Singaporeans wary of believing futuristic policy promises

After the announcement of new home improvement programmes such as the new Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally this year, many Singaporeans have taken to social media to express their skepticism at the upcoming programmes, projected 20 years into the future.

Entrepreneur, author, and socio-political commentator Devadas Krishnadas wrote an open letter titled, ‘Beware the danger of making policy promises too far into the future’. In his letter, he said, “Only in Singapore can a government commit another government four terms into the future to significant but vaguely specified structural financial commitments without anyone raising an eyebrow, with the parliamentary debate focused instead on implementation details”.

He also added that such future policy promises pose two risks. The first, that it sets the expectation of the current political leaders to continue to be leaders. And, the second, that the expectations of the public are raised, and future governments may not always be able to meet these expectations.

Other netizens have also created posts cautioning fellow Singaporeans of
these policy promises, and to be slightly more discerning.

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obbana@theindependent.sg