Category Archives: Economy

Lawrence Wong: Singapore Must Never Become a Monolingual Society

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On August 23, 2026, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong explicitly stated in his Mandarin speech at the National Day Rally that Singapore must never become a monolingual society, and must preserve its cultural roots and bilingual advantage, drawing widespread attention. The following is a summary of the key information from the speech:

I. Core Background of the Speech

  • Driving Factors: According to data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics in June 2026, the proportion of households using English as their primary language increased from 48.3% to 58.1% over five years, while the proportion of Mandarin-speaking households dropped from 29.9% to 26.6%, and dialect usage accounted for only 4.9%, signaling a worsening intergenerational mother tongue discontinuity.

  • Policy Continuity: This represents the latest reinforcement of Singapore’s bilingual founding strategy since independence, aimed at preventing cultural assimilation and the erosion of ethnic identity that could result from the widespread adoption of a single lingua franca.

II. Core Content of the Speech

  • Reaffirmation of Bilingual Value:

    • Stated that “we must not only have ‘elites,’ we must also have ‘essence’,” emphasizing that bilingual advantage is Singapore’s core competitiveness and that the cultural essence of an Asian society must not be lost.

    • Affirmed the status of Mandarin as the common language of the Chinese community, serving as an important bridge connecting Chinese communities worldwide and passing down fine values.

  • Practical Suggestions for Learning Mandarin:

    • Shared relaxed ways to learn Mandarin: listening to Jay Chou’s songs and following popular Mandarin dramas like The Tale of Rose, to lower the barrier to mother tongue learning.

    • Cited the example of a Straits Times reporter to illustrate that creating an immersive Mandarin environment at home can significantly boost both parents’ and children’s interest and proficiency in Mandarin within just three months.

  • Supporting Social Measures:

    • By the end of 2026, the national libraries of Singapore and China will jointly host an exhibition of artifacts related to the Four Great Classical Novels, to enhance the public dissemination of Chinese culture.

    • Affirmed the value of dialects as precious cultural heritage, citing the culturally resonant dialect line “To be a person of loyalty and righteousness” from A Love Letter to Grandma.

III. Supporting Implementation Policies

  • Relaxed Academic Progression Rules: Starting in 2026, students who achieve AL1 or AL2 (85 marks and above) in Chinese in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) are no longer subject to the overall score threshold when opting for Higher Chinese in secondary school. Over 1,000 students have already benefited this year, and one-quarter of Secondary 1 students taking Chinese are enrolled in Higher Chinese.

  • Strengthened Preschool Mother Tongue Education: Kindergartens under the Ministry of Education will extend daily mother tongue lessons from one hour to 1.5 hours, with gradual roll‑out to preschool institutions islandwide.

  • Loosened Restrictions on Dialect Content: Starting September 2026, the broadcast quota restrictions on dialect content in local films and pay television will be removed, with the only requirement being that dialect films must be accompanied by Chinese subtitles and a Mandarin-dubbed version.

  • Dedicated Funding: A special budget of S$33 million will be allocated for mother tongue promotion from 2026 to 2030, focusing on free Mandarin interactive courses for families with infants aged 0–3, to help restore the mother tongue ecosystem at home.

Singapore Jobs Grow for 19th Quarter, Yet Layoffs Rise

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Singapore’s labour market continued its growth momentum in the second quarter of 2026. According to advance estimates from the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Labour Market Report for Q2 2026 released on Friday (July 31), total employment increased by 10,700 between April and June, higher than the 9,400 increase in the previous quarter and broadly similar to the 10,400 gain in the same period last year. This marks the 19th consecutive quarter of employment growth since the fourth quarter of 2021.

However, alongside sustained employment expansion, retrenchments also rose. The number of workers laid off increased from 3,830 in the first quarter to 4,500 in the second quarter, pushing the redundancy rate up from 1.6 per 1,000 employees to 1.9. MOM noted that the retrenchments were concentrated in outward‑oriented sectors such as information and communications and manufacturing, driven primarily by business restructuring rather than broad‑based weakness in the labour market. Despite the uptick, the ministry emphasised that current retrenchment levels remain well below typical recessionary peaks — quarterly layoffs ranged between 5,980 and 12,760 during the 2009 global financial crisis, and between 5,640 and 9,120 during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

In terms of employment composition, job growth in the second quarter was largely driven by non‑residents, with increases concentrated in construction and manufacturing. Resident employment continued to expand, though at a slower pace than the previous quarter, with gains mainly in community, social and personal services, and public administration.

On the unemployment front, the overall unemployment rate held steady at 2.0% in June, unchanged from March. The resident unemployment rate stood at 2.9%, while the citizen unemployment rate was 3.0%. The overall unemployment rate has now remained at 2.0% for four consecutive quarters.

Forward‑looking indicators suggest labour demand remains resilient. MOM’s survey showed that the proportion of firms expecting to hire in the next three months rose from 40.6% in May to 43.9% in June. Over the same period, the share of firms planning to raise wages increased from 23.7% to 29.3%, while the proportion intending to cut staff fell from 3.2% to 2.7%.

“Improvements in hiring, wage and retrenchment expectations suggest that labour demand remains resilient, although firms remain cautious given economic uncertainties and ongoing business restructuring in some sectors,” MOM said in the report. However, it also noted that employer expectations remain below pre‑war levels recorded in February this year, implying that hiring and wage increases will stay measured in the near term.

Against a backdrop of global economic headwinds and rapid technological change, MOM emphasised that companies and workers must proactively and continuously upgrade their capabilities. The government will continue to support employers and employees through a range of programmes, including career conversion programmes, the Career Trial for Mid‑Career Switchers initiative, and the SkillsFuture Career Development Programme. The full Q2 Labour Market Report will be released in mid‑September.