But there is one area where we can do more now, and that's childcare leave. Today, childcare leave is not tied to the number of children you have. It's the same whether you have one child or more. Every working parent now receives six days if their youngest child is six years or below, two days if their youngest child is 7 to 12 years old. That's for every working parent.
Many parents tell us this is not enough, because having more children means greater caregiving responsibilities, and older children still need their parents. The needs are different, but they do not go away. So parents often end up using their own annual leave.
So we will increase childcare leave, and we will do it such that the more children you have, the more leave you will get.
Here is what the new arrangement looks like. Every working parent will get 8 days with one child aged 12 and below, 10 days with two children aged 12 and below, and 12 days with three children, three or more children.
When you add it up, the increase is significant. Take a working couple with three primary school children. Today they receive 4 days of childcare leave. With these changes, they will receive 24 days.
Today we have several different schemes and ways to support parents, like the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, the Child Development Account, and the Large Family Scheme. Most of the support comes when the child is born, and the support varies depending on the birth order of the child. So the schemes have become quite complex, and many parents find it hard to understand. So we will make several changes. We will make things simpler.
Every child will receive the same level of support, and we will provide more support not just at birth but throughout the years as children grow up. And here is how it will work. Every newborn will receive a baby gift of $10,000,
a MediSave grant of $5,000, and a Child Development Account with an initial grant of $5,000 and a dollar-for-dollar matching grant of another $5,000.
This is what you get at birth. But the support will not stop there. Every child will continue to get annual Child Development Account top-ups of $2,000 every year from age one all the way to age 16.
They will also get education top-ups every year in primary and also in secondary school. And at 17, they will get a further top-up of $10,000 into their post-secondary education account.
So taken together, every Singaporean child will receive almost $70,000 in direct financial support as they grow up. Today, Singaporeans enjoy affordable primary education regardless of household income and regardless of whether both parents are working. Likewise, we want every Singaporean child to have access to quality preschool at fees that families can comfortably afford.
So we aim to reduce full-day childcare fees to $150 a month,
and infant care fees to $300 a month.
So these lower fees will apply to every Singaporean child regardless of household income. But lower-income families will continue to get additional subsidies and pay even less. We will need a few years to get there. We want the lower fees to be more widely available. So we first need to significantly expand the network of government-supported operators.
We will provide support to operators who are keen to come on board and meet our requirements. As the network expands, we will progressively bring fees down. We want to ensure that the vast majority of Singaporean couples can continue to have access to subsidised public housing. So we will raise the income ceiling
for BTO flats. It will go up from $14,000 to $16,000,
for executive condos from $16,000 to $18,000.
Today, we already give priority to couples who are engaged as well as married couples. But once you have children, I believe you should receive even greater priority.
So, we will give first-timer families applying for a new flat one additional ballot chance for every child they have or are expecting.
This will significantly improve their chances of getting a flat. So, the more children you have, the more ballot chances you will receive.
Over the coming decades, we intend to merge several of these islands into one larger island, just as we did to create Jurong Island.
This new island won't just be for petrochemicals. It can support a new generation of industries, including advanced manufacturing facilities. It can accommodate new power generation infrastructure to meet Singapore's future needs.
Sudong now has an airstrip that the SAF uses during emergencies. So Chan Chun Sing has reminded me, don't forget the SAF.
Indeed, we will make sure there is space for that, too. These are long-term plans. We are studying them carefully. Jurong Island shaped our economy for the last 50 years. This new western island can help shape Singapore for the next 50 years and beyond.
Next, let's look at Sentosa. Its last major transformation was more than 15 years ago with Resorts World and Universal Studios. It's time for another major refresh.
We want to bring people closer to nature. So, we will enhance Sentosa's beaches and waterfront all along here. Part of Sentosa's western coastline over here is not accessible to the public.
This area is home to rich marine life and unique geology, including distinctive coastal cliffs. We will improve access while preserving its natural character so that more Singaporeans can discover a side of Sentosa they have never seen before.
Next to Sentosa, there is Pulau Brani, and we have an opportunity to transform it once port operations move out. We can create entirely new attractions and experiences in Brani. NTC will build its new downtown south resort there.
