NDR 2024: What 5 young Singaporeans think about PM Wong’s announcements

SINGAPORE — Speaking at his first National Day Rally on Sunday (Aug 18) night, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a suite of measures aimed at creating a more inclusive society. 
Some of these include increasing parental leave, expanding the criteria for singles buying Build-to-Order (BTO) flats and a plan for the Kallang precinct to foster sporting culture in Singapore. 
“Realising our new ambitions will require a major reset — a major reset in our policies, to be sure; but equally important, a major reset in our attitudes, too,” he said. 
Other measures include the new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme to help lower-and middle-income workers who lose their jobs and the discontinuation of the Gifted Education Programme. 
TODAY organised a roundtable with five Singaporeans aged 35 and below to discuss their concerns as well as the measures announced.
They were:
The following are the excerpts of the dialogue, edited for clarity.
MR MUHAMMAD: I’m really interested in the increase in paternity leave because it helps me to spend more time with my children. I’m just a little upset that it can’t be implemented earlier, especially since we have one on the way. 
It’s better, especially with the extra 10 weeks of leave, which is flexible and can be shared between both husband and wife so it allows either party to take turns to take care of children, especially when they fall sick because children fall sick really easily. 
I understand where the Government is coming from because, at the end of the day, we still rely heavily on the workforce. 
So, sometimes, the father has to work more, and then the wife can take leave. If the wife has more workload, then the father can take leave. That is good; it’s very flexible. 
MS MARSYA: We got married at 21 and we had kids at 23. We are a very young couple. We have two kids and one on the way. So, when Prime Minister Wong talked about family and education, this piqued my interest. 
The measures did not wow me, mainly because there are things that are already in place; Mr Wong just added more to them. I feel that it doesn’t solve the root issues of why many students are stressed today or why many parents don’t want more children.
The main reason is that there is no balance. You give me more leave, you build more schools, but you are still telling me to outsource my job as a parent in taking care of my child.
Sure, I have those few weeks of leave when the baby is born, but parenthood doesn’t end once the infant becomes a toddler. It goes all the way until they are old, right? Parenthood is forever. 
TODAY: Do you think these new plans and schemes will encourage you to have more children?
MS MARSYA: I would say no, because it doesn’t solve the root problem: Mothers can’t be mothers.
The prime minister did say that mothers have most of the role. Now dads have to step in. I agree, but what’s missing is that most of the time in Singapore, mothers can’t be mothers. We have to answer the call of duty to our employers first. So when my child is sick, I have to weigh the pros and cons: Do I take care of my child, or do I go and do my work?
Companies should be incentivised to offer flexible and remote work not just during the maternity leave period but for the long term. As mothers, we want to be with our kids and nurture them.
Children need to have at least the first seven or so years learning how to learn, or to regulate emotions so that they can cultivate the right lifelong habits.
Being offered a flexible and work-from-home arrangement is definitely the first step to that balance. This way, mothers have the autonomy to plan their work around their needs instead of needing permission for every leave, which often cause friction and anxiety for mums.
MR MUHAMMAD: There are some concerns about managing our responsibilities at work, especially since we want to climb the corporate ladder. Would our company be willing or flexible enough to allow us to take the full 10 weeks?
For example, if she doesn’t want to take the full 10 weeks and I want to take the full 10 weeks, would the company be okay with that? That’s just my concern.
MS KIM: I’m still at least a decade away from being able to buy a BTO flat for myself. I’m in a long-term relationship, but marriage is not on the cards for me or my partner… I really don’t want to get married. That rules out getting a BTO flat for myself as a married couple.
But I feel a bit disappointed that all I got out of this was a short announcement saying that singles would be prioritised, which is still something far in the future for me. 
We assume that people graduate from university in their mid-20s or late 20s, and by then, they have enough money to cover quite a bit of expenses. The point I’m trying to make is that when you earn quite a lot of money, it disqualifies you from different grants. 
By the time people reach 35, it’s unlikely they remain single due to peer pressure or other reasons, or they may not even be eligible for the government grants. 
This is how I’m feeling after hearing the rally; it didn’t feel very reassuring. If there had been an announcement to reduce that age, or if they had considered how average wages are increasing and adjusted the cap accordingly, it would have been more reassuring for me.
BRAYDEN: It is probably good for the next few generations because I think I’m not that great in the Chinese language, which is my mother tongue. With the world now, you have to be able to speak with many different people.
MS KIM: Currently, I am studying linguistics and so this is a topic that I’ve been learning quite a bit about. I’m very happy to see that Singapore (is still) embracing a bilingualism policy.
MS MARSYA: I’m never going to speak to my friends in my mother tongue because most of us just speak English, right? The measures they’re taking don’t help us connect it to a purpose, and I don’t see them as useful.
To be very frank, even though my husband’s Malay and I’m half Malay — so my child is 3/4 Malay — I have no intention of teaching them Malay purely because I don’t see the purpose of it. I don’t see any opportunities for the future.
MS HENG: I’m a student from Singapore Sports School, so I think it’s great that the school will be relocated to Kallang. It’s better because we’ll have more facilities and a wider range of support. 
The move also optimises the resources and facilities while creating a supportive environment where juniors can learn directly from the seniors in the same area.
Not only that, but because Kallang is in a more centralised location, it will save time on travelling compared to it being in Woodlands, where everyone has to travel up north. With more time, we have more opportunities to focus on our training, studies and rest. 
BRAYDEN: Prime Minister Wong announced the Kallang Alive Precinct, rebuilding the stadiums and upgrading the facilities to try to change people’s mindsets toward sports. Hopefully, this will make the public more supportive of athletes.
TODAY: Do you have any concerns about pursuing sports professionally in Singapore, and what more do you think can be done?
MS HENG: I think the main concern for most people is longevity — can we live off or survive just doing sports alone? Are we going to get paid enough? I think that is something that many of us are concerned about.
So it’s very hard to do sports for life, and more could be done to support athletes after their sports careers.