SINGAPORE: When Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat delivers the Budget for 2018 on Monday (Feb 19), the focus will be on the long term.

One reason being this year’s Budget will have “the benefit of riding the wave of a firmer economic footing for the first time”, said UOB economist Francis Tan.

Compared to the first two Budgets of the Government’s term, Singapore’s economic growth quickened last year on the back of a stellar run in the manufacturing sector. Official data released this week showed the economy expanded 3.6 per cent in 2017, trumping earlier estimates and the Government’s revised growth forecast ranges.

With a slowing economy out of the way, Mr Heng is expected to devote his attention to the longer-term goals of economic restructuring and transformation.

Also high up on the agenda will be the task of keeping Singapore in good fiscal health as the Government’s expenditure continues to outstrip revenue.

“I see this year’s Budget continuing its focus to transform the economy in areas of capabilities building, innovation and internationalization, as well as go deep and granular in addressing skills gap and skills mismatches,” said Mr Liang Eng Hwa, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance and Trade.

“On the social front, I expect the Finance Minister to focus its attention on healthcare and eldercare. What is also getting attention for this year’s budget is our finances,” the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP added.

Here are the five issues that could be given the spotlight in Budget 2018:

1. LAYING OUT SINGAPORE’S SPENDING NEEDS

In the lead-up to the Budget, the Government has signaled that higher public expenditure on areas, including healthcare and infrastructure, will be inevitable as Singapore’s population ages.

By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will likely be aged 65 and above.

Before that, the country’s ageing population will reach a “critical demographic crossroad” this year, when the share of the population who are 65 and older will match those under 15 for the first time, said Mr Tan. 

Given the demographic challenges, one major implication is the need for more healthcare and social spending in the coming years, according to the UOB economist.

A greying population also means that forward-planning will be necessary when it comes to infrastructure to enhance the liveability of Singapore, said Mr Heng in an earlier interview with Channel NewsAsia.  

Meanwhile, billion-dollar major infrastructure projects, including Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 and the Tuas mega port, will be essential in maintaining Singapore’s competitiveness, he added. 

Amid heightened terror threats, homeland security will also be “a very major item” in the upcoming Budget as it is an “important area to invest resources in”, Mr Heng said last month. 

2. TAX HIKES: NOT IF, BUT WHEN

In light of growing spending needs, speculation of a review of the tax regime has dominated the chatter in recent months especially since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that raising taxes will be inevitable. 

Some economists and tax experts are expecting Budget 2018 to see a hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), given how Singapore’s rates remain comparatively low against regional countries. 

Other forms of tax increases that the taxman might be mulling include an e-commerce tax, a further increase in “sin” taxes such as those levied on tobacco, alcohol and gambling, as well as wealth taxes. 

But each has its own downside. 

For one, many economists have described higher GST as “regressive” tax that would hurt the lower-income household, while some like Nomura economist Brian Tan fear that a hike in GST would be “tempting fate” and risk derailing the turnaround in the broader economy.

Overall, OCBC’s head of treasury research and strategy Selena Ling reckoned that Budget 2018 will likely see a “give and take tone”.

“The finance minister had previously articulated the need to keep the tax system fair and progressive across income groups,” she wrote in a note. “A sustainable tax system is one that rewards effort by individuals and enterprise, and fiscal sustainability is about striking the right balance between current and future generations.”

3. PRUDENCE

As such, the Government’s underlying principle of being prudent with its spending will likely be given more emphasis.

Last year, a permanent 2 per cent downward adjustment was implemented to the Budget caps of all ministries and organs of state, as part of an effort to control expenditure. 

Moving forward, the Government will need “to instill further prudence” to ensure a responsible and sustainable fiscal position, said Mr Liang who is hoping for the finance minister to provide “greater clarity on (Singapore’s) fiscal position in the medium to long term” amid growing expenditure.

“How is the revenue trajectory picture looks like beyond 2020 and whether we have satisfy ourselves that we have in place a sustainable and diversified revenue sources to fund the various big ticket expenditure that are in our priorities,” he elaborated.

But for FY2017, there will be some good news in the form of a bumper Budget surplus on the back of stronger growth, said UOB’s Mr Tan. The economist is estimating an overall budget surplus of S$3.1 billion, which works out to 0.7 per cent of GDP, compared to the Government’s estimates of S$1.9 billion.

Apart from a rise in collection from corporate income tax, higher volume of property transactions may have bumped up Government revenue from stamp duties.

This means that the Government will have “more firepower” in Budget 2018 to nudge its economic stakeholders towards the seven strategies mapped out in the Committee for Future Economy (CFE) report, he said. 

