“Other than within the geopolitical context, is it really still true that Singapore is vulnerable with no resources to rely on? I challenge that notion. From our humble beginnings in the 1960s to 2023, we have become a nation that is abundant in many aspects. We have a world class education system, we have built robust financial systems and governance structures with a stellar reputation for trade and business. We have greatly admired urban planning, blueprints and methodologies that many countries are keen to learn from. We continuously innovate and we have a population of people who are honest, hardworking and seen as reliable and trustworthy pool of talent internationally.

Since our independence, our main priority has been economic growth, because it had to be thus far.

Economic Progress was the way to survival for a nation scarce and natural resources. It helped us Singaporeans make great leaps in our quality of life that many countries today are envious of.

Hence, it is only natural that economic growth seems to be the only way we understand quality of life. It has served us so well, that it may seem mad for anyone to talk about deliberately slowing down economic growth.

But is it not equally mad to continue this drive forever higher economic growth, when our only resource, human resource is coming under great threat?”.

That’s how PAP MP Carrie Tan chose to begin her Budget Debate speech.

Growth at the cost of burnout and environmental destruction

The MP, who has spoken up in previous years about racial suicide disparities and improving financial stability for lower-income families, gave a reasoned and timely speech on the link between the pressure for increased economic growth, burnout and environmental degradation.

She pointed out that despite stellar economic growth in recent decades and despite Singaporeans working harder than ever, lower- and middle-income Singaporeans still feel anxious about their ability to put food on the table.

In a speech unlike what many are used to from PAP MPs, Carrie Tan also questioned Singapore’s drive to maintain economic growth & increase productivity and its impact on the burnout being experienced in Singapore’s workforce. She urged her parliamentary colleagues to reflect on the link between Singapore’s poor mental health and the country’s current model of progress, defined narrowly in terms of higher productivity and a consumption driven GDP growth.

Carrie Tan argued that because the traditional economic model relies on unlimited growth, it is unsustainable and has already led to human capital and ecological damage. She also warned that pursuing endless economic growth via current means of production and consumption that draws immensely from fossil fuel energy could lead to war, as countries compete more fiercely over the planet’s fast depleting energy sources. She reminded Parliament that 95% of Singapore’s electricity depends on natural gas and asked, “What happens when we are out of natural gas by 2060?”

Carrie Tan requested Parliament to reconsider its “survivalist narrative” and advised her fellow MPs to reflect on whether it is still relevant for today’s Singapore.

What the future can look like instead

Carrie Tan urged to do 3 things instead. First, slow down the rate of consumption-based economic growth so that future generations won’t suffer the consequences of this generation’s decisions.

Second, to formally adopt the Doughnut Economics framework to guide Singapore’s transition from a growth-based economy to a post-growth economy. Doughnut Economics is a framework that provides a map for establishing a better relationship between the economy, the planet and people. Its outer ring represents the limit Earth can support, and its inner ring is the base we need to build to allow humans to thrive.

“Our actions and our policies will have to reside between these two rings. Going beyond the outer ring or falling within the inner ring, we’ll be in trouble.”

If the government takes her up on this suggestion, it will make Singapore the first country in the world to do so. Singapore would also be a global leader in transitioning to a Post-Growth Economy.

Lastly, Carrie urged the Singapore Government to re-design how we work and live to operate within the limits of the planet’s resources, offering a motto “Use Less, Share More, Waste Not.”

To do this, she suggested initiatives that include making work from home the norm across all professions that would allow for it, starting with the Civil Service.

She also suggested creating more community living formats specifically designed for single-parent families, families with special needs, and Co-Living precincts for young adults and singles.

PAP leadership’s response

In his response to the Budget Debate as a whole, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong responded that “In Singapore, it’s not about “pro-business” vs “pro-workers”; neither is it about “pro-growth” vs “pro-redistribution”. He recalled previous debates where the government was accused of pursuing a growth-at-all-costs strategy and contrasted it to the present.

“Now that growth is slower, we are in a different situation. Many Members in this House now are concerned that we are not sufficiently focused on growth. That if we are faced with a shrinking pie, contentious disputes over how to distribute limited resources will be inevitable.”

The fact that Post-Growth Economics was mentioned in Parliament by a PAP MP is remarkable.

Throughout the PAP’s governance, it has depended on its record of economic growth to gain the people’s trust and political support. It seems clear, at least from DPM Lawrence Wong’s initial response, that Carrie’s going to have an uphill battle in trying to make her vision a reality. She’ll need widespread public support, which in turn will require a widespread public understanding of the issues at hand.

Watch Carrie Tan’s speech in full here:-

Full Transcript of Carrie Tan’s speech

I’m not sure if I’m the last speaker, but I would like to thank all my colleagues for, you know all the policies and, and working so hard to tackle very immediate and near-term challenges that we’re facing as a nation. It gives me great trust and also gives me the liberty to set my sights further into the future. And I ask this house for its indulgence, to listen with an open heart and open mind and open will as well as an open imagination for what I would like to share in my speech today.

