‘We will do everything we can to help you’: PM Wong to young parents during Sengkang visit

SINGAPORE – The Government wants to do everything it can to ensure that Singapore is a society “made for families”, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

“For all the young parents out there, please have the assurance that we are here with you to support you,” he said on March 16 during a visit to Sengkang – his first since taking over the country’s top job.

After being sworn in in May 2024, the Prime Minister has embarked on a series of

visits to different constituencies

across the island, to meet as many Singaporeans as he can.

He was joined by advisers to the Sengkang GRC grassroots organisations – Dr Lam Pin Min, Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat and Ms Theodora Lai – at a community event in Anchorvale targeted at young families.

PM Wong pointed to the support measures for parents with young children announced as part of Budget 2025.

“We know that cost pressures are a concern. That’s why we have given out more CDC vouchers. And even for the SG60 package, we have provided some vouchers for every adult Singaporean to help,” he said in a short speech at the community plaza in Anchorvale Village shopping centre.

Families with young children will get greater support via a one-off disbursement of $500 in LifeSG credits for Singaporean children aged 12 and below.

Larger families with three or more children will get even more aid, added PM Wong, who is also Finance Minister.

Measures introduced under

a new Large Families Scheme

include a higher $10,000 grant to cover pre-school and healthcare expenses for baby number three, four or more, as well as $1,000 in LifeSG credits each year for the third and subsequent child during the years that the child turns one to six.

Singapore’s total fertility rate, at 0.97, is among the world’s lowest.

This is well below the replacement rate of 2.1 – the level of fertility at which the population replaces itself from one generation to the next – making it harder to maintain a dynamic economy as fewer births mean Singapore will face a shrinking local workforce.

“I know it’s not easy to be young parents. I know it’s not easy to have kids in Singapore. You have so many things to worry about. But we want to make this journey as convenient, seamless (and) fuss-free as possible,” PM Wong said.

“So whether it’s pre-school, whether it’s cost pressures, whether it’s education, whether it’s housing, we will do everything we can to help you along the way.”

The Prime Minister’s visit to Sengkang began at about 10am at Anchorvale Community Club, where Sengkang West residents participated in a variety of sporting activities and games. PM Wong tried his hand at pickleball and a brief game of futsal, before interacting with event attendees there.

At Anchorvale Village, PM Wong visited various booths with activities aimed at bringing families closer together. He also spent an hour greeting and taking photos with diners and stallholders at Anchorvale Village Hawker Centre.

In his remarks on March 16, PM Wong said 2025 is a special year as it is the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence, and it marks a new phase of nation-building. But he warned of profound changes happening around the globe.

While the world has always been a dangerous place, PM Wong noted, it is only going to get more troubled and turbulent.

“Every day, we see something more and more worrying.

“All the things we see around us simply remind us of one simple fact – no one is going to come to our rescue,” he stressed.

“If something goes wrong, we can only count on ourselves, Singaporeans, to defend Singapore, to advance our interests and make sure this little red dot continues to survive and thrive.”

It was a message he repeated later that night at a community break-fast event attended by around 7,000 guests at Marsiling Mega Sports Park, in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, where he serves as anchor minister.

“There is no other country you can find in this world where people of different faiths, different beliefs can come together, can break fast together, (and) can live in peace and harmony together as one family,” said PM Wong at the event.

“This is very precious, and this is something we must always cherish and protect here in Singapore,” he said, calling for people to stay strong and united, no matter their differences, and to “always have Singapore at heart”.

He added: “Always think about how we can make Singapore better for ourselves, but also for our children, our grandchildren and for the next generation, so that whatever we have here in Singapore... this tiny, little red dot, made-in-Singapore miracle, we want this to keep on going for as long as we can.”

Sengkang resident Vincent Zye, 35, was among those who interacted with PM Wong at the hawker centre on March 16. He said he is happy with the measures in the 2025 Budget, especially those aimed at young families like his.

The engineer, who has two children, aged five and two, highlighted the

reduction in pre-school fees

as one initiative that will be of real benefit.

Sengkang GRC, formed in 2020, was won by the opposition Workers’ Party at the last election. It is one of nine constituencies that will not have their boundaries redrawn for the 2025 polls, which are widely expected by mid-year.

Sengkang GRC MP Jamus Lim, who looks after the Anchorvale ward, was seen at Anchorvale Village speaking to residents on March 16 as PM Wong was taking his leave.

Associate Professor Lim stayed to observe the official opening of the mall, officiated by Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann. However, he declined to comment when approached.

Also seen at the March 16 events in Anchorvale was Mrs Bernadette Giam, 38, a director at local food and beverage enterprise Creative Eateries, who was appointed chairwoman of the People’s Action Party’s Sengkang East branch in January.