1 Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what percentage of Singapore's carbon emissions is currently contributed by air-conditioning, vehicle transport and waste incineration; and (b) how can Singapore become more efficient in these activities.
2 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what is the carbon footprint generated by the waste incineration process in Singapore; and (b) whether measures such as carbon capture and sequestration or carbonation of bottom ash are in place or being considered to reduce this.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources): Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, may I take Question Nos 1 and 2 together?
\tMr Speaker: Yes, please.
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Thank you. Singapore generated 52.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2017. The buildings and household sectors contributed around 19% of our total GHG emissions, of which a sizeable portion would have been for air-conditioning. The land transport sector contributed around 14%, and the incineration of municipal solid waste at waste-to-energy plants contributed around 3% of our total GHG emissions.
Singapore is fully committed to reducing our emissions under our Paris Agreement pledge. We have put in place a comprehensive suite of measures to reduce our emissions across all sectors. These measures are complemented by the economy-wide carbon tax which came into effect this year.
Under the Building Control Regulations, all new buildings and buildings undergoing major retrofitting are required to achieve a minimum sustainability standard. BCA’s Green Mark Scheme also encourages building owners and developers to achieve higher energy efficiency, such as by reducing a building's cooling demand and adopting more efficient cooling systems. NEA has also put in place the Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (MELS) to encourage consumers to purchase more energy-efficient household air-conditioners, and introduced the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) to phase out the less efficient appliances from the market.
In the transport sector, we aim to make public transport the preferred mode of travel in Singapore and to encourage active mobility such as walking and cycling. By 2040, we target for nine in 10 peak period journeys to be taken using public, active and shared modes of transport, and for these journeys to be completed within 45 minutes. We have already capped the vehicle population in Singapore at zero growth, except for commercial vehicles. We also encourage the adoption of cleaner vehicles including electric vehicles, and are working with the industry to develop infrastructure for our public, shared and private transport vehicles.
We are diverting waste away from incineration by focusing on efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle. Under the Zero Waste Masterplan launched in August, we outlined how Singapore is adopting a circular economy approach to waste management, where resources are kept in use for as long as possible. The Resource Sustainability Act that was recently enacted gives legislative effect to the regulatory framework that we will put in place to better manage the three priority waste streams of electrical and electronic waste, or e-waste, packaging waste including plastics, and food waste. These measures will contribute not only to reducing carbon emissions and closing the resource loop for these key waste streams, but will also extend the lifespan of our only landfill at Semakau.
We are closely monitoring global developments in carbon capture and sequestration. There are no plans to incorporate these technologies into our current waste management infrastructure at this moment. However, we will continue to study the feasibility of such technology, taking into consideration factors such as the maturity of the technology, and the costs and benefits of applying it to the Singapore context.
Tackling climate change requires a whole-of-nation approach. Individuals also play a key role in our climate mitigation efforts. We can all choose to make climate-friendly choices and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, such as setting the air-conditioner temperature at 25 degrees Celsius, practising the 3Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and taking public transport.
\tMr Ong Teng Koon (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Speaker, may I first declare that I work in the utilities industry. I thank the Senior Minister of State for her reply. I have three supplementary questions.
The first question is on air-conditioning. Given that air-conditioning that is provided by large-scale district cooling has shown to reduce electricity consumption by more than 30%, are there any plans by the Government to encourage more of such district cooling in Singapore?
The second question relates to electric vehicles. Given that it is always a chicken-and-egg problem between having charging points and buying and using electric vehicles, does the Government have any plans to open more public parking spaces for public charging? Not private charging for the customers of a particular company, but public charging, so as to incentivise more car owners to switch electric vehicles.
My third question relates to waste incineration. There are presently technologies such as gasification that does not have harmful emissions and that are compact enough and modular enough to be deployed locally at our HDB estates. Gasification technology can treat food waste and general waste, and has shown to be very clean. Does the Government have any plans to introduce such gasification technology in our HDB estates?
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. Firstly, with regards to the use of district cooling, indeed, we support the use of district cooling to reduce energy consumption for buildings at the systems level. In fact, there are already district cooling projects at One Raffles Quay as well as the Marina Bay area. We have found that for the Marina Bay area scheme, there was about a 40% reduction in energy consumption. We are have plans to introduce district cooling in the new Jurong Lake District. These are all greenfield sites and it is easier to implement such a technology there. For brownfield sites, there will be challenges because there are already existing buildings there that have put in place their systems. But we are studying this further.
With regards to electric vehicles, indeed, we encourage the adoption of cleaner energy vehicles, whether it is electric or hybrid, through the Vehicles Emissions Scheme, where we incentivise the purchase of cleaner energy vehicles. As regards the Member's request for public charging at parking spaces, we will bring his suggestion to MOT and LTA to consider.
Regarding gasification technology, as the Member knows, all household waste is currently incinerated at our four waste-to-energy incineration plants, it is mass incineration technology either at Woodlands or Tuas. We are studying the feasibility of small-scale waste treatment including utilising gasification technology. But in studying this, we will have to take into account factors such as the overall efficiency of waste treatment at the national level, carbon footprint savings from reduced refuse truck traffic using smaller scale gasification plants, for instance, safety to residents as well as nuisance buffer required for such facilities especially if we are talking about siting these within HDB estates, and also, any off-take or by-products at the local level.
Just to share that under NEA regulatory sandbox, the SP Group is conducting a gasification pilot at Gardens by the Bay (GBB). There, the waste collected from GBB is converted to heat as well as a solid by-product that has got carbon in it. We will monitor the outcome of this pilot and assess the feasibility of using such technology for smaller scale waste treatment facilities.
\tMr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her detailed answer. Just one supplementary question. Is the Government looking into battery swapping, as opposed to battery charging for electric vehicles? Swapping could potentially be an efficient alternative, given that space is at a premium and so on and so forth? So, is that being looked into?
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: We are studying the infrastructure as well as various measures to encourage the adoption of cleaner energy vehicles, including electric vehicles. This is something that we can look into.
\tMr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): The Senior Minister of State mentioned that we are only monitoring the technology of carbon capture. Could I ask whether MEWR is doing a feasibility study of carbon capture as part of our efforts to mitigate climate change?
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: When we talk about Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage or CCUS, it is really about capturing the carbon which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, converting it into something useful or storing it safely. So, indeed, National Climate Change Secretariat has commissioned a study on CCUS technologies, including carbonisation that Mr Leon Perera asked about, to determine the challenges as well as the opportunities of such technology and also to recommend the next steps.
One of the issues, for instance, that we would have to consider is not just economic viability and feasibility, but also whether they meet certain technical requirements, such as environmental standards that have to be met, especially when two-thirds of Singapore is a water catchment area.
These are some areas that we will study. We will continue to monitor developments in these technologies. We are working with the industry as well as with the R&D sector to look further into the technology.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Reduce Unclaimed CPF Monies","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"3 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Manpower what can be done to reduce the amount of unclaimed CPF monies going forward.
4 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Manpower whether CPF Board will consider changing the CPF nomination process to facilitate more seamless distribution of deceased CPF members' funds to their loved ones and rightful owners promptly.
5 Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked the Minister for Manpower regarding unclaimed CPF monies (a) what are the profiles of these members by age, ethnic group, marital status and education level; (b) what measures does the Ministry have to increase the awareness of nominations such as that of contacting and engaging those above a certain age who have yet to make nominations; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider allowing higher withdrawal amounts for those who have no kin to nominate.
\tThe Minister for Manpower (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Speaker, with your permission, may I take Question Nos 3 to 5 together, please.
\tMr Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMrs Josephine Teo: I thank the Members who have raised important questions. There are several key issues I hope to address in this reply.
The first question is whether most CPF monies go unclaimed? The answer is no. In fact, about 98% of all unused CPF monies belonging to deceased members were distributed by CPF Board or the Public Trustee’s Office (PTO) over the last five years. Around 2% are unclaimed.
The vast majority of deceased members had made nominations as to who they wish to receive their unused CPF monies. Their monies were distributed to beneficiaries according to these nominations. This is typically done within a month of CPF Board being notified of the member's passing by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and where the nominees’ bank details have been submitted.
Mr Chong asked about the profile of those who nominated, compared to those who did not. The clearest difference is that members below the age of 45 who pass away are much less likely to have made a nomination. But even if a member did not make a nomination for anyone to receive his unused CPF monies, it may still be distributed to his next-of-kin according to the intestacy and Muslim inheritance laws.
How does this happen? CPF Board will pass the monies to the PTO typically within three weeks of notification of the member’s passing. The PTO will then trace and search for the next-of-kin. The Ministry of Law will be answering a separate question on the efforts taken to return the un-nominated CPF monies to members’ next-of-kin.
The second question is whether unclaimed CPF monies are then forfeited? The answer is again no. As MinLaw will explain in greater detail, next-of-kin can approach the PTO at any time to submit their claims. There is no time limit for them to do so.
The third question is whether CPF Board makes an effort to reduce incidence of unclaimed monies. The answer is yes, absolutely. The CPF Board adopts a three-pronged approach. First, educating members; second, reminding members regularly; and third, making it easy for members to nominate.
Firstly, education. The CPF Board raises awareness on the importance of making a CPF nomination through annual island-wide CPF roadshows. It also works with other industry stakeholders, such as lawyers and insurance agents, to advise their clients on making a CPF nomination.
Secondly, to remind members regularly, the Yearly Statement of Account given to all CPF members highlights in text whether or not the member has made a nomination. If one has been made, the CPF Board also lets the member know when the nomination was made, in case the member wants to change his mind.
Members may be aware that CPF Board runs a CPF Retirement Planning Service for members before they reach age 55 and a second time before they reach age 65. At these planning sessions, if a member has not already made a nomination, the CPF Board officer will remind the member.
Thirdly, as Ms Foo Mee Har alluded to in her question, the CPF Board strives to make it easy for members to nominate. At the CPF Retirement Planning Service, if a member decides to make a nomination, it can be done on the spot. Today, a nomination can be made in-person at any of the CPF Service Centres, or via post. The CPF Board is also exploring providing a new electronic nomination system in the first quarter of next year. In 2018, CPF Board processed about 120,000 nomination applications, more than double the 50,000 nominations made in 2013.
To Mr Chong’s question, what if a member has no next-of-kin? For members on the Retirement Sum Scheme, the payouts are computed taking into consideration life expectancy, which is unrelated to whether a person has next-of-kin. Therefore, such members may wish to join the CPF LIFE scheme and choose the Standard Plan which generally offers higher payouts for life. After all, they have no next-of-kin to fall back on if they outlive their savings. At the same time, we focus on helping every member get their nominations done well in advance.
\t
\tMr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): I thank Minister for her answers. I am quite sure, in terms of CPF going out to encourage everyone to make nominations, this has been on-going. The fact is that there is still 2% of CPF members who have yet to make nominations. From your earlier answers, it appears that it is the younger ones who have not made nominations. I wonder and I would like to ask the Minister whether 2% – it does not appear as a big number – but when you aggregate it across, it could be 30,000, 40,000 members who have not made nominations.
Would Minister consider, making it such that nominations are almost automatic? For those who are not married, perhaps, it could automatically go to their parents? Just to make it even easier, if they choose to make new nominations, that could be done at the time that the member chooses to do so. As against now – notwithstanding all the reminders, statements to inform the CPF members that they have not made a nomination – it goes unnoticed and it remains a case where they have not made a nomination. Would the Minister consider such a suggestion?
\tMrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member Mr Seah Kian Peng for his suggestion. I think if we break down what the problem really is, as long as the person has a next-of-kin, even if the person did not make a nomination, the Public Trustee's Office will try and search for the next-of-kin and trace the person's whereabouts and make an effort to return the unused CPF monies. So, where there is actually someone, that you can give the money to, even if the person did not make the nomination, that is not the most difficult thing. The most difficult thing is where, there is a next-of-kin but we have difficulty tracing them. The correct thing to do, is therefore, to make sure that the monies are never forfeited. The person could be overseas, the next-of-kin may have lost touch with the deceased member and may not even be aware that the person has passed away and that there is unused CPF monies to be distributed.
There is a very small group, where even with the best efforts, the Public Trustee's Office will have difficulty tracing. The question of how to deal with this group, really is not so much a matter of nomination, is whether we can find more effective ways to do the trace and search. There is also another question, that has been posed to MinLaw and I would like to suggest that perhaps, we can let MinLaw answer that question and then we can follow up.
\tMr Chong Kee Hiong (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Speaker, Sir, I have two supplementary questions. First, Minister mentioned about the roadshow to inform people about the nomination. I would like to ask whether MOM could have a specific outreach to members who have not made nominations, rather than roadshows which a lot of people would ignore unless it is very specific to them. The second supplementary question is, my colleague, Ms Foo Mee Har, had also in October this year, raised the question on whether MOM could increase payout under the Retirement Sum Scheme. I would like to check whether the Minister has any updates on this.
\tMrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, to Mr Chong Kee Hiong's question on whether we can make personalised outreach, the answer is yes. We already do so, through the yearly Statement of Account. Can we make it more prominent, the answer is yes. However, at the end of the day, I am also mindful that people need to think a little bit about who they wish to nominate and the appropriate thing to do therefore, is that, when they are ready to do so and to enable them to so in a seamless manner.
I think from the statistics, it is quite clear that it is the younger individuals, who may not have thought so much about it and therefore, they have not made a nomination. What we intend to do, is to make this nomination process even more easy for younger persons who are very tech savvy, through a technology platform, perhaps they will find that maybe if they make a nomination today and tomorrow, they change their mind, it is not so difficult to do as well. This electronic means of doing so, we will be launching in the first quarter of next year, so I am hopeful that it will help to promote nominations.
To Mr Chong Kee Hiong's second question on the Retirement Sum Scheme payouts. Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take it within my Second Reading speech later in the sitting, that deals with the CPF (Amendment) Act.
\tMr Speaker: Okay, please do. Ms Sylvia Lim.
\tMs Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have a supplementary question for Minister for Manpower. That is about the trigger point for distribution of CPF monies, meaning the death of the member. We do understand of course, if the member died in Singapore, there is a death certificate issued and CPF Board is quite efficient actually in notifying the beneficiaries. But, is there any inter-governmental procedure if the person were to die overseas? Do governments frequently exchange information about deaths of nationals that have occurred overseas that may be relevant, say to Singaporeans dying, say in Cambodia or Thailand, for example?
\tMrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, it would not be unusual for foreign governments to inform us if someone were to have passed away. Sometimes, they may not inform relevant parties in Singapore, they may inform our missions overseas. And our missions overseas can then get in touch with the CPF Board. But, most likely, it is the next-of-kin who would trigger the payouts so the rest of the processes follow. As Ms Sylvia Lim explained, usually it is quite efficient, but if she is aware of any specific cases where these disbursements have not been done in a timely manner, I invite her to let me know about it and I would be happy to look into that.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Efforts Made to Return Unclaimed CPF Monies to Family Members","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"6 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Law (a) whether all efforts have been taken to return the over $200 million in unclaimed CPF monies with no nomination to family members; and (b) whether the paperwork can be made easier for family members to apply to claim the monies.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Law (Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai) (for the Minister for Law): Mr Speaker, when CPF members do not make valid CPF nominations and pass away, the un-nominated CPF monies are transferred to the Public Trustee’s Office, or PTO, for disbursement to the legally entitled beneficiaries. PTO will contact individuals who are known to possibly have an interest in the deceased member's un-nominated CPF monies and also invite them to make an application claim these un-nominated funds.
These persons include: (a) persons who approach CPF Board to inform the CPF Board of the deceased's passing, (b) the death informant listed in ICA's records, and (c) the deceased's family members as reflected in ICA's records. PTO managed to distribute about 88% of the un-nominated CPF monies it received from CPF Board over the last five years.
As at end 2018, unclaimed un-nominated CPF monies make up $132 million of the $211 million in unclaimed monies held by PTO. PTO continues to make efforts to locate legally entitled beneficiaries of unclaimed monies and they do so by making phone calls, writing to them on several occasions and also, in some cases, making house visits.
We would like to encourage individuals who may be legally entitled to the monies to submit their application. There is no time limit for the application – individuals may come forward at any time to make their claim. To ensure that the monies are distributed to the rightful applicants, PTO requires that an applicant produce documentary proof to support his claim and also the eligibility entitlement. Where necessary, PTO will assist the applicant to obtain necessary documents from the relevant agencies, by making a request on behalf of an applicant, or supporting his request for information.
\t \tAssoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Senior Minister of State. Regarding those who have been contacted through phone or through house visits in a very personalised way, we can see that there are some interactions between the officers and the possible claimants. What are the reasons why they did not eventually make the claim?
\tMr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: I think in most cases and I can check the information, but if you reach out to someone who is legally entitled to and is able to substantiate that position, in most cases, those persons will step forward to make to make the claim. The numbers that we see, unclaimed or the un-nominated sums, relate to persons we were not able to trace in the manner which you heard Minister for Manpower state earlier.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"More Measures to Step Up PMD Safety","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"7 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the Ministry’s plans to improve footpath safety back to levels before PMDs were allowed on footpaths; and (b) what is the estimated time frame that the Ministry has set to achieve this objective.
8 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport in light of continuing serious casualties caused by PMDs (a) whether the Government will review the viability of PMD use in Singapore under existing regulations; (b) whether the Government intends to introduce new measures to ensure safe use of PMDs; and (c) whether the Government will consider mandatory safe-riding certification courses with disqualification rights under the law like other classes of motorists.
9 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Transport (a) how many physical and online retailers have agreed to stop selling e-scooters or PMDs that are non-compliant with the UL2272 standard; (b) what are the measures that LTA has taken to detect physical and online retailers that continue to advertise or sell PMDs that are non-compliant with the UL2272 standard; and (c) what are the punitive measures that LTA can adopt to act against such errant retailers.
