WE OVERCAME
A Global Crisis and Emerged Stronger
CHAPTER 1
Source: Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).
The last electoral term began at the height of Covid-19.
We acted quickly to save our lives, our jobs and our future. We:
- secured early access to vaccines
- provided free medical treatment for Covid-19
- protected healthcare workers
- extended strong social support through the Care and Support Package
- pivoted to online teaching so our children could continue learning
- connected digitally to lift spirits and morale
We kept the economy going. We:
- kept air and sea ports open so that critical supplies could continue flowing
- saved jobs and livelihoods through the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme (SIRS)
- initiated financing schemes to keep businesses afloat
- supported the arts
After the Circuit Breaker, we:
- proactively matched jobs and upgraded skills with the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package
- incentivised hiring with the Jobs Growth Incentive
- boosted hard hit sectors like travel, tourism, taxis and private hire transport
We deployed $80 billion to combat the pandemic, of which $40 billion was from the Reserves. The PAP’s careful stewardship of our Reserves over many years allowed us to weather the crisis without needing to borrow and burden our children and grandchildren with debt.
Singapore returned to DORSCON Green in February 2023 with one of the world’s lowest Covid-19 mortality rates.
Together, we emerged stronger.