On our shores, our workforce is burntout. 57% of our workforce said burnout was the leading factor affecting their mental health during the pandemic.

Also abroad, quiet quitting, a phenomenon that emerged last year is a silent protest within a workforce across the developed world. Against a state of work that is demanding too much of people.

The cost of living is going up drastically. Inflation was just 1% in 2019. And last year, it was 4%. And it’s no longer just the bottom 10% or 15% of Singaporeans who feel anxious about the ability to put food on the table. Our middle class Singaporeans are also feeling anxious.

Today, having a $4 cup of bubble tea or coconut shake, might be an equivalent treat. And for certain more well-off segments of our population, it might be enjoyed too frequently to be considered an indulgence.

Is it perhaps time to rethink and review our national narrative and model of progress? That we are just a small red dot with no resources, constantly fighting for our survival?

Is this survival is narrative presenting a disconnect with the effect and reality of our progress?

My Honourable colleague Mr. Sitoh Yih Pin’s comment in his speech yesterday resonated with me. Is it really true that our glass is always half empty? And are our prospects as a nation only getting bleaker?

Is the best already behind us? Or is our best yet to be?

Other than within the geopolitical context, is it really still true that Singapore is vulnerable with no resources to rely on? I challenge that notion. From our humble beginnings in the 1960s to 2023, we have become a nation that is abundant in many aspects. We have a world class education system, we have built robust financial systems and governance structures with a stellar reputation for trade and business. We have greatly admired urban planning, blueprints and methodologies that many countries are keen to learn from. We continuously innovate and we have a population of people who are honest, hardworking and seen as reliable and trustworthy pool of talent internationally.

Since our independence, our main priority has been economic growth, because it had to be thus far.

Economic Progress was the way to survival for a nation scarce and natural resources. It helped us Singaporeans make great leaps in our quality of life that many countries today are envious of.

Hence, it is only natural that economic growth seems to be the only way we understand quality of life. It has served us so well, that it may seem mad for anyone to talk about deliberately slowing down economic growth.

But is it not equally mad to continue this drive forever higher economic growth, when our only resource, human resource is coming under great threat?

In the Singapore Youth Epidemiology and Resilience Study last year, involving over 3000 young people aged 11 to 18. It was found that 1 in 3 youths in Singapore has reported internalizing mental health symptoms.

I urge this house and Singaporeans to seriously consider a different model of progress. After all, what is growth for, if not for our people’s well being?

As Honorable Member Mr. Sitoh Yih Pin also reminded us during his speech,  our founding father Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, made it his business to ensure our people’s happiness. And how can our people be happy if we are constantly anxious or under stress?

In the background of many anxieties lies the existential threat and crisis of the global fossil fuel and climate change crisis. The stark reality according to the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere at Stanford University, the role will be out of coal by 2090.

As Ms Poh Li San and Mr. Lim Wee Kiak has reminded us, our electricity is 95% reliant on natural gas.

What happens when we are out of natural gas by 2060?

And in statistical reviews of the world energy through British Petroleum and as well as many other sources, It tells us that at our current rate of consumption, we will be out of oil in 47 years’ time. When that happens, I will be hopefully still alive at 87 years old. My nieces and many of my young residents will be in their 50s or 60s. The children born today will be only 47 years old.

Climate anxiety is a logical reaction to an existential threat. This is the single most important threat we face as Singaporeans

We need a more sustainable, tenable model of progress that does not leave our planet and our people’s well being out of the equation, but instead sees progress and wellness as one and the same. That respects Earth’s limits. I want to make sure that what we do today ensures that we pass on a thriving Earth, not a depleting one to our next generation.

Governments around the world are investing in green technology alternative energy research, in a bid to slow down this global energy depletion and mitigate this threat.

While such efforts are absolutely necessary, it is not enough. We urgently need to look beyond. Solar, hydro, nuclear, while they present good options as alternative energy sources are still highly complex and highly extractive in nature.

What do I mean by extractive? it means they still require vast amounts of steel, metal, materials to build the necessary infrastructure and equipment to harness secondary sources of energy.

What happens when we run out of the materials to run this plants, the power, our lights, our transport our computers?

Our primary source of energy, fossil fuels, which took millions of years to form is now running out. And the only way to avoid the crisis is to consume and produce in ways that are transformatively different from before.

One of the world’s most important living economics Kate Raworth, designed a new economic model to guide countries’ transition from having an extractive relationship with the Earth to a more harmonious one. It’s called donut economics.

It provides a map for how to establish a better relationship between the economy, the planet and people. It illustrates an outer ring which is the limit that Earth can support, and an inner ring which is the base that we need to build to allow humans to thrive. Our actions our policies will have to reside between these two rings. Going beyond the outer ring or falling within the inner ring, we’ll be in trouble. This model values well being in a solid social foundation that helps people rely on one another, and nature harmoniously to meet our needs.

