| 5.3 Mr Speaker, Sir, this Budget aims
to build an economy with abounding opportunities, and
a society with a deep sense of community.
5.4 Opportunity means not just good jobs, affordable
housing, quality education, and adequate healthcare,
but also making Singapore the best home for raising
families, and opening up the space to pursue our dreams
and aspirations. Opportunity is not possible without
a thriving economy that adapts and changes with the
global environment. Hence our constant striving to restructure
and diversify our economy, our untiring efforts to boost
competitiveness, and our relentless emphasis on training
and skills upgrading.
5.5 A sense of community is what ultimately makes us
a nation – forged by shared experiences, inspired
by a common vision, and bound by a collective resolve
to help one another. Restructuring brings adjustment
pains to many segments of our population. We must help
them so that they too will share in the fruits of economic
opportunity.
5.6 This Budget will foster economic restructuring,
enhance Singapore’s competitiveness as a place
for talent and enterprise, build new strengths in the
services sector, and create more jobs for Singaporeans.
But it is not only about growing our economy. This Budget
will also deliver more help to groups facing particular
difficulties – older workers who are experiencing
deeper CPF cuts, the less-skilled who are finding it
hard to be re-employed even as the economy recovers,
and all Singaporeans who are concerned about rising
healthcare costs.
5.7 Remaking our economy and our society is not just
the task of Government. Success ultimately depends on
the values, attitudes, and the collective actions of
all Singaporeans. It is individual creativity, individual
excellence, and individual passion that will sustain
us as a vibrant people with an enterprising economy.
And it is acts of kindness and compassion in a community
bound together in a social compact that makes us care
for each other and support the vulnerable – this
way we will become a caring and inclusive society.
5.8 I ask everyone to join me in building a nation which
offers opportunity and hope to all, and a society where
every citizen belongs. Together we will build a Singapore
that all of us will be proud to call home.
5.9 Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.
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