10 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Transport whether the Ministry will increase the number of enforcement teams to actively enforce the rules on the use of PMDs on shared footpaths.
11 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked ask the Minister for Transport (a) what are the measures in place to deter the sale and supply of non-compliant PMDs in Singapore by online suppliers, whether local or overseas based; and (b) whether the Ministry has asked Singapore Customs to help detect and prevent non-compliant PMDs from being brought into Singapore by any supplier or individual.
The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 7 to 11 together?
\tMr Speaker: Yes, please.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: In February 2017, we debated at length in this House and passed the Active Mobility Bill to regulate the use of active mobility devices on public paths and to support active mobility. Prior to this, motorised personal mobility devices (PMDs) were not allowed on footpaths. There are more than 5,500 km of footpaths islandwide, almost double the 3,500 km of roads. The convenience of being able to use these devices on footpaths for first-and-last-mile commutes, as well as for food delivery services, contributed to their popularity and a sharp increase in their population to close to 100,000 today.
Over the last two years, we have put in great efforts to promote the safe use of motorised PMDs. We legislated compliance standards for the devices and their proper usage. We mandated an e-scooter registration regime. Working closely with the Active Mobility Advisory Panel, we introduced a Safe Riding Programme and reduced speed limits on footpaths. We stepped up enforcement and through the MyTransport.SG mobile application, obtained regular public feedback on errant users and hotspots.
Despite significant efforts, we continue to encounter errant riders who use non-compliant devices and ride dangerously. We catch an average of about 370 offenders per month. The number of accidents involving motorised PMDs continues to rise. There have been more severe accidents and even a fatal one involving a cyclist in September. Many riders have themselves suffered severe injuries, including a few who lost their lives.
Singaporeans and several Members of Parliament have called for harsher measures against errant riders. Others have demanded that motorised PMDs be fitted with tamper-proof GPS trackers. Unfortunately, this will affect their circuitry, making them non-compliant to the UL2272 standard.
As more accidents occur, the calls for a total ban on PMD usage get louder.
We are not alone in having to revisit existing rules governing the use of motorised PMDs. Last week, France announced that it would no longer allow the riding of e-scooters on its pavements. This followed hundreds of e-scooter-related incidents, including several deaths.
Cities have allowed the use of such devices on footpaths as they are non-pollutive, inexpensive and, if properly used, convenient for short intra-town travels. We expected the co-sharing of footpaths to be challenging but were hopeful that with public education, PMD users would be gracious and responsible. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
Like France, Japan and many other countries, we have decided to prohibit the use of e-scooters from all footpaths. This will take effect from tomorrow. To allow time for users to adjust, we will provide an advisory period until 31 December 2019. From 1 January 2020, we will carry out strict enforcement and those caught riding an e-scooter on footpaths will be liable for a fine up to $2,000 and/or jail up to three months.
This ban from footpaths will not apply to those with mobility challenges who ride personal mobility aids like motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The ban will also not apply to bicycles.
We are aware that the banning of e-scooter usage on footpaths will impact food delivery riders who rely on them for work. We understand from the major food delivery companies that their deliveries are largely done by motorcycles and delivery vehicles. Less than 30% of Deliveroo and FoodPanda's riders use e-scooters. LTA will work with the food delivery companies to allow as many of their delivery riders to switch to motorcycles or bicycles.
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This move is not a complete ban of e-scooters in Singapore. We will continue to allow them on dedicated cycling paths. We are stepping up the construction of such cycling paths to provide clear separation between pedestrians and e-scooters, as in Ang Mo Kio and Tampines Town. LTA will be adding dedicated cycling paths in towns such as Woodlands, Toa Payoh and Choa Chu Kang. Overall, we will extend the network of dedicated cycling paths from about 440 km today to 750 km, latest by 2025.
As for the fire safety concerns, we have brought forward the deadline for compliance with the UL2272 standard to 1 July next year. We will also be introducing a regular inspection regime to ensure compliance. Out of the 100,000 registered e-scooters, at least 80,000 are non-UL2272 certified and cannot be used on public paths come 1 July 2020. Of the remaining 20%, those which fail our inspection regime will likewise not be allowed to be used on public paths. This will effectively reduce the population of e-scooters on public paths significantly. We are offering owners of non-compliant e-scooters an incentive of $100 if they dispose of their non-compliant devices early. Since the roll-out of the scheme on 23 September 2019 to 31 October 2019, more than 4,800 e-scooters have been disposed. We have decided to extend the early disposal incentive scheme from 30 November to 31 December 2019. We strongly urge the owners of non-compliant e-scooters to dispose their devices early to protect themselves and their neighbours from unnecessary fire risks.
Members asked about the sale of non-UL2272 certified devices. Since 1 July 2019, it has been an offence for retailers to display, advertise, or sell non-UL2272 certified PMDs for use on public paths in Singapore. Those convicted may be liable to a fine up to $5,000 and/or jail up to three months for the first offence. To date, 12 retailers have been caught and dealt with by the law. We are considering raising the penalties to root out such irresponsible acts. LTA is also studying upstream measures, including import controls, to stem the inflow of non-compliant PMDs into Singapore.
Finally, given the safety concerns of motorised PMD usage on footpaths, we have decided not to accept any new application for PMD-sharing licences. As for the existing applications, we will issue a safety directive and LTA will reject them.
Mr Speaker, this ban of e-scooters from footpaths is a difficult decision. But it is a necessary step for pedestrians to feel safe again on public paths, while still allowing e-scooters to grow in tandem with cycling path infrastructure. We hope to have Members’ understanding and support for this new policy.
\tMr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Speaker, I want to thank the Senior Minister of State for making the announcement. I think many people will welcome that ban on shared footpaths. But the Senior Minister of State has not answered my question because an announcement that a ban will take place would still need to be enforced. So, may I ask whether the Ministry will consider increasing the number of enforcement teams, so that we can actively enforce the rules, especially now that the rules are that you are going to ban these PMDs on the shared footpaths? Will MOT do that and by how many? Because now that you are going to ban the use of PMDs on shared footpaths, I would expect that your enforcement should be stepped up.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Mr Lim for the clarification. Yes, indeed, we will be increasing the number of Active Mobility Enforcement Officers (AMEOs), up to 200 by the end of this year. In addition to the AMEOs, we are also forming more Active Mobility Patrol teams within the community. We will be working with the various constituencies to form as many Active Mobility Patrol teams as possible, so that they can also help in the public education of PMD users.
At the same time, we also have what we call \"Blue-Rangers\" who are LTA officers who volunteer to take up the added responsibility of going round to educate PMD users on the various rules and regulations, as well as to remind them that from tomorrow onwards, it will be illegal to ride PMDs on footpaths.
\tMr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Speaker. May I ask the Senior Minister of State in respect of part (c) of my Question No 8, \"whether the Government will consider mandatory safe-riding certification courses with disqualification rights\"? Would the Government be still considering this?
In respect of the calls for age limit, both by the Active Mobility Panel as well as in my previous Parliamentary Question, will the Government consider an age limit for riders riding PMDs? I will also be grateful if the Senior Minister of State can answer Question No 11. Thank you.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Mr Dennis Tan for those supplementary questions. With regard to his question on whether there should be any mandatory safe-riding certification courses, I would like to share with the House that the Active Mobility Advisory Panel (AMAP) has recently submitted their recommendations on certain aspects of active mobility and one of which includes a mandatory theory test, which is slightly different from the safe-riding certification. But I think that may be a good step forward because by having a mandatory theory test, this will remind them of some of the various new rules and regulations on PMD usage, as well as some of the safety measures that they should adopt when using PMDs. We do not think that a safe-riding certification course will be necessary at this point in time because riding a PMD is very different from operating a motorcycle or, for that matter, a motor vehicle. It is actually much easier to do so. The question is whether the PMD user will exercise their due diligence and responsibility in riding the device in a safe manner.
As to the age limit, similarly, AMAP has also recommended that the age limit be brought down to 16 years. LTA, together with MOT, will be studying some of these recommendations by AMAP and we will make the necessary announcement later on.
As to the last clarification on the sale and supply of non-compliant PMDs, I have mentioned in my reply that from 1 July 2019, retailers are already not allowed to sell or even advertise non-compliant PMDs. At the same time, we are also moving upstream to look at how we can impose an import control of such non-compliant PMDs, so that we do not see such non-complaint PMDs being marketed in Singapore. We are working together with the necessary Government agencies to see how we can go about doing that.
\tMr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mr Speaker, I thank the Senior Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. I have three supplementary questions.
The first question is you have mentioned that 12 retailers were caught for flouting the rules. Of these 12 retailers, how many are physical retailers and how many are online retailers?
The second question is how does LTA or MOT detect those retailers that are flouting the rules? For the physical retailers, it will be easier, for the online retailers, it may be more difficult. Some of the online retailers may also be reselling their used PMDs, which are non-compliant with the UL2272 standard, on some of the platforms.
The third question is you mentioned that by end of the year, you will increase the enforcement team to 200 people. What is the current number now?
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Mr Ang for those three supplementary questions. Out of those 12 retailers who were caught, all of them are physical retailers. I think Mr Ang will agree with me that it is very difficult to control or even prosecute online retailers because many of them are actually located outside Singapore.
But having said that, LTA works very closely with some of the major online retailers, for example, Lazada, to request that they put on the website some of the rules and regulations of PMD usage in Singapore, especially with respect to the device criteria allowed for sale in Singapore.
On the Member's third question on the number of Active Mobility Enforcement Officers (AMEOs), like I have mentioned, we will increase to 200. But offhand I do not have the exact numbers of AMEOs that we have right now, but I think it is in the region of 100-plus.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir. I have five supplementary questions.
The first question is, I would like to ask whether there will be any upgrading of the path in Nee Soon Town because the cycling path and the footpath side by side, they are the same colour, so whatever that you ban, I do not see that it will make any difference in Nee Soon Town.
The second question is, despite the ban on the footpath, will the Ministry consider mandatory licencing for PMD riders as well as insurance? Because as you beef up the infrastructure as we go along, the number will increase again.
The third question is, the registration number on the PMD, as I had mentioned in my question last month, it is too small and it is not visible at all at night. Will this part be looked into and reviewed?
The fourth question is, will the Ministry consider making speed limit installation compulsory, moving forward, for new PMDs?
Last but not least, I think it is a good move but the next question that the residents will be afraid of is bicycle. We do not have any registration numbers on the bicycles, so when it comes to accidents, there is no way that they can identify the cyclist. So, is the Ministry looking into this?
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for the five supplementary questions. The very first is on upgrading the paths in Nee Soon South. In fact, we will be upgrading the paths in all the different towns in Singapore. Of course, we will be focusing on those where the use of active mobility is the highest and then we will try to do so for the rest of the towns as soon as possible. If there are any particular paths or areas where Er Dr Lee Bee Wah is concerned about, we can always look at it and see how we can tap on the funding that I have announced during the Ministerial Statement on improving certain hotspot areas, so that the risk of conflict can be minimised in those areas.
As to mandatory licencing of PMD users as well as mandatory third party liability insurance, at this point in time, we do not have the intention to do so. But we already have various regimes in place such as the mandatory registration of PMD device itself. We are also currently actively studying some of the recommendations put up by the Active Mobility Advisory Panel, one of which is the mandatory theory test. Like I have explained to Mr Dennis Tan, the intent is to inculcate safe riding habits amongst PMD users and at the same time, also to remind PMD users of some of the rules and regulations that are in place.
As to whether we should have mandatory third party liability insurance. We have been actively studying this issue. In fact, one of the recommendations that was put forth by AMAP is to have mandatory third party liability insurance for businesses, for example, food delivery companies. I am glad to say that we have engaged the three major food delivery companies and all of them have bought third party liability insurances for their PMD delivery personnel. We are also working with the insurance companies to see how we can bring down the price of the premium for such a product. At the same time, we also encourage all PMD users to consider purchasing third party liability insurance because it provides the necessary protection and peace of mind.
We also take back the Member's suggestion on the registration label for registered PMDs and we can work with LTA to see how we can make the font size more readable and easier to identify.
As to the Member's supplementary question on speed limiter installation for new PMDs, in fact, currently, all the new PMDs that are imported already have a speed limit of 25 km/h, which is the speed limit allowable on our cycling paths as well as our PCNs. With the implementation of the prohibition of e-scooter use on footpaths from tomorrow, there is no longer a need to limit these devices to 10 km/h. At the same time, if there are any illegal modifications of the speed limit of the PMDs, LTA will come down hard on these PMD users who illegally modify their devices.
As to bicycle registration, I think we have debated on this topic many years back in Parliament whether we should register cyclists. The decision then was not to because it will actually impede the take-up of active mobility, especially bicycles. At this point in time, many members of the public are supportive of the use of bicycles in their town as well as amongst the neighbourhood. The main concern now is that of PMD usage, especially those who are reckless and riding them dangerously. We will focus on the control of PMD use. The recent announcement on the ban on footpaths will be the right step forward.
\tAssoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, I would like to ask one supplementary question. Will the Senior Minister of State consider extending an incentive for the disposal of compliant PMDs? I am asking this because although this decision will greatly improve pedestrian safety, it will also harm the value of all PMDs, even compliant ones. And if you get people to turn them in if they have no longer a use for them, it will reduce the risks of one using it and address any harm suffered by responsible owners of these PMDs.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Assoc Prof Walter Theseira for that supplementary question. I understand where the Member is coming from. The incentive scheme of $100 is meant for PMDs that are registered but non-compliant. The reason why we are doing so is because of the risk of fire and, therefore, we will not be extending this incentive to PMDs that are compliant because for PMDs that are compliant, they can still continue to use them on the cycling paths as well as the PCNs and we are not totally restricting its use altogether.
\tMr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to applaud MOT's decision to ban the use of PMDs on footpaths. With the ban of using PMDs in void decks, this measure would largely address the safety concerns of residents. I also think that this represents an openness and willingness on the part of MOT to revisit issues when the circumstances warrant it and I think Members of this House should acknowledge that. It is also a matter of regret because the first decision to rely on the conduct of PMD users by self-regulating appears to be an experiment which somehow failed, but it is not a wrong decision in itself.
My supplementary question is in relation to enforcement in Pedestrian-only Zones (POZs). As I hear the hon Senior Minister of State, we have enforcement officers under the Active Mobility Act. The POZs are enforced by Town Councils and I wonder whether we could have enforcement officers appointed by the Town Councils to be also be given powers under the Active Mobility Act so that these officers can enforce seamlessly.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Mr Murali for those words of encouragement. It is a difficult decision to prohibit the use of PMDs on footpaths. When we first started debating on this topic in 2017, the collective decision then was to allow the use of PMDs on footpaths with the necessary mitigating measures in place, which we have done very thoroughly over the past two years. But at the same time, we understand that we should not push for connectivity at all costs. Public safety is still paramount and, looking at the current situation, it is not possible for the Government not to make a decisive decision. Therefore, the decision to prohibit the use of PMDs on footpaths.
As to the POZs, with this current announcement, we will be going back to the five pilot sites at the various Town Councils to work with the advisers to see whether they would like to proceed with the implementation of POZs. Because with the current ban of PMDs on footpaths, the danger posed by PMDs in such areas will be significantly reduced. Therefore, the question is whether we should continue with the POZs to prohibit the use of bicycles in these town centres. For those advisers who still want to continue with the implementation of POZs, LTA, together with MOT, will work very closely with the adviser to implement the POZs.
With regard to enforcement, I think we should adopt the attitude that we are in this together. The Town Council officers, together with the LTA enforcement officers, will try to make it as safe as possible for the pedestrians at the POZs.
\tMr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you for the indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am rising to follow up on a question I raised to the Senior Minister of State on enforcement of PMD bans at void decks with respect to Town Councils. AHTC took a position previously, but in light of the Minister's announcement, we will align our rules to the Government's stand on the matter. Thank you for your indulgence, Mr Speaker.
\tMr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, while I support the Government's decision to ban PMDs on walkways, I am also a little concerned about how this will impact the food delivery businesses which do offer convenience to residents. So, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State how he sees this decision affecting the food delivery businesses and, more importantly, the PMD riders who are dependent on the PMDs to earn a living and whether there will be existing measures to help them to continue to have a way to do their business.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Mr Liang Eng Hwa for that supplementary question. I must say that we share the same concern when deliberating on this measure. We have been engaging the three major food delivery companies – Food Panda, Grab Food as well as Deliveroo. From our understanding, there are approximately about 7,000 food delivery riders using PMDs engaged by these three companies. We think that these 7,000 riders are probably the upper bound of the number of PMD users in this trade because many of them may register under the multiple companies.
We also understand from the food delivery companies that less than 30% of the deliveries are actually done using PMDs. Just to give Members rough statistics. For Food Panda, only about 12% of their food deliveries are done by PMDs, Deliveroo about 5%. We do not have the exact statistics from Grab Food. We are encouraging the food delivery companies and are working with them to see how we can convert as many of these PMD delivery personnel to either use motorcycles or bicycles because we do see that some of the companies do use bicycles for food delivery as well. For example, Food Panda has about 16% of their food deliveries done on bicycles.
For those workers who are unable to convert to either bicycles or motorcycles for whatever reasons, we will be working with the food delivery companies, together with Workforce Singapore, to assist them and see how we can look for alternative jobs for them.
