I understand anxieties of sandwich class, says PM
THIS is an extract from remarks Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made during a press conference on Monday:
'The PAP represents a broad mass of Singaporeans. We have explained our help to the lower-income Singaporeans, but I think one group which perhaps we have not spent so much time talking about and which may feel a little bit left out from the discussion is the middle class - the sandwich class.
I can understand their anxieties. They're financially better off, they have more resources than lower- income Singaporeans but they have high aspirations for themselves, also for their children, and also in some cases they have significant commitments.
They want to give their kids a very good education starting from very, very young, way before school. They are often taking care of elderly parents and worried about that. They want to keep their skills current and do well in their careers. And in a rapidly growing and changing economy, many of them are concerned about job security and what happens if they lose their job. Can they find a new job (with) equivalent terms and pay in a new sector - which is not so easy if they are 40, 50 years old. They also worry about good housing for themselves and their children. And that is why they're called a sandwich class because the sandwich is pressed in, they feel, on all sides.
The PAP's overall policy with this group is to progress as many Singaporeans as possible into the middle class so that we have a fat middle in our society and to help this group to enjoy better lives.
Many of our programmes which we've put (in) as national programmes in fact are meant to benefit this sandwich group.
For example, in education, we're building a whole range of options into the system. School of the Arts now has a very handsome building at Dhoby Ghaut. We've got Nafa which has just teamed up with the Royal College of Music to offer a degree programme, offering a new route for people who are musically inclined.
We are offering very good new university options: Singapore University of Technology and Design with MIT, the Yale-NUS College, the liberal arts college, the Singapore Institute of Technology which is a route up for polytechnic students to go on and get good degrees, as well as good polytechnics and very spectacular ITEs in the east, centre and the west of Singapore. So many options so kids can develop their abilities and aptitudes. Not everybody has to squeeze through the same narrow funnel. You have a wide range of choices in Singapore.
And parents don't have to send their children overseas to get a good education, which I think will be a relief to many parents not just because of the expense but also parents worry if they send their kids overseas. Will they come back or you worry about them while they are there, typically with daughters.
So when we talk about education policy, although we didn't specifically say this is meant for middle-income Singaporeans or sandwich class, in fact they will benefit from it together with the others.'
THIS is an extract from remarks Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made during a press conference on Monday:
'The PAP represents a broad mass of Singaporeans. We have explained our help to the lower-income Singaporeans, but I think one group which perhaps we have not spent so much time talking about and which may feel a little bit left out from the discussion is the middle class - the sandwich class.
I can understand their anxieties. They're financially better off, they have more resources than lower- income Singaporeans but they have high aspirations for themselves, also for their children, and also in some cases they have significant commitments.
They want to give their kids a very good education starting from very, very young, way before school. They are often taking care of elderly parents and worried about that. They want to keep their skills current and do well in their careers. And in a rapidly growing and changing economy, many of them are concerned about job security and what happens if they lose their job. Can they find a new job (with) equivalent terms and pay in a new sector - which is not so easy if they are 40, 50 years old. They also worry about good housing for themselves and their children. And that is why they're called a sandwich class because the sandwich is pressed in, they feel, on all sides.
The PAP's overall policy with this group is to progress as many Singaporeans as possible into the middle class so that we have a fat middle in our society and to help this group to enjoy better lives.
Many of our programmes which we've put (in) as national programmes in fact are meant to benefit this sandwich group.
For example, in education, we're building a whole range of options into the system. School of the Arts now has a very handsome building at Dhoby Ghaut. We've got Nafa which has just teamed up with the Royal College of Music to offer a degree programme, offering a new route for people who are musically inclined.
We are offering very good new university options: Singapore University of Technology and Design with MIT, the Yale-NUS College, the liberal arts college, the Singapore Institute of Technology which is a route up for polytechnic students to go on and get good degrees, as well as good polytechnics and very spectacular ITEs in the east, centre and the west of Singapore. So many options so kids can develop their abilities and aptitudes. Not everybody has to squeeze through the same narrow funnel. You have a wide range of choices in Singapore.
And parents don't have to send their children overseas to get a good education, which I think will be a relief to many parents not just because of the expense but also parents worry if they send their kids overseas. Will they come back or you worry about them while they are there, typically with daughters.
So when we talk about education policy, although we didn't specifically say this is meant for middle-income Singaporeans or sandwich class, in fact they will benefit from it together with the others.'
