Singapore DPM Lawrence Wong outlines plans for ‘more open and compassionate society’, urges citizens to treat low-income workers with dignity

In first major policy speech since sealing his status as PM Lee’s successor, Wong said Singapore needed to update its ‘social compact’ given income anxieties

The PAP’s 4G team, led by Wong, will lead a ‘Forward Singapore’ public consultation initiative to garner ideas for a roadmap for the next decade and beyond

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Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the government would address citizens’ growing concerns about social mobility and workplace discrimination as part of efforts to “refresh” the city state’s social compact. Photo: EPA-EFE/Mohd Fyrol/MCI

Published: 8:17pm, 28 Jun 2022Updated: 9:19pm, 28 Jun 2022

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday said the government would address citizens’ growing concerns about social mobility and workplace discrimination as part of efforts to “refresh” the city state’s social compact.

In his first major policy speech since the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) signalled in April that he will succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Wong stressed that legislation on these issues needed to go hand in hand with attitudinal shifts – including valuing workers “in every profession or field”.

“This means respecting all, including those in lower-income jobs who keep society going in so many ways,” Wong said. “Many of these unassuming workers are essential, as we learnt during the pandemic – our hawkers, cleaning workers, food delivery riders, security officers, and so many more.”

Wong urged Singapore residents to treat lower-income workers with “dignity and respect” and to “pay them well” . Photo: AFP

“Let us recognise them, treat them with dignity and respect, treat them kindly, never turn up our noses up at anyone – and pay them well,” he said, in a speech addressing members of the National Trades Union Congress, which is linked to the PAP.

Wong in May had said the PAP’s so-called fourth-generation (4G) group of ministers were planning a nationwide public engagement exercise to garner ideas to “refresh” the country’s social compact.

Wong, 49, outlined that plan weeks after the PAP endorsed him as the leader of the 4G group, a move that all but sealed his status as the successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong following a protracted internal selection process.

In his remarks on Tuesday, Wong said an updated social compact was required to avoid the circumstances of “fractured societies” elsewhere in the world.