\tMr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, this is pertaining to the enforcement of this new regulation. I understand from the Senior Minister of State that it will be challenging certainly to have an enforcement team to enforce this on the ground. Would the Government consider perhaps using technology and enhance technology in this area? For example, with a sufficient CCTV or camera network and perhaps more advanced recognition technology, would this be possible in the future to use such technology to identify those who break the law? Again, similar technology has been used in the enforcement of traffic regulations or even illegal parking along double yellow lines, for example.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Mr Darryl David for that supplementary question. The short answer is, yes, we will see how we can use technology to strengthen our enforcement capabilities. In fact, in previous parliamentary sittings, I had already shared that LTA is currently piloting the use of CCTVs for that purpose. At the same time, we have also implemented MyTransport.SG where the public can snap a picture of the errant rider and, if possible, try to identify the errant rider; if not, at least it will provide some information on where the possible hotspots are.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assessment of Security Risk Faced by Singaporean Individuals, Firms or Media Organisations","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"12 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the criteria used to determine whether Singaporean individuals, firms, or media organisations are at risk of being compromised by foreign influence for national security reasons; (b) whether a list of such individuals or organisations at risk, and the reasons for these risks, will be published; and (c) whether positions that involve media, communications, or outreach, that address issues of social or political concern should be staffed exclusively by Singaporeans due to the risks of foreign influence.
13 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the facts behind the concerns expressed at the recent Foreign Interference Tactics and Countermeasures Conference that certain activists and media persons are potential agents of foreign influence; and (b) how can Singaporeans protect themselves against foreign influence given that association with and receiving income from foreign sources is common amongst globalised Singapore firms and individuals.
\tThe Minister for Home Affairs (Mr K Shanmugam): Mr Speaker, please allow me to take Question Nos 12 and 13 from Ms Ong and Assoc Prof Walter Theseira together.
\tMr Speaker: Please do.
\tMr K Shanmugam: First on Ms Anthea Ong's questions, say you push a foreign country's or a specific party's agenda to subvert your own country, the position is clear. You are acting against Singapore's national interests. Often, this is done for money; sometimes, for other reasons. I am not sure you can do this, identify this by specific criteria. It really depends on what is actually done, what actually happens. The cases of Eastern Sun and Singapore Herald are illustrative.
On the second part of Ms Ong's question, as the Nominated Member knows, no such general lists have been published about organisations and individuals who may potentially be subject to foreign influence. In fact, I am a little perplexed by the question because how do you make a comprehensive list of all people who may potentially be recruited by foreign agencies or be subject to foreign influence? When I put it in those terms, you can see that the point is quite absurd.
In foreign countries, even Members of Parliament have been recruited by foreign agencies. So, it will be quite meaningless to publish such lists.
Whether we should identify specific areas which are more likely to be vectors for foreign influence and have some better way of managing those risks – given that the environment is changing – that is a different issue. Of course, there are specific jobs that already have requirements for security clearances for these and other reasons. If action is in fact taken against a particular individual or organisation, the case often becomes public. This will be so unless there are national security reasons not to reveal the details. The Nominated Member will be aware, for example, of the case involving Mr Huang Jing. There have been other examples as well.
The Nominated Member of Parliament has also asked about controlling employment of foreigners in organisations involving media, communications, outreach. I assume she is referring to my statement on 25 September at the Foreign Interference Tactics and Countermeasures Conference. I will say we have to look at the issue from a broader perspective, for example, the nature of the organisation, the confidence that we can have that the employees are likely to be immune to foreign influence, that there are controls, and also our own ability to identify any possible foreign influence.
I will next address Nominated Member of Parliament Walter Theseira's questions. He asked about the facts behind the concerns expressed at that Conference. The facts which led to me as well as others expressing concerns can be found in my speech as well as in the presentations made by some of the other speakers. A transcript of the speech is on my Home Ministry's website and I have asked my officers to send a link of it to the Nominated Member of Parliament. I have also asked my officers to send him the material that was presented at the Conference.
On the second part of his question, I think the Nominated Member of Parliament may have misunderstood what I have said. It is not all foreign influences that we seek to avoid. We seek to deal with, for example, foreign influences that seek to disrupt our society, weaken our country, affect our foreign policy. This cannot come as a surprise. Every country seeks to protect itself. Again, my speech sets that out. I will also refer as an example to some of the statements made at the congressional hearings held on 7 December, 2018, 24 July, 2019, and 26 September, 2019 in the United States. I have attached a short list of quotes made at that hearing that the Nominated Member of Parliament may find useful and with your permission, Mr Speaker, may I ask the Clerk to distribute those handouts.
Mr Speaker: Yes, please. [Handouts were distributed to hon Members.]
\tMr K Shanmugam: Thank you.
Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat. Oh, Assoc Prof Walter Theseira.
\tAssoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, I am sorry. I was not aware that the Minister has finished his statement. I share the Minister's concerns about foreign influence risk. I think my only supplementary question is that I wish to ask if the Minister would agree that in assessing these kinds of foreign influence risk, we should look more at the facts of what these persons are doing in terms of their actions, their writings, points of views expressed and so forth, at their actions and behaviours and perhaps less at whether they, for example, just received foreign funding or employ foreigners in sensitive positions. I am concerned because if we are too quick to judge on these matters, we may deter Singaporeans from engaging in foreign exchanges, international exchanges and so forth, and that is going to be very important for us as a globalised society.
\tMr K Shanmugam: I think what the Nominated Member of Parliament has said is one part of it. Let me try and put a perspective to that. First, the current law is that in certain categories, there is no foreign influence allowed whatsoever. For example, in order to be a Member of Parliament – obvious. Equally, Members of Parliament, political parties are not allowed to take donations from foreign agencies, other foreigners. So, the Nominated Member of Parliament's point does not quite deal with the issues. You have got to identify the risks. Certain types, certain categories of positions, organisations like political parties which seek to contest and represent the view points of Singaporeans must not accept money from foreign institutions, and it is no answer to say, \"Oh, you should not prevent Singaporeans from engaging with international opinions.\" There is nothing to prevent politicians, political parties from engaging with foreign parties but you cannot take money from them. You need to identify what it is that we are speaking about.
Then, in certain other areas, for example, newspapers. We do not allow foreigners to control or fund newspapers. That is in the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (NPPA). Again, the reason is obvious. But if I were to put it in broader terms, we want to keep foreign influence out of our political environment, not allow foreigners to influence our own political processes and we have crafted a series of laws over the years. I think Singaporeans accept that and the quotes that I gave you would show to you that the Americans accept that as well. I do not think that is really arguable. How that should be applied in specific cases, we can always discuss.
Let me give you some specific examples. Let me talk about the Eastern Sun.
This was an English language daily. It was launched in July 1966. A local businessman, Aw Kow – he is son of one of the Tiger Balm brothers. He wanted to own a newspaper. He wanted money. He approached senior officials of a news agency from communist China – it was based on Hong Kong – for money. The news agency was a state-owned organisation. Aw was given loans totalling HK$6 million with very friendly interest rates and repayment terms. The Eastern Sun faced financial problems soon after it began operations. The communist officials injected another HK$1.2 million with an added condition that Aw appoint their representative as adviser to the newspaper and Aw agreed to that. The Eastern Sun was also known to undertake non-journalistic functions at the direction of the People's Republic of China government such as de facto diplomatic representation, support and cover for People's Republic of China intelligence officials and the senior officials whom Aw approached were, in fact, undercover intelligence agents of communist China.
The Government exposed this in May of 1971. The Eastern Sun's senior editorial staff resigned en masse. The newspaper ceased publication a few days later. The Eastern Sun was a case of black ops. It was an attempt by communist China to capture and manipulate the local media, ultimately to influence public opinion and create a political situation favourable to their own interests. Communists even allowed the newspaper to take an anti-communist line. As the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew pointed out, this reflected their long-term approach and patience so that ultimately they have an agent, they have an institution of influence.
So, you have to identify different aspects. Certain categories of jobs, certain categories of operations, media, are commonly used as vectors. You need to look at it very carefully and you cannot say, \"Oh, we need to interact with the people from overseas and therefore, it is okay.\" It is not okay to go and take money to run a foreign country's agenda in Singapore.
Let me tell you about the Singapore Herald. English newspaper, started in July 1970, used as a tool for foreign interference in the 70s. Its editorials played up issues relating to, for example, National Service, that it should be done away with. It was making losses, this newspaper. The supposed shareholders were a former Chief Minister of Sabah, a Hong Kong businesswoman and a foreign bank. Then Prime Minister Lee and Foreign Minister Rajaratnam met with the Hong Kong businesswoman, Aw Sian, and Singapore Herald's managing director, Jimmy Hahn, as well as the editor, Ambrose Khaw. They met in City Hall. Mr Lee asked them about the finances of the paper. Aw Sian gave the initial financing of $500,000. She said she had no knowledge of the financial standing of the paper. She said that the $500,000 was her money. So, Mr Lee Kuan Yew asked her, if you know nothing about the newspaper and you do not know how it is doing, how come you are sending this money in, if it was your money? You are a veteran business person.
She apparently gave the money on the basis of three receipts and had no control over the Singapore Herald. There were considerable doubts on the part of our intelligence agencies and the local Chase Manhattan branch gave overdraft facilities to the Singapore Herald and that was contrary to Chase Manhattan's policy. Mr David Rockefeller, the chairman of Chase Manhattan, told Prime Minister Lee in May 1971 that the bank had a standing rule of not lending money to newspapers. Yet, here, they lent money. He claimed that Hendrik Kwant, the manager in Singapore, did not know of this standing rule and approved the overdraft to the Singapore Herald.
Our intelligence agencies concluded that American intelligence had a significant role in these operations and that this was a foreign influence operation and the motive was to create a weapon that would shape public opinion as a pressure point and also to create an outlet that would be anti-communist against the Soviets and against communist activities in this region.
So, you can see it is equal opportunity. It is not just one country or another. And, of course, the Nominated Member of Parliament would be aware of the Hendrickson affair. We all meet with foreign diplomats. There is nothing with it. But when a foreign diplomat engages Singaporeans and encourages them to form a political party and run, that crosses well beyond what diplomats are entitled to do.
If you look at the Political Donations Act, that sets out the restrictions. If you look at the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (NPPA), that sets out a number of restrictions and I can name you other legislation. But the key point is politics and Singapore should be for Singaporeans. It can be maintained without saying, \"Therefore, we cannot interact with people outside of Singapore\". Of course, we must! Whether it is in business or in the academia or in politics, we must keep track, interact and understand what is going on and have deep relationships. But that is different from taking money from people or allowing people to influence operations. And we in this House should stand against that.
\tMs Anthea Ong (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for the response. I am sorry that I perplexed him and that he found my question absurd. It was actually —
\tMr K Shanmugam: I would not suggest that of your question.
\tMs Anthea Ong: I genuinely was concerned because at the Conference, certain Singaporean individuals were mentioned repeatedly and I wanted to know if there was a list that the Minister could share with us, so that we are aware who these individuals are who are actually under foreign influence that have security risks.
\tMr K Shanmugam: I think my speech was clear as to what I said. I will have them send a copy of my speech to the Member. And I had not suggested that the Member's question was absurd but I had said any suggestion would be absurd.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singapore’s Role in Coal-fired and Gas-fired Independent Power Producer Projects in the Region","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"14 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of plans for a large number of coal-fired and gas-fired Independent Power Producers in the region (a) how many of these projects is Singapore involved in; and (b) how can Singapore play a leading role in renewable energy financing.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources): Investments into power projects in the region, as with other investments, are commercial decisions that businesses and financial institutions make to maximise their long-term risk-adjusted returns, amongst others. Nonetheless, as the financial sector increasingly incorporates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into their business decisions, we are witnessing a re-channelling of funds away from traditional projects to more sustainable ones such as those involving cleaner renewables. For example, in April this year, our three local banks announced their decisions to cease financing of new coal-fired power plants.
My Ministry supports the financial sector in making this transition and works with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to promote the broader green financing initiative in Singapore including increasing the financial sector’s awareness of environmental risks and opportunities.
MAS works closely with the industry to provide guidance on managing ESG risks and support climate-related disclosures. The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) issued the Guidelines on Responsible Financing in 2015 to support responsible lending by banks, particularly in industries with higher ESG risks, including the energy industry. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) introduced a “comply-or-explain” regime for sustainable reporting for all listed companies, beginning from the financial year ending on or after 31 December 2017.
To spur the use of capital markets instruments and promote the adoption of standards for green investment products, MAS introduced the Green Bond Grant Scheme in 2017. The grant helps to offset the cost of obtaining an external review to ensure that the green bonds are aligned with internationally accepted standards. To date, over S$6 billion of green bonds have been issued in Singapore. The grant scheme has been expanded in February this year to include social and sustainability bonds, and renamed the Sustainable Bond Grant Scheme.
My Ministry will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to build on these efforts and develop Singapore’s competitive edge, not just in renewable energy financing, but across green financing.
\tMr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. Just a supplementary question following up from her answer. I laud the efforts by the Government to boost the Green Bond Grant Scheme and the Sustainable Bond Grant Scheme, up to the amount of S$6 million. I feel that the biggest problem in ASEAN excluding Singapore is the plan to increase in the coal-fired, gas-fired Independent Power Producers (IPPs). They are going to spew a lot of carbon into the atmosphere and the biggest problem is that reneweables financing, in my view, is still slow in ASEAN.
Can the Senior Minister of State share if Singapore plans to enhance and relocate our investments into, for example, first loss funds in the region or renewable projects in ASEAN, together with other ASEAN countries possibly chipping later on, rather than possibly investing in negative yield type bonds in developed markets? That in some ways could help to massively boost renewable projects in ASEAN and potentially reduce the greenhouse gases in ASEAN going forward.
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for his question. When we talk about financing of power projects, I think we must understand it in the context of the growing energy needs in the region, even as we move towards a low-carbon source of power generation. Investments into power projects, as with all other investments, are commercial decisions that the businesses and financial institutions will have to consider, taking into account, as I had said, maximising the long-term risk adjusted returns as well as other goals that they have.
The Government does not interfere or influence their individual investment decisions. I think it is an important governance principle that we adhere to. But as I had said, the industry is becoming increasingly exposed to the risks and opportunities of the low carbon future. So, financial institutions are also increasingly incorporating the ESG goals in their positions and I think that will lead to a shift of investment towards more sustainable activities. What we can do is for my Ministry to continue to support the financial sector in making this transition, working together with MAS to promote more green financing in Singapore.
As to regards to the specific question about investments, like into a first loss fund or renewable project, it is something the Member could discuss and bring up at various forums for the investors and the financial institutions to consider the feasibility, not just in Singapore but across the region.
\tMr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Can I ask whether MEWR will be urging GIC to also stop funding coal-power projects?
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I think we have said that, whether it is GIC or Temasek Holdings, they make their decisions on a commercial basis. But they have said that sustainability is one of the factors that they take into account in their decisions. As I have said earlier, the Government does not interfere or influence the decisions that they make on a commercial basis and this is an important principle of governance that we adhere to.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Outlook on Singapore’s Water Adequacy and Possibility of Water Rationing Exercises","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"15 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of some cities in the region conducting water rationing (a) whether Singapore will suffer the same fate; (b) what is the outlook on water adequacy in Singapore; and (c) what advice does the Ministry have for businesses and residents in Singapore.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources): As the Member rightly pointed out, some cities in the region have conducted water rationing in recent months. In Thailand, rice farmers were affected by the worst drought in a decade and were forced to queue up for water for irrigation. In the Philippines, residents of Metro Manila faced water supply interruption due to falling dam water levels. In Malaysia, water rationing was conducted in certain parts of Johor in September and October, as several dams were affected by critically low water levels due to dry weather.
Singapore has also been affected by the dry weather from July to September. The water level at Linggiu Reservoir fell below 50% in September 2019, as PUB had to discharge more water from the Linggiu Reservoir to supplement water flowing in the Johor River, in order to meet the total abstractions of both Malaysia and Singapore from the Johor River. If the Linggiu Reservoir fails, the Johor River may suffer low water levels, which will compromise Singapore's right to abstract our full entitlement of 250 million gallons of water per day under the 1962 Water Agreement. So, if the Linggiu Reservoir water levels fall, Johor River may suffer low water levels. We are following up with Malaysia on identifying appropriate and timely measures, including additional schemes, to increase the yield of the Johor River. In Singapore, Members may also recall photos on social media showing the falling water levels at the Botanic Gardens Eco Lake and Bedok Reservoir due to the dry spell.
That said, there has not been a need for nationwide water rationing in Singapore since 1964. This did not happen by chance. Over the years, Singapore has developed a robust and diversified supply of water, as a result of our early and consistent investments in water infrastructure and research and development. We have augmented our water supply with weather-resilient sources, namely NEWater and desalinated water. Along with water from local catchment and imported water, they make up Singapore's \"Four National Taps\". However, the production of NEWater and desalinated water is energy intensive and costly. While PUB continues to invest heavily in technology to reduce the energy consumption, we call on everyone to use water prudently and avoid wastage.
To drive home the water conservation message, PUB conducts water rationing exercises with schools and the community. Earlier this March, over 100 schools undertook water rationing exercises in support of the GoBlue4SG movement, as part of the Singapore World Water Day celebration. In addition, PUB has been encouraging homes and industries to use water more efficiently, including the use of more efficient fittings and appliances, implementing water recycling projects and adopting water conservation practices. PUB refreshed its \"Make Every Drop Count\" campaign to profile the hard work involved in water treatment and to remind Singaporeans that every drop of water must be used wisely. The sustainability of our water resources can only be assured if all of us treat water as a precious resource and are committed to save water as a way of life.
With climate change, Singapore has and will experience more extreme weather patterns, and prolonged dry spells will affect us. Even as the Government continues to invest in infrastructure and technologies to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, everyone must play their part to conserve water. Together, we can \"Make Every Drop Count\".
