Comment: PM Wong’s 1st NDR calls for a reset. But not that kind of reset in choppy SEA.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

You're an ambitious politician looking to win an election. You need a snappy, catchy slogan that your loyal supporters can paint on banners and hashtag on Twitter.

Brevity is the soul of wit, so the shorter the better. What do you settle on?

If you're looking for a successful campaign to emulate, it rarely gets more well-known than this:

Or more recently:

Change is the only constant in life as well as in politics, and change tends to get invoked after a national leader or party has been in power for some time.

Keir Starmer's Labour Party above, for instance, was challenging a sitting prime minister and a Conservative Party that had ruled for 14 years.

And while Barack Obama wasn't running against an incumbent, he represented a break from eight years of Republican rule under George W Bush.

But eight years, 14 years may seem like a long time for Westerners. Try six decades. That's what Singaporeans are more used to.

Lawrence Wong, the reset agent?

At first glance, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, by virtue of his name alone, seems to represent change.

In our short island story, Singapore has been headed by someone not named Lee for just 14 years out of 59, up till May 2024 when Wong took office.

Wong's government thus far has been about signalling continuity and stability, not dramatic change. That said, his maiden National Day Rally speech yesterday (Aug. 18) kicked things up a gear: No, not mere change – but a reset. And a major one.

"Realising our new ambitions will require a major reset – a major reset in our policies, to be sure; but equally important, a major reset in our attitudes too," he said.

It's not a radical break with the past, to be sure. After all, this is a PAP government – it is very much focused on delivering results and following through with commitments.

These commitments include:

• Continuing the close partnership between government leaders and Malay and Muslim leaders,
• Highlighting the importance of preserving bilingualism, and encouraging Chinese Singaporeans to use Chinese from young,
• Assuring all young Singaporeans that public housing in Singapore is kept affordable for them,
• Supporting and helping older workers to upgrade their skills, at any point in their lives, no matter how old.

Like he mentioned a major reset doesn't just include policy-making but also society's attitude.

Take for instance, the new Shared Parental Leave scheme – it signalled a major reset on how society look at the role of fathers.

"I think some of us still believe that fathers should be the exclusive breadwinners, and mothers the main caregivers. That has to change... so fathers must play a bigger role," he said.

It takes two to tango.

The new, tempered by the familiar

There were more examples.

A new scheme to provide jobseekers with financial support is a distinct change from the past. It is an unmistakably 21st century policy for Singapore, one that could never be brought to fruition in the 20th.

Imagine, if you will, trying to convince Lee Kuan Yew of the merits of a "jobseeker allowance." The man who once said about welfare supplements, "The principle is that you must work. We are not going to pay you for lying around."

But that was then and this is now, as Hinton said, and while Wong's scheme retains elements of the familiar (being parked under SkillsFuture, for instance), it represents the dipping of a governmental toe into the waters of "Welfare with Singaporean Characteristics."

Given the rapidity with which AI is developing, and the much trumpeted "fourth industrial revolution" threatening to start any day now, it is perhaps not a moment too soon.

The thing many people gloss over about the previous industrial revolution is how many jobs it rendered obsolete.

Every school a good school

And as for the other new policy announcement, the update to the GEP programme, it was similar.

Something undoubtedly new, to be rolled out under the auspices of an existing ministerial structure.

The blend of novelty with familiarity was seen once more with Wong's shout-out to Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat's motto of "every school a good school", a shout-out Heng himself acknowledged.

@mothershipsg PM Wong went to neighbourhood schools Haig Boys Primary and Tanjong Katong Secondary #tiktoksg #sgnews #singapore #ndr2024 ♬ original sound - Mothership

A Singaporean way of reset

Outside the confines of our 42 kilometres, storm clouds are gathering.

Wong himself alluded to them in his speech, referencing the ongoing presidential election in the U.S. and the likely rise in tensions with China, no matter who wins.

But in our neighbourhood alone, non-stop change has been the order of the day.

Choppy SEA

To our cousins in Malaysia, the once-unthinkable has become routine — Anwar Ibrahim teaming up with old foes in Barisan Nasional to lead a government.

In Thailand, another Shinawatra is back in power, after constant upheaval that saw a political party dissolved and its leader banned from standing for election for 10 years.

What seemed like an inevitable defeat for the rebel alliance in Myanmar has slowly pivoted to the point where General Min Aung Hlaing's position seems in peril.

Ten calm years of Jokowi's rule in Indonesia is set to end in October this year, with a former foe-turned-friend in Prabowo Subianto ready to take over.

Even Cambodia has exchanged one Hun for another, with the younger Hun stepping in after nearly 40 years of his father's reign.

In such choppy waters, with old maps tossed out of the window and new ones hurriedly being re-drawn, the prime minister's brand of reset gives Singaporeans further assurance. To be the lighthouse that waves crash upon, the beacon in the gloom of an uncertain future; to be a reset with Singaporean characteristics.

I believe Manpower Minister Tan See Leng's words about the global race for talent remain the government's north star.

To succeed in this century, a country must stockpile as much talent as it possibly can. And you will find it much easier if you can offer a safe, stable "home base" in which to operate.

Lawrence Wong's maiden NDR did just that. Singapore must and will change.

Wong said:

"The transformations we seek will unfold over several years. To achieve our shared goals, I need your help. Because making the lasting changes we are aiming for will require a mindset shift in all of us."

It will just be done in the familiar PAP way; gradually, steadily, with careful consideration and Singaporeans' support.

Top image Canva, Lawrence Wong/Facebook, Ing Shinawatra/Facebook, Prabowo Subianto/Facebook, Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook, Hun Manet, Facebook.