All Families Empowered to Succeed
1. Chairman, several Members, such as Mr Xie Yao Quan, Mr Melvin Yong, Ms Mariam Jaafar, and Mr Cai Yinzhou, have raised concerns about improving social mobility. This has always been an area of focus for MSF. As we saw in the MOF occasional paper last month, Singapore has done relatively well in this area compared to other advanced economies. However, like in other advanced economies, pressures are likely to persist, or even intensify. Hence, MSF will redouble our efforts to enhance social mobility.
2. MSF’s goal is to support lower-income families to progressively achieve the 3S outcomes – stability, self-reliance, and ultimately, social mobility. We are going beyond social assistance to social empowerment, by supporting our families through three things:
a. First, a safety net. When families fall on hard times, we provide a safety net through immediate support.
b. Second, a steadying hand. MSF provides a boost so families can get back on their feet and take the next step forward.
c. Third, a supported ladder. MSF supports families with opportunities to grow their own resources. Such opportunities, when harnessed, will allow families to reach, grab the next rung, and pull themselves up.
d. In this way, MSF empowers families to succeed by overcoming challenges, seizing opportunities, and most importantly, doing so with dignity
ComLink+
3. This is what drives ComLink+.
a. Today, MSF supports around 11,000 ComLink+ families.
b. We started with families living in public rental housing and we have been expanding to other lower-income families, such as those on KidSTART.
c. Each ComLink+ family has a SSO family coach or FSC case worker. They are the family’s greatest champion – someone in their corner who understands their circumstances and walks alongside them towards their longer-term goals.
d. Mr Xie Yao Quan suggested efforts to address slowing social mobility. ComLink+ seeks to do precisely that by providing targeted support across key domains and over different life stages, such as income security, children’s development and education, housing, family functioning, financial resilience, and health.
i. As families’ needs are varied and dynamic, we codevelop an action plan with each family.
ii. As mentioned by Minister Masagos, MSF is committed to invest in research to better understand the impact of these efforts.
iii. We do not have all the answers on how to best support families to achieve social mobility. But by learning continuously and applying these insights, we will be able to refine our intervention and update our slate of support.
“From A Safety Net to A Steadying Hand”
4. When family coaches or case workers start journeying with families, they tend to the families’ immediate needs. This could mean referring the family for ComCare assistance and other financial support for some interim relief. Together, these form our safety net for families.
5. But a safety net may not be enough for upward mobility. This is where we offer a hand to give families a boost to progress in a steady, sustained manner.
ComLink+ Progress Packages
6. We therefore introduced the ComLink+ Progress Packages to encourage families moving towards their goals.
a. Launched progressively over the last two years, these packages boost families’ efforts through financial top-ups when they take action in four areas: preschool enrolment and attendance, employment, debt clearance, and home ownership.
b. Let me introduce Joseph, a family coach, who has been working with Ms Erna and her husband, Mr Suhaimi, together with their young children, aged one to 10.
c. Joseph remembers when Mr Suhaimi shared his dream to move out of their rental flat and into their own home. Hearing that, Joseph worked with the family to chart out a roadmap and encouraged them along the way to achieve this dream.
i. Acting on the plan, both Ms Erna and Mr Suhaimi are working hard. They are committed to employment and their children’s education.
ii. With ComLink+ Progress Package top-ups, they are also able to set aside more savings for the future.
7. However, as noted by Mr Melvin Yong, some families find the conditions too complicated or difficult to meet. With that, as announced by PM Wong in his Budget Speech, we are enhancing the ComLink+ Progress Packages this year.
a. First, all ComLink+ families will now receive a new payout of $500 each quarter. We will call this the Partnership Payout. It reflects the families’ commitment to work with us to improve their circumstances. Families will receive this payout after agreeing to be on ComLink+,and will continue to receive it so long as they keep taking steps towards their goals. With steady, predictable support, families can better focus on longer-term goals.
b. Second, many families work hard to maintain employment and regular preschool attendance. Yet, despite genuine effort, some may not be able to meet their targets due to their circumstances. We are therefore adjusting our conditions to better support families with more complex challenges.
i. For employment, we will look at the whole family’s efforts, rather than the income of each person. For example, Ms Erna’s part-time job salary currently does not qualify her for payout on its own. However, with the enhanced progress package, it will now be counted together with her husband’s earnings towards their family’s employment milestones.
ii. For preschool, we will introduce intermediate milestones to encourage families’ progress towards regular attendance.
c. Overall, a ComLink+ family with two preschool-aged children can receive up to $10,000 every year by maintaining a household income of at least $2,000 and regular preschool attendance.
d. More of the payout will be in cash to better support families facing day-to-day cashflow challenges. At the same time, a portion will continue to be placed in families’ CPF and Child Development accounts, so that we support not just today’s needs, but also tomorrow’s security.