Mr Speaker: End of Question Time. Introduction of Government Bills.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos 18-19, 21, 23-28, 30-31, 33-44, 46-50, 52-75, 77 and 79-81 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 16-17, 20, 22, 29, 32, 45, 51, 76, 78 and 82 have been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Banking (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Banking Act (Chapter 19 of the 2008 Revised Edition) and to make consequential amendments to certain other Acts\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Second Minister for Finance (Mr Lawrence Wong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend certain Acts of the Republic of Singapore\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Law (Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai) on behalf of the Minister for Law; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Healthcare Services Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to provide for the regulation of healthcare services and other connected or incidental matters, to repeal the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (Chapter 248 of the 1999 Revised Edition), and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other Acts\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Minister for Health (Mr Gan Kim Yong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Good and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Second Minister for Finance (Mr Lawrence Wong): Mr Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2019 covers five amendments. Two of them seek to refine the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on imported services, which was passed in the GST (Amendment) Bill 2018. The other three arise from periodic review of the GST regime to clarify technical rules, improve GST administration, and reduce business compliance costs.
MOF sought views from the public on the draft Bill earlier this year. We have evaluated the feedback received and incorporated them where they are relevant to the Bill.
Let me start by highlighting the first two amendments which relate to the implementation of GST on imported services, which will come into effect from 1 January 2020.
The first amendment provides technical clarifications and improvement to GST administration in relation to imported services. This includes refinements to the Overseas Vendor Registration regime, to allow GST group registration for overseas suppliers, as well as allow local electronic marketplace operators to account for GST on both B2B and B2C supplies of digital services, on behalf of their underlying suppliers. The amendment also seeks to clarify the scope of Reverse Charge, that it applies to all businesses that are GST-registered or liable for GST registration and are not allowed input tax claims in full. So, these changes ensure parity between local and overseas purchases and will help ease business compliance. The changes are found in clauses 4 to 9, 15 to 17, 19, and 20 in the Bill.
The second amendment introduces offences for misrepresentation of information. This measure is required for the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) to enforce GST on imported services effectively, as suppliers under the Overseas Vendor Registration regime operate overseas and will need to rely on information provided by customers to determine if GST is applicable. Clause 12 in the Bill provides for these changes.
As mentioned earlier, MOF regularly reviews the GST regime and so, I will highlight the last three amendments found in the Bill arising from this periodic review.
First, we will update our GST treatment of digital payment tokens, also commonly known as cryptocurrencies. Today, the exchange of fiat currency and the provision of loans in fiat currency are financial services which are exempt from GST. While digital payment tokens are not legal tender like fiat currency, they are known to serve as a medium of exchange in some transactions. So, we will exempt from GST the supply of digital payment tokens that are in exchange for fiat currency or other digital payment tokens. We will also exempt from GST the loan of digital payment tokens.
Likewise, the use of fiat currency as payment for goods and services today is not subject to GST. But increasingly, we are seeing the acceptance of digital payment tokens as a means of payment for goods and services, at local retailers. Accordingly, the amendment also seeks to not subject the supply of digital payment tokens to GST, when they are used as a means of payment for goods and services. This means that whether digital payment tokens or fiat currency are used to purchase goods and services, GST is chargeable only on the underlying supply of goods and services, not on the digital payment token itself.
This proposed treatment is similar to the GST rules for digital payment tokens in Australia, the European Union, Switzerland and Japan. The changes that are required to be made to the GST Act are found in clauses 3, 10, and 16 to 18 of the Bill.
Second, to align ourselves with international trends and to improve accountability and promote open justice, tax proceedings before the Courts will no longer be heard privately by default. Clause 11 of the Bill provides for the change. Similar changes were passed in this House last month in relation to the Income Tax Act. The changes relating to Court proceedings, under the GST Act and the Income Tax Act, will take effect on 1 January 2020.
Finally, to safeguard the interests of taxpayers who lodge appeals to the GST Board of Review, we will introduce definitions of “accountant” and “advocate and solicitor”, to ensure that representatives handling taxpayers’ appeals to the Board meet certain professional qualifications. Clause 2 of the Bill provides for the change. These definitions are consistent with those currently found in the Income Tax Act for the purposes of appeals heard before the Income Tax Board of Review. Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Lawrence Wong]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Home Affairs Uniformed Services Superannuation (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Amrin Amin) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, on behalf of the Minister for Home Affairs, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
The Home Affairs Uniformed Services Superannuation Act was enacted in October 2001 to establish a superannuation scheme, known as the INVEST Plan. This Plan is for officers in the uniformed services under MHA.
These officers have an earlier retirement age of 55. They receive additional contributions under the INVEST Plan, on top of full CPF contributions, to help them with their career transition.
These additional contributions under the INVEST Plan are pooled to form an investment fund known as the INVEST Fund. The Fund invests in a diversified portfolio, managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Minister for Home Affairs.
The Board comprises senior members from the Home Team and members with relevant experience from the finance industry. Today, the Fund has approximately 14,000 members and S$1.5 billion of assets.
MHA has reviewed best practices in the investment management industry to achieve the Fund’s objectives of achieving appropriate risk-adjusted long-term returns and improving the management of the Fund.
The Bill proposes to make the necessary legislative amendments to align with industry best practices. The key provisions relate to two main areas.
First, the broadening of the range of permissible investments. Currently, the Board is empowered to invest in \"stocks, funds, securities and investments\". Clause 5 of the Bill will expand the definition of investments in the Act for more effective management of the Fund. One example is the use of derivatives to protect the value of the Fund and invest more cost-efficiently. This is consistent with industry practice. The use of derivatives will be guided by best practices, such as the Code on Collective Investment Schemes issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Second, the delegation of the Board’s powers and functions. Clause 6 of the Bill will clarify the scope of the Board’s powers and functions for efficient and effective governance and administration of the Fund. The amendments will allow the Board to appoint investment managers to construct and manage the portfolio with multiple fund managers. This approach can help to achieve lower investment management fees through economies of scale that the investment managers would have. The amendments for delegation are in line with industry practice for other large pension funds and are consistent with the powers of delegation found in other legislation.
The Board will maintain investment oversight of the Fund, and will have a clear governance framework and reporting structures in place. The Board remains fully accountable to the Minister for the management of the Fund.
In conclusion, the amendments to the Act will improve MHA’s management and governance of the Fund, for the benefit of our uniformed officers who are under the INVEST Plan. Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Assoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, this Bill will strengthen our ability to safeguard and prudently invest the retirement benefit funds for our Home Affairs Uniformed Officers. Due to the physical requirements of service, our Home Affairs Officers face an earlier retirement than Singaporeans in other professions. It is right that we reward them for their service and ensure that they are not financially disadvantaged compared to their peers.
I will discuss two issues. First, I will suggest that we separate the role that the INVEST Fund plays as a retirement benefit from that of a good-performance bond. Second, I will suggest that, based on behavioural finance, we consider shaping the investment choices made by INVEST members to improve their retirement benefits.
The INVEST Fund is essentially a deferred compensation scheme. Such schemes typically serve two purposes. They protect the employees against their own tendency to fail to set aside funds for their own future, and, they serve as a good-performance bond, because the benefits only vest when employees serve faithfully over time.
Like many private sector deferred compensation schemes, INVEST funds vest over time, so longer service is rewarded with greater benefits. However, under sections 6 and 9 of the Act, even vested benefits from the INVEST Fund may be reduced or terminated if Officers are dismissed with cause or convicted of any crime or offense.
The public expects a high standard of behaviour from Uniformed Officers. But the question is whether we should ensure this by putting up the entire value of an Officer’s INVEST account as a good-performance bond.
I would argue that the judicial system is the more appropriate means of punishing errant behaviour in Uniformed Services Officers. Officers are already held to higher standards in the judicial system because of the trust reposed in them and the considerable powers they have which could be abused. If this standard is not high enough today, Parliament may increase criminal sanctions for public servants who abuse their trust by amending the relevant laws.
In contrast, the reduction or termination of INVEST benefits for errant Officers is an administrative punishment and not a judicial one. It forms an additional punishment for errant Officers that may also harm the financial security of their dependants further. I would suggest that at least a portion of the vested benefits from INVEST be protected from reduction or termination. This would follow best practices for deferred compensation in the private sector, where a portion of benefits vest permanently in the employee over time.
Nothing in this suggestion precludes the Government from recovering financial assets or penalties, as directed by the Courts, from the errant Officer's INVEST benefits. The point is that the judicial process should take its course. The administrative penalty of reducing or terminating INVEST benefits could be revised in line with private sector practices.
I will now turn to the investment choices made by Officers. Traditionally, retirement fund administrators have focused on ensuring that the fund's investment strategies are as robust as possible. I have reviewed the INVEST annual reports and I believe that this task has been carried out responsibly by the Board over the years. But a factor that is equally important is the role the retirement fund plays in helping members make the best investment choices possible. This is not straightforward because behavioural biases, limited information, and poor financial literacy, all can contribute to poor financial decision making.
Since 2010 Officers have been able to choose from three investment plans offered by INVEST, with progressively higher risk and return, namely, the Stable, Balanced and Dynamic Plans. The Dynamic Plan takes on the greatest risk with 70% of the funds invested in equities while the Stable Plan invests entirely in safe bonds and cash. The Balanced Plan is 40% equities and 60% bonds and cash.
The funds are invested with reputable global investment managers and expenses are low due to economies of scale. So, because of that, the returns are driven largely by the asset allocation strategies of each of these plans. The Balanced Plan returns about 4.5% per annum and the Dynamic Plan about 5% per annum.
However, the Stable Plan has experienced lower returns than that of the CPF Ordinary Account. Since 2010, the average annual return for the Stable Plan has been about 2% per annum compared to 2.5% for the CPF Ordinary Account. Over 10 years, that is a difference of about $600 in returns per $10,000 invested in the Stable Plan, compared to CPF. This low return is a necessary consequence of the fact that the Stable Plan invests entirely in safe bonds and cash.
My concern is if an Officer is not aware of these low expected returns of the Stable Plan, or is very risk averse, they are likely to have a much lower retirement benefit. I would suggest the Ministry explore whether Officers who are very risk averse may be allowed to transfer their INVEST funds, as they vest, to their CPF accounts.
The broader point is that the Officer's retirement benefit will largely depend on their investment plan choice. If they choose the higher risk Dynamic Plan early in their career they will on average obtain a larger retirement benefit. As they approach retirement age, they may wish to reduce risk by reallocating their investment to the Stable Plan. This is the standard advice given by financial planning experts.
There is just one problem. The international evidence suggests most members of retirement plans do not make active choices about their investment portfolio. Instead, many members make choices based on the default provided by the retirement plan administrator.
In a paper titled \"The Power of Suggestion: Inertia in 401(k) Participation and Savings Behaviour\", published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics in 2001, Madrian and Shea studied the investment choices of employees in a large US corporation that introduced automatic enrolment in retirement plans.
They found that six out of 10 automatically enrolled employees simply followed the default asset allocation assigned by the retirement fund administrator. The default was a money market fund, that is safe but provides very low returns. This is unlikely to be the optimal choice of employees in general. This is shown by the fact that among employees who made an active choice to join the retirement plan – instead of being automatically enrolled – only 1% of active choosers actually decided to allocate everything to the money market fund. So, the default choice matters.
In short, six in 10 automatically enrolled employees were losing thousands of dollars in retirement benefits from investment strategies that were too conservative, not out of their choice, but because of their inattention.
In general, the research in behavioural finance suggests that retirement plan choices are far from optimal. They are made on the basis of little financial advice or planning, and can be significantly shaped by irrelevant factors ranging from peer effects, to advertising, to the way the retirement fund administrator presents choices to the member.
What are the lessons for us? I would suggest that the INVEST Fund structure the default investment choices in such a way as to meet the needs of the broad majority of officers. I am sure that this is already done. But we must keep up the good work. That is why I urge the Ministry to periodically review not just the investment strategies employed by the INVEST Fund, but also, the investment plan choices made by the officers, and the ways in which these are shaped by the fund administrators.
For example, one common strategy in the private retirement fund industry is to recommend a life-cycle fund. These funds automatically adjust the level of risk as the investor approaches payout age, so that a higher level of risk is taken early on to build assets, and a low level of risk is adopted later to secure the value of those assets.
I would also suggest that the Ministry make more information about INVEST publicly available, such as details on investment strategies and performance, investment plan choices available to and made by the officers and so on. This may be attractive to potential recruits to the Home Team, and will also help existing officers make more informed decisions. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to improve the management and governance of the INVEST Fund, by following best practices in the investment management industry. However, I do have a few questions for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary.
Singaporeans statistically have one of the longest life expectancies in the world, at 84.8 years old. However, on average, 10 of those years will be spent in poor health. With the combination of these two trends – increased life expectancies and extended periods of ill health – it is important that we ensure that our Home Team officers, many of whom have dedicated their lives to ensure law and order in Singapore, have sufficient retirement funds to see them through their silver years.
Today, Home Affairs uniformed officers are required to retire at 55 years old; and consequently, their contributions to their INVEST account will end. I understand that the Ministry is currently reviewing the retirement age of Home Affairs uniformed officers. Could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary provide an update on the review and will the age limit for officers’ contributions towards the INVEST Fund therefore increase in tandem with their retirement age?
In addition to aligning contributions to the INVEST Fund with any change to the retirement age, I would like to request the Ministry to review the mandatory closure of INVEST accounts for retired officers.
Mr Speaker, the INVEST Fund was created to help Home Affairs uniformed officers build up an adequate retirement fund, considering their earlier retirement age as compared to the normal retirement age in the Civil Service. With many officers opting to continue with a second career post-retirement, they may not have any immediate need to utilise their retirement funds. Could the Ministry therefore allow such officers with the flexibility to remain invested in the Fund and enjoy the returns from their sizeable accumulation of savings? Decoupling the closure of the INVEST account with an officer's employment in service will also allow the INVEST Fund managers to use the additional funds to grow its investments, thereby benefiting all its members.
I would also like to seek a clarification on what would happen to the INVEST Fund monies for ex-officers who have had their service terminated. Under current regulations, officers may have their INVEST Fund monies forfeited if they are dismissed from service following a disciplinary proceeding. While I understand that the Ministry treats such dismissals very seriously, since the INVEST Fund is principally meant to function as a retirement fund, perhaps we could afford to be more lenient towards such officers who have already been punished by having their service terminated. One suggestion is to consider pro-rating their returns and put it into the officer's CPF Special Account rather than a complete forfeiture.
Mr Speaker, uniformed officers retiring at 55 years of age will have many more productive years ahead of them, and we should do more to help them successfully transit to second careers. I would like to know the placement success rate for the Ministry's Home Team Career Resource and Transition Office. And on a yearly basis, how many retired officers fail to embark on their second career six months after retirement?
Home Affairs uniformed officers are equipped with a wide variety of skillsets, have ample experience in handling difficult situations and would be valuable assets to any organisation. I believe that with the right support in place, many would go on to find a fulfilling second career. While I note that the Ministry has a five-year career transition roadmap to support retiring officers in their career transition, I would like to know if the Ministry has targeted programmes to help officers enter high growth segments such as cybersecurity and fintech? Perhaps the Police co-operatives would like to consider working together with the NTUC to do more to assist retiring officers with job placements in these high growth segments.
Mr Speaker, the proposed amendments to the Bill are timely as they serve to follow best practices in the investment management industry. But I believe that we can further improve the retirement adequacy of our Home Affairs uniformed officers by decoupling the closure of INVEST Fund accounts with their continued employment, to provide our retired officers with an option of benefiting from a longer investment period. We also need to provide better support to help them transit to a second career. With that, I support the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Amrin Amin.
Mr Amrin Amin: Mr Speaker, I thank the Members who have spoken on this Bill and for their support for the Bill.
Mr Melvin Yong asked about the progress of the review of Home Team uniformed officers' retirement age and whether the age limit for INVEST retirement contributions would be aligned with any change to the retirement age.
MHA is in the midst of the review which will be completed in the next few months. As part of this review, MHA is also studying related areas such as the age limit for INVEST retirement contributions and the INVEST vesting scale.
Mr Yong also asked whether MHA could decouple the closure of INVEST account from officers' employment so as to give officers the flexibility to remain invested.
The INVEST plan was established to help officers transit into their second career. As they have an earlier retirement age of 55 as compared to the rest of the Civil Service at 62 and also compared to the Civil Service's re-employment age of 67. This benefit ceases upon payment of the INVEST monies to officers at retirement. Keeping officers invested with the INVEST Fund when they are no longer in service would not be in line with this principle.
When INVEST monies are paid to officers, they can invest in other funds available in the market that best suit their needs at the point of retirement.
Mr Yong asked about the treatment of INVEST benefits of an officer who is dismissed from service. Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked whether in such cases the officer's benefits could be protected from reduction or termination.
First, I think it is important to set out that the dismissal of an officer is not taken lightly and is usually based on serious misconduct, such as fraud, corruption or other egregious conduct. The dismissal process is a rigorous one provided for by law, such as the Public Service (Disciplinary Proceedings) Regulations and the Police Force Act. It includes an inquiry to consider thoroughly, objectively and fairly the grounds for dismissal.
The superannuation scheme is a benefit awarded to officers. This is over and above the market competitive salaries and the full CPF contributions. The superannuation benefits are fully funded by MHA; so, no funds are actually deducted from the officers' salary.
The superannuation benefits do not vest in the officers while they are in service. The award of the full benefit is contingent on the officer’s satisfactory conduct and completion of the term of service.
INVEST benefits paid to officers on retirement are exempted from tax.
Therefore, if an errant officer has behaved in a manner that is unbefitting of an officer of the Home Team and is dismissed as a result of his misconduct, the superannuation benefits, in part or in whole, can and should be forfeited. The process is fair and transparent, and the forfeiture or reduction of the benefit requires the concurrence of the Public Service Commission.
