15 Announcements Made During PM Lawrence Wong’s NDR That You Should Know

PM Lawrence Wong just delivered his first National Day Rally (NDR) speech. The PM started off his speech by talking about the various challenges our little red dot will have to contend with — the intensifying US-China rivalry, rapid technological disruptions, climate change, and more.

How will Singapore survive and endure amidst these changes? Well, the PM’s answer is this — a refreshed Singapore Dream. A Singapore where we feel for our fellow citizens and thrive and flourish on our own terms.

But of course, this new Singapore Dream won’t come easy, and as the PM said, realising our new ambitions will require a major reset of policies and attitudes.

Wondering what the “major reset” entails? Well, here are all the announcements made by PM Wong during the NDR 2024 that you should know about.

Changes in the Regulatory Environment

You don’t need to be an expert to know that economic growth is quite a priority for Singapore. It’s how we create more opportunities and a better quality of life for all Singaporeans.

Yet, with the fast-changing global economic environment, how can Singapore ensure we remain competitive?

This is where PM Wong’s first announcement comes in — our little red dot will aim to build a more business-friendly environment. And we’ll be doing this by easing regulatory burdens.

PM Wong highlighted an issue with regulations that many of us might have noticed as well — there are simply too many regulations to keep up with. Whenever we see certain incidents make it to the news, say, for instance, food safety incidents, regulators come under greater pressure to tighten rules.

Gradually, these new, tightened rules add up and potentially become regulatory burdens for businesses, creating a not-so-friendly business environment.

That’s why, the PM emphasised that Singapore must do a thorough and proactive review of rules and processes once every few years, and cut back on these rules where possible.

As an example, the PM highlighted how drone shows, such as those we see at Marina Bay, currently cost more than $25,000 as a result of permit applications and drone registration — all of which, are a result of aviation regulations. With the relaxation of regulations, the PM shared that now, a drone show will cost only about $500.

With the lowered cost of a drone show, perhaps we’ll be seeing more drone shows in the Marina Bay area soon.

Of course, the PM also acknowledged that relaxing rules means accepting more risks. Singaporeans will have to understand and support these changes. We’ll wait and see what other regulatory changes will be made in time to come.

SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme: New Training Allowance of Up To $3,000 Per Month for Singaporeans Aged 40 and Above 

But that’s not all that the government has in store to help boost our economy. While changes in industries have created many new jobs, some jobs have also become obsolete as a result. PM Wong shared that for Singaporeans to adapt, we must embrace lifelong learning.

And if you call yourself a true blue Singaporean, you should know that whenever the term “lifelong learning” is mentioned, the next follow-up term is almost always “SkillsFuture”, which is exactly what this next announcement is about.

If you’re a Singaporean aged 40 and above and want to take time off work to study full-time in the spirit of lifelong learning, PM Wong announced some good news for you today. Under the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, you will get a new training allowance of up to $3,000 per month.

The best part is that you’ll have 24 months’ worth of allowance, which adds up to $72,000.

Heng, ong, huat! Getting paid to learn, who don’t want sia?

At this point, you might be thinking: “Huh… Only available for full-time studies ah? What if I only want to train part-time? Have training allowance?”

Well, according to PM Wong, training allowances are expected to be extended to those who attend part-time courses as well. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is currently working on this and will share more details in time to come.

New SkillsFuture Job Seeker Support Scheme: Temporary Financial Support of Up To $6,000 for the Unemployed

So, on the economy’s front, the PM has covered policies targeted towards helping businesses and employed individuals looking to take time off for upskilling.

What about unemployed individuals? Fret not, the PM hasn’t forgotten about this group.

During the NDR, PM Wong announced a new SkillsFuture Job Seeker Support Scheme, which is exactly what it sounds like — it aims to support unemployed individuals seeking a job. In particular, the scheme will focus on helping lower- and middle-income workers who lose their jobs.

The new scheme will provide temporary financial support of up to $6,000 over a period of up to six months to help the unemployed tide through the setback of unemployment and bounce back stronger.

However, the PM emphasised that while the government will do their part to help the group through such measures, individuals themselves should also do their part by going for training, career coaching, and job-matching services.

After all, it takes two hands to clap lah. 

More details about the new scheme will be revealed by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng in due course.

Affordable Pre-Schools: Lower-Income Families’ Childcare Expenses As Low As $3 Per Month

That’s a lot of talk about the money we’re raking in. So now, let’s talk a little about the money we’re paying out, starting first with expenses on pre-schools and childcare.