8. As noted by Mr Cai Yinzhou, some families may be hesitant to get on board ComLink+. Together with these enhancements, family coaches will step up efforts to reach out to families by working closely with government agencies and community partners in their support system.
“A Supported Ladder”
9. Once families get back on their feet and start to move forward, we support them to take charge of their long-term progress. At MSF, our goal is to create opportunities that families can seize for themselves.
10. Employment is one of the best ways to do this. However, lower-income families often face barriers to employment that are not so straightforward to address, especially with limited financial resources.
a. Even with a stable job, they may need certain educational qualifications or skills to unlock higher wages.
11. We will therefore put in place more enablers to bridge the gap to employment, starting with three enhancements: facilitate job matching, enable upskilling, and support caregiving. Allow me to elaborate.
Job-matching
12. On job-matching, MSF is reviewing how to provide tailored support for lower-income families navigating the world of work, as they may face more challenges finding suitable jobs.
13. For example, lower-income jobseekers tend to work in service industries where work schedules are less flexible on short notice. This makes it harder to deal with family emergencies, such as picking their children from school when they fall ill.
14. MSF is thus working with partners such as e2i, AKG and TOUCH Community Services to strengthen employment support for these families to prepare them for work, find suitable jobs, and ultimately do well in their jobs.
Upskilling
15. We will also provide more support for upskilling.
a. Some ComLink+ families today have younger jobseekers, who with the right skills, can unlock better-paying jobs.
b. While broad-based schemes such as SkillsFuture exist, ComLink+ families may benefit from a more targeted approach.
c. Families bear some costs when they choose to upskill. For example, their income may be disrupted during their studies, and it is not certain even that they will get a job with a higher salary after.
d. MSF has observed that this deters some ComLink+ families from upskilling, even when they want to do so and even when they have the opportunity to do so.
16. That is why we rolled out a ComLink+ Skills Upgrading Support Pilot this January.
a. When ComLink+ individuals aged 18 to 39 undergo full-time education or vocational training, they will receive support for basic living expenses.
b. They will also receive an incentive of $500 for every 3 months that they sustain their education.
Caregiving support for young children
17. On caregiving, parents will have peace of mind to work when they know that their children are being taken care of and meaningfully engaged after school hours.
18. MSF supports this by making after-school care more accessible, more affordable.
a. As announced by PM in his Budget speech, MSF will increase the Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) income threshold from $4,500 to $6,500, and update the income tiers. This will benefit around 13,000 students.
b. We are also giving parents greater assurance of support, so that they can plan ahead.
i. Parents can now submit their SCFA applications up to 6 months before their child’s enrolment in a Student Care Centre. Eligible parents will be granted inprinciple approval, which guarantees that they will receive SCFA once they enrol in an eligible centre.
ii. We are also extending the maximum SCFA assistance period from 24 months to 36 months
19. Mr Cai Yinzhou highlighted that children should have opportunities to continue developing holistically outside school hours. We totally agree.
20. As a parent myself, the time I spend with my children after hours, after work allows me to bond with them and explore their interests.
a. Lower-income families, who are often stretched in time and resources, could especially benefit from additional support to purposefully engage their children.
b. As part of Grow Well SG, we have worked with Families for Life partners to provide low-cost activities for screen-free family bonding. Families can enjoy children’s books, discounted attractions, and community events.
Thriving as One
Social-Health Integration
21. Working towards the 3S outcomes is a long journey for our ComLink+ families. One of the factors that can derail progress is dealing with health issues.
a. When we are unwell, it is not easy to meet our responsibilities at home, at school, or at work, let alone pursue our aspirations.
b. And yet, for many ComLink+ families who are busy making ends meet, they tend to deprioritise these health concerns.
c. Over time, this can lead to poorer health outcomes, leaving some families trapped in a vicious cycle where poor health makes it harder to stabilise their lives, and life’s pressures make it even harder for them to stay well.
d. We want to help them break out of this cycle.
22. Therefore, as mentioned by Minister Masagos, we trialled a new model of support in 2025.
a. We tested how family coaches and healthcare staff together could achieve two things:
i. First, set health goals and actions that support families to take care of their health even as they juggle competing needs.
ii. And second, streamline service delivery, so families do not have to interact with too many officers, which can be overwhelming.
23. MSF, MOH, and the healthcare clusters are finetuning the model and will extend it to more ComLink+ families this year. Together with the extension of Healthier SG to younger ComLink+ families shared by Minister Masagos, we hope families will be empowered to take charge of their health.