Mr Yong asked whether there are programmes to help officers enter high-growth job sectors, such as cybersecurity and fintech and the percentage of retired officers who found a second career within six months of retirement.
MHA’s career transition programmes are broad-based as retiring officers have diverse career interests. The various initiatives to help retiring officers prepare for a second career include course subsidies and time-off to learn new skills to enhance employability.
MHA has also recently launched a career transition resource portal to provide officers with information on the different industries, job opportunities, career events and workshops. MHA offers one-on-one career coaching sessions to officers to guide them on their career transition journey.
We actively engage prospective employers to source for suitable opportunities for our retiring officers and organise regular job networking sessions.
We also facilitate officers' career transition by enabling them to take up a job attachment in a company prior to their retirement to try out the job. This will help both the officer and the prospective employer to assess the fit before formal employment.
Based on our survey of our retired officers, of those who had actively looked for jobs, more than 50% were able to find new employment within six months of their retirement. About 85% did so within a year. For retired officers who are looking for employment, they can continue to tap on our career transition resources.
Assoc Prof Theseira compared the Stable Plan returns with returns from the CPF Ordinary Account.
This is not a like-for-like comparison and, hence, it is not an appropriate comparison, as they are, in fact, separate schemes with different objectives.
In terms of returns, CPF Ordinary Account has a guaranteed floor of 2.5%, and this is a special arrangement guaranteed by the Singapore Government. All CPF accounts, including Special, Retirement Accounts, are subject to CPF rules on withdrawal and use of funds.
In contrast, INVEST offers several options and the returns of these options are subject to market conditions.
Assoc Prof Theseira asked whether officers who have low risk appetite may be allowed to transfer their INVEST Funds as they vest to their CPF accounts.
CPF and INVEST have different structures, rules and entitlement terms. In the case of CPF, members can use their CPF savings in their Ordinary Accounts for housing investments and education, subject to the terms and conditions. Usage of funds is not contingent on the change in employment or specific rules set by the employer.
In contrast, the INVEST monies are paid to the officer only upon satisfaction of conditions, such as satisfactory conduct and completion of service.
Officers can choose from three INVEST plans during service. Upon retirement, officers can top up their CPF accounts with INVEST monies subject to CPF limits and rules, or they can choose to invest in other financial products available in the market.
Assoc Prof Theseira asked the Ministry to periodically review the investment strategies and investment plan choices by officers and to structure the default investment choices in such a way as to meet the needs of the majority of the officers.
Under the INVEST Plan, there are three investment options, namely, the Stable, Balanced and Dynamic Plans and officers can choose from the three Plans to suit their personal circumstances, financial needs and appetites towards risk.
Each Plan has its own risk return objectives and the Plans' performance is communicated to officers. As their circumstances change, officers can change Plan over the course of their career.
MHA conducts reviews on investment choices as part of on-going studies on industry best practices. MHA has been reviewing a life-cycle plan and is considering whether to introduce it as a new investment plan option for officers. Advice is being sought from external consultants, the INVEST Board of Trustees and the Investment Committee of the Board, and they include members with relevant industry experience.
Assoc Prof Theseira asked the Ministry to make more information about INVEST publicly available as it may be attractive to potential recruits to the Home Team and to help existing officers make informed choices.
The current recruitment process informs all potential recruits about INVEST and the information is also available on Home Team departments' websites.
Officers are kept informed on the investment plans via several platforms, such as on-boarding briefings, semi-annual Statement of Accounts, e-newsletters and investment deck are published on MHA's Intranet which includes an investment choice guide and the historical performance of the plans.
Mr Speaker, I believe I have covered all the points raised by the Members.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Amrin Amin]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
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The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, on behalf of the Minister for Transport, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
In Singapore, we regulate civil aviation safety and security through the Air Navigation Act or ANA. We need to update the Act from time to time to ensure that our regulatory framework keeps pace with developments in the aviation sector.
This Air Navigation (Amendment) Bill amends the ANA to enable Singapore to meet new international civil aviation obligations and to enhance penalties for a greater deterrent effect for offences involving unmanned aircraft. The Bill has three components:
The first protects recordings and transcripts of flight recorders in accordance with Annex 6 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation or Chicago Convention. The second increases the penalties for offences pertaining to unauthorised unmanned aircraft operations. And the third enables the National Civil Aviation Security Authority (NCASA) to delegate its powers to any public officer who is not an aviation security inspector.
Let me explain each of these components in turn.
The first set of amendments set out in clause 2 of the Bill will empower the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to make regulations to protect flight recorder information or any similar information from use and disclosure in line with changes to Annex 6 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as \"the Chicago Convention\".
Flight recorders contain critical information, including the pressure-altitude and airspeed of the aircraft during flight, information from other electronic systems on the aircraft, as well as the conversations between the pilots. Before the latest amendments to Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention, there was no provision on the use and protection of flight recorder information outside the scope of an accident and incident investigation. These latest amendments were put in place to address the use of flight recorder information in other circumstances.
Specifically, recordings may now be used for safety management, such as carrying out safety trend analysis and training, or in carrying out inspections and maintenance of the flight recorder, and when appropriate, for criminal proceedings. These are the allowable uses in Annex 6 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. For example, flight recorder information with appropriate safeguards can be used for analyses of trends as part of an airline's safety management system. The Bill will allow CAAS to legislate the circumstances for use of flight recorder information and the appropriate safeguards.
Any person with access to the information will be prohibited from disclosing or using the information except in prescribed circumstances. This will enhance confidence that the information, originally intended for accident investigation purposes and which is also useful for aviation safety, would not be misused. There will be no limitation on disclosure or use for purposes of accident investigation under the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau Act or for the purpose of reporting a known or suspected act of unlawful interference required by that Act.
The second and largest set of amendments concern the penalties for offences involving the use of unmanned aircraft. The CAAS and MHA had implemented a regulatory framework to regulate the operation of unmanned aircraft in Singapore in June 2015 following the passing of the Unmanned Aircraft (Public Safety and Security) Bill. This included a permit regime that adopted a risk-based approach to ensure that operators are responsible and operate unmanned aircraft safely. Since then, the use of unmanned aircraft has risen rapidly. In 2018, CAAS approved 522 Operator Permits and 2,322 Activity Permits. This is a year-on-year increase of 35% and 65% from 2017. For the first nine months of this year, CAAS has approved 480 Operator Permits and 2,195 Activity Permits.
CAAS is tightening this unmanned aircraft regulatory framework by introducing a mandatory registration regime for all unmanned aircraft above 250 g. The purpose of registration is accountability and traceability. We will design the registration process to achieve this objective while keeping it as simple and as convenient as possible for users. CAAS will be providing more information on the details of this regime.
Most operators fly their unmanned aircraft responsibly and in compliance with regulations. Many of these users operate unmanned aircraft for beneficial and innovative purposes, improving work processes and productivity in the areas of inspections, surveillance and aerial photography, amongst others. We are also facilitating trials for more complex uses, such as medical and ship to shore deliveries. Our schools and Institutions of Higher Learning also use unmanned aircraft to teach robotics, programming and other areas in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Unfortunately, there are reckless and irresponsible unmanned aircraft operators who operate in flagrant disregard of the law. When operated irresponsibly, an unmanned aircraft could endanger others and cause widespread disruption of lawful activities, resulting in significant economic loss. One such example would be when an unmanned aircraft disrupts airport operations. This has happened to major international airports – Gatwick Airport had about 1,000 flights disrupted in December 2018 while Frankfurt Airport had about 200 flights disrupted in May 2019. During the unmanned aircraft intrusions at Changi Airport in June 2019, about 60 flights were affected.
Today, the penalty for most of the offences involving unmanned aircraft is a maximum fine of $20,000. This has obviously not served as a deterrent. It is also manifestly inadequate when one takes into account the damage and disruption unmanned aircraft can cause when operated in an irresponsible way. In particular, we need to make sure that we have higher penalties for repeat offenders who fail to learn from their mistakes and offenders who knowingly or recklessly operate an unmanned aircraft in a manner that endangers lives or property.
The Bill therefore contains five clauses aimed at raising the penalties for offences involving unmanned aircraft. Clauses 3 to 7 of the Bill make the following amendments:
For the offence of conducting any aerial activity without the required aviation safety instruments, such as operating an unmanned aircraft without the required operator and/or activity permits, the Bill introduces a discretionary jail term – up to two years for first offenders, and up to five years for repeat offenders. The maximum fines will remain at $50,000 for first offenders, and $100,000 for repeat offenders.
For the offence of operating an unmanned aircraft to overfly or take photographs of a protected area, or discharging a substance, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, without authorisation when flying an unmanned aircraft, the Bill raises the maximum fine for first offenders from $20,000 to $50,000 and raises or introduces a jail term of up to two years. The Bill also introduces an enhanced penalty for repeat offenders – a maximum fine of $100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
For the offence of not complying with a direction given by an enforcement officer to end the flight of an unmanned aircraft, to land it safely or to fly the unmanned aircraft in the manner specified by the authorised person, the Bill increases the maximum jail term from 12 months to two years. The maximum fines will remain at $20,000.
For the offence of doing any act or causing or permitting an act involving an aircraft, knowing that or reckless as to whether life or property could be endangered, a higher custodial punishment is introduced where this sort of activity involves an unmanned aircraft. Where the unmanned aircraft is operated by a person who knows that, or is reckless as to whether the unmanned aircraft operation could endanger the life or property of another person, the person may face a fine not exceeding $100,000 or a maximum imprisonment term of 10 years or both.
The Bill contains examples of what sort of dangerous activity we are looking at.
The challenges of regulating the use of unmanned aircraft in an urban environment are not unique to Singapore and countries around the world are grappling with the same issues. The amendments in the Bill are to send a strong deterrent signal. Our Courts will be able to mete out appropriate punishments to errant unmanned aircraft users who endanger aviation and public safety. We will continue to proactively fine-tune the regulatory framework and invest in counter unmanned aircraft capabilities so as to keep our skies safe.
Finally, clause 8 of the Bill is an amendment of a housekeeping nature. It is to enable the National Civil Aviation Security Authority to delegate its powers to a public officer who is not an aviation security inspector. This will give greater flexibility to the NCASA to delegate his powers to bigger group of individuals where the enforcement powers of an aviation security inspector are not required.
Mr Speaker, the amendments in the Bill will contribute to enhancing safety and security of air transport and aviation in Singapore. Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Air Navigation (Amendment) seeks to amend section 3A to prohibit the disclosure of flight recorder information to any Court for criminal and civil proceedings except, I quote the Bill, \"in prescribed circumstances\". The Explanatory Note of the Bill states that this amendment is to put Singapore in line with Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention.
Notwithstanding the prescribed circumstances which the Senior Minister of State has taken us through, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether the prohibition against disclosure of flight recorder information, despite the exceptions, will, in any way, allow industry players, interested individuals or parties, or even authorities to rely on this prohibition unfairly and against public interest or safety to prevent disclosure of information whether for fear of prejudicing the respective party's interest or even fear of bad publicity affecting the relevant party. It brings to mind recent media reports of suppression of disclosure by Boeing staff of concerns relating to the Boeing 737 Max aircraft prior to the two crashes which led eventually to the grounding of the aircraft.
Next, the Air Navigation (Amendment) Bill also seeks to introduce, among other things, increased punishments for illegal use of unmanned aircraft or drones. The increase in punishments will hopefully deter recreational users from using their unmanned aircraft in prohibited areas and will make the users more aware of keeping their use to allowed areas. But changing the law per se and charging the odd person and hoping to make him an example may not be sufficient to ensure that all users know the laws. It is important that the Government must be effective in disseminating to the public especially the drone users the legal restrictions imposed by the law and the enhancements in punishments.
Sometime last year, I saw a foreigner using a drone at a beach in Sentosa and was later stopped by a security person. I was not even sure he was arrested or detained. The person did not seem to know that he was not supposed to use the drone in the vicinity. In some ways, this is like the problem we see with some people who still do not know that PMDs are not supposed to be used in certain areas.
I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State how does the Government intend to educate all unmanned aircraft or drone users as well as the public on the restrictions for drone use and punishments prescribed by law for illegal uses.
Like the man I saw in Sentosa, I have also seen other tourists or foreigners use such drones in the public. I would like to ask the Minister how does the Government ensure that visitors and foreigners are made aware of the restrictions for drone usage and ensuing punishments.
Mr Speaker, Sir, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen shared with this House last month how SAF is equipped to handle military grade drone attacks on Singapore. He gave assurances to the effect, as I understand, that SAF has the ability to defend against the kind of attacks which were levelled against the Saudi oil installations recently.
In an earlier press interview in June this year, Minister Ng also shared that CAAS had asked SAF for professional advice and that SAF has told CAAS, and I quote Mr Ng, \"What is out there in the market that they can procure if they want it quickly. What kind of defences they need, and it's up to CAAS to know what they need.\" So, it seems that SAF has shared its know-how with MOT and CAAS and gave recommendations on the possible technology and equipment which CAAS can consider deploying.
I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State since then, what has CAAS done to beef up its anti-drone defences. Can he share with this House some details of the work done?
I would also like to ask the Senior Minister of State how confident MOT or CAAS is in avoiding flight disruptions in future should there be similar drone intrusions or attacks, at least the non-weaponised types, if we are to assume that SAF is responsible for all weaponised drone attacks. Any such Ministerial assurances which can be given in this respect is welcome and is important for Singapore because, for a major air hub, like Changi, even if we were to exclude weaponised attacks, Changi airport cannot afford to have its flights randomly affected by drone intrusions.
I would also like to ask the Senior Minister of State since the drone incidents in June causing disruptions, has there been any other incidents of drone intrusions which led to flight disruptions or nearly lead to any flight disruptions?
Finally, I would also like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether the Government has identified the operators responsible for the flight disruptions in June 2019 or the person or persons behind the operator. If so, can he share the findings with this House? If not, is the Government confident of finding out who the culprits are?
Mr Speaker, Sir, less than two weeks ago, a passenger drone, also referred to as a flying taxi, went for a lightning spin in Marina Bay generating some publicity. Now, is this a one-off publicity spin, in which I wonder what is the point of it as we are nowhere near ready for this? Or is the Government even seriously contemplating use of flying taxi in the near future? The thought brings some quivers, not because I do not welcome modern technology. But after what we have seen with the introduction of other drones and PMDs and the inability of the law to prevent transgressions or accidents, how prepared are we, legally speaking, to handle passenger drones?
We must always try and embrace technological advancement or new applications, but the law must also keep abreast or even stay ahead to regulate technological application and help set the right culture from the onset, instead of playing catch up. Mr Speaker, notwithstanding my questions and concerns, I support this Bill.
Mr Speaker: Senior Minister of State.
Dr Lam Pin Min: Mr Speaker, I would like to thank Mr Dennis Tan for his comments and support for the Bill. Mr Dennis Tan has raised a number of questions which I will address in turn.
On the prohibition of disclosure of flight recorder information, Mr Dennis Tan asked if there is any possibility of abuse by individuals, companies and even authorities, raising the example of Boeing in the United States. The legislative amendments are aimed at strengthening protection, by enabling CAAS to make regulations to prescribe the circumstances and appropriate safeguards under which flight recorder information can be used or disclosed, and this is in line with the latest amendments to Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention.
As I have alluded to in my opening speech, there will be no restriction on the disclosure or use of flight recorder information for accident investigation by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau or for reporting a known or suspected act of unlawful interference. This is stated in the new paragraph (oa) under subsection 1 to section 3A of the Air Navigation Act.
Practices are in place today to guard against misuse or inappropriate disclosure of flight recorder information. For example, firstly, access controls to the recorders and the equipment are needed to download or playback the recordings; secondly, an individual who might be recorded in the recordings must be de-identified; thirdly, the information when provided has to be in aggregated format; and fourthly, the information has to be transferred by secure means. The Bill will allow CAAS to make regulations on appropriate safeguards for the use and disclosure of recorder information, in line with the provisions in Annex 6.
On the unauthorised use of unmanned aircraft, Mr Dennis Tan asked about the efforts being made in public education of the restrictions, offences and punishments. This is a valid concern. CAAS works with other Government agencies including MHA and MINDEF to educate the public on how to operate unmanned aircraft responsibly and in compliance with regulations. Apart from issuing advisory flyers that highlight the set of \"do's and don’ts\" on the safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft, CAAS' other outreach efforts include safety series and seminars to engage and educate different user groups on the unmanned aircraft regulatory framework. As we make enhancements to the unmanned aircraft regulatory framework, CAAS will continue to engage the public to ensure that they are clear about their responsibilities when operating unmanned aircraft and the penalties that they would be subject to for offences involving unmanned aircraft.
We will also be working with interest groups to raise awareness of this regulation as well as the stiffer punishments that come with it. And as for tourists, they will also need to register their drones as well if they want to use unmanned aircraft in Singapore and we will continue to work with CAAS and CAG on how to raise awareness on these regulations for tourists.
Mr Dennis Tan also asked for an update on the unmanned aircraft intrusions at Changi Airport in June 2019. Investigations are currently still ongoing and there are no further developments for me to report at this point in time. Since June 2019, there have been no intrusions that affect the operations of Changi Airport. We will continue to remain alert for any other unmanned aircraft intrusions.
With regard to the Member's question on the counter unmanned aircraft measures that we have, CAAS and CAG are investing in counter unmanned aircraft measures to safeguard the airport. Unmanned aircraft intrusions can be very difficult to detect and counter because unmanned aircrafts can be very small and do not show up well on sensors. In addition, some perpetrators can site their elusive operations anywhere within quite a large area around an airport because unmanned aircraft are controlled remotely. CAAS and CAG therefore conduct regular patrols to look out for errant unmanned aircraft operators. They are also investing in additional capabilities to better detect and disrupt unmanned aircraft activities and these include the customisation and calibration of commercial systems for Changi Airport with the help of our Defence Science Agencies as well as training of personnel to man the systems and respond effectively to minimise disruptions to runway operations. The enhanced penalty framework that I have mentioned just now will, hopefully, serve as a strong deterrent against irresponsible and illegal unmanned aircraft operations.
