Yesterday (19 August 2018), PM Lee took to the stage to give his annual National Day Rally speech for the year 2018.

I know, I know, writing about speeches isn’t something Goody Feed does normally. But my boss swears he’ll dock my pay if I don’t do it, so here I am. Doing a speech. Sort of.

We didn’t want to write down his whole speech because you can grab the transcript from the Prime Minister Office (PMO) website.

But what I can do is to condense his hour-long speech into 10 simple points.

So here are 10 things mentioned in the National Day Rally Singaporeans really need to know.

1. Why HDB Has a 99-Year Lease

This is probably one of the questions that Singaporeans always have on their mind. Am I an owner of a house, or am I just renting from the government?

Well, PM Lee decide to clear the mystery up for Singaporeans during his speech. The reason for the 99-year lease, according to PM Lee, is because Singapore is a land scarce country.

If there isn’t any time limit on the lease, Singapore would run out of space for new Built-To-Order (BTO) projects fast.

For those who are lucky enough to inherit a property, they’ll get a house. But for those who don’t, they’ll have nothing.

Plus, people typically do not outlive their 99-year-lease unless they’ve bought a resale flat.

As for children who inherit their parents’ property, they will definitely outlive the property’s 99-year-lease.

But that problem will be solved, he says, if the kids get their own BTO flats.

2. Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS)

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong made a big hoo-ha back in 2017 when he told Singaporeans that “not all old HDB flats will be eligible for en-bloc sale”.

In fact, only 4% of HDB flats in Singapore were identified for Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS).

He did not want the hope of striking a lottery (or in this case, their property getting selected for SERS) to affect the purchase decision.

He got what he wanted and resale flats’ prices tumbled down.

So what happens if old estates suddenly find their lease expiring at the same time? Chaos. Ultimate chaos.

This is exactly what the government wants to avoid, which is why they’ve come out with the VERS.

The scheme is voluntary and residents must vote ‘yes’ for the scheme to proceed. Similar to SERS, residents will be compensated for the remaining years left on their leases. Plus, a new home will be found for them.

Just take note that the compensation and perks will definitely be lesser than the en-bloc scheme.

3. Singapore-KL High-Speed Rail And Water Prices

With the change in leadership in our neighbouring country, Singaporeans are left wondering how it’ll affect Singapore.

Malaysia PM Mahathir has made known his intentions to review the price of water sold to Singapore and to cancel the Singapore-KL High-Speed Rail project.

Well, PM Lee assured Singaporeans that both issues are bounded by contracts and Malaysia cannot just do whatever they want to do.

The time for water price review has passed by years ago and there is nothing they can do about it at the moment.

And Singapore was very firm on their position: they’re continuing the KL-SG HSR on their part. If Malaysia was to cancel the contract, they’ll have to reimburse Singapore the penalty fee.

So unless Singapore bends over (again), there’s a chance we’ll come out of this looking, and smelling, better.

4. The Government Cannot Fix Electricity Prices, Sorry.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d have known that everything is increasing. From water prices to electricity tariffs and GST.

The government has explained why there are increases.

GST: Government expenditure expected to increase.

Water: Increase due to the increased cost of producing clean water.

Electricity: Due to the increase in the price of energy.

Someone has asked why Singapore cannot fix the price of electricity tariffs instead of letting it float.

That’s because our energy is 100% imported and the government might not be able to afford a sustainable subsidy.

Plus, it’s not fair as it means people who use more electricity will enjoy more subsidies.

5. CHAS To Extend To People of All Income Group

If you don’t know what’s CHAS, it’s the Community Health Assist Scheme, a scheme that’s typically for the lower and middle-income in Singapore.

It gives eligible Singaporeans subsidies at participating clinics when they need to see a doctor.

It was announced that the government will be extending the scope of the scheme to include people with chronic diseases across all income groups.

The benefits, however, will vary according to your income level.

6. Merdeka Generation

If your mom and dad just missed out on being part of the Pioneer Generation where there are the crazy amount of perks, don’t be too sad.

Because the government’s coming out with the Merdeka Generation Package.

Similar to the Pioneer Generation, the Merdeka Generation will enjoy outpatient subsidies, Medisave top-ups, MediShield Life premium subsidies and payouts for long-term care.

The Merdeka Generation are people born in the 1950s during the time where Singapore merged, then unmerged with Malaysia and gained independence.

Details of the package will be announced in 2019.

7. More Polyclinics and Hawker Centres to be Built

To combat the rising cost of living in Singapore, the government is building more polyclinics and hawker centres in Singapore.

Sembawang, Eunos, Kallang and Bukit Panjang will see new polyclinics by 2020, followed by Nee Soon Central and Tampines North in 2023.

There are 13 more hawker centres to be built.

Understanding the need for both parents to work in Singapore today, the Government plans to help Singaporeans afford the cost of eating out by giving you affordable food options.

13 new hawker centres leh. That’s actually a lot, don’t you think so?

8. Hawker Culture as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage?

It’s an open secret that the government is trying to revive the hawker culture in Singapore. After all, it’s an important and unique part of our culture that never fails to amaze tourists when they come to Singapore.

According to PM Lee, hawker centres in Singapore is more than just a place to eat. It’s a unique community space where people of all race, religions, age and wealth get together to eat.

And come 2020, Singapore’s hawker culture might just be listed on UNESCO’s list as an intangible cultural heritage should the nomination be successful.

In fact, we’ve written an entire article on this topic, why not check it out here?

9. Four Reasons Why The Cost of Living in S’pore is High

In his speech, PM Lee addressed the elephant in the room: the fact that Singapore is expensive to live in.

According to him, there are a few reasons why this is happening.

Couples today are struggling with buying a home and starting a family at the same time.

Unlike big families of the past, today’s family consists of mostly one or two children. This means that when couples start a family, they’re not just struggling with raising their own children but having to support their parents as well.

Also, the quality of life in Singapore has improved and people aspire to have more. He cited the example of handphones.

Unlike in the past where each household has one landline, today, everybody must have one mobile phone.

Consider a family of four.

What used to be a monthly bill of $8 for a telephone line (yes, that landline that you no longer use) is now at least $160 for the entire household. And that’s assuming you didn’t go for unlimited data – if all four of you have unlimited data, that would well be in the range of $400 per household. Why isn’t anyone shocked at this expense?

And finally, the one thing that nobody can siam from, inflation.

10. How The Government Will Help To Alleviate The Cost of Living in S’pore

Singapore is one of the most expensive cities to live in the world. Everybody knows that.

The government will help by keeping healthcare, education and housing affordable for every Singaporean.

In addition, other than building more hawker centres in Singapore for affordable food options, stalls in said hawker centres are required to offer at least one economical meal option at $3 or less.

“In other words when we tender out the hawker centres, we do not assess bids just on their tender price alone but also whether the operators can offer affordable options,” said PM Lee.

The government has also previously managed to lower the average price of infant milk formula by tightening regulations on misleading advertising by infant milk formula producers.

But at the end of the day, PM Lee says that it’s up to Singaporeans themselves to take care of their wallets.

Save water, save electricity, and shop smart.

And oh, he also advises us to watch our movies in our house Wifi instead with 4G data 😉

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