24. Ms Mariam Jaafar would be pleased to know that as we develop more interventions to support families towards the 3S outcomes, families will not face a navigation nightmare. Instead, it has always been the intent of ComLink+ for family coaches to co-develop action plans with families that sequence the interventions in a manageable way. Family coaches will also connect families to the support and resources to achieve their goals. This is how ComLink+ aims to provide each family with a pathway towards social mobility tailored to their needs.
Whole-of-Society Partnerships
25. Such efforts reveal how we can do better together.
26. But the Government cannot do this alone. Minister Masagos proposed 3Cs to guide how we partner with others. We will Collaborate, Cooperate, and Co-Create. Because truly, it takes a whole-of-society effort to uplift each other.
Ownership. We look forward to more partners coming onboard.
28. With tighter partnerships, we can weave stronger safety nets, offer more steadying hands, and craft sturdier supported ladders. Together, we will journey with our families to achieve stability, self-reliance, and social mobility.
29. Chairman, in Malay, please.
Vernacular Section
Pembukaan – Realiti Cabaran Semasa
30. Pada zaman yang penuh cabaran ini, terdapat banyak rintangan yang dihadapi ramai keluarga Singapura. Ini termasuk kos sara hidup yang kian meningkat, keperluan untuk meningkatkan kemahiran dalam ekonomi yang pesat berubah, serta pelbagai tanggungjawab seharian yang sering menguji daya tahan dan ketabahan keluarga-keluarga kita.
31. Namun demikian, kita terus berdiri teguh, tabah menghadapi cabaran.
Kemandiria
32. Bak kata pepatah, "Usaha tangga kejayaan". Setiap langkah kecil yang diambil dengan kecekapan minda, kecekalan hati dan semangat kerjasama akan membawa kita lebih dekat kepada apa yang diimpikan.
33. Keluarga seperti Puan Erna mencerminkan semangat ini. Suami Puan Erna, yang bertugas sebagai seorang kerani, sedang berusaha untuk dapatkan lesen memandu - supaya ada peluang pekerjaan yang lebih baik. Puan Erna pula gigih bekerja sambilan dengan lebih kerap walaupun dia sibuk mengurus dan menjaga anak-anak. Dengan sokongan yang berterusan dan menyeluruh, usaha mereka akan membuahkan hasil yang lebih bermakna.
Sokongan Pemerintah untuk Memperkukuh Usaha Individu
34. Dalam perjalanan meningkatkan mutu hidup, keluarga seperti Puan Erna tidak perlu melaluinya sendirian. MSF bertekad untuk menyokong setiap keluarga yang memerlukan bantuan supaya mereka boleh mencapai kemantapan, kemandirian dan kemajuan.
35. Justeru, kita akan memperkukuhkan Pakej Kemajuan ComLink+ supaya lebih ramai keluarga boleh dapatkan sokongan yang diperlukan untuk langkah seterusnya.
36. Dengan peningkatan Pakej ini, keluarga-keluarga seperti Puan Erna dapat menampung kos perbelanjaan harian dengan lebih baik serta bina duit simpanan untuk masa hadapan.
37. MSF juga akan meningkatkan sokongan penjagaan lepas waktu sekolah, dengan menaikkan kriteria pendapatan Bantuan Kewangan Yuran Penjagaan Pelajar (SCFA) daripada $4,500 kepada $6,500. Lebih daripada 13,000 pelajar dan keluarga mereka akan dapat sokongan ini.
Bekerjasama Sebagai Satu Keluarga Besar
sokongan pekerjaan, serta peluang pembangunan kemahiran bagi keluarga berpendapatan rendah.
39. Kita mesti berdiri teguh bersama keluarga-keluarga yang memerlukan. Kita menghargai usaha badan-badan Melayu/Islam kita selama ini dan berharap lebih ramai lagi pihak yang akan berganding bahu dengan MSF. Ini demi membentuk sebuah masyarakat yang prihatin dan bersatu padu.
Penutup – Masyarakat yang Prihatin dan Inklusif untuk Semua
40. Dengan kerjasama yang erat, kita dapat bina masyarakat yang prihatin dan inklusif untuk semua orang pada setiap peringkat hidup.
yang kukuh adalah tunjang kekuatan masyarakat yang berjaya. Inilah tanggungjawab kita bersama.
Conclusion
They will never have to walk alone.
43. In MSF, we believe that collective efforts by the government, partners, and the families themselves, will turn obstacles into opportunities, trials into triumphs, hardships into hope for families who need it the most.
44. As a society, we need to ensure that no family is trapped by their circumstances, no child is defined by their starting point, no potential goes unrealised, and no hope beyond reach. This is not just a social policy, but a moral responsibility.
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