Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is set to deliver his National Day Rally 2023 speech on Sunday (Aug 20) at the Institute of Technical Education headquarters in Ang Mo Kio at 6.45pm.

Ahead of the much anticipated rally, former Nominated Member of Parliament Walter Theseira, Associate Professor for Economics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, and Nadia Samdin, Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, and member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development - share their perspectives on key issues such as housing, rising cost of living and support for an ageing population.

Presented by: Lynlee Foo & Ryan Huang

This podcast is produced and edited by Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Highlights: 

(00:00) Introduction

(01:59) Nadia - can you broadly tell us your wishlist for this year's NDR, based on the issues that you've encountered on-the-ground as an MP?

(02:49) Walter, you've got a lot that you watch - you've got your eye on the economy, you've got your eye especially on the transport sector. So, what's your wishlist looking like?

(04:06) Let's talk about housing - it's something that many of us are passionate about and we've seen the government introduce cooling measures such as higher additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) rates for residential property in April. Based on your interactions with residents, what are the top concerns and aside from affordability, what other issues have they raised?

(05:19) It's a very interesting mix of priorities. You mentioned SERS for the older bunch, they want to stay where they are typically, whereas the other bunch want to see higher prices. So there's a very tough balance, right?

(06:19) Looking at the May Day Rally, Walter, we had DPM Lawrence Wong, he said, "When you think about affordability, please don't just look at the headline price of the BTO flat; also consider how the price relates to income, as well as the proportion of income that's needed to service the housing loan." How does that pair up with how income is moving? Are there particular sectors that could benefit from a push on that front? 

(08:04) Walter - could you weigh in on the challenges behind keeping home prices affordable against market forces? 

(10:00) Nadia - let's talk about the rising costs of living, when you talk to the residents around you, and walk the grounds, what are you hearing from them, where's the pinch and what areas do you feel need more support? 

(10:59) Linking that to ageing and putting into context here, 1 in 4 will be a senior by 2030. Against that backdrop, what enhancements do you hope to see - is it more on infrastructure or the softer side of things?

(12:36) Walter, when you talk about some of the economic benefits out there behind ramping up efforts for infrastructure to tackle ageing, how do we stack up against other countries on that front? What more should we be looking at?