The Social Development Sector comprises six Ministries: Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of National Development (MND), Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA).

This sector will continue to account for $12.3 billion or 42% of government expenditure in FY2005, forming the largest component of government spending.

The government aims to facilitate the development of a caring and inclusive society with opportunities for all Singaporeans through:

In FY2005, the Social Sector agencies will work towards their goals by allocating their expenditure to emphasise the following:

At National Day Rally 2004, the Prime Minister announced a new marriage and parenthood package. The package includes an extended maternity leave, enhanced baby bonus, increase in the subsidy given for centre-based infant care, concession on foreign maid levy, childcare leave, etc. The new package is estimated to cost the Government about $800 million annually.

As part of the efforts to develop Singapore’s human capital to the maximum, MOE will allocate $4.49 billion to subsidise education from primary school to university.

To provide a quality education to all, existing educational infrastructure will continue to be upgraded. $19 million will be allocated to schools for hiring additional teachers to improve the pupil-teacher ratio. Additional manpower grants will be given to all schools to purchase more support services to ease the workload of teachers.

MOE will introduce more programmes to give students further options and opportunities to develop their strengths. To support schools with strong niche programmes, school-based excellence programmes will be extended to primary schools from Jan 2005. Special programmes will promote and enhance the appreciation of Chinese culture.

To ensure that basic healthcare remains affordable to all Singaporeans, MOH will set aside $1.3 billion of subsidies for Singaporeans at public healthcare institutions (such as polyclinics and public hospitals) and VWO-run institutions (such as nursing homes and community hospitals). For the elderly, MOH will also set aside $17 million to help them pay for their ElderShield premiums and to fund medical care under the Interim Disability Assistance Programme (IDAPE).

Singaporeans must adopt a healthy lifestyle and detect health problems early to have the best chance at living a healthy life. MOH will commit $85 million to initiatives such as the National Healthy Lifestyle Programme, National Smoking Control Programme, School Health Programme and National Cancer Screening Programme for Women.

MediShield was introduced in 1990 to help Singaporeans cope with very large hospital bills. Its premiums, deductibles and benefits have not been sufficiently updated to reflect the current cost of hospitalization. To ensure that Singaporeans can continue to receive adequate insurance coverage, MOH will restructure MediShield as a single, basic tier of catastrophic medical insurance and raise the benefits, deductibles and premiums accordingly. The government will help adult Singaporeans adjust to increased MediShield premiums and higher deductibles by topping up individual Medisave Accounts by $320 million. This top-up will also help Singaporeans cope with higher expenditure after means-testing is implemented in 2005.

To help vulnerable Singaporeans meet their basic needs, tide over difficult times and achieve self-reliance so that they are not left behind, a new Community Care (ComCare) endowment fund for social assistance will be set up to replace the existing privately-administered Community Assistance Fund. The Government will inject $250 million to boost the fund size to $500 million.

MCYS will set aside $55 million for social assistance, institutional care and intervention programmes for children from families at risk.

To help older Singaporean workers enhance their financial security in retirement, the Government will top up the CPF Special/Retirement Account (SA/RA) of Singaporeans aged 50 and above by $100. The CPF SA/RA top-ups would cost the Government $80 million.

For the disabled, $26 million will be earmarked for services to assist persons with disabilities. This includes childcare centres offering integrated childcare programmes for children aged 2-6 years, Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children Centres for young children aged 0-6 years old, as well as residential homes and sheltered workshops for adults.

Disabled young people will also get the opportunity to maximise their potential when MOE improves the quality of Special Education (SPED) schools by recruiting more teachers, providing better professional development for staff and improving SPED curriculum design. Another $23 million will be allocated to improve the infrastructure in SPED schools.

Volunteerism and charitable giving are hallmarks of strong community involvement and support. The Government will allow double tax deductions for donations which give the donor an opportunity to name an Institution of a Public Character, its facilities, events or programmes.

For the first time, organisations promoting amateur sports for the general public will be recognised as charities and be exempted from income tax if they meet certain spending rules.

To recognise the role that ethnic heritage organisations such as Chinese clans have in preserving ethnic heritage and culture, the Government will give a concessionary rate of property tax to them.

To allow Singaporeans to afford good quality public housing, MND will set aside $333 million for housing subsidies. Another $520 million will be set aside to upgrade older housing estates through the various estate renewal programmes.

MND will continue to allocate $101 million to maintain the Garden City that Singaporeans enjoy, through the development of parks, park connectors, and recreational space for the public. This will include the initial stages of development for the 2nd Botanic Gardens at Marina Bay.

$55 million will be allocated to the operations of Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority to ensure safety of our food supply, and to combat global threats of food-related disease such as Bird Flu.

To ensure a reliable and affordable supply of water, MEWR will allocate $621 million towards the construction of the new Changi Water Reclamation Plant and the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System which will be completed by 2008. Another $338 million will be set aside to maintain the quality of our air, land and water resources, as well as to ensure a high standard of environmental public health.

The Government will provide support to the arts and culture sectors to enrich the lives of Singaporeans. MICA, through the National Arts Council and National Heritage Board, will allocate $94 million to organise arts and museum events, groom local artistic talents/groups, produce arts education and heritage outreach programmes, and redevelop existing museums and heritage sites such as the Singapore History Museum and Arts and Heritage Centre @ The Old Parliament.

To provide a platform for local artists and showcase for international art exhibitions, the current Supreme Court and City Hall buildings will commence their conversion into a world-class art gallery.