Introduction
Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Budget, which seeks to help Singaporeans tackle cost pressures and address anxieties related to inflation.
Sir, I was happy to read that real income increased in 2024, following a decline in 2023. This shows that the measures put in place by the PAP Government, which include bringing in good investments and creating good jobs, keeping the Singapore dollar strong to combat imported inflation, expanding the Progressive Wage Model to uplift wages of lower-income workers, and various other worker-related schemes, have borne fruit.
While inflation this year has eased and is expected to average between 1.5% to 2.5%, the price increases of the past will not go away, and we will have to adapt to the new reality of higher prices.
This is why I am glad that the Government has taken decisive moves to help Singaporeans cope with higher prices.
In my speech today, I wish to highlight how we must improve consumer protection, so that consumers can reap the full intended benefits from the various support measures provided by the Government. We must not allow unscrupulous businesses to profiteer from these support measures, at the expense of our consumers.
I will also highlight how we can do more to uplift the wages of our lower-income brothers and sisters, so that they do not get left behind as Singapore progresses.
Cost-of-living pressures remain a key concern
Sir, in NTUC’s latest survey on economic sentiments conducted from November to December last year, more than half of the survey respondents felt that their income had not increased sufficiently over the past 12 months to meet the rising cost of living. The additional $800 in CDC vouchers, additional U-Save rebates, increase in ComCare assistance schemes, and the new SG60 vouchers, will certainly help Singaporeans from all walks of life better cope with higher prices.
In Radin Mas, we have rolled out various community initiatives last year to help our residents cope with cost pressures.
Sir, these initiatives are made possible because of the generous donations and contributions by individuals and organisations. In Radin Mas, we have a strong community spirit where those who have more, chip in to help those who have less. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our generous sponsors and community partners, for working together with me and my team to help our most vulnerable residents.
In his Budget speech, the Prime Minister announced that over $600 million will be set aside by the Government and Tote Board to match donations made to charities and social causes in an effort to encourage philanthropy. I fully support this.
But we should do more to encourage philanthropy in all forms, beyond just monetary donations. I hope that the Government will encourage a more caring Singapore, and encourage more ground-up initiatives, like what we have started in Radin Mas, across our nation.
Beyond Government initiatives and community-led programmes, the private sector too must play its part in our whole-of-nation effort to help curb rising cost pressures.
NTUC and our enterprises are committed to do our part in ensuring that essentials remain accessible and affordable for Singaporeans.
Between 2019 and 2024, the NTUC FairPrice Group provided approximately $330 million in Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation, Senior Citizen, and CHAS discounts, as well as LinkPoints rebates to help ease the financial burden on households.
Over the same period, FairPrice has also returned more than $250 million in rebates to NTUC union members and FairPrice members.
Enhancing consumer protection will help alleviate cost-of-living pressures
But sir, we must ensure that Singapore has a robust consumer protection regime and a price transparent market, to ensure that consumers fully reap the benefits of Government and community-driven initiatives to cushion our rising cost-of-living.
According to the annual complaints statistics by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), consumers suffered close to $2 million in prepayment losses in 2024, this is more than quadruple – four times – of the losses reported in 2023. These losses were driven primarily by industries with large, lumpy expenses, such as renovation, bridal, and the beauty and spa sectors.
Beyond prepayment losses, e-commerce related complaints also reached an all-time high, surpassing even the peak brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
These are deeply troubling trends, and we must take decisive actions to foster a more trusted business trading environment and protect consumers from losing their hard-earned monies to unscrupulous businesses.
Mr Speaker, the last major amendment to the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act was in 2018. This was well before the boom in e-commerce, an industry that had its growth supercharged by the COVID-19 pandemic. As President of the Consumers Association of Singapore, I urge the Government to convene a panel to comprehensively review and update our consumer protection laws.
CASE stands ready to lead this effort. We will engage extensively with the business, legal, and academia communities, to ensure that a right balance is struck between protecting consumers while balancing Singapore’s reputation on ease of doing business, when proposing both legislative and non-legislative changes.
