The Palm Issue #1: NDR 2025
In our inaugural issue of The Palm, we offer our views on the National Day Rally and share about our recent ground outreach activities.
Hello,
We are excited to have you with us on this first issue of the digital version of The Palm by the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
The Palm is PSP’s official newsletter, through which we hope to provide you with our perspectives on Singapore politics and policy, and keep you in the know of what we are doing on the ground. This is how we will continue to be a check and balance on the ruling party, together with you.
Every other Monday, we will send you a deep dive into the latest political developments in Singapore, inside and outside Parliament. In this issue, we will start by offering our perspectives on what was said (and not said) in PM Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally (“NDR”), and share what we have been up to since GE2025!
We hope you enjoy your read, and we look forward to hearing your views in the comments!
NDR 2025: Tough questions unanswered
PM Lawrence Wong devoted a significant portion of this year’s NDR to jobs and the economy. We welcome the measures announced to support Singaporean workers as Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) disrupts the job market for new graduates and older workers alike, such as more course offerings under the SkillsFuture Level Up programme and a new Graduate Industry Traineeship (GRIT) programme. However, we believe that more needs to be done to address the multi-faceted root causes of unemployment and underemployment in Singapore.
Unemployment and underemployment in Singapore are multi-faceted. Beyond the rise of AI, Singaporeans have been and are being displaced from their jobs due to different reasons. We believe that these causes fall under three broad categories:
(1) Transferring of jobs to citizens of other countries who come to Singapore for job opportunities.
(2) Offshoring of jobs to other countries with lower labour costs.
(3) Automation and AI making certain jobs redundant altogether.
Is SkillsFuture enough for older workers?
The Government’s main strategy to boost employability has been to encourage workers to upskill. Since 2015, the Government has invested billions to subsidise training through SkillsFuture. While the SkillsFuture Level Up programme launched in 2024 to support workers aged 40 and above is an improvement, real employability outcomes should be the ultimate indicator of the effectiveness of the programme.
Unemployment may not be alleviated by boosting the skills of workers alone if employers prioritise offshoring jobs to take advantage of lower labour costs over the skills of its employees, or to employ a citizen of another country in Singapore. An example of the former was when 80 Singapore-based Standard Chartered employees were retrenched in June 2025, and their jobs were offshored to India. If it is the latter, it may involve the displacement of a Singaporean worker and increase in social costs to maintain a non-Singaporean worker here.
For older workers, the key challenge may also lie not in upskilling, but possibly in overcoming entrenched age discrimination, which a recent IPS survey found to be a greater concern than racism or sexism. During the pandemic, nearly half of those aged over 40 who completed the SGUnited Skills (SGUS) and SGUnited Pathway Programmes – Company Training (SGUP-CT) remained jobless six months after upskilling themselves. This is a fundamental issue which needs to be addressed through active enforcement of the Workplace Fairness Act, to ensure that workers are not being discriminated against due to their age.
Traineeships, traineeships, and more traineeships for fresh graduates?
Another worrying trend is the lower rate of employment of fresh graduates.
The 2024 Graduate Employment Survey revealed some troubling figures. Only 79.5% of graduates secured a full-time job within six months, down from 84.1% in 2023. Polytechnic graduates fared worse, with only 54.6% securing full-time employment within six months, compared to 59.8% in 2023. Moreover, there is no further breakdown of the data on how many of these “full-time” roles are actually contract jobs of one year or more.
This rise in precarious employment, which encompasses part-time, freelance and gig work (and traineeships for that matter), has been linked to poorer mental health and delayed life decisions such as marriage and family. The decline in stable employment among young people is concerning given our already-low birth rate.
It is doubtful whether the new GRIT traineeships are sufficient to help younger Singaporeans. While traineeships were used to overcome severe but temporary job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, today’s challenges are structural and long-term, with the IMF estimating that 38.6% of Singaporean jobs may be at high risk of AI automation. Furthermore, GRIT trainees will only receive a monthly allowance of $1,800 to $2,400. In an economic climate that emphasises cutting labour costs, the permanent availability of such low-paying traineeships could also possibly perversely incentivise companies to stop hiring full-time workers and rely on Government-subsidised trainees instead.
Will the Economic Resilience Taskforce answer the tough questions?
The Government has assembled an impressive Economic Resilience Taskforce, with five focus committees, four full ministers, and ten ministers of state to complete an economic strategic review by mid-2026. We hope that the Taskforce will conduct a deep re-evaluation of our economic structure, which may be what is needed to combat unemployment and underemployment caused by AI and offshoring.
