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 the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA).

This sector will account for $18.1 billion or 41.5% of government expenditure in FY2009.

The Government aims to make Singapore the Best Home for all its citizens, where everyone has the opportunity to be the best he or she can be, and has a stake in Singapore’s success. Our strategy is to provide affordable housing, education, and basic healthcare for all, with targeted assistance for the needy. At the same time, the Government aims to build a world-class living environment, and foster a sense of identity and community that binds Singaporeans as one nation.

The Government aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Quality Education
• Good, Affordable Healthcare
• Strong Families
• A Caring and Inclusive Society
• Financial Security
• A World-Class Living Environment

Quality Education

Education is our best investment for the future, and is key to maintaining Singapore's competitive edge. We will provide opportunities for our young to realise their potential through a balanced and well-rounded education, and provide them with a strong foundation in the knowledge and skills necessary for work and life.

• Prepare Students for the Future
  MOE will look into ways to rebalance the learning of content knowledge with the development of skills so as to provide a more holistic primary education. We will do so by investing in the recruitment and training of quality teachers and moving towards single-session primary schools.
• Support Singaporeans in Education
  MOE will set aside $4.4 billion to finance basic education for our young. In the higher education sector, MOE will set aside $3.5 billion for our autonomous universities and UniSIM, polytechnics, 2 arts institutions and Institute of Technical Education. To provide more help to needy students, MOE will enhance the financial assistance schemes in our schools and introduce a Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme (SSAS) for students in our ITEs, polytechnics and autonomous universities. MOE will also set up a Council for Private Education to oversee the new regulatory regime for the private education sector.
• Invest in Educators
  MOE will step up efforts to recruit additional teachers from fresh graduates and mid-career professionals, and bring forward recruitment targets for teaching support staff in the Allied Educators Scheme. ITE and the polytechnics will intensify their recruitment efforts to support their growing enrolment. The universities will also use this opportunity to step up recruitment of top-quality faculty from both Singapore and overseas, to further improve the high quality of education being offered to our students, and allow us to build long term capability in the university sector. MOE will also put in place a new training pathway for individuals who wish to become kindergarten teachers.

Good, Affordable Healthcare

To build a nation of healthy Singaporeans, MOH will focus on health promotion and education, while continuing to build a strong public health system. The Government remains committed to ensuring that Singaporeans continue to have access to good and affordable healthcare that meets their needs.

• Promote Good Health
  MOH will be setting aside $105 million for health promotion and education programmes (including prevention and screening programmes).
• Build A Strong Public Health System
  $71 million will be spent in FY2009 to build up capabilities to respond to potential emergency health situations, e.g. a flu pandemic, bioterrorism and mass casualty events, as well as tackle communicable diseases.
• Deliver Integrated, Patient-Centric Care
  To improve healthcare delivery for a more patient-centric care, MOH will work towards an integrated healthcare system across primary, step-down, acute, public and private care. MOH will strengthen the capabilities of the primary care sector, and transform the intermediate and long term care sector. MOH will also embark on a project to build a comprehensive national health electronic infrastructure for Singapore.
• Increase the Capacity of the Healthcare System
  To meet increasing healthcare needs, manpower and physical infrastructure capabilities will also be developed. $299 million will go towards growing our healthcare workforce, plan and construct new regional hospitals and long-term care facilities.
• Ensure Basic Healthcare Remains Affordable for All
  MOH will allocate $2 billion to provide subsidies for Singaporeans at polyclinics, public hospitals and step-down care institutions. The Government will also top up the ElderCare Fund and Medifund by $100 million each to ensure that healthcare remains affordable for low-income Singaporeans.

Strong Families

Families serve as an important pillar of support for the nation. We aim to promote strong and stable families that contribute to social stability and harmony, and make Singapore the best home where parents can raise their children and enjoy the warmth of family life.

• Support family formation.
  MCYS will set aside $583 million for the Baby Bonus Scheme, Government Paid Maternity Leave Scheme and the newly-introduced Government-Paid Childcare Leave Scheme to encourage and support married couples to have more children.
• Enhance centre-based care.
  $203 million will be allocated for infant care and childcare subsidies. $16.3m will also be set aside for raising the quality of childcare.

A Caring and Inclusive Society

One of the key priorities of the sector is to build a caring and inclusive society by fostering a sense of community and engaging our citizens, including engaging and supporting young Singaporeans, and helping vulnerable groups.

