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In the waning days of World War II, the late British prime minister Winston Churchill is supposed to have said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

The witty Winston may have been referring to the unlikely alliance formed between Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, which led to to the creation of the United Nations. Creating opportunities is one silver lining amidst a crisis.

Fast forward to the 2020s, and if it's a crisis you want, take your pick.

War? Yes, we've got one of those. Thanks to Ukraine's status as the breadbasket of Europe, now beset by Russian invaders, we're a step away from Famine. Pestilence? A global pandemic lasting the best part of three years fits the bill. And with those three running riot, Death can't be far behind.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, also our Finance Minister, is well aware of these problems and uncertainties in the global economy.

Wong spent a good part of his 2023 Budget Statement outlining them. If there had to be a Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse, Inflation would be a good choice, given how much it worries governments around the world.

So we're up the proverbial creek. Did Wong take the opportunity to fashion some new and exciting paddles that would help us steer through the terrifying waters ahead?

Workers (Labour)

If you were a fan of last year's Budget (and the ones before that), you'll probably like this one too.

Wong laid out a host of plans to tackle short-term, medium and long-term challenges, primarily by boosting funding for schemes already in place.

High inflation

To tackle the high cost-of-living, Wong enhanced the payouts under the Assurance Package, which was initially formed to cushion the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike. Now it's being used to cushion the impact of rampant inflation. Well since it's there, why not use it?

Wong also enhanced other payments, like the U-Save rebate, and highlighted the progressive nature of such payments, with the lower-income and seniors benefiting more.

But he also cautioned against expecting such financial largesse every year, calling it "fiscally unsustainable" to rely so heavily on government support.

Help for lower-wage workers and others who need targeted help with employment

Lower-wage workers will benefit from a S$2.4 billion boost to the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme fund. Seniors looking for work will benefit from the Senior Employment Credit, extended to 2025.

People with disabilities will benefit from the enhanced Enabling Employment Credit. And Wong also introduced a new Uplifting Employment Credit to help ex-offenders find work.

Altogether, these are welcome moves. If your aim is to improve the productivity of the Singapore workforce, you can either improve the productivity of people already working, or help more people find work, and these moves help the latter.

Business (Capital)

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge once said that the business of America is business. That could also apply to Singapore.

Wong spent a good chunk of his speech outlining how global conditions were getting murkier, and countries were getting more competitive to attract talent and investment. Singapore can't afford to rest on its laurels.

The National Productivity Fund received a whopping S$4 billion top-up, and also expanded to include investment promotion.

Boosting innovation

But Wong also introduced something new, the Enterprise Innovation Scheme, which enhances tax deductions for key activities in industrial innovation.

For example, research and development conducted in Singapore and the acquisition and licensing of intellectual property rights will receive hefty tax deductions. Put simply, it's like hanging out a giant, flashing neon sign that screams, "PLEASE COME UP WITH GREAT IDEAS IN SINGAPORE."

Parenthood (Homefront)

Baby bonus

There were even more efforts to help parents and prospective parents. The increase to the Baby Bonus and other funds to help a child's early development were (I imagine) welcomed by those looking to start a family.

Doubled paternal leave

What caught the eye was a plan to eventually double paternal leave from two weeks to four, a recognition of a father's role in raising a child, and allowing them to better help mothers in shouldering the responsibilities.

This brings Singapore more in line with countries in Europe. Paternity leave differs from country to country, with Spain offering 16 weeks of fully-paid leave, and France giving 28 days. Allowing fathers more flexibility in early parenthood is a good move, if we're ever going to bring up that ailing Total Fertility Rate from 1.12.

Housing

Time and money are important for having kids, but space is crucial too.

After a bruising housing debate the previous week in Parliament, Wong followed up on National Development Minister Desmond Lee's defence of the government's housing policy by announcing new initiatives.

The S$30,000 boost to the CPF Housing Grant for eligible families buying 4-room flats, and giving first-time buyers an additional BTO ballot are welcome additions to the measures previously revealed by Lee.

But I want more

Wong's Budget wasn't all about the dollars and cents. He also frequently mentioned the importance of strengthening the social compact between government and the public, and to build a fairer society.

To that end, in addition to the help for the low-income members of society, Wong announced increases to the luxury taxes on high-end cars and property, and hiked the sin tax on tobacco.

Wong did the same thing in his 2022 Budget, with a tax increase on high-income earners. He also raised the carbon tax by five times.

This shows that Wong is capable of making big and bold moves in his Budgets. So I was a little disappointed that while the scale of his announcements couldn't be faulted, it wasn't as out-of-the-box as I would have liked.

Why not?

There were a few new schemes announced, but Wong mostly stuck to enhancing existing schemes by topping them up with cash boosts.

Education, health, taxation and defence

With cutting-edge advances in the world of tech, like Artificial Intelligence, why not announce a new college or school dedicated solely to exploring the new possibilities of AI.

What about health? The pandemic demonstrated the incredible potential of mRNA vaccine technology, and the possibility of even treating cancer. While Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary confirmed that the Ministry of Health is funding research of this technology, it would have shone a welcome spotlight on these efforts if Wong mentioned it in his speech.

In taxation, there is still no indication that the government is even considering an estate tax or a capital gains tax. Considering the spiking number of millionaires in Singapore, such moves may bring in lots more revenue and send a stronger signal in addressing inequality.

In defence, drone technology has proven amazingly useful in the battlefields of Ukraine and Armenia. While Singapore's military is already using drones for surveillance and reconnaissance, the use of offensive drones could be further explored and invested in.

Children and the environment

For parenthood, while the doubling of paternal leave was very welcome, it was a little puzzling why there was such a long wait, applying only to children born on Jan. 1, 2024 and after. And even then, it has not been confirmed as mandatory.

In response to a query from Mothership, the Public Service Division confirmed that it would take the lead to double paternity leave from Jan. 1, 2024 onwards.

But if the stated reason was to give employers time to adjust, then the government, as one of the largest employers in Singapore, could have implemented this a little quicker than ten months from now, and helped to shape the labour market.

Compare this to Japan, where Prime Minister Kishida has identified the falling birthrate as one of his most urgent priorities, and vowed to bump up spending on child-rearing to an eye-popping 4 per cent of GDP.

In climate change, Wong mentioned previous policies like the carbon tax and coastal defences against rising sea levels.

But with the breakneck growth of renewable energy, and developing countries like Morocco on track to meet ambitious targets in replacing fossil fuels, should Singapore be more aggressive in these areas?

No vice

In such roiling, crisis-plagued times, we may need big and bold ideas. Instead, Budget 2023 had pretty good ideas.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that new, sweeping changes are always good.

Look no further than the disastrous Liz Truss-Kwasi Kwarteng mini-budget that promised really big changes, and promptly crashed the UK economy.

But I fully agree with Wong that times have changed, perhaps forever, and perhaps we need new ideas to navigate these choppy waters.

Threading the needle between maintaining fiscal resilience and bold change is a huge challenge, but Singaporeans expect nothing less from the next leader of the PAP and the likely next prime minister.

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Top image from Lawrence Wong's Facebook page.