Mr Speaker, in summary, this Bill supports our vision for a more effective regulatory system by enhancing CAAS' enforcement and regulatory powers. With that, Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Dr Lam Pin Min]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Women's Charter (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Minister for Home Affairs, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
The Bill before us amends the provisions of the Women’s Charter dealing with offences against women and girls. These amendments strengthen our levers against syndicates that organise and facilitate prostitution, or \"vice syndicates\".
Vice syndicates have exploited technology to transform the way they operate, with apps and websites making it easier and more discreet than ever to: (a) advertise sexual services; (b) communicate with one another and with prospective clients; and (c) arrange payment.
What this means is that: syndicates can now remotely control their operations from anywhere in the world; they can introduce layers in their operations to evade detection, but retain command and control by using these e-communication and e-payment platforms; and they can easily move from one residential unit to another, by renting these units to be used as \"pop-up brothels\".
This has brought about disamenities in the neighbourhoods and has made it more challenging for law enforcement. Let me share two examples.
My first example is a typical experience faced by neighbours of units used for vice. \"Mdm Jane\" and her neighbours observed many unfamiliar male visitors going in and out of one of their neighbours’ unit. Imagine what \"Mdm Jane\" must have felt to see these men loitering near her home and the impact on her sense of safety for her teenage daughter. \"Mdm Jane\" made a Police report, and Police enforcement uncovered two females providing sexual services within the unit.
My second example highlights some of the challenges faced by law enforcement because of changes in syndicates’ modus operandi. Last year, the Singapore Police Force and China's Ministry of Public Security conducted simultaneous raids across multiple locations in Singapore and China. They arrested 36 syndicate members, including the key masterminds and agents based in China. This led to the disruption of a major vice website targeting clients in Singapore.
While the Police could previously focus their resources to dismantle vice syndicates operating within certain areas of Singapore, now, these syndicates are all over the world. It is increasingly difficult and complicated to dismantle these syndicates, and requires significant collaboration with foreign agencies. We need to do more to address the rise in online vice.
To give a sense of how much online vice has grown in recent years: in 2015, the proportion of females arrested for online vice, compared to all types of platform, was 16%. In 2018, this proportion had increased to 55%.
Another startling statistic: between 2015 and 2018, seven in 10 foreign females arrested for online vice, were providing sexual services in residential estates.
So, it is necessary to strengthen our levers against vice syndicates and individuals, especially those operating through online means. This will also ensure better protection for our neighbourhoods against vice activities.
I will now go through the key amendments of the Bill.
The first amendment targets syndicates that attempt to evade enforcement by moving parts of their operations overseas. Currently, it is an offence under section 146A if a person in Singapore, operates or maintains in Singapore a remote communication service to offer or facilitate the provision of sexual services in Singapore. But a webmaster in Singapore who relies on an overseas server to host his website to deliver sexual services in Singapore, would not run afoul of this section today.
Clause 10 amends section 146A so that it has extra-territorial application. The offence will be extended extra-territorially in two ways.
First, it will apply to persons based outside Singapore, and second, it will apply to persons who use platforms based overseas. For example, a person in Singapore using a website server based overseas.
In order for the extended offence to be made out, two conditions must be met.
First, the remote communication service has to be used to offer or facilitate the provision, by a woman or girl, of sexual services in Singapore.
Second, the remote communication service has to have a Singapore-link; namely, that a person physically present in Singapore is capable of having access to matters communicated using that service.
This extra-territorial application for section 146A will allow the Police to more effectively target trans-national vice syndicates.
Second, the Bill increases penalties for vice offences in Part XI of the Women's Charter so as to more appropriately reflect the seriousness of these offences, and to better deter vice activities.
There are three parts to this amendment.
First, higher maximum fines to match the profits derived from vice crimes. Today, a syndicate member can easily earn $100,000 in a year, and this far exceeds the current maximum fine of $10,000. The Bill therefore raises the maximum fines, to take into account the potential earnings of syndicates, and also inflation over the years.
Second, longer maximum jail terms to raise the sentencing benchmarks for vice offences.
Third, heavier penalties for second and subsequent conviction, for all vice-related offences in Part XI of the Women's Charter. Currently, only some offences carry heavier penalties for re-offending. But given the severity of vice offences, we need to take a stronger stand to better deter repeat offenders, regardless of their role in the conduct or delivery of the vice activities.
The revised penalty framework is as follows.
For the less serious offences, such as an offence committed by an owner whose place was used as a brothel under section 148, on first conviction, a maximum jail term of five years, or maximum fine of $100,000, or both. This is up from the current maximum jail term of three years, or maximum fine of $3,000, or both.
On second or subsequent conviction, a maximum jail term of seven years, or maximum fine of $150,000, or both. This is up from the current maximum jail term of five years, or maximum fine of $10,000, or both.
For the more serious offences, such as living off the earnings of prostitution under section 146, on first conviction, a mandatory jail term of up to seven years, and a discretionary maximum fine of $100,000. This is up from the current mandatory maximum jail term of five years, and a discretionary maximum fine of $10,000.
On second or subsequent conviction, a mandatory jail term of up to 10 years, and a discretionary maximum fine of $150,000. This is up from the current discretionary maximum fine of $10,000; there is no change to the current maximum jail term.
The third amendment relates to promoting the responsible lease of premises, to deter \"pop-up brothels\". \"Pop-up brothels\" are on the rise, especially in residential estates. The Police frequently receive complaints from the neighbours of such residential units. No one wants vice activities in their blocks or even on their streets.
Clause 12 makes it clearer in law, the responsibilities of owners, tenants and other parties involved in the lease of any premises. This is necessary because syndicates commonly exploit the lack of checks at the point of leasing by misusing identity documents, in order to secure premises for vice activities.
For example, there have been cases of syndicates using false identities, and even a deceased person’s identity documents to rent a property. Such misuse is problematic also because it makes it harder for Police to track down the offenders.
We want to deprive vice syndicates of operating space, and safeguard the tranquility and safety of our neighbourhoods. To do so, we need the vigilance of three key stakeholders: (a) owners who rent out their properties; (b) tenants who rent from the landlords and sub-let the premises to someone else; and (c) property agents who facilitate these lease and sub-lease transactions.
For property owners and tenants, clause 12 amends section 148 subsections (3) and (4) such that: an owner who rents out, or a tenant who sub-lets, a place which is used as a brothel, will be criminally liable unless he or she can show that, at the time of entering into the letting of that place, he or she had no knowledge and could not, with reasonable diligence, have ascertained that the place was to be used as a brothel.
A similar amendment is made to subsection (2), for tenants, lessees, occupiers or persons in charge of a place.
Property owners and tenants should also start asking the right questions when they rent out their properties. For example, who are the people they are letting the place to? Will these people be staying there, or will they be allowing other parties to use the place? Responsible property owners and tenants would already be asking these questions today, when leasing out their premises. These amendments simply provide more clarity to all owners and tenants on what they should do.
To help property owners and tenants understand what constitutes \"reasonable diligence\", we have included two illustrations.
First, owners and tenants should conduct identity checks of a prospective tenant or sub-tenant and the purpose of the tenancy or sub-tenancy, through face-to-face interviews, before leasing the place. This can help ensure that the person they are transacting with is indeed who he or she claims to be and is not misusing another person’s identity document.
Second, if the owner is overseas, he should engage an agent or trusted person to conduct these face-to-face interviews on his behalf. The owner should verify that the agent or trusted person has indeed carried out these checks.
These illustrations serve as guides to property owners and tenants. However, whether \"reasonable diligence\" was exercised would eventually depend on the specific facts of the case. For example, if a property owner had already been warned by the Police that his flat could have been used as a brothel, the owner might be expected to do more to ensure that no brothel is operating at that flat.
We have consulted stakeholders extensively in developing this proposal, so that property owners and tenants are not overly burdened, while still ensuring that they exercise responsibility over their premises, and that they play their part in deterring syndicates from using their premises for vice.
Such checks are actually not new. There is already a statutory requirement under the Immigration Act, for property owners to conduct identity checks of foreign tenants to ensure that there is no harbouring of immigration offenders. This has been in place since 1993 and property owners have largely complied. These amendments are intended to get property owners to extend the identity checks to Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident tenants and sub-tenants as well, so as to guard against premises being misused for vice activities.
The large majority of property owners and tenants who are law-abiding and acting in good faith will not have to worry. In each case, the Police will conduct investigations to establish the facts, and take enforcement actions only where warranted.
Property agents also have a critical role in keeping our neighbourhoods safe. They should discharge their professional duties responsibly, and these are aligned to the reasonable diligence that we expect of property owners who lease out their premises and tenants who sub-let.
Property agents should guide property owners and tenants on what should be done in exercising reasonable diligence. And, if property agents detect any suspicious transactions themselves, they should proactively document and report the matter to the Police.
We are working with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) to provide guidelines to the industry. Last month, I met with representatives from the industry to have a dialogue on these upcoming changes, and they gave many useful suggestions on how we can partner the industry to keep vice out of neighbourhoods.
Where agents are found to have been negligent in carrying out their professional duties, they may be liable for regulatory action by CEA under the Estate Agents Act. For instance, if the property agent does not comply with his or her professional duties which will include conducting identity checks on the parties involved in the lease transactions, the property agent may be penalised monetarily, or have his or her registration suspended or revoked by CEA.
More critically, errant property agents who intentionally facilitate any lease transaction with the knowledge that it would lead to vice activities at the premises, are likely to face prosecution for abetting the commission of an offence under the Women's Charter, or other relevant laws.
Lastly, we are making some miscellaneous amendments to ensure that Police enforcement remains effective against the changing modus operandi of vice syndicates.
First, clause 2 broadens the definition of \"brothel\" to include any place that has been advertised or represented as being used for the purpose of prostitution and is likely to be used for the purpose of prostitution. Currently, a brothel is defined as a place that is used by at least two women or girls, whether at the same time or at different times, for the purposes of prostitution.
Syndicates have transformed the way they conduct their business, so that they circumvent the current definition of brothel, and avoid getting caught for vice offences.
Earlier, I mentioned that syndicates would rent various residential units and shift from one to another to evade detection, effectively functioning as a \"pop-up\". Each of these sex workers may also present herself as a lone operator. These new modus operandi make it harder to prove that the premises are being used as brothels, as currently defined, even though it is clear from advertisements online that they are being used for prostitution.
We are, therefore, amending the definition of a \"brothel\", to enable the Police to take effective and decisive enforcement action.
Clause 2 also simplifies the onus of proof on the part of the prosecution seeking to prove that a place is being used as a brothel. The clause makes clear an existing practice on the use of indirect evidence to prove that a place is being used as a brothel. For example, chat logs of appointments being made for prostitution services to be provided at the place would be allowed to be submitted as evidence that a place is being used as a brothel.
Second, clause 3 amends section 140 subsection (1)(d) to make it clear that it is an offence for a person to bring into Singapore, receive or harbour any woman or girl for prostitution. Currently, only agents who bring into Singapore, receive or harbour a woman or girl who has been procured are liable for the offence. The amendment will allow the Police to arrest a pimp or agent, even if the woman or girl is a free-lance sex worker and therefore cannot be said to have been \"procured\" by anyone.
Third, clause 10 amends section 146A to change the element of \"operating or maintaining a remote communication service\" for the provision of sexual service to that of \"using\" a remote communication service for that purpose. This is to make clear that our intent is to also target syndicates that use such a service, for example, vice agents who rely on messaging platforms provided by an internet intermediary, and not the company operating and maintaining the service, such as telcos and Internet Service Providers.
Lastly, clause 15 amends section 174 subsection (1) to extend the powers of arrest to the offence of using a remote communication service under section 146A. This will enable the Police to also exercise powers of arrest with respect to syndicate members who use a remote communication service for the provision of sexual services. Currently, this offence is not arrestable.
To conclude, this Bill is part of our larger vice management strategy, which includes working with our partners on upstream education and deterrence. Mr Speaker, I would just like to conclude in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin) [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: \tThese amendments are necessary to strengthen our levers against vice activities, in particular, against increasingly widespread online vice activities that have caused disamenities in our neighbourhoods and disturbances to the residents.
While Government agencies actively investigate these cases to prevent vice activities from taking root in our neighbourhoods, all of us have a part to play.
As property owners, we must stay vigilant when renting out our premises and not wait until after leasing to find out that something is wrong, or turn a blind eye on suspicious activities. When renting out the premises, the property owners should know who the tenants are. Some people may misuse other people's identities to conduct illegal activities. Therefore, the property owner should conduct identity checks to verify that the person is who he claims to be.
Property agents must also go about their work professionally, and do due diligence by helping to check on the identities of the potential tenants. If they detect any suspicious transactions, they should inform property owners and report to the Police.
As a community, we can also do our part to stop vice activities from taking root in the heartlands. If we find any suspicious activities in the neighbourhood, do not hesitate to report to the Police immediately. If all of us can increase our vigilance and do our part, we will be able to keep our neighbourhoods safe and stop vice activities from spreading.
(In English): Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mr Speaker, Sir, we would have read of news reports about several prostitution syndicates rounded up by our Police. These syndicates were conducting their business on the internet and some are even based overseas, as what Senior Parliamentary Secretary has shared with us just now. Hence, the proposed regulations to bring harsher punishments to such syndicates are timely.
I note that the Police has arrested people in a Telegram group that was sharing obscene videos and photos of women. Some media reports also alleged that independent sex workers, or perhaps even their syndicates, were advertising sexual services in the group. How will the amendments help in such cases? Will they help us to round up those who are advertising sexual services from overseas? Do the anonymity clauses hinder investigations and if so, do we need stronger laws in this respect?
I support firm action against homeowners and tenants who knowingly let out their premises for vice activities. Certainly, they should be held responsible.
However, I disagree that conducting identity checks at the point of signing lease agreements could be helpful in determining the tenant’s motives. I note that the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), property agencies and agents will be brought in to assist homeowners and tenants to conduct due diligence checks. This is a commendable move that will help the less knowledgeable property owners. However, a respectable local or foreigner with all their paperwork in order could rent the place, and then lie low for the first few weeks of occupancy, before beginning their operations behind the backs of the property owners. Some landlords might also be overseas and not be able to conduct checks. Is it fair to hold landlords responsible for tenants' actions under such circumstances?
In my opinion, it would be more meaningful for homeowners and property agents to establish a communication channel with neighbours and managing agent, if any. These people are better positioned to blow the whistle if anything is amiss. May I suggest intermediate property inspections by the landlord or agent, of course, while respecting the tenant’s privacy and time. This is a common practice in places such as Australia. Tenancy contracts will have to evolve to reflect this.
I am pleased to note that penalties will be enhanced to deter vice syndicates who profit off their sex workers and those who bring in foreigners for sex work. With freelance sex workers on the rise, it would also be necessary to extend the new regulations to any person who serves as their intermediary, regardless whether the sex worker was procured to work as one.
However, penalties are still reactive measures. We should also examine the root of the issue. Have we noticed a rise in prostitution? Is this purely because of increased accessibility of online platforms or are there other reasons? What are the demographics of the people who use such services? Can we do anything to educate these people about illegal prostitution and the risks involved?
Sir, I support this Bill, and I believe the new amendments will help safeguard the peace of affected residents. In Chinese, please.
(In Mandarin) [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: \tThis Bill proposes that if tenants conduct vice activities in the house, the landlord will also be held responsible. The Government and CEA will assist the landlords to check the tenant's background. However, even if the tenants have a clean record, they may still conduct vice activities in the premises afterwards. So, is it fair to hold the landlords responsible?
I think if something is not quite right in the house, the neighbours would be more likely to become aware of that. Therefore, for homeowners and property agents, having a communication channel with their neighbours and the managing agent can help deter vice activities more effectively.
The Bill will allow the Police to better deal with overseas vice websites targeting Singapore and syndicates that bring women to Singapore to become sex workers. Some chat apps, such as Telegram, have anonymous functions. Will this deter the Police in their investigation efforts?
Here, I would like to thank the Government for their increased efforts to fight vice activities, especially in residential areas. This will allow our residents to enjoy a peaceful environment once again. I support this Bill.
Prof Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): Mr Speaker, I am starting with a narrative. Names and addresses have been anonymised to maintain confidentiality.
A lady with a young family living in a condominium came to see me at my Meet-the-People Session. Seven months prior to this, she had noticed suspicious activities going on at a unit across from hers. Both men and women were coming in at regular intervals throughout the afternoon, night and into the early hours of the morning. They were not the same people as you and I would expect if they were members of the same family living in that unit. They were different ethnicities, different ages and some, as she described to me, would apparently seem to be under the influence of perhaps alcohol or drugs. She tried calling the authorities several times to assess. But each time, she would get responses such as and I quote, \"The Police have more urgent crime to fight. We will come by later to check. And madam, we cannot arrest people unless you provide us with the hard evidence.\"
And thus, her family installed a CCTV camera to get that hard evidence. Indeed, she got it. The Police asked for photos, evidence and facts, and it was documented with very good timeline annotation. Different people, different ages, different ethnic groups coming into that unit. The pictures were very telling, very hard evidence, even better than the chat logs than was mentioned earlier. Different faces, different people coming in individually or in twos or threes at approximately two to three hourly intervals.
