vulnerable groups that will receive new help from the Government this year.
But many of the aid measures are conditional and aimed at getting the recipients back on their feet as quickly as possible - a longstanding policy of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).
Still, the new lifelines being tossed in this recession suggest the ministry is also ready to be flexible.
It is letting breadwinners who are laid off stay twice as long on the ComCare Work Support Scheme, from which they can receive monthly cash grants.
Another major enhancement is letting low-income divorced women, with up to two children, enter a programme that will give grants of up to $100,000, which encompass housing and bursaries.
Also, poor families on Public Assistance will get up to $120 more a month.
However, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the MCYS minister, stressed that zero entitlement is the overriding policy.
'Our social assistance policies must continue to encourage empowerment, not entitlement; dignity, not dependence; self-reliance, not state-reliance.'
He struck this deliberate balance throughout the six-hour debate on his ministry's $1.9 billion budget.
Still, his decision to increase Public Assistance - a third time since 2007 - cheered MPs such as Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC) and Mr Sam Tan (Tanjong Pagar GRC). It is a consistent focus of both.
From April 1, the sums will rise by between $30 and $120 a month.
An elderly person living alone can expect $360, up from $330. A family of four will get $950 instead of $830.
These changes help 2,900 households meet basic living expenses. But they also have a web of extra aid, from rental rebates to free medical care.
On the new rate, Mr Tan asked the minister to 'stretch this kindness by raising the amount to $400' so the needy may have a reasonable quality of life.
Saving jobs is a prime focus of the Budget's Resilience Package. In this light, MCYS will let laid-off breadwinners stay on the Work Support Scheme for up to one year, instead of six months.
While they find a job or upgrade their skills, their families get temporary aid including cash, medical care and education.
'We recognise that in this year, it may be difficult for some people to get jobs, no matter how much we train them,' Dr Balakrishnan said, explaining the flexibility. He also made a special pitch for 'investing in children'. Besides new subsidies for young children, his ministry will boost the supply of childcare centres. Another 200 centres will open by 2013.
To build stronger families, the Home Ownership Plus Education (Hope) scheme will be extended to divorced mothers with no more than two children.
He announced this move in response to Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade GRC), who had campaigned for it.
Originally, Hope was for low-income intact families with two children at most.
They get incentives of up to $100,000. This includes a $50,000 housing grant, training grant, and bursaries for children covering pre-school to university - to help them break out of the poverty cycle.
The situation for the squeezed lower middle class, however, is less clear.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC) said a family staring at a wage cut - for example, from $5,000 to $2,500 - will not get social assistance.
He suggested: 'For a period of time, can MCYS be flexible on the upper cap, increasing ComCare's upper limit to $3,500 or more for short-term assistance.'
The minister replied: 'The key imperative for this group is a job - not welfare...Let me also be blunt, I cannot give the middle class more than I give to those who can barely make ends meet.'
However, he returned to the idea of flexibility at several points in the debate, which saw some 30 MPs rise to engage him on various issues, including sports.
He said the ministry was being 'more flexible at the edges'. Parents with adult children who cannot support them will get a closer look, for instance.
He will consider whether the Maintenance of Parents Act should get more legislative teeth.
- The Straits Times
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