Daily Lessons from Life 03 September 2013 - New healthcare, housing and education measures welcomed by S'poreans

"New healthcare, housing and education measures welcomed by S'poreans - AsiaOne Sep 03, 2013 SINGAPORE - More than 7 in 10 people felt that this year's National Day Rally (NDR) 2013 announcements boosted their confidence in Singapore's future, and believed that together, Singaporeans will be able to deal with the challenges ahead. These were the responses in a REACH telephone poll carried out from 20 to 29 August 2013 to gauge Singaporeans' sentiments towards the Rally. 853 respondents aged 20 and above, who had heard or read the NDR speech and have some knowledge of the issues raised in the speech, were randomly selected and polled. In a statement to the media, REACH revealed that the policy shifts for healthcare, housing and education in the Rally were warmly welcomed, with the majority agreeing that the various measures will ensure that healthcare and housing remain affordable, and that our children can develop to their maximum potential." This is a good report though I am a bit more cautious to use it as a broad indication that 70% of the electorates are indeed happy with the PM's 2013 NDR Speech. Lessons for me are: 1. personally I find the 2013 NDR Speech not inspiring enough though it is heartening to see that the government has taken to heart the signals sent by the dissenting voters in the last 2 GEs (populist votes % down consecutively to just more than 60%) and the 2 losses in the 2 by-election recently and responded with some changes in the public housing (actually started way before the 2013 NDR Speech and right after the last GE), the healthcare cost and elderly Singaporeans, and education; 2. it is significant to note that while making sure that every vulnerable Singaporeans are covered by health insurance, the DETAILS for healthcare are still in the work and the people are left wondering how much more will they have to pay for the insurance premium. The direction is the correct one since any hospitalisation expenses would have been more than the insurance premium paid. It would have been better if the cost of having 'whatever adequate level of health insurance' are also known at this stage. So, the 70% happy with the 2013 NDR Speech may not be happy with the insurance premium they have to pay even if they are happy that the government is ensuring that NO Singaporeans are left behind; 3. the big bugbear of the last few years like the crowdedness and the associated strains on the public infrastructures like public housing, public transportation, national vs foreigner for job, etc were not addressed at all. This leaves a bit of sour taste in the people who feel that these are the key concerns of theirs; 4. of course the revelation that there will be big development of Changi International Airport, the freeing out of a large track of land from the removal of Paya Lebar Military Airport, etc are something to look forward to, it also brought in the nasty controversial debate of the Population White Paper (PWP) objective of having 6.9 million people on this tiny little Red Dot. Some people are making connection to this and concluded that the government HAS ALREADY made this as the GOAL by 2030 and not just a guiding number. IF so, the concerns, rightly or wrongly, of more overcrowding, inadequate public transportation, rising property prices (now is the turn for Private properties buyers to worry since the public housing sector has delinked resales price from the new HDB flats - MOST significant action by MND Minister), etc. These SURELY MUST be considered IF we want to say that the 70% of people surveyed are happy with the PM's 2013 NDR Speech. I think the government is trying to do the right thing. The surveying agency/agencies MUST do the right thing when collecting information to support the fact if people are for or against the content of the 2013 NDR Speech to help the government see clearer.