Invest in building resilience, urge Murali, Gerald Giam

To ensure Singapore's survival in an unpredictable and volatile world, it is crucial that the country invest in building and strengthening resilience and robustness.

This was underscored by MPs Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) and Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) on the second day of debate on Budget 2022.

Both touched on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Mr Murali said he was reminded of how Singapore "will always be vulnerable to machinations of big powers and must continually be prepared to guard against any existential threat". Questions thus have to be asked on what the strategic areas are that the Singapore Government intends to build resilience and robustness capabilities in, for the immediate as well as the long term, said Mr Murali.

"Have we committed sufficient funds and resources for the building of these capabilities?" he asked. "My hope is that the Government will eschew the natural tendency, when our country's fiscal position is relatively weak and there is pressure to increase social expenditure, to cut back on the investment to progressively build such capabilities. We cannot be capricious. We must hold fast to our resolve to develop these strategic capabilities."

Thinking long term to secure Singapore's future has been a hallmark of the PAP Government, he added, referring to plans to build polders and barrages to deal with rising sea levels, and strengthening capabilities in science and health to be ready for the next pandemic.

Mr Murali cited research showing that resilience was "not a cost-free virtue" and that "the price of resilience is inefficiency". For example, it costs less for a supermarket to stock groceries employing a lean "Just in Time" inventory, where purchase decisions are made based on current conditions - though business operations are susceptible to disruptions when suppliers cannot deliver items.

The alternative is a "Just In Case" model with buffers and stockpiles, where business operations can quickly respond to sudden demand increases - though costs will be higher. "This may not be the most efficient way to use resources. But it may be the better way when dealing with strategic goods," said Mr Murali.

"This is where we, on both sides of the House, must come together and affirm that these costs must be incurred progressively over the long term because what is ultimately at stake is Singapore's survival and viability," he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Giam, from the Workers' Party, described Russia's attack on Ukraine as "a stark demonstration of the fragility of territorial sovereignty in the face of aggression by a larger neighbour". Against this backdrop, the continuous building up of national resilience has to be a joint effort borne out of partnership across what he identified as seven pillars of resilience: families, environment, infrastructure, companies, workforce, society and government.

For families, Mr Giam said he was concerned about the plan to raise the CPF Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) by 3.5 per cent a year for the next five cohorts turning 55 from 2023 to 2027. With about eight in 10 CPF members turning 55 in 2027 able to set aside the BRS, 20 per cent will not be able to withdraw "more than a token sum from their CPF", said Mr Giam, noting that some 435,000 Singaporeans aged between 55 and 70 are unable to meet the current prevailing BRS of $96,000. "Many of them struggle with their living expenses and are not able to use their CPF for housing payments," he added.

Mr Giam also asked if Government agencies were devoting enough resources to countering the threat of cyber warfare.

"Adversaries can potentially maliciously shut down or control critical infrastructure with a click of a mouse," he said. "Are (our) critical infrastructure providers like water treatment plants, power grid operators, telcos and public transport operators ready to counter these threats?"

He suggested "deeper qualitative assessments" be made in response to companies claiming to be unable to find Singaporeans to take up positions, to find out if there are, for instance, gaps in the education system preventing schools from producing market-ready graduates.

To build a resilient society, Mr Giam recommended more local sporting talents be featured on TV or online channels - to not only imbue a greater national spirit, but also inspire a generation of young sports enthusiasts who may go on to become future champions.

And a resilient government, to Mr Giam, would necessitate a sizeable presence of opposition MPs to "keep the Government on its toes and responsive to the needs of the people".

On the other side of the coin, he added, is an efficient and effective civil service that "should not second-guess what their political masters want, or implement instructions blindly just because the minister said so". "They must also not be afraid to respectfully point out policy errors made by political office-holders as it is in Singapore's interests that the best possible policies are advanced," he said. "The civil service must also remain politically neutral."

He added: "We must anticipate that future challenges will only get harder... Let us take the necessary steps now to build a more resilient Singapore so that our next generation will be better prepared to weather any storm that comes."