Singapore PM Lawrence Wong promises policy reset to widen social safety net in first National Day Rally speech
- Financial help for retrenched workers and more parental leave among measures in Wong’s first National Day Rally as prime minister
In his first National Day Rally on Sunday, Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong declared a reset of policies that would involve the government widening its social safety net.
This includes providing an unemployment payment scheme and increasing state-sponsored parental leave by 10 weeks, amounting to 7½ months in total for parents.
However, analysts This Week in Asia spoke to said Wong’s announcements represented a refresh of existing policies and fundamentals, rather than a complete reset.
They also pointed out that the rally speech seemed to allude to more information being released over the course of the year, dispelling beliefs that it was an election speech. Singapore’s next general election must be held before November 2025.
Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, likened the speech to the first part of a blockbuster film which concludes with “to be continued” and said: “Now the litmus test is to maintain the momentum for when the election takes place.”
The speech, which saw Wong address Singapore in Malay, Mandarin and English, is one of the key political speeches in the city state and the first major one Wong has given since his swearing-in speech in May.
Wong, who took over the reins from Lee Hsien Loong, the son of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, said Singapore had reached a stage where everyone wanted a “refreshed Singapore Dream”.
