Speeches

Our Mayors and District Councillors

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning. 今天很高兴能够分发最新一轮的邻里购物券，每个家庭可以获得500 元的购物券。其中一半，可以是在小贩中心和邻里商店使用 。其余的另一半，可以在超级市场使用。

所以跟以前一样，大家可以通过手机领取购物券。而需要帮忙的话，可以到民众俱乐部，由工作人员来帮助你们。希望这次的购物券能够帮助大家，减轻你们的生活费负担。

All of you are familiar with CDC Vouchers by now. In January this year, we gave out $300 in CDC Vouchers. Almost all households in Singapore have claimed these vouchers, and I understand many have already put them to good use, so when you go around and ask people, they will tell you that they have already utilised their CDC Vouchers.

But we understand and we hear the concerns that Singaporeans have and continue to have about cost-of-living pressures. It is not unique to Singapore because a similar situation is seen and felt in countries everywhere around the world. In Singapore, inflation has already started coming down.  In fact, it has come down faster than in most other places.  But prices remain high, and people do feel the impact. The overall economic situation is also adding to anxieties, because we can see so much uncertainty around us. We can feel the effects of the economy slowing, and people do get worried about the prospects for the coming year. 

The government is fully committed to helping Singaporeans tackle these challenges.  And that is why today, we are happy to launch a new tranche of CDC Vouchers. You will be all familiar with how to claim the vouchers by now. You know how it works. You do this online, and the vouchers like previous rounds will be split equally – half to be used at participating hawkers and heartland merchants; and the other half to be used at participating supermarkets. So that is $250 and $250.  This round of vouchers will expire on 31 December 2025.

Also with each round of vouchers, we strive to make the scheme better. And the CDCs have been able to bring more partners on board, so you can use the vouchers at more places, including at our heartland merchants and offices, more of them as well as 8 supermarket chains with about 400 outlets!  And as more heartland merchants come on board the CDC Voucher scheme, I am also glad to see that more of them are also adopting e-payment systems. So they are also transforming their models. They are starting to harness IT, and I think that will be helpful for many of these merchants too.

The vouchers that we are rolling out today are just part of a comprehensive package of support measures that we announced in this year’s Budget. You know the vouchers for the whole financial year is $800 so it is $500 this time, another $300 in January next year.  But it is not just CDC Vouchers alone. We have a lot of other help for families with children. We are giving you help through LifeSG credits and Edusave top-ups. We are helping households with utilities’ rebates.

And in July this year, we are giving every adult Singaporean SG60 vouchers. Unlike CDC Vouchers, this is for every individual. CDC Vouchers are for households. SG60 Vouchers operate on the same platform as CDC Vouchers, but it will be for every adult Singaporean. That is $600 for every adult Singaporean, and if you are 60 and above, you get $800. So when you add it all up, actually it is a meaningful amount of support for Singaporeans. It is not just in the hundreds of dollars; it is in the thousands of dollars. When you add up the help in this financial year alone, a typical family of 4 with two young children will receive around $5,000 in support. The lower income and the elderly will get more help.

为了帮助国人减少生活费的开销，政府采取多管齐下的方式。

不止是通过邻里购物券，我们还有水电费回扣、SG60的礼券等。

比如说，一个有两个小孩的家庭，可以在这个财政年获得大约5000元的帮助。

年长的国人就会得到更多的帮忙。比如说，一对住在组屋的退休夫妇，可以获得大约7000元的帮助。

所以我希望，这能帮助大家减轻你们的负担。如果需要的话，我们一定会继续为大家提供帮助。这个帮助不是一次性的。如果需要的话，我们会继续帮助你们克服挑战，减轻你们生活费的负担。

Some Singaporeans will say: all this is good for help in this Budget. But they asked, “You know, is this just one time, and is this only a temporary assistance?” And I assure all of you that this is not a one-off exercise. The government will provide the help for as long as it is needed. And furthermore, we are doing it not just through rebates and vouchers. We have been and we will continue to review and update and strengthen our social system across different areas – be it housing, healthcare, education or retirement. We have started this process recently through Forward Singapore, and we will continue in the coming years. And all these updates, changes, improvements to polices will help to provide Singaporeans with greater assurance through every life stage.

Of course, some also ask: you are doing so much, is the government spending sustainable? If you keep on providing assistance, vouchers, providing support, can it be sustainable? That is a good question to ask, and if people are asking that, I think it is good that people are conscious of the need to maintain fiscal responsibility. Indeed, that has always been the government’s approach. We want to make sure that when we spend more, we are doing it for the benefit of Singaporeans, but the spending is also sustainable over the medium to longer term. And that is why earlier in this decade when we saw there was a funding gap in public finances, that our finance expenditure was going to go up, but revenues were not sufficient to cover our expenditures, we decided to make changes and increase taxes. It was a difficult decision to make. It was certainly not popular, but it was the right thing to do, and it was a responsible thing to do. And because we did that, today, we are in a healthy and sound fiscal position. And today we have the resources we need to protect Singaporeans, to shield you from cost-of-living increases. We have the resources to steer Singapore through the economic storms that we see coming ahead of us. That is precisely what good and responsible government is about, and we will continue with this approach.  

Of course, beyond what the government is doing, I am very glad to see Singaporeans doing their part to support fellow citizens in need. Those who do not need the vouchers can donate them, and I see more and more people doing so. That is very good. We have many ground-up community initiatives like $1 deals and others to help those households in need. And we also see many merchants, hawkers and supermarkets are coming up with their special SG60 deals to help you make the most of your CDC Vouchers. So we are heartened by these many ground-up efforts, and I want to thank everyone for stepping forward to contribute.

I would like to acknowledge the specific groups involved in this new tranche of CDC Vouchers today. First of all, our Mayors played an important role in guiding through the CDC Voucher scheme all these years, from the very beginning when it was just a manual, paper-based scheme, till now, a seamless digital experience. They have persisted in making the CDC Vouchers better and a successful and meaningful scheme for all Singaporeans. So I think we should acknowledge all our Mayors for their hard work and efforts. There are many government agencies that contributed to the success of the CDC Vouchers. Mayor Low just mentioned a few of them just now. PA, for example, is very important. The IT support is very, very important. You may not see it. It is not always so visible. But in order to make sure that the IT system works seamlessly, that your user experience is seamless, the IT personnel work very hard behind the scenes to get the CDC Vouchers implemented well. And you have GovTech, you have Open Government Products team working on this. And I think all of the other government agencies as well, including Enterprise Singapore, IMDA, the Smart Nation Group, everyone chipped in to ensure the success of the CDC Vouchers. So let's also acknowledge their efforts. And of course, we have with us today many community partners, many members in the private sector, our merchants, our hawker associations, merchants’ associations, many stakeholders. All of you did your part, including fellow Singaporeans, stepping forward to look out for one another and lifting one another up. Thank you all for your contributions.

This is the spirit that will take Singapore forward, not just for one two years, not just for the next term of government, but beyond SG60, for the next 60 years and beyond. And we have just had an election. Now that that the elections are over, let us close ranks. Let us stand together as one united people, because it is only by doing so that we can solve our problems, tackle our challenges, and fulfil our aspirations together. Together, let us find new solutions to take Singapore forward and let us secure a brighter future for ourselves, for our families, and for Singapore. Thank you very much.