Easing pre-school worries, giving parents assurance: Goh Pei Ming on supporting families

He was among several politicians who were promoted in the latest Cabinet reshuffle in July. Goh moved up a rung from Minister of State in the Home Affairs Ministry and MSF, which he was appointed to after the General Election.

ST is also interviewing other first-term MPs and office-holders with new appointments or promotions.

Since joining MSF, he has come to appreciate how much the pre-school sector has progressed over the years, though he thinks more can be done.

The goal is to have pre-schools near residents’ homes, make them affordable and ensure they are of good quality, said Goh, who is chairing a new international advisory committee set up by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in September 2026.

The committee, comprising five overseas experts, aims to raise standards in early childhood education and teacher development by drawing on global best practices.

Under its Quality Preschools 2030 plan, ECDA is also strengthening play-based and mother tongue language learning, improving training for educators and reviewing their workloads and working conditions.

If parents are not worried about pre-school costs, accessibility and quality, it could give them “a little bit more assurance” to start or grow their families, Goh said.

Growing ‘organic TFR’

Nudging more Singaporeans to form families is a key focus of the inter-agency Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup, of which Goh is a part of. It will produce a full report in early 2027.

Being a parent himself helps him understand what needs to be done to alleviate the pressure points parents face, said Goh.

He sees Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR), which sank to a new low of 0.87 in 2025, as one of the country’s most difficult and strategically important challenges, given its implications for the economy.

“There’s only that much migration can do, and I think beyond a certain point, there’s a limit. I think we are close to that point, so that gives you some concern,” said Goh.

In his view, Singapore needs to encourage more “organic TFR”. But he acknowledged this was not easy.

Measures announced at the NDR, such as more childcare leave and the new SG Child Support Package, were necessary, but more can be done to shift mindsets within society.

“I think that is the harder part,” Goh added.

For instance, workplaces need to be genuinely family-friendly, rather than becoming more supportive simply because of government policy, he said.

Another challenge the workgroup had was grappling with diverse groups with different views, said Goh, adding that the workgroup has to find a way to intervene without being too invasive.

Some couples need assurance on financial support and in workplaces, whereas others have ruled out having children altogether. Some prioritise their careers and other aspirations over family formation.

Singles who want to marry but have not met their life partners are another group, said Goh.

Following the NDR in August, some singles felt that they had been left out amid the new sweeteners announced for parents and children.

Asked about their concerns, Goh said a family-friendly workplace culture would benefit everybody, including singles who care for ageing parents.

“What we need to land on is perhaps a more mature landscape where co-workers can cover for one another, understand one another, acknowledge that we all will have such needs. So I think it goes beyond just families with young children.”

Megan’s case ‘heart-wrenching’

His work at MSF has brought him into contact with families facing different challenges, including those caring for people with disabilities (PWDs). In December 2025, he was tasked to chair a five-member task force to review support for PWDs across life stages.

The Taskforce on Assurance for Families with Persons with Disabilities released its report in October with several recommendations. These include a new employment support office for PWDs, support for future care planning, and training all front-line polyclinic staff to attend to people with intellectual disabilities and autism.

His work has also exposed him to harrowing cases of child abuse, such as the case of four-year-old Megan Khung, who was abused to death in 2020 by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.

Goh joined MSF while an independent panel was reviewing how Megan’s case was handled.

Reading about her case was heart-wrenching, he said.

“What was also hard to stomach was reading about what the protection ecosystem could have done to prevent the incident, and that there were opportunities where various agencies could have come in and prevented the tragedy for Megan, but that somehow all failed.”

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli apologised after the panel published its report in October 2025, which revealed lapses at multiple points across the system.

In the past year, Goh has been involved in implementing the panel’s recommendations, including setting up a new government unit to strengthen early detection of child abuse.

SAFER (Sensemaking Alerts for Frontline Engagement and Response), which was launched in September, aims to identify children at risk by connecting the dots between information about families with child protection concerns held by law enforcement and other agencies. 

One change Goh has observed since Megan’s case is the way the child protection sector rallied together to share their experiences and challenges.

“I think the ecosystem is now stronger,” he said.