billion.

Compared with other countries, Singapore may not be the lowest spender but is “not excessive either”, with much larger fiscal packages put out by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.

Said Wong, who is also Finance Minister: “When you look at what we have achieved overall in this crisis in the last three years, I am convinced that on the whole it is money well spent.”

Singapore’s Covid-19 mortality rate was much lower than other countries’ at 300 deaths per million, while its economy bounced back by 2021, and the country now has higher employment than before the pandemic.

Of Covid-related spending, more than 80 per cent went directly to beneficiaries, with about 10 per cent for grants to medical providers and the remaining 10 per cent for third-party procurement.

Replying to a question by Workers’ Party MP for Aljunied GRC Gerald Giam about the involvement of Temasek, Wong said most of the latter went to non-Temasek entities, such as partners for treatment and vaccination facilities.

The test kits and masks that Temasek distributed were paid for with funds that the state-owned investor had set aside for community initiatives, he added.

The third concern of the debate was trust – a crucial element that shaped Singapore’s response, said Wong.

Singaporeans trusted the government to make the right decisions, and the government did not take this for granted, he said: “We were open and honest throughout the crisis. We shared information candidly, even when things did not go so well, and even when we did not have complete information.”

As the White Paper drew on an after-action review by former head of civil service Peter Ho and findings by government agencies, Leader of the Opposition and MP for Aljunied GRC Pritam Singh asked for these to be made public.

Wong explained that in late 2021, the government asked Ho to review Singapore’s Covid-19 experience until August 2021. This was intended as an interim review, as it was unclear when Singapore would transition to endemicity.

Ho’s review was not published as it contains details on the workings of the government that concern national security, said Wong: “If we redact all of these sensitive materials, we will essentially end up with the lessons for the government which are already in the White Paper.”