Recent research has shown that blue-collar jobs requiring a physical presence or strong human interaction, such as nursing assistants or water treatment plant operators, are least likely to be disrupted by AI. Such jobs are also less likely to be offshored overseas. Yet, Singapore has for decades outsourced these jobs to lower-paid foreign workers. Can we restructure these blue-collar jobs to be more productive and better-paying, thereby becoming more attractive and viable career options for Singaporeans? If we look abroad, jobs like electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and technicians can be highly-trained and well-paying professions. We can explore how we can add more incentives to reward skilled tradesmen in our wage structure. The Government could also consider working with professional associations to enhance the prestige of these jobs.
We also need a serious review of our education system. Given that AI can now achieve feats beyond many humans, such as a gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad, it is ever more important for us to strengthen the skills that remain uniquely human, such as creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence, among our students. Besides a rethink of what we want and how to impart to our students, we also need to continue enhancing our highly regarded vocational education system as we push to professionalise blue-collar jobs to ensure that Singaporeans have multiple pathways to success.
Hopefully, the Taskforce will feel empowered by the PAP Government’s strong mandate in GE2025 to engage Singaporeans in these difficult but necessary conversations about the future of work. It is just not enough to simply repeat “jobs, jobs, and jobs” or “traineeships, traineeships, and traineeships”.
CDCs: the new Workforce Singapore to match jobs closer to homes?
PM Wong also announced that Community Development Councils (CDCs) will lead a new effort to match jobseekers with jobs nearer to where they live.
PSP supports this initiative. During GE2025, one of our candidates, Sani Ismail, advocated to bring new jobs to West Coast-Jurong West GRC so that more residents can work near where they live. This should be a priority, because it can provide Singaporeans with more job options, improve work-life balance, and reduce our carbon footprint as well. We hope the new CDC-led job matching approach will improve job opportunities for Singaporeans, especially closer to where they live.
We hope the CDCs will work with Workforce Singapore and the Ministry of Manpower to improve existing tools like MyCareersFuture, and enhance the job-seeking experience for Singaporeans, so that they can easily find jobs within reasonable commuting distance from their homes.
Can every Singaporean attain good health on their own?
At the NDR, PM Wong also encouraged Singaporeans to “watch what we eat”, “cut back on excessive sugar and salt”, and “exercise regularly”. However, the harsh reality is that these “simple” habits may be out of reach for many Singaporeans.
For example, processed foods like instant noodles, white bread, and luncheon meat may be the only affordable food options for low-income Singaporeans. While budget meals at hawker centres are affordable, they may not provide balanced nutrition, as they are often laden with carbohydrates or omit more expensive proteins such as meat. As for exercise, it may be difficult for working Singaporeans to find the energy or motivation to do so due to long working hours. Singaporeans work 44.6 hours per week, among the highest in the world. These systemic barriers cannot be overcome by individual willpower alone.
While we support the Government’s Healthier SG and Age Well SG initiatives to ensure that Singaporeans can age well with longer health-spans, we believe the Government can enact broader structural changes to create an environment that is conducive for Singaporeans to stay in good health for their entire lives. The Government should consider implementing our GE2025 manifesto proposals to increase wages and improve work-life balance. These include enacting a minimum living wage of $2,250 per month, adding 3 more public holidays, and reducing the statutory weekly number of working hours from 44 to 40 hours. To achieve real progress in Singaporeans’ health, we need a human-centric socio-economic system that empowers Singaporeans to live healthier lives across all income levels.
All in all, SG60 is a good opportunity for Singaporeans to reflect as a nation about what we are currently facing and where we are heading. We believe that all Singaporeans should be informed about the issues that affect our lives and livelihoods and participate in the national conversation. We at the PSP will continue to work with Singaporeans in speaking up on policy matters and push for a better, more compassionate, and more equitable Singapore.
PSP On The Ground
As Singapore celebrated its 60th birthday, PSP joined Singaporeans on the ground to show our love for our country.
On 2 August, volunteers and members of our Central Executive Committee (CEC) greeted residents with mini national flags at Teck Whye and Taman Jurong, including our Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai, as well as our newly co-opted CEC members Stephanie Tan, Lawrence Pek and Sani Ismail, all of whom were first-time candidates at GE2025 in May this year.
On National Day, residents of Jurong Spring were pleasantly surprised by concurrent flag distribution efforts by both PSP’s Leong Mun Wai and Sani Ismail, as well as the PAP’s Dr Hamid Razak at 505 Jurong West Market.
Regardless of our political differences, we are united by our commitment to serving all Singaporeans!
Not far from Boon Lay, Stephanie Tan also walked the grounds of Pioneer along with members of our Youth Wing.
PSP is excited to continue our groundwork and we hope to meet more residents soon. Please keep an eye out for many more initiatives to come, and do join us in serving our people together. You can sign up as a volunteer here!
good one 👍
good one 👍