Building a Generous Society and Nation

1. Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Chua for his heartfelt speech about building a generous nation and society. His vision for Singapore echoes the aspirations many Singaporeans shared during the Forward Singapore engagement last year - to live in a society that is fair, inclusive, and united, where we look out for one another and support those in need.

2. Many of us experienced that first hand during the COVID-19 pandemic. People from all walks of life volunteered, donated, cared. They made a difference to our community, our society, our nation.

3. Mr Chua spoke about grassroots philanthropy and mobilising the whole of society in acts of giving and generosity, beyond the pandemic. I share his vision.

4. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) is striving to make this vision a reality by creating more avenues for everyone to contribute in their own unique ways.

   1. One avenue to do this is through our SG Cares Volunteer Centres. We have set up SG Cares Volunteer Centres in 24 towns to connect residents, businesses, schools and other stakeholders with local volunteering opportunities. 

5. These Volunteer Centres work with Government agencies and community partners on the ground to identify and address pressing needs.

   1. For example, Volunteer Centres work with Active Ageing Centres to engage our seniors and help keep them physically active as well as socially connected.

   2. Over the past five years, Volunteer Centres have recruited, trained and deployed over 100,000 volunteers to meet ground needs. So, please join one of the 24 Volunteer Centres around Singapore.

6. Mr Chua also spoke about encouraging people at different stages of life to give back to society. We are with him. We believe that giving as a habit can start as early as when our children are in preschool. Therefore, we have programmes in place to do just that.

   1. Our Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)'s "Start Small Dream Big" initiative and our Values in Action experiences in Ministry of Education (MOE) schools aim to inculcate empathy and a spirit of giving among our children and students. 

   2. Our SG Cares Office also works with the National University of Singapore to integrate service learning into their curriculum through a credit-bearing course that gets students to volunteer with seniors in our communities.

7. As our students enter the workforce and they already get a taste of what it is like to volunteer as students, we hope they will continue to do so as they start working. 

   1. To foster this spirit, MCCY partners professional associations from the legal, medical, accounting and engineering sectors to encourage professionals to volunteer their skills.

   2. For example, the Law Society's Pro Bono SG partners universities to inculcate a habit of volunteering among law students by encouraging the students complete 20 pro bono hours and channelling them to intern at its community law centre.

   3. Once they have graduated, Pro Bono SG continues to provide volunteer lawyers with avenues to volunteer and serve the community.

8. Beyond school and work, MCCY is also working with the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) to rally businesses to give back to society.

   1. The enhanced Corporate Volunteer Scheme, which came into effect this year, 1 January 2024, allows businesses to claim a 250% tax deduction when their employees volunteer or are seconded to work at an Institution of a Public Character. 

   2. Business who are keen to do more can join NVPC's Company of Good programme, which helps businesses give back through corporate giving or by redesigning their business practices to benefit society. As advisor to the Company of Good Roundtable, I encourage businesses to join the Company of Good, because they do plenty of good.

A Generous Nation

9. Mr Chua also suggested that Singapore could become a Silicon Valley for philanthropy. Indeed, that is what we are doing. 

10. We are establishing Singapore as a regional philanthropy hub and making it easier for people and businesses to give. There is much more we can do and indeed plan to do, but let me share what we have been doing collectively.

    1. The Wealth Management Institute and the Private Banking Industry Group launched the Impact Philanthropy Partnership (IPP) last year, with support from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). 

    2. IPP helps work with high net worth individuals and families to support philanthropic activities and causes, to foster partnerships and to drive impactful giving.

    3. Temasek Trust, which Mr Chua mentioned, also launched the Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA) last year, gathering philanthropists, governments and businesses to develop novel solutions for social and environmental challenges in our region. This includes advancing education for girls in India and enabling healthcare access in the Philippines. PAA has now over 80 members and partners globally, with collective pledges of $1 billion.

11. But we are also deploying finance, including philanthropic capital, to address the world's pressing challenges like climate change. 

12. At the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Singapore also announced new initiatives to catalyse a green transition here in Singapore and also beyond our shores. 

    1. This includes the Financing Asia's Transition Partnership (FAST-P), a blended finance initiative that aims to mobilise up to US$5 billion to de-risk and finance green and transition projects in the region by bringing together partners from the public, private and philanthropic sectors.

A Refreshed Social Compact with Active Stakeholders

13. MAS also launched the Philanthropy Tax Incentive Scheme (PTIS) last year to encourage overseas giving among Single Family Offices in Singapore.

    1. PTIS approved qualifying donors can claim tax deductions on overseas donations that are channelled through qualifying local intermediaries.

14. We also regularly review our policies and programmes to support local giving.

    1. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) recently extended the 250% tax deduction rate for qualifying donations made to IPCs and eligible institutions for three years until end-2026.

    2. This tax deduction rate is high compared to other jurisdictions and we will review what a more sustainable level of tax deduction should be for the longer term while balancing support for our local charity sector.

15. Apart from tax incentives, we also work with partners like The Majurity Trust (TMT) and Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) to drive impactful giving.

    1. TMT works with philanthropists, companies and other stakeholders to foster collaboration within the philanthropic ecosystem. It supports ground-up groups and non-profit organisations to address community issues. I work closely with the team at TMT and attended their Majurity Night last month, where over 200 of Singapore's leading philanthropists, corporates and non-profit charities gathered to channel their giving and expertise to the many worthy causes.

    2. Meanwhile, CFS is working with the Ministry of Social and Family Development and Community Chest to introduce a new programme that better connects donors to the needs on the ground.

Conclusion

16. Sir, these are all examples that point to the emergence of a growing and thriving philanthropic ecosystem that we are all collectively building in Singapore to make a difference here at home and beyond.

17. Mr Speaker, generosity is in our collective history and our collective heritage. As Mr Chua recalled, our early pioneer philanthropists built Singapore through their generous giving. Our early philanthropists worked with the community and local groups to build the Singapore that we see today.

18. Today, in modern, thriving Singapore, we have even more resources, more causes to impact and more ways to connect both to facilitate and to catalyse giving. 

19. So please join us, heed Mr Chua's call to action to partner us to bring our shared vision to life. 

    1. Join our local SG Cares Movement by signing up with your nearest Volunteer Centre today. If you are a business, please join NVPC's Company of Good or check out the work that organisations like TMT are doing on the ground.

20. Sir, Mr Chua spoke about how we do not speak enough about generosity in Parliament. So, let us not only speak more about generosity in Parliament and in Singapore, but also act in generosity, because as Winston Churchill said famously, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."