4. TRANSFORM BUSINESSES, WITH HELP FOR STRUGGLING INDUSTRIES

With that in mind, firms can expect a “pro-business” Budget with more support when it comes to innovation, going digital and venturing abroad.  

Experts are pencilling in more measures to strengthen the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) – the 23 roadmaps that were first announced in Budget 2016 as part of a S$4.5 billion industry transformation programme – as well as a ramp up in research and development (R&D) tax incentives to fill the gap when the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme expires.

“It has been laborious for both large and small companies to leverage the current R&D enhanced tax deductions to scale their innovation efforts. For SMEs in particular, where cash is key to survival, they would no longer find it worth the effort to avail of the incentive with the expiry of the PIC,” said Ms Tan Bin Eng, partner and business incentives advisory leader at Ernst & Young Solutions LLP.

She suggested a simplification of the Government’s current approach of evaluating R&D eligibility and documentation requirements, particularly for SMEs. Alternatively, it could also consider extending and increasing the cash payouts under the PIC exclusively for R&D-related activities, Ms Tan added.

Budget 2018 may also contain some relief measures for underperforming sectors, such as the construction and the offshore and marine sectors. These include a deferment of the foreign worker levy hikes or bringing forward more public sector infrastructure projects for the construction sector, experts said.

5. CONTINUE TO UPSKILL WORKERS, BOOST PRODUCTIVITY

Ensuring that Singaporeans remain employable in the face of a fast-changing economic landscape will also be on the agenda.

To sharpen the plethora of policies that were rolled out over the years, Mr Liang expects enhancements to be unveiled for schemes, such as the Professional Conversion Programmes under Workforce Singapore. 

“There is the real possibility that disruptive changes to employment may outpace the speed in which workers can reskill themselves. Hence, as we restructure the economy to create new jobs, we need to double efforts and intensity to develop new skills sets among our workers,” said Mr Liang. 

There should also be continued efforts to boost overall labour productivity, said UOB’s Mr Tan. 

While overall labour productivity in 2017 surged to a seven-year-high of 4.5 per cent, the improvement was powered mainly by the externally-oriented sectors.

By contrast, labour productivity growth in the domestically-oriented sectors remained stuck in low gear.

“It thus remains important that Budget 2018 contains more tools and resources to help improve the labour productivity of the service sectors,” he noted.

SINGAPORE: When emergency calls come, it is a race against time for Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) paramedics.

They are quickly dispatched to attend to an incident, usually within 11 minutes.

If needed, fire and rescue specialists are also deployed on fire bikes, as they can weave around traffic and reach an incident site earlier. 

But how fast is it from the time a 995 call is made to when paramedics are called into action?

SCDF’S NERVE CENTRE

The answer lies in the SCDF Operations Centre, which is the nerve centre of the Life-saving Force.

Operations centre specialists deal with distressed callers frequently, which can mean taking some time to pin down details like location and symptoms.

SCDF says it takes 80 seconds to dispatch its vehicles, but in more challenging situations, it could take longer.

Captain Shawn Tan, rota commander of SCDF’s operations department, said: “When members of the public call in with a 995 distress, we will guide them to give us a location and what exactly has happened. If we know there is a medical or a fire of HAZMAT (hazardous materials) or rescue incident, we will send the appropriate response to their condition. 

“When a call ends, it doesn’t just end there. We will continue to monitor the situation. Sometimes in a medical call, we will monitor all the way until the patient arrives at the hospital in the care of caretakers.”

RELENTLESS UPWARD CLIMB

Singapore’s ageing population means an increase in ambulance calls and a greater number of more complex medical emergencies that SCDF has to deal with.

SCDF has said that the number of ambulance calls has been on a “relentless upward climb” for the past two decades.

More than 180,000 emergency medical service calls were made last year – an increase of more than 2 per cent compared to the year before. Between 2012 to 2016, the number of calls rose by an average of 6 per cent yearly. In a single day, the operations centre can receive up to 1,000 calls.

NEW EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE FRAMEWORK

In response to the growing numbers, SCDF set up an Emergency Medical Service framework in April last year.

This is how it works – let’s say a man is suffering from a cardiac arrest. When a 995 call is made, operations centre specialists will conduct a medical triage to assess the situation. What this means is that life-threatening cases will be prioritised when determining the appropriate resources to be deployed.

In the event of a cardiac arrest, an ambulance will be deployed as well as a fire bike, which has a quicker response time. Meanwhile, the specialist stays on the line with the caller, to guide him to perform dispatcher-assisted CPR. Community first responders within the vicinity will also be activated via the myResponder App to respond to the emergency.

RELYING ON TECH & COMMUNITY

The myResponder app was launched in April 2015. As of end-2017, it had more than 72,000 downloads and more than 21,000 members registered as Community First Responders. 

