Govt to set aside more goodies for older S'poreans
AUG 23, 2004
SPEECH IN MANDARIN
Govt to set aside more goodies for older S'poreans
By Clarissa Oon
WHEN the Government redistributes surpluses in good years, it plans to set aside more for older citizens, especially to help them top up their Medisave accounts.
In making the pledge that asset-enhancement schemes will continue in good years, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong added that he intends to look out for older Singaporeans.
He made the point in his National Day Rally speech in Mandarin and repeated it in his English speech.
Speaking in Mandarin, he stressed that his Government would not forget senior citizens 'because we owe them an obligation. They helped to bring us here, and are respected members of our society'.
In his English speech, he noted that some people had thought that because in his swearing-in speech on Aug 12 he had talked about the younger generation, he was leaving out the older Singaporeans.
He quoted how one MP had e-mailed him and said that he wished to 'to point out that there's a large representation of Singaporeans in the 45-to-60 age group whom we must continue to engage and attend to'.
The MP said: 'This group has suffered and borne the brunt of the downturn mostly in stolid silence. They need to be nursed to regain their self-confidence and pride.'
Said PM Lee: 'He's right. But let me say I haven't forgotten because I'm in this group.
'I know what the concerns of the older Singaporeans are: job security, medical costs... financial security in old age.'
In his Mandarin speech, he noted that while the cost of living has gone up, including medical costs, the MediShield scheme would be improved 'to give greater protection against high medical bills' and to reduce the risk and the worry among older citizens.
In the same speech, he noted that with economic restructuring to stay competitive, older and less well-educated workers would be helped in their efforts to acquire new skills and switch industries.
He cited the example of Ms Cheong Leng Sin, a winner this year of the Workforce Development Agency and Lianhe Wanbao's Working Heroes award. A bank supervisor who was retrenched last year after working for 23 years with the same bank, she took up a part-time nursing course and 'did so well that the National Heart Centre offered her a scholarship for a full-time nursing course'. Now, she has a new job.
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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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