Five committees and a task force
What happens when our flats turn 70?
Hi everyone,
Happy National Day! Singapore is 60 this year, and the country celebrated with a big parade at the Padang (send us a picture if you were there!)
In Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s customary National Day message, he said the geopolitical landscape has “grown graver” than during the election, where he campaigned on being able to guide Singaporeans through a changed world. While the Government is working to respond to economic uncertainty, Singaporeans must also band together and “prepare to ride the next wave of change”, he said.
The message forms the backdrop for the National Day Rally on Aug 17. Usually the biggest political speech of the year, the rally is where big policy moves and national direction are laid out for the year(s) to come.
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh also released his National Day message, where he said that nation-building is both an individual and collective effort, and has “never been the work of one party or one generation”.
The calendar over the last two weeks has been full. Billionaire Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty to obstructing justice during a corruption investigation into former Transport Minister S. Iswaran. He will be sentenced on Aug 15.
Persistent MRT breakdowns have also drawn a response from Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow. He said the issues on different lines were unrelated but “disappointing”, and that the public transport sector will do better.
This week, we look deeper into a slew of new committees, a wide-ranging interview by Chee Hong Tat on housing, and moves to revive nightlife:
Taskforce Man assigns his tasks
The news: There will be five new committees drilling down on Singapore’s long-term economic strategy.
Forming part of the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT) led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, they are focused on: Singapore’s global competitiveness, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship, human capital and the impact of economic restructuring.
Each is headed by two political office-holders, and will propose recommendations by mid-2026.
The take: This looks like the first big assignment for the PAP’s new blood, as six of the 10 committee leads are fresh from the May general election.
Some are also looking into areas not typically under their purview, which should stretch them further – MOS for social and family development and home affairs Goh Pei Ming, a former brigadier-general, now also has to gauge the impact of economic restructuring.
This review also seems like the Government’s next big engagement project, and will give the new POHs added reason to put their ears to the ground.
Vers in, Sers out
The news: Say goodbye to Sers, or what many refer to as HDB’s version of going en bloc. The authorities have officially sunsetted the scheme that has allowed them to acquire land with ageing flats on it for redevelopment.
Going forward, the Government will focus its efforts on the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) – which effectively replaces Sers.
In his first sit-down interview with local media since taking on the role in May, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said Vers will kick in for some flats in the first half of the 2030s and be scaled up later in the decade.
The take: While Chee did not reveal much (or as much as some would have wanted) about either scheme, he directly addressed likely hot potato topics for the new term of government with him in the housing hot seat.
The demise of Sers has been on the cards, with the most recent site having been identified in April 2022.
Vers was announced at the 2018 National Day Rally as a way for the Government to redevelop neighbourhoods when flats reach about 70 years old or older, but further information on the scheme has been scant.
The mention of Vers now is not completely unexpected – given that some of the oldest flats on 99-year HDB leases were built in the early 1960s – but it is the first time the authorities have formally put out a timeline.
There are still many questions left about the details – Which areas first? How much compensation? How are the locations chosen?
We’ll have to wait and see when those answers will come.
A community committee
The news: Singapore’s Indian community has a new committee to “coordinate its progress” over the next term of government.
It was announced at a community event by Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam, who said the May election presents a good opportunity for the community, which forms about 7 per cent of Singapore’s population, to take stock of its progress.
It is chaired by Senior Minister of State for Transport and Law Murali Pillai and Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash (who if you have been paying attention is also part of the SERT’s entrepreneurship committee, and delivered the Tamil version of the National Day message – big week for him).
The take: The community has progressed well by most metrics to do with housing, income and education (Shanmugam shared statistics which show it has outperformed Singapore’s other major ethnic groups in indicators such as its proportion of university graduates).
But there are some problem areas which the committee will seek to address, such as the rate of reoffending by former prison inmates, Murali said. It will also look at bringing the various community groups together, such as to help the community’s disadvantaged.
The subtext here is likely political renewal, now that there are new Indian officeholders (there were none from the 2020 batch of MPs).
Shanmugam is 66 and has been an MP for 37 years. Absent any surprises, he will be over 70 by the next GE. Other Indian PAP leaders are also getting on in years – Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan is 64 while Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah is 62.
Bringing in Murali, 57, who made political office in 2024, and the freshly-elected Dinesh, 50, is not a sea-change in terms of age but does earmark them to take over community leadership ahead of the next election.
It’s party time
The news: Nightlife venues in Boat Quay and Clarke Quay could be selling alcohol till later, in a new year-long pilot looking to give the area a boost.
The authorities are allowing some of these spots to apply to extend their liquor licences to as late as 4am, while new nightlife establishments may soon pop up in the district after 16 years of not being able to obtain the licence to do so.
The authorities said the moves aim to balance rejuvenating the area with maintaining the safety and security of visitors.
The take: There have been a number of changes to liquor trading hours over the years as the Government sought to balance law and order and nightlife vibrancy (which has a knock on effect on tourism).
Many businesses have been cautiously optimistic about the move so far, as a decent proportion of them would recall a similar 2018 trial that was shelved within months after the police found certain crimes involving public order had increased.
The pilot also aligns with overall efforts to help tourism numbers continue their rebound to pre-pandemic levels. Singapore is pushing hard on the Mice front, which includes events like F1 where the crowds drawn here would have overlapping interests in what the Quays have to offer.
The Singapore Democratic Party, whose chief Chee Soon Juan came the closest to a seat in Parliament without getting in, launched a refresh and an action plan for the next five years before the next general election. Called Roadmap2030, it includes plans to ramp up grassroots engagement and to push for electoral reform.
All new recruits going to Pulau Tekong for basic military training will now learn basic drone flying skills. The Singapore Armed Forces is also working to equip them with skills to evade unmanned aerial threats, which have become a huge part of modern warfare.
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh made his first local media appearance following the election, speaking to Kiss92 FM. He said the WP wanted to tip one or two new constituencies but fell short of this goal. He also took questions from eight children aged between four and 11 in a section called The Kids Ask Mr Pritam.
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