Improving price transparency in the marketplace
Sir, we must also improve price transparency in the marketplace.
Over the past few years, I have advocated for the nationwide implementation of unit pricing in Singapore. I first raised this issue in this House in 2022, speaking about the need to use unit pricing to combat “shrinkflation”, a phenomenon where retailers keep the price of a good unchanged, but shrink its volume, or shrink its quantity.
Unit pricing helps consumers see through pricing gimmicks quickly and easily. Several countries have long implemented unit pricing, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
Locally, the Price Kaki app launched by CASE has already implemented unit pricing in 2023. We now have unit pricing for over 6,000 items, including groceries and household items. Since its implementation, we have received much positive feedback on the usefulness of the unit pricing feature, and I am of the view that the time is now right for unit pricing to go beyond the Price Kaki app.
I urge the Government to mandate the display of unit pricing in all major online and physical retail stores. As a start, we could adopt the same parameters as our Disposable Carrier Bag Charge, where only larger players need to comply with the requirement.
The implementation of unit pricing will help consumers combat shrinkflation and allow them to stretch their dollar when shopping for groceries and other essential items.
Uplifting wages of our low-income earners
Sir, while inflation relief is important, the most sustainable way to help workers cope with the cost of living is to ensure sustained real wage growth and better job opportunities.
Mr Lim Swee Say put it best, when he said that “a job is the best welfare and full employment is the best protection for our workers.”
While I am heartened that Singapore’s Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, fell to a record low in 2024, we must continue our efforts to uplift our lower-wage workers.
Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary milestone of our Progressive Wage Model (PWM), a unique Progressive Wage Model.
From the very beginning, NTUC championed the idea of a wage ladder that would correspond to workers’ skills, productivity, and job responsibilities.
With the strong support of our tripartite partners, what started with the cleaning sector has now expanded into nine sectors and occupations, covering more than 155,000 lower-wage workers.
More importantly, this has translated into actual wage increases. From 2017 to 2022, PWM workers in the Cleaning, Security, and Landscape sectors saw a cumulative wage increase of 11%. This is higher than the median worker in the same period.
Beyond just wage growth, workers are leveraging PWM as a catalyst to actively advance their careers and upgrade their skills, ensuring that they are well-equipped for better job opportunities and higher-paying job roles in the long run.
I call on the Government to continue its strong support for the PWM. Let us jointly uplift our lower-wage workers, by providing them with stable jobs that have a progressive wage ladder and good career prospects.
NTUC will always stand alongside our lower-wage workers, taking action to uplift their wages and work prospects to ensure that no worker is left behind.
Conclusion
Mr Speaker, Budget 2025 comes amid an extremely uncertain geopolitical environment. Tensions between big global powers are rising and trade wars loom on the horizon. The use of tit-for-tat tariffs by major economies as a foreign policy tool will impact Singapore’s open and trade-dependent economy.
I am heartened that Budget 2025 takes decisive steps in helping Singaporeans navigate through the uncertainty by investing in our workers, and in providing a slew of cost-of-living support to all segments of Singapore.
As we spend prudently to support our nation, we must remember the importance of enhancing consumer protection and price transparency. We must help consumers make informed purchasing decisions and not fall prey easily to unscrupulous businesses.
NTUC cares for our lower-wage workers, and we will always strive to improve their lives and livelihoods. We must continue to review sectors where the introduction of PWM can result in better wages and better work prospects for our lower-income brothers and sisters.
I will also continue to work with the Government agencies and the industry stakeholders to improve our work environment, workplace safety and health, and mental health of all workers. Here, I would like to record my thanks to the Honourable Member Hazel Poa for suggesting in her speech yesterday for a ‘right to disconnect’ – something that I have been championing since 2020. I am glad that more members, including the PSP, are now supporting this too.
Sir, as we celebrate SG60, there is much that we can be proud of. But we must continue to do all we can to ensure that no one is left behind as our economy progresses.
Sir, I support the Budget.
