AT THE Committee of Supply (28 Feb – 7 Mar), then-Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong presented a game-changing $131.4 billion Forward Singapore budget.
Then-DPM Wong unveiled a slew of transfers to help Singaporeans fight imported inflation and cost of living pressures. Extra support for Singaporeans came in the form of CDC vouchers, rebates for water and electricity and S&C charges.
The Forward SG budget went strong on protecting the health of Singaporeans, with increased MediShield Life claim ceilings and announcements of plans for 4,000 new hospital beds.
It was forward-thinking on social issues. It featured our Government announcing even more Families for Life parenting and relationship programmes and provided greater funding for Singapore arts and sport. Some S$100 million over the next four years will be invested in Our SG Arts Plan, which aims to make the arts more accessible to all Singaporeans, while the One Team Singapore Fund would see a S$20 million top up.
This Budget also took into account the unstable world situation, making provisions to protect our country and our sovereignty. Bolstering Singapore’s defences were plans for eight state-of-the-art F-35A fighter jets and legal protections for Singapore’s coastlines.
Our PAP MPs asked searching questions in the Budget debate, holding the Government to account.
Foremost on their minds were these issues: “How do we make use of Singapore’s limited resources to solve today’s problems? How do we simultaneously build a strong foundation for our children?”
As a result, these questions from our backbenchers covered complex topics like how the Ministry of Education can boost SkillsFuture for people with disabilities.
They also covered how the Ministry of Trade and Industry as well as the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth can keep Singapore a world-class tourist destination. The March Taylor Swift concert earned $300-$400 million for Singapore, and should herald more future mega-events.
“Complexity and multilinearity is a part of the human condition. To thrive in this new world, Singapore cannot aim to be a mere ‘safe space’,” said Speaker Seah Kian Peng. “We must, as our forefathers have always done, take risks, accept failure and rise again and say ‘Majulah!’.”
“We will help one another along when we are down. And we provide over $130 billion and more a year, to those among us who need it most,” he added. “Only in this way can we move Forward Singapore.”
Lee Hsien Loong announces he will relinquish Prime Minister role on 15 May
As a testament to our country’s extraordinary economic growth under then-PM Lee Hsien Loong’s leadership, the $131 billion Budget announced in 2024 was over four times larger than 2004’s $30,4 billion edition, when Mr Lee became Singapore’s 3rd Prime Minister.
Mr Lee announced on 15 April this year that he would relinquish his role as PM exactly one month later on 15 May; Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong would be sworn in, and lead Singapore as our 4th Prime Minister.
Source: Lee Hsien Loong / Facebook
As Prime Minister, Mr Lee transformed Singapore for the new millennium.
He steered the nation through the Great Recession into an economic renaissance. He supported entrepreneurship and high-value manufacturing while concurrently developing megaprojects like the Integrated Resorts (IR) and Jewel Changi Airport. At the time of his announcement, Singapore’s GDP had grown more than three-fold, from $194 billion in 2004 to over $600 billion in 2024.
Meanwhile, PM Lee and his team introduced policies for a more equal society. He introduced the now-familiar Progressive Wage Model and the Workfare scheme; he saw the need to uplift Singapore’s lower-wage workers.
Source: Lee Hsien Loong / Facebook
He also oversaw four successive Enabling Masterplans beginning from 2007. These took concrete steps to improve the lives of people with disabilities (PWDs). By 2019, for example, 50 per cent of PWDs were playing sports compared to 30 per cent in 2015. Moreover, Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children subsidies increased from $1900 in 2012 to $2500 in 2015. Children with special needs have also been part of the Compulsory Education Act since 2019.
An outpouring of grateful tributes for PM Lee’s decades-long service to the nation followed, with PM Lee’s longtime colleagues leading these tributes.
These included Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing reflecting on how PM Lee was “always putting the country and people before self”. Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam summed the matter up succinctly: “He is above all, a very good man.”
PM Lee handed over a Singapore in good order — economically, administratively and socially —to his successor.
“I am honoured to be asked to undertake this new responsibility as the Prime Minister of Singapore,” said DPM Wong that same April day. “I accept this responsibility with humility and a deep sense of duty. I pledge to give you my all in this undertaking.”
“Together, we can build a future that shines brightly for all Singaporeans.”
