From the management transition to the GST hike, right here’s a fast take a look at some key occasions and modifications of the brand new 12 months.
Management handover
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong beforehand introduced plans handy over the management to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong by the Individuals’s Motion Celebration’s (PAP) seventieth birthday in November 2024.
Mr Wong will lead the PAP within the subsequent common election. He was picked by his friends to be the chief of the fourth-generation workforce in April 2022, and can succeed PM Lee, who has served as prime minister for practically 20 years since 2004.
The overall election needs to be held by November 2025, however political observers say it could possibly be known as in 2024.
GST hike and assist
From Jan 1, Singapore’s items and companies tax (GST) has been raised to 9 per cent. This enhance is a part of a two-stage elevate, which began in 2023 when the tax was bumped up from 7 per cent to eight per cent.
The Authorities introduced measures akin to Assurance Bundle payouts and GST vouchers in 2023 to assist Singaporeans deal with the tax hike.
The Assurance Bundle payouts vary from $200 to $800 a 12 months for all Singaporeans above 21. GST vouchers in 2024 will embody money payouts, MediSave top-ups and rebates to offset utility payments for eligible Singaporeans.
Gasoline, electrical energy and water to price extra
Because of the GST hike and soar in carbon taxes from $5 to $25 per tonne of emissions in 2024, Singaporeans can anticipate to pay extra for his or her utilities.
From Jan 1 to March 31, households provided by SP Group will see a 5 per cent enhance in electrical energy tariffs to 32.58 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) after GST, up from 31 cents presently. About 60 per cent of households purchase electrical energy from SP Group, in response to the Vitality Market Authority.
City fuel tariffs have additionally elevated by about 4 per cent to 25.23 cents per kWh, up from 24.21 cents per kWh, in response to Metropolis Vitality, the producer and retailer of piped fuel.
Water costs can even go up in April by 20 cents per cubic m, with a second deliberate 30-cent enhance in April 2025.
From January 2024 to December 2025, eligible Singaporean HDB households will obtain a further $20 per quarter in U-Save rebates – $80 a 12 months in whole – to cushion the influence of the will increase in carbon tax and water costs in 2024 and 2025.
Prolonged paternity, infant-care depart
From Jan 1, fathers might have extra time with their infants as government-paid paternity depart will likely be doubled to 4 weeks. Unpaid toddler care depart for folks can even be doubled to 12 days.
Employers can grant the extra two weeks of paternity depart on a voluntary foundation, which will likely be reimbursed by the Authorities.
Beneath the brand new legal guidelines, the government-paid paternity profit will equally be doubled from the present 14 days of an eligible father’s whole revenue to twenty-eight days. Fathers who don’t qualify for paternity depart due to their employment preparations might as a substitute be eligible for this profit, which is a money fee in lieu of paternity depart.
Every dad or mum is now eligible for 12 days of unpaid toddler care depart within the youngster’s first two years, up from the earlier six days.
Full subject-based banding in colleges
Secondary colleges will now comply with a full subject-based banding mannequin, permitting college students to study topics at completely different ranges of problem. The transfer has been progressively rolled out since 2020.
In 2019, the Ministry of Schooling introduced that the prevailing Categorical, Regular (Educational) and Regular (Technical) streaming could be abolished rather than a posting group system from 2024.
College students are admitted to secondary colleges via three posting teams primarily based on their outcomes, and can take most of their topics on the corresponding topic stage, however may additionally be capable to take topics at a much less or extra demanding stage.
Which means a scholar might take a topic at a better stage if he isn’t coping properly, or problem himself with a tougher stage if he’s doing properly, primarily based on his outcomes and his tempo of studying.
Push for on-line security
Within the second half of 2024, social media platforms like Fb and TikTok should submit on-line security reviews yearly to be revealed on the Infocomm Media Growth Authority’s web site.
The report should embody particulars on what steps the platforms have taken to mitigate Singapore customers’ publicity to dangerous content material, how a lot and what kinds of dangerous content material customers right here encounter on the service, and what actions have been taken on consumer reviews.
These publicly launched reviews will assist customers make an knowledgeable selection on which platforms are greatest suited to offer a secure consumer expertise.
Transport Minister S. Iswaran’s ongoing probe
Transport Minister S. Iswaran continues to be on a depart of absence from his ministerial and MP duties following investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in July 2023.
CPIB mentioned Mr Iswaran was helping with an investigation, with no additional data on the main points of the probe. He was arrested on July 11, 2023, and subsequently launched on bail.
In his absence, Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat is Appearing Minister for Transport, and Mr Iswaran’s portfolio on the Ministry of Commerce and Trade is being coated by different political office-holders.
Stage 4 of Thomson-East Coast Line
Work on seven stations alongside Stage 4 of the Thomson-East Coast Line has been considerably accomplished, and the stations will likely be handed over to operator SMRT in early 2024.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) mentioned in December 2023 that it’s finishing up prepare testing on the road.
The seven stations are Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap and Bayshore.
Two new trains for the Bukit Panjang LRT will arrive in 2024, following the first two of 19 new trains that arrived in 2022. They are going to be put into service after testing, and change the first-generation trains which were in service since 1999.
On the Sengkang-Punggol LRT line, 25 new two-car LRT trains will likely be delivered from 2024 to exchange the prevailing ones.
The North East Line extension from Punggol station to Punggol Coast station can even open in 2024, and development work on King Albert Park, Clementi and West Coast stations for the second part of the Cross Island Line is anticipated to begin within the first quarter.
Assessment of taxi, ride-hailing companies
The overview of taxi and ride-hailing companies, which incorporates the supply of rides, is because of be accomplished within the second quarter of 2024 to make sure the companies keep related to commuter wants.
This train, by which LTA will look into the point-to-point transport business’s construction and regulatory framework, comes amid an increase in ridership.
On common, the variety of each day journeys by each street-hail and ride-hailing companies rose by 18.6 per cent, from 517,000 in 2020 to 613,000 in July 2023.
The overview will deal with three areas – enhancing the steadiness of the availability of taxis and ride-hailing companies throughout late-night hours when there are experience shortages, making certain that companies will be supplied with minimal disruptions and downtime, and to verify companies cater to the wants of commuter teams akin to wheelchair customers and households with younger kids.
New HDB property classification
The present property classification system for HDB flats will likely be overhauled from the second half of 2024.
As an alternative of demarcating estates as mature and non-mature, new Construct-To-Order flats will likely be categorised into Prime, Plus and Commonplace flats, with buying-and-selling restrictions for every tier.
PM Lee mentioned the excellence between mature and non-mature estates has blurred through the years, as non-mature estates have grow to be extra built-up with higher facilities and transport infrastructure.
The demarcation of cities as mature and non-mature was launched in 1992, and was utilized by patrons to type a top-line impression of what to anticipate by way of pricing and an space’s facilities.
Supply: Her World