She then again approached the authorities. But then it was taking so long and in view of this, she came to see me. That was some half a year after all these had surfaced. Neither her managing agent nor her MCST (Management Corporation Strata Title) could assist her. Now for fear of her family's safety, she finally decided to come forward. After all, the definition of \"vice\" by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is really \"immoral or evil habit, a sinful or a criminal practice\".
This mother, with young children, living in a residential area, had genuine concerns. I assisted her to sort out her issues, of course, and it is now settled. But the point I am trying to make, Sir, is that: does it have to be so challenging for one young family and a concerned mom to activate the authorities for issues like this. We want to enhance this Bill. We are doing an amendment. We want to enhance the penalties. We want to enhance the fines. We want to make it a stern point and a deterrence. But can the frontline agencies and officers not be more sympathetic, more understanding, more aligned and more collaborative in their responses in handling of such issues from the community and the public?
That unit in the narrative I shared amounted to being used as a brothel, aligning with all of its definitions in section 2 of this Bill, including the example on \"circumstantial evidence\".
The use of apartment units for vice is very challenging. The authorities alone cannot detect every breach and thus, I am calling for greater recognition and collaboration with the community partners and residents living in specific areas. They can provide the ears and eyes you so need. This is the best model to have for us to work to deprive the operating spaces in the heartlands and in the residential areas causing all the disamenities.
We have the policies, we have the framework, we have the guidelines, but there may be gaps in execution of these. Thus, good ground feedback is necessary and useful, and can be very, very powerful indeed to ensure that we can execute these policies effectively.
My further input on the Bill. Education alone will not get the results we desire. Those involved are too entrenched, the education target may work perhaps for younger people who are considering venturing into this. You may try to stop them using deterrent publicity, heighten awareness and education combined, but it has to be more persistent and more consistent. Otherwise, we will not get the results that we started off to get.
On the vice rates, for it to have impact, do more and make it regular, sustainable and consistent, for it to have the effect and the results that it is intended. Otherwise, it will be a cat and mouse game, you leave and they will come out and play.
Enforcement, as shared in this Bill too, has to have consistency, or else, it will lose the impact that is intended.
Now, the review of HDB and residential premises need even more surveillance, monitoring and proactive measures. You cannot imagine how challenging it is on the ground when feedback is given and it results in a cursory, standardised reply from the agencies or HDB. These gaps need to be addressed and requires absolute strengthening, can something more substantial be worked out with the Council of Estate Agents – as you are having a dialogue with them – HDB and indeed, we are looking forward perhaps even to have Members of the Parliament being engaged in your focus group discussions because we may have issues that may need to be addressed in some of these review.
There is a stark link between sex, prostitution, sex drugs, sex enhancing drugs, drug utilisation and sales, love scams, online vice and even cigarette cartel. The authorities may need to look at these more wholesomely and this whole interdependent cycle and ring we need to break.
In the heartlands, coffeeshops are one culprit area for these activities. We have noticed blatant breaches and overt activities related to vice at these coffeeshops seems to be on-going in broad daylight. This cannot be. What else can one conjecture when dubious characters or so called pimps, sit at the corner table of a coffeeshop the whole afternoon, into the night and the early hours of the morning and even after the coffeeshop closes. The same person with the same shirt, with the same characters around them. They make negotiation for girls and many other things. And it is very very blatant and obvious to the lay person. Is it not so obvious to the authorities? These coffeshops have got staircases leading to the upper units and these extremely conducive places for prostitution or even to be used as an illegal brothel. Transactions can even be done more overtly. Therefore, responses from the authorities such as \"It is a public place and anyone can really sit there\" are really not helping the situation.
For online vice, it is even more challenging. We are very connected as a society given the number of devices each person possesses. Vice syndicates leverage technology to expand and flourish their operations, crossing borders even. What is MHA's strategy for tackling this efficiently and effectively? How are we able to work with overseas agencies and countries on this?
In all, Sir, I support the enhanced penalties and the amendment Bill must execute what it is intended to do to maintain the morality, the rights and the status of women. I hope to see the enhanced collaborative efforts clean up our heartlands and beyond.
Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Speaker, I support the amendments to the Women's Charter to better deal with the issue of prostitution in Singapore. Let me begin with regard to amendment to section 2 of the Charter, I welcome the changes to the definition of \"brothel\" to include has been expressly or implicitly advertised or represented as being used for the purposes of prostitution.
A cursory scan of some of our tabloids shows advertising for somewhat dubious outlets peddling health services and therapies. It does not take much to know that many health clubs and so-called massage parlours are but false fronts for vice activities. We see it in various parts of our island, especially in the heartlands. Darkened windows, heavy curtains, signages, instructions to go via the back entrance and somewhat under-dressed foreign ladies beckoning only to men to come in to relax.
They are not hidden away in some private corner of our island or back some alley-way. They exist right under the noses of authorities. Some of our older malls like Chinatown and else where have become centres of vice activities. To give an example, the basement of Katong Shopping Centre is a case in point – better known for chicken rice, banana pies and tailors – but also a warren of small stalls with ladies in heavy make-up cooing away at passers-by, with no regard for the sensitivities of those with younger children. Some leave little to the imagination of the services that they prefer to provide, besides the purported advertising of physical therapy or facials. These outlets are not new either. These have proliferated through the years. It is about time we take firmer action to weed them out from the heartlands and return decency to our living environments.
It is not just about commercial spaces, in the last few years, I have also received feedback on vice activities occurring in our estates – both private and public housing. I wish to ask the Ministry to work closely with MND to advise MCSTs as well as how to work with HDB to ensure that vice activities do not end up right at the door steps of families as pointed out by the two previous hon Members, sometimes, it is difficult, even for the MCSTs and Managing Agents to decide how to deal with feedback and complaints of such matters.
To give one specific example, a private condo in my constituency. Residents long suspected that one unit in the block was involved in illegal vice activities. However, there were very little levers available to them to try to obtain evidence despite reports to the police. It took some time before the issue was resolved. Some of the same frustration that the hon Member, Prof Fatimah Lateef's residents have gone through, are the same experiences, perhaps elsewhere in Singapore.
How does the Ministry then plan to identify and better prevent such premises from being used for prostitution. Many, as I had previously mentioned, operate with almost brazen impunity. How many does the Ministry estimate are currently operating and how will the enforcement be done? While the amendments to section 148(4) which places the burden of proof upon owners or agents of owners to prove that they could not ascertained that the place is used as a brothel, how will the Ministry prevent loopholes that may well allow the masterminds behind such enterprises to escape the arm of the law.
I will now touch upon section 146A. Mr Speaker, a simple search online will reveal the plethora of websites peddling vice. It does not take much effort to search for such advertising. The third incarnation of a well-known website from Hong Kong currently lists 399 women providing vice activities in Singapore. It is a sophisticated online advertising platform that was first founded in 2002, the site lists everything from detailed services, districts, statistics, even so called \"field reports\" from customers. When the Hong Kong police conducted a three-day raid on the vice ring in 2013, an estimated US$15 million in cash was seized.
That alone should give us pause for thought on the value of this horrendous industry. Back then, the Hong Kong Police declared a strategic victory over this biggest online vice site. Yet it has not gone away. Its servers are now based in the US and it has expanded its operations to advertise in 40 other countries besides Hong Kong, from Japan to even Bangladesh. Their Hong Kong operations alone, currently list 1,522 profiles across the Island, Peninsula and New Territories.
In this game of cat and mouse, it is the mouse that can squirrel away easily and proliferate in various ways and forms. I therefore wish to ask how effective does the Ministry think that the proposed amendments will be in rooting out the rats and clamping down on such nefarious forms of advertising.
This is because while section 146A(1) will raise the penalties, the experience of Hong Kong seem to indicate that the penalties in themselves are not sufficient deterrence against those who seek to gain from exploiting women. The global hosting of websites as well as the dark web has proven to make law enforcement more complex than before.
I wish to also ask the Ministry to clarify the penalties as amended in the Women's Charter, how do they compare to penalties in other related laws, such as in the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act. I urge that where stronger deterrents are found in our other laws that the Charter be further strengthened to match those and if the Charter provides for stronger penalties, then other related Acts be amended as well.
Mr Speaker, Sir, I was involved for a number of years in street missions in the region. At this point, I wish to share three stories from interviews over the years that have left me with much sorrow.
The first is a girl named Pearl. Pearl is fair and of slight built, with almond shaped eyes, she has masqueraded as a Japanese girl in Taipei. She says she taught herself Japanese and watched YouTube to learn Japanese mannerisms and in her words \"how to be more Kawaii\". She said that in doing so, she can be a premium girl, fetching three times the price per customer than if she advertised herself as Chinese. She is what is referred to in the industry as an outcall girl, clients will call up her agent after reviewing her profile on Line or WeChat and fix a time and location which she will go to. She has been to Taiwan a few times and to Australia too. Each trip last two weeks and each time she makes US$3,000 to US$4,000, a princely sum back home. When I asked her why she does it, she grins and says it is a quick way to make money at her age and she earns much much more than her peers. Yet despite that smile, she has no joy in her eyes.
The second girl is Rainbow, she hails from Thailand. I met her at a shelter. She was a regular Honey Girl in Hong Kong until she met an agent that abused her and other girls. She used to make trips out to Hong Kong and as a Honey Girl will be booked into hotels in tourist districts and wait for calls to service men who will look her up via online adverts and make appointments through agents. She could never leave her hotel room during that time, eating just instant noodles and smoking cigarettes between customers. She claims that she saved the money she had for her parents back in the village and to pay for her younger brother's education. She claimed to be doing sales overseas to her family. The money she had left over she undertook plastic surgery to become more attractive.
Thinking she would benefit from a more aggressive agent who could bring in more well-paying clientele, she changed her pimp and was sent to a neighbouring resort island on the pretext of being an escort. Instead, she found herself enslaved and locked up, servicing clients who roughed her up and her own agent who raped and beat her repeatedly over the course of three months. Terrified and psychologically scarred, she has since been rescued, found it difficult to return to a normal life and also to return to her family. She fears for her life. She was all of 19 when she was freed. When I met her, she would finch at every sound, her eyes frenzied, darting back and forth as if frightened of shadows and of doors opening. Here was a girl, who might have had a future, someone's daughter, someone's sister, used, abused, left as an empty worn out shell, her future cruelly torn from her.
There are also many examples that I shared in 2014, when we debated the passing of the Prevention of Human Trafficking Bill. But the story of Mya bears repeating. I met Mya, a 21-year old girl from Mong La, Myanmar, in 2009. Despite her youth, she had at that time, the weight of the world on her and looked as if she was in her 40s. She was born blind, she was sold by her aunt to traffickers at the age of four. Hers is a heart-wrenching story of suffering. Held captive in a brothel far away in a neighbouring country, she serviced up to 15 clients a day. She was rescued at the age of 16 – remember this, she was sold at the age of four – but her instinct then was to try to run back to her brothel and captors because it was the only reality, the only \"home\" that she knew. By then, she had AIDS and passed away two months after I interviewed her.
Mr Speaker, this is not a life. This is a trade that we cannot and should never romanticise or glamourise. This is a cruel soulless industry. A developed nation like ours that takes pride in the progress that our women and the progress that they have made and honours our mothers, sisters and wives, cannot possibly be proud to have men treat women and their bodies as mere commodities for carnal gratification.
Mr Speaker, my wife and I and our three boys are expecting a daughter and a sister soon. Many of us in this House have daughters, too. Can we imagine a world where women are allowed to be exploited and abused as the same one that we hope our own daughters and sisters will grow up, thrive and succeed in? How will we lift our heads in the future and say to them that we stood by and closed one eye to what is nothing more than the commercialised rape of women? That this safe and secure society that we take pride in – one that educates our girls, raises them up as a generation of leaders to hopefully change the world for the better and, yet, still allow dens of subjugation to exist amongst us.
Yes, that is what the Charter is meant to do. But those who are in this so-called oldest of \"professions\", whether in Singapore or elsewhere, are but a reflection of inequality and servitude that plagues our world.
Mr Speaker, I was hoping that, today, we will not just be making amendments to stiffen penalties against vice. I would very much like to ask that the Charter be amended to abolish prostitution from Singapore. This is an abhorrent activity and it is never a necessary evil. It is nothing but a stain upon the hard-earned rights of our Singapore women. I support the Bill's intent to strengthen the authorities’ hand in clamping down but I urge for greater bravery and gumption in eradicating the exploitation of women from our shores. It is not about management but about eradication, hopefully, soon.
Mr Speaker, we have a duty and a responsibility to our daughters and our sisters that a world free from exploitation is possible, if only we dare to take that step forward. Mr Speaker, notwithstanding my concerns, I support this Bill and its intent to control vice in Singapore.
Ms Anthea Ong (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, I commend the Ministry for acknowledging the exploitation that women face in the sex industry with this Bill and stand in support of the Bill that introduces significantly enhanced punishments for persons who exploit women and girls, including those under 16 years old and/or with mental health conditions, for sex.
Sir, as much as I appreciate that we are protecting our vulnerable groups, I have to, once again, highlight the inappropriate description used. It was just last month when I brought to the attention of this House in the Second Reading of the Income Tax Act that we still use archaic and deeply derogatory terms like \"lunatic\", \"idiot\" or \"insane\" to describe our differently-abled Singaporeans in our legislature. And here we are, in section 144 of the Women's Charter and clause 7 of the amendments, we now call them \"mentally defective\"! Mr Speaker, unless our official narrative of a caring and inclusive Singapore is to still view our differently-abled Singaporeans in such derogatory terms and as lesser human beings, which I am sure it is not, then I urge all Government Ministries to ensure that all amendments to our laws brought to this House for readings must also be an opportunity to update all derogatory references to our vulnerable groups, even if the intent to protect them is well-meaning. I was not clear in my ask of the Minister for Finance with the Income Tax Bill but I would like to be direct with my clarification with the Minister on this Bill. Can the Minister please assure us that the term \"mentally defective\" will be replaced with a more appropriate and dignified description that does not perpetuate this persistent need to label them as inferior human beings?
Now, back to the amendments to this Bill, Mr Speaker, notwithstanding my support for the Bill, I have two key clarifications to seek from the Minister.
First, will increasing the present penalty of $10,000 to $100,000 be enough to deter the offenders?
Second, given that the Ministry acknowledges the exploitation that happens in the sex industry with these amendments, would it be more efficient and effective for us to also engage sex workers as part of the solution by encouraging and protecting them to come forward to report on these offenders?
Sir, let me elaborate on my first clarification on the inadequacy of merely enhancing punishments and the impunity of exploitative agents.
A recent report recounts a man who facilitated Thai sex workers into Singapore and required the women to submit all their income for the first 20 customers. I also learnt about other examples of exploitation by agents from Project X, an NGO that was started 11 years ago by a social worker who saw how sex workers are amongst the most marginalised in our society and needed support; and The T Project, Singapore's first and only shelter for homeless transgender women, some of whom are also sex workers.
Let me share the real story of a mother of a two-year-old boy in her early 30s to illustrate how, even with the enhanced penalties, exploitative agents may still get away scot-free. I will just call her Jasmine.
Jasmine came to Singapore to work on a six-month visa that allows her to do \"free work\" at the behest of her friend. \"Free work\" was the agent's way of expertly insinuating that she could do sex work anywhere in Singapore, even though the visa she had was to work as a performing artiste in a bar. She was told it would cost her $15,000 in total which she must pay over the course of six months. Three months later, Jasmine was arrested on the street. At this point, she had already paid $6,900 to her agent.
Desperate, Jasmine went to Project X who helped her lodge reports with both the Police and MOM. The agent and the employer have ostensibly violated the Women's Charter Article 142 on \"importation of woman or girl by false pretences\" as well as Article 146 on \"persons living on or trading in prostitution\". Unfortunately, after multiple trips to the Police station, ICA and MOM, Jasmine was deported three weeks later on having committed the offence of not working at her designated workplace. Meanwhile, the agent was still actively recruiting women based on the WhatsApp posts that Jasmine shared with Project X after she left Singapore.
In yet another case, a single mother with a seven-year-old son in her late 20s was arrested after a tip-off. I will call her Rose. Rose assisted the Police in every way possible. However, the agent whom she never met in person, had covered up his tracks on WhatsApp with fake and inactive numbers. The investigation took three months, Rose had her passport taken away and given a Special Pass for the duration. Yet, the agent was not caught.
Project X alone supports about an average of eight of such exploitation cases every year for the last three years and none of these cases so far saw the agents nabbed. So, it begs the question: if simply raising penalties will be adequate in curbing such abuse, especially for agents who know how to circumvent the law, who have intimate knowledge of the women's families and who leverage technology to conceal their identities.
Could the Minister please share with the House what is the number of pimps and vice-abetters prosecuted in the last three years versus the number of sex workers arrested? Is increasing the present penalty of $10,000 to $100,000 sufficient in deterring these offences?
The National Institute of Justice, the research agency of the US Department of Justice, released a 2016 report that pointed out that the \"certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment\". They make a clear distinction between incapacitation and deterrence. Their evidence, which encompasses a large body of research on crime deterrence, suggests that higher penalties neither chasten already convicted criminals nor have the biggest effect on deterring potential crimes. Rather, certainty, or \"the likelihood of being caught and punished\", is the major deterrent.
This means that, in addition to raising penalties, we must also increase our precision in targeting and apprehending exploitative agents. To increase precision in targeting agents, the most intuitive and economic way is to enlist their victims. This makes the women under exploitative agents our most powerful ally.
Mr Speaker, this brings me to my second clarification. The majority of women who go to Project X for support after exploitation refused to make a Police report because they fear that they will face punishment, deportation and blacklisting. When our most efficient and effective access to exploitative agents is through the women they have abused, will the Minister work with the sex workers by concretising victim support as part of the solution?