In order for us and our world to survive, we must slow down the rate of economic growth, or our future generations will suffer its consequences.

Ms Nadia Samdin asked a really important and worthy question. Can there be a different version of the Singaporean dream?

Progress in the next era of growth for Singapore must be measured less in terms of economic numbers and account for all human limits and planet limits.

The motto is share more, use less, waste not

I proposed two key imperatives, we must start doing one. Cultivate sharing communities by redesigning work and housing to optimize resources and extend the “Reduce” pillar to the ways we live and work.

Making Work From Home the norm for professions that allow it can drastically reduce daily transport fuel consumption, reduce vehicles on the roads and reduce the need to keep building more roads or expressways. It will also improve work life balance. The government can set an example by making work from home the norm across the civil service and associated statutory boards.

On the housing front, creating more community living formats, such as the one we are piloting in Queenstown to aid in elder care. Community Care Apartments (CCAs) can be built also for single parent families, families with special needs members, and co-living precincts for young adults and singles can be designed and built in neighboring precincts to this CCAs so that they can conveniently volunteer for these families who need more help.

For all we know, co-living communities for singles will also help us to improve our marriage and birth rates! I’ll elaborate on this more in my CEUs cuts.

In our daily lives. We currently have an increasing norm of online shopping, where we can buy something for as cheap as $1, $3 and have it shipped to our door in layers of boxing and packaging. Such rates of consumption as a norm for our society creates tremendous waste of energy and resources.

Instead, we can make swapping and sharing the default way of life to reduce wasteful consumption. Creating a sharing culture has already begun in Nee Soon South where we piloted a SHWAP initiative for people to shop for pre-loved clothing that others would like to give away. I intend to extend this effort beyond clothing to other daily use items so that within no neighborhoods, people can swap items they no longer need for items that others want to give away.

Two: invest in permaculture and other regenerative nature based solutions and research.

Localised permaculture reduces the carbon footprint of growing and transporting food, it helps to capture carbon from the environment. It will also help us reduce our dependence on foreign industrial agricultural techniques that have worsened the climate crisis. I will elaborate more on this during the COS debates, on how permaculture holds multiple benefits, including increasing our food security.

In the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, American President Roosevelt implemented the New Deal, which greatly invested in environmental conservation. It was a huge risk at that time, and went against conventional wisdom, but it paid off.

And I believe it was Mr. Churchill who said towards the end of World War Two, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. In fact, many of our own ministers have said similar things in Parliament, especially in the last two years of the pandemic, that we can turn crisis into opportunity.

Getting a miracle out of a crisis is not new to Singapore. We created a miracle when we became independent in 1965, and became a first world nation by the 90s. Similarly, I believe we have what it takes to turn the global energy crisis into another miracle with our unique Singapore way.

I’m very glad that the green economy initiative under the SG green plan has already started to invest in nature-based technologies and research. This needs to start as early in life as possible so that our current children can be nature natives and not just digital natives in the new global reality. I urge that we make it a top priority and extend nature based pedagogy to our early childhood and primary education. Again, I will elaborate more in my MOE cut.

DPM Wong mentioned during his budget speech, there’ll be need to increase Singapore’s resilience in response to climate realities. He mentioned efforts in coastal protection, etc., to prepare us for rising sea levels. These measures are critical. But we need to go beyond and take an even more proactive approach to pioneer a new way of life that the world can look to.

We have the opportunity to be a global change-maker by engineering, and actualizing a new model of progress. If we put our minds and hearts together, we can achieve this referencing the Doughnut Economic model applied to our specific Singaporean context.

Our strong social fabric, highly collaborative, cooperative population, and high trust between Singaporeans and our government are the assets that we have to rely on to do this well.

Forward Singapore should be an exercise ambitious and daring enough to rally our citizenry towards the big picture. A future where social and ecological wellbeing is valued equally with economic wellbeing.

What I look forward to as many Singaporeans of my generation and younger, is a regenerative city state and a system that ensures the well being of our people and planet.

We must start to intentionally redesign our way of life, work and play. And to do this, Ministries including MND and MSE must work together and adopt a lens ensuring that the wellness of our people and planet is adopted across all efforts.

I urge the government to set up a coordinating ministry for Wellness to help implement this to lend a sustainability lens across all ministries. A truly progressive nation is one in which its people are well. Imagine a society that consumes less, a people who work less but connects more and are happier and healthier for it.

I was very moved by SPS Eric Chua’s speech earlier. Perhaps it is time for us to collectively take a pause, a slow down, and smell the roses. And perhaps, that’s what it truly takes for our nation to be able to be truly wealthy in our minds, body and spirit. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker.

Wake Up Singapore accepts submissions, just like the one you read above. If you wish to pen your thoughts on an issue, please send a draft to admin@wakeupsg.com.

Since you have made it to the end of the article, follow Wake Up Singapore on Telegram!