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The annual National Day Rally, delivered by the prime minister, is one of the most anticipated speeches of the year. In 2024, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong gave his inaugural National Day Rally speech as he outlined Singapore’s future and the evolving Singapore dream. In a speech generally focused on younger people, Singaporeans are no longer focusing on pursuing the 5Cs but prioritising other important areas of their lives, including their careers, families, housing, and education. We highlight five key policies discussed in the National Day Rally 2024 speech and how the government hopes to financially support Singaporeans in achieving their dreams. Being involuntarily unemployed can be a difficult experience. To assist Singaporeans facing this challenge, such as those who are retrenched, the government is introducing the This program provides up to $6,000 over six months and offers additional support through training and career services for job placement. In the , it was announced that Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) will be doubled from two weeks to up to four weeks. However, while the first two weeks were mandatory, the additional two weeks are voluntary, subject to the employer’s agreement. From 1 April 2025 onwards , all 4 weeks of paternity leave will be mandatory. Eligible working fathers can share up to 4 weeks of their wife’s government-paid maternity leave through the Shared Parental Leave scheme. However, the limitation of this is that it reduces the mother’s entitlement. Also announced in the National Day Rally 2024 is that from 1 April 2025 onwards, a new scheme – Government-Paid Shared Parental Leave – will take effect. Eligible working parents will be provided an additional 6 weeks of paid parental leave, which will be shared between parents. This will increase to 10 weeks from 1 April 2026. According to PM Wong, the house price-to-income ratio is 4.8 as of 2023, similar to 2014. However, affordable housing remains a concern for many Singaporeans, especially those looking to buy their first home. of up to $80,000. PM Wong announced that the EHG will be enhanced with more details to be released later. HDB has  to enhance the chances of applicants securing a flat during the BTO and SBF sales exercises. One such scheme is the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS). Designed to encourage families to live close or with each other, it allows couples who want to move near their parents’ residence (within 4 km) or want their parents to move in with them into the BTO flat to have a better chance of securing a flat. PM Wong announced that the scheme will be extended to include all children, married or single, who wish to live near or with their parents moving forward. Beyond the schemes with direct financial impact, several other policies reflecting Singapore’s evolving priorities were announced during the National Day Rally 2024 speech. These include , upcoming , a , and the in favour of a more decentralised approach where individual primary schools can help students develop in their own areas of talent. More details of all these announcements will be released at a later date.