PM Wong shared that expenses at government-supported preschools will be lowered.

How much lower, you might ask. Well, PM Wong announced that expenses for dual-income families will be kept at approximately $300 per month after subsidies, while those with lower income will get additional subsidies such that their childcare expenses can be as low as $3 per month.

This means that childcare expenses for lower-income families can now be even more affordable than a plate of cai png. That truly is quite a feat, if you think about it.

Four Weeks’ Paternity Leave for Fathers: Employers Must Grant All Four Weeks Upon Request

Since we’re on the topic of families, this also brings us to PM Wong’s next announcement — that fathers will now have four weeks of paternity leave.

Huh? Didn’t the government already introduce the four-week paternity leave earlier this year?

Yes, you’re right. But when the four-week paternity leave was first introduced, only two weeks out of the four weeks were mandatory. Employers were given the flexibility to decide whether an additional two weeks of paternity leave should be given to make the total paternity leave period four weeks long.

Now, PM Wong has announced that the four-week paternity leave will be mandatory from 1 April 2025 onwards. In other words, to all the fathers out there reading this — if you request paternity leave from 1 April 2025 onwards, your employer must grant you the full four weeks of paid paternity leave.

Shared Parental Leave: New Parents to Get 10 Additional Weeks of Shared Leave 

But that’s not all the good news there is for new parents. The current leave-sharing arrangement for new parents will also be refreshed.

If you didn’t already know, currently, husbands can share up to four weeks of their wife’s 16-week maternity leave.

How it works is this — for example, say Goody Feed’s Blue Cat has a new kid and wants to go home to start training his new kid how to make Blue Cat videos (and of course, to spend quality time with his new kid). However, Blue Cat’s four-week paternity leave period isn’t enough for him to do so. If so, he can “steal” four weeks out of his wife’s 16-week maternity leave. This gives Blue Cat eight weeks to lecture his new kid about how to perfect the Blue Cat accent, while Blue Cat’s wife will be left with 12 weeks of maternity leave.

Of course, this isn’t ideal lah, because Blue Cat might tio scolding from his wife for “stealing” her maternity leave.

So, PM Wong has announced a new shared parental leave arrangement, where new parents will be entitled to a total of ten additional weeks of shared leave on top of their respective paternity and maternity leaves. The ten-week shared parental leave can be taken by either the husband or the wife.

Putting this into context, now, Blue Cat doesn’t have to “steal” his wife’s maternity leave. For instance, Blue Cat can now get four weeks of paternity leave and top-up five weeks of the shared parental leave, making it nine weeks of leave in total. On the other hand, Blue Cat’s wife can still have her 16-week maternity leave and top-up another five weeks out of the shared parental leave, making it 21 weeks of leave in total.

However, it should be noted that the shared parental leave arrangement will be rolled out in two stages so that employers can better manage the transition.

For babies born from 1 April 2025 onwards, parents will have six weeks of shared parental leave. For babies born one year later, from 1 April 2026 onwards, parents will have the full ten weeks of shared parental leave.

And if you were wondering whether the shared parental leave will still be paid leave, there’s good news — the additional ten weeks of shared parental leave will be paid for by the government, so you don’t have to worry.

New Scheme for Larger Families

All this talk about family also brings us to the topic of larger families — a contentious topic in Singapore, given the high costs associated with having more children and a larger family.

To that, the PM has one thing to say — there will be a new scheme to support larger families, including those thinking about having a third child, as well as parents who already have three or more young children.

Details of the scheme will hopefully be revealed during Budget 2025, according to PM Wong.

100,000 BTO Flats to be Completed By 2025

At the start of PM Wong’s speech, he talked about the refreshed Singapore Dream. But of course, one thing will always remain in the Singapore Dream — a BTO flat.

If you’re one of the many Singaporeans whose BTO dreams were disrupted by the construction of BTO projects as a result of COVID-19, the PM has some good news for you. All BTO projects delayed by COVID-19 will be completed by early next year, which means that the 100,000 BTO flats promised by the Ministry of National Development (MND) earlier will be completed by 2025.

Ramping Up Supply of BTO Flats: Higher Chance of Getting a Queue Number and Shorter Waiting Times

Still concerned about your BTO dreams? Well, there’s more on BTOs in PM Wong’s NDR 2024 speech.

