Budget 2014

The government has introduced the Pioneer Generation Package to honour the contributions of
Singapores pioneers. Its three components will work to ensure that the 450,000 Singaporeans who
were at least 16 years old in 1965 will receive help with health-care costs for the rest of their lives.
All pioneers, regardless of income or wealth, will get the same package.
First, each pioneer will receive annual Medisave top-ups of $200 to $800 depending on their age
group. They will also get a further 50 per cent off bills at specialist outpatient clinics and polyclinics
and get eligibility to join the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which subsidises private GP
and dentist visits. There will be cash assistance of $1,200 a year for pioneers who are disabled or
immobile - or their nominated caregivers. Finally, pioneers will pay a subsidised rate for the
upcoming MediShield Life universal health insurance scheme. Their premiums will be offset by 40 to
60 per cent. For those 80 and older, the Government intends to fully cover their MediShield Life
premiums.
The Pioneer Package will be financed by a special $8-billion fund that will be ring-fenced so benefits
will be paid out regardless of the finances of future governments.
As part of the Budget 2014, the government aims to provide strong support for companies investing
in innovation and productivity. The Productivity and Innovation Credit, which gives tax deductions
and cash grants to firms that invest to raise their capabilities, was extended for three more years and
its expenditure cap increased from $400,000 to $600,000 per area of spending. The Government will
also boost financing and bear more risk for smaller firms looking to get off the ground or expand
overseas.
Education
As a land-scarce country with no natural resources, Singapore depends heavily on its human capital
and innovation to sustain economic growth and development. This is why the government prioritises
education, as the formation of a capable and competent population will lay the foundations for its
knowledge-based economy to thrive and retain its competitive edge in the rapidly-evolving
globalising world. Education spending makes up about 20% of Singapores annual national budget. In
2000, the Compulsory Education Act codified compulsory education for children of primary school
age. Singapore's education system has been described as "world-leading" and in 2010 was among
those picked out for commendation by the now-former British education minister Michael Gove.
Singapores universities are also ranked among the worlds finest tertiary institutions, with NUS
being ranked the worlds 8th best university, the first in Asia to break into the top 10 ranking of the
2013 Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings. NTU is ranked 17th. According to the Deloitte
2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, Singapore was ranked as having the best math
and science education for secondary school institutions.
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, defined as a system that rewards according to ability or achievement and not birth or
privilege, may be unfair precisely because it is blind to differences of class, wealth and social status.

Meritocracy, in trying to isolate merit by treating people with fundamentally unequal backgrounds
as superficially the same, can be a practice that ignores and even conceals the real advantages and
disadvantages that are unevenly distributed to different segments of an inherently unequal society,
a practice that in fact perpetuates this fundamental inequality. In this way, those who are picked by
meritocracy as having merit may already have enjoyed unfair advantages from the very beginning,
ignored according to the principle of nondiscrimination.
Singapore has made meritocracy a key principle of governance, giving everyone as similar a chance
as possible to stretch himself, in school and at work, in the hope that so long as he is willing to work
hard, he will succeed. To help everyone get to the same starting line, the Government has made
education universal, with bursaries and scholarships readily available for those with talent but
without the finances. A good number of Singaporeans from the poorest of backgrounds have made
it to the highest ranks of their respective professions within the space of one generation.
After all, the man who coined the word meritocracy 50 years ago, British sociologist and Labour
Party bigwig Michael Young, did so to mock the idea of a society run purely on merit. Young invented
the term in his satirical work - The Rise Of The Meritocracy, 1870-2033: An Essay On Education And
Equality. A sociological fantasy, the slim book portrays a sinister, highly stratified society organised
around intelligence-testing and intensive educational selection. A system of rigid tests determines
one's social standing, with those scoring highest filling the most important positions and reaping the
most rewards. As a result, a strict hierarchy of merit is created and maintained. Over time, however,
what appears to be a fair and just system becomes rigid and ruthless. By 2033, Britain has come to
be governed by a brilliant elite of 5 per cent of the population, who feel their social inferiors are also
inferior in education and intelligence. The test-based education system, it turns out, is simply the
centuries-old class system in sheep's clothing. Lacking access to the best schools, underprivileged
children routinely do badly in examinations. The disadvantaged thus remain at the bottom of the
social ladder, unable to break out of the poverty trap. This outcome leads to widespread grievances
and uprisings against an elite that feels superior to, and regards with contempt, all those outside it.
While the book may be fiction, views such as these are not.
Business
As a land-scarce country with no natural resources, Singapore depends heavily on its human capital
and innovation to sustain economic growth and development. According to the Doing Business 2014
Report by the World Bank, Singapore is the easiest place in the world to conduct business. According
to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Forecasts Report in 2014, the country was ranked the
most attractive as an investment location, both regionally and globally. Factors taken into
consideration for ranking purposes were supportive government policies, attractive labour market
conditions, a sound infrastructure and financing efficiency.
According to The Global Competitiveness Report 20132014, Singapore enjoys better working
conditions and higher rates of productivity due to more open communication channels and
camaraderie between employee and employer. (Top 2 in the world for best employer relations)
Singapores focus on a knowledge-based economy has led to an influx and growth of skilled labour
from around the region and within the city itself. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook in 2013
states that Singapore has one of the most skilled labour pools in the region due to sound education
policies, the ready availability of training programmes and attractive incentives for local and foreign
talent.

