How Singapore's Central Provident Fund Fares in Social Security and Social Policy

Abstract

Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF) has served well in the old economy as a macroeconomic stabilisation policy. It finessed the developmental state and created socio-political stability with home ownership extended to health, education and asset enhancement schemes. However, structural changes with globalisation, information communication technology (ICT) and the new knowledge-based economy (KBE), plus a series of crises and downturns since the Asian crisis have undermined full employment as the lynchpin of the triangulation and CPF model. Announcements made in August 2003 are germane to this paper's discussion of the reinvention of the CPF model. Profound and creative reinvention to balance between neo-liberal market-based solutions without losing the socio-political control enjoyed by the ruling regime, however, remains a political choice as in delinking the CPF–fiscal process, CPF serves members or state.