Unpopular President Halimah Yacob yesterday (Feb 11) launched a charity to boost her reputation, setting aside S$10 million from the President’s Challenge to help the needy and vulnerable families.
State media featured a 46-year-old mother who have three children between 20 months and 18 years old, and a husband who has been jobless for more than 6 months. The family of 5 lives off the mother’s S$2,000-a-month nursing job.
President Halimah Yacob said that her S$10 million charity – funded by public donations – will provide a 6 month-training for the family, along with “many” government assistance programmes:
“Each family will be guided by a team of volunteers to help them navigate their way through the landscape of available schemes and programme.”
The former PAP MP said that people are jobless because of “technological disruptions”:
“The President’s Challenge will need to adapt to the changing needs of our society, particularly as Singapore’s socio-economic landscape has been reshaped by structural changes to our economy, demographic shifts and technological disruptions. These changes will also vary across different segments of the population, as she referred to an example for technological disruptions, which are likely to affect low wage workers “disproportionately” as their jobs are the most likely to be displaced.”
The Lee Hsien Loong puppet President then read from her scripts at her opening speech, without giving any comment on rising taxes and growing unemployment rate:
“President’s Challenge will need to look into more holistic support for the less fortunate, and move beyond generic schemes and programmes. Support will also need to be more customised, and an effective response would have to go beyond direct financial assistance, and move into the building of resilience and self-reliance among those affected.”