According to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook in 2013, Singapores workforce is highly
motivated (Top 10 in Asia); making for one of the most productive labour forces in the region. This
ranking is due to effective company policies in place, a generally conducive working environment
and attractive living conditions in the country.
Work-life Balance
The Singapore National Employers Federation conducted a study on 11 Singapore-based
organisations in 2003 and found that for every S$1 spent on family-friendly programmes, the
company reaped a return of S$1.68. Work-life strategies have been found to lead to: improved
employee engagement, improved attraction and retention of talent, reduced health-related costs
(e.g. absenteeism, medical leave) and a more motivated and satisfied workforce.
The Government encourages all businesses to implement work-life strategies such as flexible work
arrangements (FWAs) so that their employees can enjoy better work-life harmony and they can
benefit from having a more engaged and productive workforce. Work-life strategies can be divided
into 3 broad categories: flexible work arrangements, enhanced leave benefits and employee support
schemes.
Pace of Life
While generally optimistic about the future, the majority of Singaporeans want a slower-paced life, a
less competitive education system and fewer foreigners - and they are willing to trade off economic
growth for that. This was the picture that emerged from a survey of 4,000 citizens conducted in
January as part of the Our Singapore Conversation (OSC) exercise. The full findings revealed that 65
per cent of respondents saying that they were optimistic about the future five years ahead, and 78
per cent saying that the Government was managing Singapore well.
Foreigners
Singapores stellar growth in the past few decades has seen it hailed as one of the worlds great
economic success stories. The Peoples Action Party (PAP) has ruled with an iron fist while
overseeing the islands transformation into an international financial center and manufacturing hub,
with a per capita gross domestic product higher than the U.S.
However, this growth has been achieved predominantly by adding labor input importing foreign
workers rather than increasing the underlying productivity of home-grown workers. Foreigners
now make up about 38 percent of the total population of 5.3 million. In 1990, that figure was 14
percent, when the total population was around 3 million.
Last year, a government policy paper called for the population to increase a further 30 percent by
2030, to 6.9 million, at which time immigrants would account for nearly half of the islands
population. Thousands of people attended two rare protests against the white paper, holding signs
with slogans such as Singapore for Singaporeans.
The population has increased dramatically in recent decades thanks to an influx of foreigners, who
now make up around two out of five residents. This has put a growing strain on jobs, housing and
infrastructure, and raised fears about the dilution of the Singaporean national identity. Various
policies and incentives are used to attract foreign talent to Singapore. CONTACT SINGAPORE was
launched in 1997 by the International Talent Division of the Ministry of Manpower to facilitate the
inflow of international talent to Singapore. The Singapore Talent Recruitment (STAR) Committee was
formed in November 1998 with the aim of attracting foreign talents to Singapore.

It has alsopredictablyresulted in an angry backlash, with many taking to social media to

disparage foreign workers, from highly paid foreign talent to heavily exploited laborers from China
and the Indian sub-continent. In the latest high-profile incident, British banker Anton Casey lost his
job and was forced to flee the island last month with his wife a former Miss Singapore Universe
and son. The hapless Casey received death threats after making sneering comments on Facebook
mocking the poor people using public transport, though his comments probably had more to do
with social class than with race per se.
The previous month saw a major backlash on social media after Indian and Bangladeshi workers
rioted in Singapores Little India district, leading PM Lee Hsien Loong to again warn against hateful
or xenophobic comments, especially online.
Government
Just out of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis, the economy went on to record robust
growth of over 7.5 per cent a year until 2007, only to face the sharpest recession since
independence during the global financial crisis. Growth plunged sharply to 1.8 per cent in 2008 and
shrank 0.6 per cent in 2009. The Government responded with a whopping $20.5 billion Resilience
Package for Budget 2009 to guarantee bank deposits, and to fund the Jobs Credit wage subsidy. It
did the unprecedented, getting then President Nathan's assent to dip into the reserves to fund the
package. Crisis was averted. A year later, the economy rebounded, growing 15.2 per cent. Leading
Singapore relatively unscathed through the global financial crisis was cited by several observers as
among Mr Lee's top achievements in the decade. Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth
averaged 6.3 per cent from 2004 to last year, according to economist Tan Kong Yam in an essay in
The Straits Times Opinion pages today. On a per person basis, GDP went up from $46,320 to $69,050
from 2004 to last year.