Review of the National Day Rally 2018

I woke up today to saddening news. US Republican Senator John McCain had unfortunately passed away after a battle with aggressive brain cancer. John McCain could be best remembered as Barack Obama's opponent during the latter's first term in the 2008 Presidential Election. Despite some of his questionable decisions, he remains as a role model to many politicians, Democrats or Republicans alike. One of his final speeches was to criticize the party-line voting practiced by both sides of the Senate. He is right in the sense that politicians should vote with their hearts and minds for their constituents, not for their party. He always had his country in his mind, and for that, thank you sir. May you rest in peace.

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Last week, my blog post came in pretty late (after midnight) as I was watching the National Day Rally 2018 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The speech was indeed a long yet interesting one, covering a range of topics with focus on Healthcare and Housing. A majority of the issues were focused on the more bread and butter topics of concern to the average Singaporean, rather than on international affairs. I find this a good point of the rally, as Singaporean's main concerns were directly addressed instead of speaking about, for example, US-Russia relations, which not many Singaporeans may be directly concerned over. Notably missing, however, was on my favourite issues of leadership renewal and education.

In case you haven't watched or read a recap of the rally (shame on you), you may read a summary by The Straits Times at https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/national-day-rally-2018-8-things-you-need-to-know-from-pm-lees-speech. 

PM Lee spoke about healthcare, which is a key concern of many Singaporeans, given the aging population. The Community Health Assistance Scheme (CHAS) has been expanded to help all Singaporeans with chronic illnesses instead of just lower income and the elderly. 

Personally, I am happy with this as I know it'll assist my parents and grandparents with their medical bills, such that the financial burden on themselves, my brother, and myself won't be that much in the future. The building of more medical infrastructure is also a relief, such that all those who need medical attention will get it quickly and effectively. However, as PM Lee mentioned, it is better to stay healthy and not need these medical benefits ideally. I feel that this can be achieved by encouraging more regular healthy aging activities at the community level.

The Merdeka Generation Package (MGP) was announced as the sequel to the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP). The MGP will benefit those currently in their 60s, who have seen Singapore break free from the British, the rise of the PAP, merger with Malaysia, the fight with Lim Chin Siong and the communists, and the eventual separation and independence of Singapore. The MGP, in particular, will not have as much benefits as the PGP, but will provide substantial help. 

I feel that while this MGP will certainly be welcomed by many, the idea is still very premature and lacks details. I look forward to Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat's Budget speech next year to learn more about how the MGP will benefit its recipients. The creation of the MGP however, got me thinking. If the MGP is created to assist those who just missed out on the PGP, what about those who just missed out on the MGP? This will create a slippery slope where people would just miss out on healthcare policies. 

I feel that a national framework of healthcare benefits should be created instead of giving out the PGP and the MGP. This framework will tag to the person's age instead of birth year. This way, I can be reassured that when I grow old, I will be supported by the government even through ill health. Of course, the framework can be edited to suit the country's needs at that point in time, but it would be less time and resource consuming to come out with a framework to address concerns once and for all. (And please, I really don't want to listen to an MGP advertisement song, PLEASE)

Furthermore, maybe we can go beyond healthcare support for the elderly. We can consider giving them additional support such as small pensions for the financially needy, and allow them to be more technologically and socially equipped.

PM Lee also spoke about housing, another topic that has garnered much concern from Singaporeans regarding the 99 year lease. PM Lee spoke about why the 99 year lease is required, which is to promote land redevelopment and continue to make Singapore's living spaces more modern. He introduced the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS), a wider version of the current Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). VERS serves to allow residents of aging residences to release their flat back to the government early (about 20-30 years early) for redevelopment in exchange for a smaller compensation as compared to the market rate. VERS will work hand in hand with the current Lease Buyback Scheme to reduce the financial setbacks of flats with less years of lease left.

Furthermore, PM Lee also rolled out Home Improvement Programme II (HIP II) as a sequel to the current HIP I. Under HIP I, flats get renovations when they reach about 30 years old. Under HIP II , flats will get another round of renovations when they reach 60 years old, such that the flats are modernized and can serve residents' needs well.

The plans show that the government is forward-planning and looking far into the future with their housing and redevelopment plans. The development of Punggol was a case in point. These plans lack detail, but it is understandable as these plans will not be rolled out till at least a decade later. I hope that the government will also consider further reducing the financial burden of selling flats with lessening lease values, such as encouraging the purchase of BTO or resale flats by giving more incentives to those who end up on the losing end selling a low-lease value property. We have to remember that some people will inherit, or are born into, flats with already low lease values. Will these property end up with zero value? Cars lose their values at the end of the 10 year COE, I hope houses don't lose their values too, since the government places such a high emphasis on home ownership.

There were also more light hearted moments in the rally, such as PM Lee talking about people chasing their passions and taking non-traditional pathways to succeed in their non-traditional fields. Also, he announced that Singapore is going to apply for the Hawker Culture to be nominated into the UNESCO representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is a definite appropriate measure, for as long as prices remain cheap and the culture lives on. I may elaborate more on this in a future post.

With so many measures and plans presented to Singaporeans during this rally, one can assume that the next General Elections may be coming soon 😉. I reserve my judgement for this also for a future post.

Stay tuned for more Waydespectives.