Politics in Singapore is generally marked by incremental change. When Singapore eventually becomes a two-party or multi-party democracy, the 2011 general election is likely to be regarded as the starting point of the epochal political transition. It was a boisterous year politically where political excitement and consciousness went up several notches due to the 7 May general elections and the 27 August presidential elections, both of which produced keenly contested hustings and outcomes. The aftermath of the general elections also saw the retirement of former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong from the Cabinet.

In President Tony Tan's first President's Address at the opening of the 12th Parliament, in October, he noted that Singapore's success “is defined not just by material progress but also by our values and ideals”. The two elections unleashed passionate debates over what kind of society Singapore should be, given that the focus in the past was overwhelmingly on material well-being. But, for a maturing polity, material well-being alone cannot build a home, a future, a nation-state. Singapore's twelfth Parliament, in its first week of sittings, deliberated on whether the choice between GDP growth or gross national happiness was a false dichotomy. It is clear that the emphasis on growth cannot be the be-all and end-all. The year 2011 saw more attention given to social issues, the post-material concerns. Significantly, there was strong agreement and renewed commitment to helping the needy and disadvantaged.

In the lead-up to the 2011–12 Budget, many Singaporeans were expecting an “election budget”. Unlike past Budget speeches, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam first zeroed in on the non-economic dimension. With the themes of surplus sharing and growing the incomes of all Singaporeans as a rallying cry, less well-off Singaporeans were very much the focus of the Budget. Following the Prime Minister's assurance in his New Year's Day message several weeks earlier, the government reaffirmed its commitment to helping low-income Singaporeans cope with the cost of living, and making home ownership affordable to all.