We will reclaim some land to better connect Brani and Sentosa. So together, Sentosa and Brani will become one integrated destination. They will transform our southern waterfront and offer even more for Singaporeans and visitors to see, do, and enjoy.
Next, Long Island. This entire stretch here, one day, Long Island will become another new waterfront for future generations. They will live there, raise their families there, and perhaps tell their own children that this too was once part of the sea.
Finally, Pulau Tekong. Tekong is our largest outlying island. It used to be two islands, Tekong Kechil and Tekong Besar, with reclaimed land around Tekong Besar and the bund around Tekong Kechil completed. So the two are now connected, and there is more to come because we have further reclamation plans for the southern part of Tekong.
All that means more training space for the SAF.
But even after meeting the SAF's needs, there will still be around 500 hectares available for future civilian users. That's about the size of Toa Payoh town. We have not decided what to use this land for, and we don't have to decide now. What matters is that we have the space, and that gives us valuable options for the future.
Today we are in the midst of another technological revolution. Last year I spoke about the rapid advances in artificial intelligence. In just one year, the technology has moved even faster than many expected. We started with AI that could answer questions. Now we have AI agents that can carry out tasks on our behalf.
So that is how we manage the impact of technological change on jobs. We do not hold back new technologies simply because they are disruptive. But neither do we leave affected workers to fend for themselves. We support our workers through the transition. We will ensure that every worker shares in the fruits of Singapore's progress.
Jobs are not the only concern. As technology becomes more powerful, we also have to guard against risks that are harder to predict. We are already seeing signs of this with AI.
Recently, OpenAI tested and trained one of its agents. It was given certain tasks to complete, but it went beyond the test environment, escaped into the wider internet, and broke into the systems of another company. No one told the AI agent to attack the company. But in trying to complete its task, the agent did things which its developers did not want it to do.
Developments like this are unsettling. AI agents are becoming more capable very quickly. They will be able to do more on our behalf with less human supervision. That brings enormous possibilities, but when things go wrong, the consequences can be very serious.
Ideally, countries should work together to set common rules and safeguards. Unfortunately, this is getting harder because the major powers want to move faster and gain an advantage over their competitors. But we must keep trying to find common ground. And Singapore will do our part. We will bring countries and companies together and build coalitions around practical safeguards.
We will also take action at home. We will not embrace new technologies blindly. We will anticipate the risks and put appropriate safeguards in place, and we will always ensure that people remain in control.
Singapore has always been shaped by immigration. Throughout our history, people have come from around the world, contributed to our economy and society, and made Singapore their home. Nearly all of us have parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who came to Singapore from somewhere else.
So when people come here, embrace our ideals and values, and make the promise of our pledge their own, they do not weaken our identity. They strengthen it. They bring fresh perspectives and new energy. They contribute to our communities. They add to the Singapore story just like the generations before them did.
And this is how we will continue to welcome newcomers into our Singapore family. Our aim is to refresh our citizen population at a measured and sustainable pace.
At the same time, we will continue to manage the size of our foreign workforce. We welcome foreign manpower to complement our local workforce and support our economy, but we do so in a careful and controlled way. We will always ensure that Singaporeans remain the majority in our own country.
All this means that in the coming years, our overall population will grow more slowly, and our labour force will grow more slowly, too. We often hear from businesses asking the government to ease foreign worker policies, especially in the services sector. They say these are jobs Singaporeans don't want to do, so why not allow more foreign workers?
But work permit holders are already the largest group of foreign pass holders in Singapore. So even a modest easing of our policies could lead to a significant increase in numbers, and that's not the path we want to take.
So we have to adapt to these realities going forward. More of our growth must come from technology and productivity, and from enabling every Singaporean to realize their full potential.
At the same time, as we stay open, Singaporeans must feel that the Singapore we know and cherish will endure. And let me assure everyone, our multi-racial and multi-religious character will remain.
Every community will continue to have its place in Singapore, its language, culture, and traditions. And that's why we will continue to broadly maintain our current ethnic balance. This has served Singapore well, and it continues to give every community confidence that their place, representation, and voice in Singapore remains secure.
At the same time, we will keep working at integration, and this works both ways. Newcomers must make every effort to fit in, and Singaporeans must also reach out with open hearts.