By ramping up the supply of flats, first-timers applying for BTO flats will have a higher chance of getting a queue number and have their waiting times to book a flat shortened.

Currently, the BTO waiting time is nearly four years. By building ahead of time, the government aims to shorten the waiting time to less than three years.

Affordable Public Housing: Increase in Enhanced CPF Housing Grant 

Year after year, we also see that one of the government’s priorities is to keep public housing affordable. PM Wong shared that the government will continue trying to make flats more affordable, for instance by ramping up supply and using the new HDB BTO flat classification announced last year.

But what would be an NDR without new policies and measures? In relation to the affordability of flats, the key announcement you should know about is this — the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant, which currently provides up to $80,000 to lower- and middle-income families buying their first new or resale flat, is set to be further increased, especially for lower-income groups.

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee will share more about the increment soon.

Priority Access to BTOs to be Extended to Singles

The last hot topic related to BTOs is the issue of priority access, and of course, PM Wong addressed this in his speech as well.

Currently, married children and their parents who are buying new flats to live together or near each other get priority access to BTO flats. This priority access is not available to single children looking to buy new flats to live with or near their parents.

But it’s about to change — PM Wong announced that priority access will be extended to all parents and children, regardless of whether the children are married or single. The extended priority access will take effect from the middle of next year, with more details to be provided by MND in due course.

Gifted Education Programme to be Replaced By New Approach

If you studied in Singapore, you’ve likely heard of the Gift Educated Programme (GEP), a programme to stretch students with higher learning abilities to their fullest potential.

As a child, you probably never really liked the idea of the GEP, given that if you were selected, you likely had to be moved to another primary school, leaving all your friends and teachers behind.

PM Wong appears to recognise this issue as well, sharing that a new update to the GEP was needed.

The current form of GEP in primary schools, where primary schools would identify students for GEP and place them into nine selected primary schools, will be discontinued. Instead, a new approach will be undertaken, where all primary schools will be equipped to identify high-ability learners and stretch these students to their fullest potential without having to move these students to another primary school.

Each primary school will be equipped with its own school-based programmes to stretch these higher-ability students to their fullest potential. Students will also benefit from attending after-school enrichment modules with students from other nearby schools.

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing will share more details about the new GEP in time to come.

University of the Arts Singapore: Government Grants and Subsidies to Match That Provided to Autonomous Universities

A common theme in our NDR and Budget speeches is that there should be more support for the arts. And it seems that our guitar-enthusiast PM is keen on taking more steps to achieve this goal.

The University of the Arts Singapore was recently formed by the combination of LaSalle and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. While it’s a private university, the government will be supporting the university’s development with concrete measures.

For one, the government will provide matching grants for the university’s fund-raising efforts. The government will also provide subsidies for Singaporean students in the new university to the same extent as those in autonomous universities.

So, to all those looking to chase their dreams in the arts, it’s now your time to shine lah.

The Kallang Alive Masterplan: New Indoor Arena, Relocation of Singapore Sports School, and More

Earlier this year, you might have heard of plans for a new indoor arena to replace the Singapore Indoor Stadium as part of the Kallang Alive Masterplan. But that’s not all that’s in store in the master plan.

Aside from the new indoor arena which will have a capacity of 18,000, PM Wong announced that there will also be better facilities built in the Sports Hub area for Team Singapore athletes. This includes new sports science and sports medicine facilities.

The Singapore Sports School will also be relocated to Kallang, allowing student-athletes to study and train alongside senior athletes.

And although these changes under the Kallang Alive Masterplan were made mainly with Singapore’s athletes in mind, commoners like you and me have not been forgotten. The PM also announced that the main road running through the Sports Hub will be converted into a pedestrianised community boulevard, with sporting facilities and programmes for all Singaporeans.

There’s something for every Singaporean there.

Waterfront Developments: NS Square, Bay East Garden, 10,000 New Homes, and More 

To wrap up PM Wong’s first NDR speech, he brought Singaporeans through the government’s plans for developments in the waterfront formed by Marina Channel, Kallang Basin and Marina Bay.

For one, we already knew that we’d be seeing a new NS Square in Marina Bay, where future National Day Parades will be held. However, beyond that, we’ll also be seeing a new Bay East Garden in Gardens By the Bay, 10,000 new homes at Marina South and Marina East, and HDBs flats introduced at Tanjong Rhu.

There’s a lot to look forward to lah.