More than 1,600 responders have arrived at incident scenes to help after receiving notifications from SCDF, and there have been nine survivors thanks to the app.

WO2 Siti Zarinah Sarip, senior operations centre specialist and paramedic, said: “Sometimes when the callers call us, they will be very, very panicked. They don’t know how to do CPR and they will just keep screaming. With myResponders, they actually come over and assist while we (are) online and calm the callers, and also myResponders will do the CPR as well.”

Captain Tan added:  “We try to use myResponder to rally help from community responders, so the survivability rate of the patient is really increased. While the ambulance is en route, the person next to the patient themselves is the fastest caregiver and every second counts when it comes to a cardiac arrest case.”

HELP FROM NURSES

Nurses seconded from the Ministry of Health are also at the Operations Centre to help. They audit some of the calls, provide medical education for all the dispatchers and tap on the National Electronic Health Record for more complex cases.

“This allows the nurses to access the records when someone calls for a person who is critically ill,” said chief medical officer Colonel (Dr) Ng Yih Yng. “We look through the records for relevant information that we can forward to the ambulance crew. That way, they are better prepared with more information to help treat the patient when they arrive.”

With the number of emergency calls set to rise, SCDF says it is also looking into ways to further tap technology to rally the community in times of crisis.

SINGAPORE: In the one week that he’s been in Singapore, orphan-no-more Lucas Yap Keyuan has been eagerly soaking up his new life with a new family like a sponge.

The eight-year-old from China has helped do the laundry with gusto, raked leaves, had his first taste of Chinese New Year bak kwa, visited the library (picking out Dr Seuss books that Mama and Papa had been reading to him), shopped for groceries at NTUC FairPrice – and even started learning basic English and Maths.

“Amazingly, he’s taking to all these with interest and having fun at it all,” said his daddy, Mr Yap Vong Hin. “We were expecting him to be guarded, hesitant about new things; but he just seems to really take it all in.”

The one little hitch in Keyuan’s brand-new world: He’s afraid to sleep alone.

For the past three years, he slept in a room with six to eight other children at his foster care centre, Alenah’s Home in Beijing. (Read his story here.) So now, “at night if he realises there’s no one else in the room, he’ll cry, and someone has to go and calm him down,” said his sister Elliana, 17.

And so, the Yap siblings have been taking turns to sleep in his room – to chase away their new little brother’s night terrors.

Ask Keyuan about his fears, and the bubbly boy makes light of it. “There are bad people who would kill me,” he said cheekily in Mandarin.

When his mum protested that there are “not so many bad people in Singapore”, he shoots back: “There are in my room, from 6.30pm onwards.”

GETTING A NEW LITTLE BROTHER

The past week has been as much an adjustment for Keyuan as it has been for Elliana and her brothers, Elijah, 19, and Max, 17.

While their parents had first met Keyuan back in July 2017 when they flew to Beijing on his birthday, the three Yap siblings only met their new brother in the flesh for the first time on Feb 10, 2018 – a few days before the Chinese New Year.

They were stunned when their parents announced last year that they were going to adopt an orphan boy from China, after seeing him in a Get Real documentary by Channel NewsAsia.

“They, of course, thought we were a little bit crazy, that we were moving way too fast,” said their mum, Dr Lim Poh Lian, 52, a senior consultant at a hospital.

“But they did come around, that we could make a difference as a family for one person. We told them we wouldn’t do it unless it was a family decision.”

Max remembers things slightly differently.

“I was like, not really. They were like, okay, we’re going ahead to do it,” said the Year 5 student at an independent school.

I was a little bit selfish. I thought it would take away from the time I would have with them.

But then, last week, he hugged his new little brother at the airport, and things changed.

Granted, the 10-month adoption process had given the siblings time to get used to the idea, and for Max to get over his “little bit of state of shock”. And when they did, they started preparing for their little brother.

“Getting the room ready. Getting out all our old clothes. Just talking about what we would have to do while around him, what he would be like,” said Max.

None of that, however, truly prepared the 17-year-old for the overnight transformation from carefree youngest child to protective older brother. Or the shock of finding how much he liked it.

It feels great. I didn’t realise how good it would feel. I was talking to a friend who’s just full of love for her younger sister. I didn’t really understand that until I had a younger brother in Keyuan.

“I feel like I’ve known him for a long time, and he seems to take really well to me. Sleeping in the same room with him, having him hold my hand, having him talk to me as his gege (big brother), it was really something special,” said Max.

“Now I really have to look out for someone, someone who really, really values my time with them.”

JUST LIKE THE OTHER KIDS, EXCEPT…

The sociable Keyuan, on his part, had been looking forward to meeting his new brothers and sister since seeing pictures of them in a photobook his parents presented him last year. 

