On healthcare, MP for Sengkang West Dr Lam Pin Min said the funding framework needed to be reviewed to help Singaporeans cope with rising medical costs.
He said: "... Many Singaporeans feel that very often there may be sufficient amount of Medisave savings but the rules do not allow its use in many instances."
On housing, there were calls to review the pricing formula for HDB flats.
Mr Zainudin Nordin, chairman of GPC for Manpower, said: "CPF grants are helpful but it seems like we are just taking money from one pocket to return it to another. We must seriously consider the pricing formula for HDB flats and seek to make it a transparent one as much as possible.
"This way, we can assure residents that the government is not out to make profits from sales of housing. And by pricing flats more reasonably, we can also relieve the debt service burden of our residents."
Opposition MP Sylvia Lim pointed to studies which suggested that housing affordability could be linked to the country's low total fertility rate, which is currently at 1.01, below the replacement rate of 2.1.
She said affordability influences a couple's decision on when they want to have children and how many to have.
She asked if it is time to focus on happiness as a national goal where policies are concerned, as Singapore had supported Bhutan's proposal at the United Nations regarding the idea of happiness as the goal of development.
Ms Lim said: "... what tangible changes can we expect in the government's general approach? Will government's policies from now on be framed to focus on whether they lead to happiness and contentment for Singaporeans as a whole...?"
Several MPs responded on the issue.
REACH chairman Amy Khor suggested that the government will need to re-double its efforts to demonstrate the humane side of economic growth policies.
She added that the three key pillars of the social safety net - Workfare, ComCare and Medifund - can be further strengthened.
Dr Khor said: "To enable the government to better craft and implement policies with both 'the head and heart', every civil servant that will be involved in policy making should be attached to community-based and frontline agencies for a period of at least three months or more, to observe and participate in dealings with the public. They should not just be sent for cursory visits."
There were also concerns that elderly Singaporeans are asset-rich, but cash-poor, so retirement policies related to the Central Provident Fund must be relooked.
Hri Kumar, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, called for a different programme to help older Singaporeans unlock the value of their HDB flats - like a more flexible lease buy-back programme.
He said: "Can we not allow Singaporeans to sell back portions of their lease to HDB at market value? A 70-year-old couple do not need a 50- or 60-year lease."
There were also calls for the government to review the Presidential Election process before the next polls, due in 2017.
MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC Alvin Yeo said that based on the precedent set in the recent election, there were a whole host of non-executive chairmen and hedge fund managers that could harbour hopes of eligibility, should they decide to run for President in 2017.
He felt the government of the day should review the situation and consider if greater clarity, whether to make the group of potential candidates narrower or wider, should be introduced.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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