• Reinforce communal harmony and build a strong community network.
  MCYS will allocate $319.4 million to promote racial harmony and social cohesion. Another $60 million will be set aside to promote volunteerism, support philanthropy and strengthen community and social services.
• Foster nationhood and identity; promote life-long learning.
  MICA will spend $108 million on museums and heritage programmes. A new initiative is to provide better support for selected key community heritage institutions to highlight Singapore's cultural links to the region. Another $180 million will be allocated to our libraries.
• Engage and support youth.
  MCYS will set aside $183.8 million to provide platforms for youths to organise and showcase their activities. Additional space will be provided for youths to pursue youth-oriented activities and initiatives - *scape, a new youth community space at the heart of Orchard Road and a new Extreme Skatepark of international standards at East Coast Park will be ready in 2009.
• Assist the vulnerable groups.
  To help low-income families, the Government will provide another $5.5 million over the next two years to the CCC ComCare Fund and Self-Help Groups, an additional $15 million to support government-funded VWOs and top up the Public Transport Fund to $10 million. In addition, MCYS will allocate $97.1 million towards re-integrating youth offenders back into the society, protecting families who have been abused, and assisting the destitute. Another $66 million will be used to assist the elderly and persons with disabilities, which includes providing community-based and residential care programmes, seed-funding for active ageing projects in the community, and the development of disabled-friendly and elderly facilities. MCYS will also be increasing the Public Assistance rates.

Financial Security

Singapore's population is aging rapidly as life expectancies rise and fertility rates fall. Coping with retirement needs will be an increasingly important issue for us. Enhancing the CPF system is a priority, and a key area of focus in 2009 is the introduction of the CPF LIFE scheme to provide CPF members the assurance of a guaranteed stream of income in their retirement years.

• Provide lifelong income through CPF LIFE.
  MOM will be working with CPF Board on the introduction of CPF LIFE to provide members with a lifelong income. A sign-on bonus, the LIFE Bonus (L-Bonus), will be rolled out to encourage Singaporeans to participate in the CPF LIFE scheme.
• Enhance employability and retirement adequacy of low-wage workers.
  $406.7 million will be paid out as part of the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme to improve the income security of low-wage workers. To supplement the pay for low-income workers who may have to accept lower wages or work less over-time because of the downturn, the Government will provide a WIS Special Payment, which will cost $150 million over one year.

A World-Class Living Environment

A world-class living environment is one where Singaporeans enjoy a high quality of life, not just through a clean environment and affordable quality public housing, but also through a range of leisure opportunities and lifestyle attractions that transform Singapore into a “City of Gardens and Water”. Sustainable development would be a key priority, with initiatives undertaken to promote awareness of the environment, energy, conservation and efficiency, and to address the challenges of climate change.

• Ensure a clean and healthy environment and water resources.
  MEWR will allocate $370 million to manage water resources and maintain a sustainable and affordable water supply for Singaporeans, and another $252.8 million to maintain a high standard of environmental public health. It will also spend $54.5m to ensure our air quality continues to meet international standards, and devote another $178.9 million toward sustainable solid waste management.
• Provide affordable and quality public housing.
  MND will set aside $221 million for public housing subsidies which will include enhancing the Additional Housing Grant to help lower-income families. The Government will also invest $851 million on a Remaking Our Heartland blueprint to rejuvenate and transform our HDB estates.
• Make Singapore a Distinctive, Attractive & Vibrant City.
  MND will allocate $250.6 million to develop the Jurong Lake District, Paya Lebar Central and Kallang Riverside areas as set out in URA’s Master Plan 2008. URA will also start reviewing the next Concept Plan which will guide the physical development of Singapore over the next 40 to 50 years.
• Develop Singapore into a “City in a Garden”.
  MND will spend $695 million to develop new parks and park connectors, enhance our streetscape greenery and develop the Gardens by the Bay. MND will also develop the capabilities in the landscape industry and promote community ownership over greening initiatives.
• Promote energy efficiency.
  $18.9 million will be allocated to fund programmes under the E² Singapore, a multi-agency programme office set up to drive energy efficiency improvements in Singapore and promote the adoption of measures on energy efficiency.
• Develop a sporting people.
  A total of $237.6 million, inclusive of $89.4 million from the Sporting Singapore Fund (SSF), will go towards sports initiatives. This will be used to promote sports participation and excellence, develop the sports industry through international sporting events such as the 2009 Asian Youth Games, develop the Sports Hub, and fund the Singapore Sports School.
• Enhance Singapore’s artistic capacity to be a global city of the arts.
  MICA will allocate $143 million to develop Singapore’s cultural infrastructure and enhance the artistic capacity of the nation. MICA will manage the School of the Arts, Singapore, to provide arts and academic education for artistically talented students, organise events such as the Singapore Arts Festival, Singapore Art Show and Singapore Writers Festival, and mass outreach programmes.

Household Assistance Package for the Downturn

• The Government will double the GST Credits and Seniors’ Citizen Bonus that households will receive in 2009. The additional payouts will cost the Government $580 million.
• The Government will also provide additional service and conservancy charges (S&CC) and rental rebates in 2009, which will cost an additional $24.5 million.