And he wasted no time in latching on to them – even Elliana, who is “still warming up” to him.

“On the first day, he literally clung on to us, and wouldn’t let us go,” she said.

On Saturday, the second day of Chinese New Year, the Yaps had friends over to their townhouse for the first time since Keyuan’s homecoming. 

Easy-going Keyuan was right in the midst of the riotous group of children running around, playing with toy trains and squabbling over toys. In other words, you wouldn’t think he was anything but right at home.

Except that every five to ten minutes, he’d leave the group to look for Papa or Mama. To see what they were doing, or to show them something he was given.

Afterwards, he helped Elliana dry the dishes and put them away. A chore, like all the others, that he seemed to genuinely enjoy, perhaps because it made him feel a part of the family.

He never seemed to tire of physical affection – always asking for a hug or a piggyback ride, or simply to sit next to someone. When he wasn’t playing, he was clutching on to Mama, or demanding her attention over a tiny burn on his finger that he got playing with sparklers.

Was this just the way he was raised with the other children at the orphanage, where he was constantly the “big brother” looking out for the smaller kids?

Or was it a former orphan’s need for physical reassurance against the fear that his newfound family might, somehow, stop loving him?

Keyuan was just a few days old when he was given up by his birth mother. He grew up with foster parents and in two foster care centres. He was passed over time and again by prospective adopters looking for a child who was younger, and who were perhaps scared off by his lack of ears – a birth defect.

FAST LEARNER WHO’S DRIVING DAD CRAZY

Born without external ears or ear canal, Keyuan didn’t properly learn to speak until about three years ago, when he received a hearing-aid implant and speech therapy. The Yaps were thus expecting at first that he might be behind in his development.

So they’ve been “pleasantly surprised” by how far along he actually is in his verbal and cognitive capabilities. Testimony, said Mr Yap, to “the great educational work” that Alenah’s Home and his kindergarten invested in him.

Already he’s been learning to write his name and his address in English “in case he gets lost”, said Dr Lim.

The plan is for Mr Yap, 60, to homeschool him until his grasp of English improves. Already, the stay-at-home dad has been impressed – and slightly exasperated – with his hunger to learn and how quickly he learns when taught.

The one thing he’s been doing that drives me crazy is, he’s at the age where he’s inquisitive about everything. Why this, why that. Constantly. I can’t stop to think.

“When our kids were the same way at this age, I’d tell them, ‘Please can you shut up so I can think!'” he said.

For an eight-year-old, television is a great teaching aid. “The kids and we are enjoying reliving their childhood by replaying all the music DVDs and Disney videos long sitting idle in our collection … But human ears can only take so many reiterations of ‘Old MacDonalds’ and similar ditties,” said Mr Yap.

On a more serious note, the Yaps have a couple of priorities. The first is to apply for Singapore permanent residency for Keyuan. The couple, who were born in Malaysia, are US citizens with Singapore PR status, as are their three older children. They’ve lived here for 15 years.

The second is to set up a slew of medical specialist appointments in the next few months. Because of Keyuan’s condition, he needs to be assessed before they can get him proper medical insurance. The list includes a paediatrician, ear, nose and throat specialist, CT scans, audiology tests, speech therapy, dental checks, and vaccination updates.

IF IT HELPS ANOTHER CHILD, IT’S WORTH IT

While the initial week seems to gone well, given the age difference, the three teenagers will still have to figure out how to play big brothers and sister.

While Elliana was herself adopted by the Yaps roughly 16 years ago, she was a toddler then and is “not sure” how she can guide her youngest brother in adjusting to his adoption.

“I think they don’t quite know what to do with children that age,” said Mr Yap. “The good thing is that he’s very fond them. So that makes it easier for them to relate to him.”

Meanwhile, there’s been an “amazing” outpouring of well-wishes and support for the family – from friends and strangers alike, who were moved by Keyuan’s story.

They’ve come forward, said Mr Yap, with “all sorts of help and practical assistance in terms of clothes, books, school supplies” (because of course, the Yaps had long ago gotten rid of their older children’s early school material).

Said Dr Lim: “We’ve been deeply touched by the way Keyuan’s adoption has moved so many people. There has been such an outpouring of kindness, joy and encouragement which we hope will make a difference for good.”

Despite finding the media spotlight on their family a bit unnerving, the couple hope their story will help other children in need of families – be it back in the orphanage in China, in Singapore or elsewhere. 

Said Mr Yap said: “If this in any way helps other people to understand the whole adoption issue, and have their hearts moved to do something – it would be more than worth it.”

Read the first part of this story: China orphan who broke our viewers’ hearts finds a home, 4,500km away in Singapore

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