Conditional immunity for sex workers specifically has been adopted in the American states of California and Utah. California's SB-233, which was passed just this year, echoes many concerns that we have in Singapore. According to the official Senate floor analysis of SB-233, sex workers are victims of violent crime at a disproportionately high rate. Because they fear criminal charges and mistreatment with the police, they rarely report crimes done to them. The analysis further offers that the Bill \"simply prioritises...health and safety of people engaged in sex work, including human trafficking victims, over their criminalisation...for misdemeanor ...when this population comes forward as victims or witnesses of specified violent crimes.\"
Mr Speaker, I urge the Minister to consider offering these victimised women conditional immunity from charges like soliciting and conditional protection from blacklisting to join us in our fight against exploitative agents, similar in principle to the certificate of cooperation given to drug traffickers. This will not just increase the number of whistleblowers but also reinforce the Bill's intent to protect vulnerable women and bring the offenders to justice.
Criminal compensation will further improve our precision in targeting exploitation. Women who enter into arrangements with unlicensed agents are almost always in a very low socio-economic position and, therefore, desperate for work opportunities to survive and support their families. If we send them away with debt, we are implicitly pushing them to re-enter into risky business arrangements and fall prey to other dangerous agents. I seek the Minister's clarification if we could consider working closely with the Court to arrange for criminal compensation for the exploited women. The Court is obliged to actively consider whether or not to order compensation under section 359 of the Criminal Procedure Code. I believe that the prosecution and investigation officer can invest greater effort in helping the victims understand their rights, produce evidence to guide compensation liabilities and collaborate with the Court to ensure the agents make these payments. This would increase the incentive for abused women to report their agents while also effectively protecting the interest of already-exploited victims.
Mr Speaker, my recommendations may make some wonder if protecting sex workers and recognising them as victims may merely encourage more women to join the sex industry. However, experts have demonstrated that a framework that recognises the safety and welfare of sex workers elevates the safety of all women and makes it easier for those who have been exploited to leave the sex industry. The alternative, however, is that exploitative agents and sexual predators continue to act with impunity and so more women are preyed on to join the industry. We need to see sex workers as part of the solution, including our transgender sex workers who are also sometimes victims to exploitative and abusive agents.
We still have a biased cultural attitude towards the sex industry, one that legitimises men’s persistent demand for sexual services but villianises the women who supply these services.
The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), Singapore’s leading gender equality advocacy group notes that upholding women’s autonomy and agency, including that of sex workers, is crucial to respecting, protecting and fulfilling our commitment to gender equality as defined by UN Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). To this end, the CEDAW Committee has recognised sex workers as a group of women who are disproportionately affected by gendered violence, discrimination and marginalisation. CEDAW's approach to gender equality should inform any policy to protect sex workers from exploitation. We must involve and empower sex workers as equal partners and experts in determining the solutions that work for them.
The physical, emotional and sexual violence that are systematically perpetrated against sex workers undermine gender equality. Studies have found that sexual violence is likely to occur more commonly in cultures that foster beliefs of perceived male superiority and social and cultural inferiority of women. At a time when a group like SG Nasi Lemak exists, when peeping tom upskirting cases are on a steady rise, it is paramount that we treat all forms of gender-based violence with urgency and gravity. We should, therefore, be hyper-vigilant of the normalising effects of impunity for exploitative agents and employers and do all we can to prevent the disenfranchisement of sex workers.
I befriended a sex worker almost 15 years ago. Let us call her Lily. She shared with me that it was the sheer desperation of poverty back home that drove her to be a sex worker here so as to feed her son and two ailing parents back home. Lily eventually left the sex trade after having saved enough to take courses. She is now a world-travelling and well-respected professional in the hair and beauty trade. Sex workers may be looked down upon, but it is clear that many of them have much to contribute to society and also, like us, dream for a better life.
Not being heard as a sex worker is no reason for silence when it comes to being exploited. When we offer protection and give them a voice to be part of the solution to the problems of abuse and oppression that we are trying to solve in the sex industry, Mr Speaker, I am sure they will come forward to say, #MeToo.
Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I will resume the Sitting at 3.55 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 3.35 pm until 3.55 pm.
Sitting resumed at 3.55 pm
[Mr Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Debate resumed. (proc text)]
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore has generally taken a pragmatic approach to vice-related activities. Prostitution per se is not a crime in Singapore. The Government's approach has been to restrict prostitution to licensed brothels by outlawing activities like solicitation and pimping that are largely linked to unlicensed prostitution.
This model has generally worked in the past to limit such vice-related activities to certain areas of Singapore where licensed brothels operate.
This approach, however, is less likely to work in today's context where commercial sex can be procured easily online via Internet and social media platforms. Operators of online commercial sex platforms have increasingly offered sexual services out of residential units, such as private apartments, condominiums and even from HDB flats in the heartlands.
According to a news article published in The Straits Times in 2017, operators of these unlicensed brothels are attracted by the low rent of these residential units, as well as the discreet locations that these residential units have. A follow-up Straits Times article in May 2019 reported how more than 150 women and a man were arrested in May for vice-related activities that were operating out of residential units, some of which were in the heartlands.
Operating out of an unlicensed brothel compromises the safety and security of an environment in which young children and families live and I am heartened to know that the amendments in this Bill comprise active measures to ensure that landlords are now legally obliged to not turn a blind eye to such activities.
The amendments in clause 12 for section 148 has now clarified that landlords and/or their appointed agents need to perform reasonable diligence when leasing premises out to tenants. I am supportive of this amendment and its enhanced penalties as they would help to restrict the use of residential units as unlicensed brothels by putting the onus on property owners and their appointed agents to not turn a blind eye to illicit vice activities conducted on their premises.
At the same time, I am encouraged that the amendments also offer protection to owners and agents who have done their due diligence and are genuinely unaware of the happenings in their units. In short, those who have done their due diligence should not be unjustly punished.
The amendments in clause 10 for section 146A have given the authorities greater power to prosecute and undertake enforcement actions against overseas operators of vice services who use remote communications channels to facilitate the provision of commercial sexual services in Singapore.
Given that such services can be managed and organised by overseas vice syndicates, there are, indeed, merits in extending the enforcement power of the authorities beyond our shores. Yet, the challenge lies in actually being able to enforce the law. How would the authorities carry out cross-border enforcement actions against overseas-based vice-related operations, especially in contexts where Singapore does not have repatriation or reciprocal arrangements with the countries where the syndicates are operating out of? I hope the Government would shed some light on this area.
The amendments to clauses 3, 4 and 5 that increase the penalty of offence in trafficking women and girls and to import them under the false pretence with the intent that they be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution either within or outside Singapore will certainly serve as strong deterrence to would-be offenders.
Mr Speaker, Sir, I am supportive of these amendments as they come down strong on those who prey on vulnerable women and girls. While the law punishes the offenders, I believe more can be done to support unwitting victims who have been deceived by these vice syndicates.
Many of these women and girls were lured to come to Singapore by false promises of legitimate employment but only to be coerced and trapped into sex work. Many of them were desperate to leave the trade but were coerced to stay in the trade with threats. While the Government's position is not to prosecute potential victims of trafficking, I hear that we need to put in place a better support system to rescue these women from vice syndicates.
Can the Government and authorities work with local NGOs to put in support systems for these victims before we repatriate them? Can the Government also work with the respective agencies in the victims' home countries to ensure that their welfare is addressed before we send them back, as they might have to face possible recrimination from the vice syndicates in their home country?
Mr Speaker, I believe that all the Members in the Chamber here today would agree on what I feel are the two key points of this Bill. Firstly, that the places where young children and families live should be kept safe and secure from any vice-related activities and, secondly, that sex trafficking of women, especially girls, against their will is a heinous offence and that such traffickers should face the full force of the law. It is with these two aspects that I conclude my speech in firm support of the Bill.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, thanks for allowing me to participate in this debate. I have three main points of concern.
Firstly, regarding online vice. I commend the Ministry's efforts to deal with this problem through the introduction of extra-territorial jurisdiction to the Charter. Doing so will equip our Police force more adequately as criminals are exploiting technology to boost their revenue and protect themselves by operating their illegal businesses remotely.
I would like to ask if it is possible to require the social media providers to monitor their websites round-the-clock for such vice transactions and either remove or report attempts to offer online services, both locally and from overseas, to potential customers in Singapore. What measures will the Ministry implement to enlist the cooperation of social media providers to help deter such offers and bring those involved to task?
Secondly, the irresponsible lease of premises. Certainly, owners and tenants who allow such activities to be conducted on their premises should be severely punished. The law requires owners to perform due diligence when leasing out their properties, such as but not limited to, conducting identity checks when signing the lease agreements. However, the tenants who had been cleared under such checks could still use the residences to conduct illegal activities without the owner's knowledge. What other mitigations are there for the unfortunate, innocent owners?
Lastly, the problem of \"visitor-vice\". These are prostitutes who enter Singapore as tourists or on visit passes. Some individuals operate on their own while others are flown in and controlled by crime syndicates overseas or even locally. How can we prevent these syndicates from engaging in such activities in our homeland? Most importantly, we need to protect those who are abused and trafficked here for such exploitation. Do we have a framework to enable victim-prostitutes to seek assistance and also act as witnesses? I would like to conclude with my full support for this Bill.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, let me start by saying that I stand in support of the Bill. I do not doubt that there is a need to curb vice activities perpetuated through online platforms and I agree that this is a serious concern that must be addressed.
I also support MHA’s intent to deprive vice syndicates of operating space, especially in the heartlands. My residents and myself included all want a sense of safety and security where we live.
But while I support these amendments, I have concerns about their effectiveness. Are we addressing only the symptoms of the issue and not the root cause? Are we just chasing our tails? Is it time to rethink our strategy?
My first concern is about the amendment targeting the irresponsible lease of premises and whether it is feasible and practical. Sir, as I mentioned, I support the intent of the amendment. None of us wants our neighbourhoods to become hubs of vice activities. But my question is: how are homeowners and tenants supposed to enforce this? MHA has stated that if vice activities are detected at their premises, homeowners and tenants will have to show that they had no knowledge of and could not, with \"reasonable diligence\", have known that the place would be used for vice activities.
One way of satisfying themselves is to conduct identity checks at the point of signing their lease agreements, as part of due diligence when renting out or sub-letting their premises. This sounds good on paper. In practice, however, how does a homeowner or tenant perform \"reasonable diligence\" other than asking directly whether one is a sex worker?
If the homeowner or tenant drops by and find that the tenant or sub-tenant is having sex with another person, how do they determine whether or not that is a vice activity? I hope that the Minister can provide clarity on how we will be enforcing this.
My second concern is about whether our attempts to clamp down on sexual services work. Sir, this would not be the first time I am making this point. Two years ago, I stood in this house to support the Massage Establishments Bill. But in that speech, I said, \"Worse still, we might drive these activities further underground.\" This was the fear of former Home Affairs Minister, Mr Wong Kan Seng who said this in Parliament in 1999 in relation to a question about prostitution, \"It is better that the Police know where these areas are and enforcement action can be taken, rather than to disperse these brothels to the whole of Singapore and we have a cat-and-mouse game chasing after them or, worse still, drive them underground, and they will be operating everywhere.\"
I fear that we are doing what Mr Wong advised us 20 years ago not to do and that the cat-and-mouse game has started. In 2010, Member of Parliament Mr Baey Yam Keng said that vice raids in Geylang led to pimps and prostitutes \"spilling out\" of the area.
Former Nominated Member of Parliament Kok Heng Leun raised the same concerns in his speech on the Massage Establishments Bill. He said, \"In the past, there used to be these health centres where sexual services were provided alongside massage. Most of these health centres were not allowed to renew their licences. The shutdown of these health centres led to the proliferation of smaller parlours set up by the people who used to work at these health centres. From interviews with massage workers, the proliferation was also because smaller parlours were harder to apprehend for sexual services.\"
What is our end goal? As we wipe out one area, we only push the sex workers to another area which we then try to wipe out.
I appreciate that vice activities will always evolve, and enforcement needs to evolve as well. However, it seems that the vice activities are evolving at least partly because of our actions. This cat-and-mouse game means that we are wasting our precious resources and most importantly, we are always one step behind.
Sir, I believe a long-term solution can come from speaking with sex workers themselves about the issue. I met up with Singaporeans sex workers when I was researching the Massage Establishment Bill and I met up with Singaporeans sex workers again when researching this Bill. I sat there listening to their stories, their fears and their aspirations. These are fellow Singaporeans and many are victims of circumstance. Many feel that they have no choice but to be sex workers. We need to ask ourselves how many people would willingly sell sexual services?
I listened to one woman share about how she got kicked out of her house by her parents when she was young, became homeless, did not know where to go for help and ultimately entered the sex trade just to survive. She was beaming with pride when she informed everyone during the dialogue that she had just paid the deposit for a make-up course and everyone in the room cheered.
I listened to how another woman became a sex worker when she was only 19 years old and has been doing this for four years now. Her parents divorced when she was five years old and both parents did not want her. She was left with her grandmother who raised her. For her entire childhood, she was constantly reminded that she had no parents. I cannot imagine the impact that had on a young child.
She did not do well in her studies and could not get into a polytechnic. She tried to enrol in a private polytechnic but did not have enough money to pay the tuition fees. She then tried to get a bank loan but failed as she could not find a guarantor. Not knowing where else to go for help, she ultimately entered the sex trade for money to fund her education.
We can all take the moral high ground and tell the sex workers that they know the risk of sex work and that they can find another job, so why should we protect them and help them? But I hope we remember that these are fellow Singaporeans. Rather than judge them for their actions, I hope we can help them.
Sir, many of them also shared their fears with me and shared stories of how some sex workers get raped and robbed.
The Women’s Charter is all about protecting women and girls from exploitation and harm and this should include sex workers as well. The recent case where three youths hatched a plot to rob sex workers at knife-point highlights how sex workers are especially vulnerable. The trio agreed this plot as this would be the \"safest\" way to commit a crime as they would be preying on the sex workers’ \"vulnerabilities and insecurities\", given the illicit nature of their work.
The sex workers I spoke to feared that when they report a crime committed against them, they too will be arrested because of the illicit nature of their work. As such, many do not report the crime and my concerns are not just for the sex workers but also for society at large.
We have people committing crimes and getting away with it. They might continue with their crimes and start targeting others or, worse still, evolve to committing more serious crimes. Do we really want a rapist to get away scot-free just because his victim is a sex worker? Does our society become a safer place for all if this continues?
I can understand that what I am proposing is not a simple suggestion. However, can I ask if MHA is studying this problem and also studying what others are doing? I understand that in the US states of California, Utah and Washington, laws have been passed to allow sex workers to, without fear of arrest or prosecution, report crimes that they were victims of or witnesses to. Can MHA look into this holistically to assess the pros and cons of such laws and see what effects they have had on society?
Sir, I believe the long-term solution is to put more resources into helping sex workers transit out of their industry.
Indeed, many of the sex workers I spoke to said they wanted to leave the sex industry but needed help doing so.
Studies have showed that women who want to leave the sex work industry are trapped in their industry due to two key factors: one, society's prejudice against former sex workers; and two, the women’s lack of social support and low self-esteem.
The fortunate thing in Singapore is that in Singapore, we do have non-profit groups helping these women. Project X is one such group. It provides social, emotional, and legal support for sex workers in Singapore, and it hopes to launch The Next Step Programme, to which I hope the Government can provide some funding and support.
The programme aims to help sex workers who wish to leave the industry. Over six months, case workers work with the women to devise a customised plan. The plan aims to help the women in five important ways: financial planning, individual counselling, job skills training, family counselling, and social and communication skills. At the end of the six months, the women will have the option of continuing or exiting the programme.
Research shows that sex workers who have successfully left and abstained from sex work for at least two years have been able to do so only after about six attempts on average. It is not an easy transition, but the result, I believe, is worth the effort.
In 2017, Minister Josephine Teo said in relation to sex workers, \"For those who wish to transit to other types of work, I appreciate it really may not be easy for them, but help is available and we are most willing to reach out to them\". Sir, I hope that MHA will consider providing support and funding for The Next Step Programme.
Sir, let me end with what Mr Wong Kan Seng said in this House 20 years ago again, \"Governments around the world and through the ages have tried to eradicate prostitution, but none had succeeded. Criminalising prostitution only drives such activities underground, resulting in crime syndicates taking control over such activities.\"
There is a need for us to rethink and relook our policies and remember what our former Minister told us.
I hope that rather than just prosecute sex workers, we can provide help. Rather than entrap them with our undercover officers, we can engage them holistically. Rather than lecture them on morals and the law, we can listen to them and understand why they became a sex worker what their concerns are and what their aspirations are.
I hope that MHA will consider holding discussions with the sex workers directly. I would be keen to help with this and facilitate it. Some sex workers may be concerned about meeting with MHA for fear of being identified, but we can start by meeting with sex workers who are transiting out of the industry.
Let us work together with them to find long-term solutions rather than against them. Sir, we can take the moral high ground and judge them, discriminate against them and even despise them. But let us remember that they are also someone’s child, someone's daughter, someone's loved one and more than anything, these are fellow Singaporeans who need help. Let us help them.
And by helping them transit out of the sex industry, we might actually reduce the number of Singaporean sex workers much faster than arresting them and playing this cat-and-mouse game.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Speaker, in Mandarin, please.
(In Mandarin) [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: \tMr Speaker, Sir, I welcome the proposed amendments to the Women’s Charter to increase the responsibilities for landlords. Over the past few years, illegal vice activities have been popping-up in HDB precincts, causing disamenities in the neighbourhoods. The landlords have a duty to verify the identities of potential tenants, their background and the purpose of renting.
Mr Speaker, Sir, although I support the amendments to the Women’s Charter, I have some concerns that many HDB flat owners are elderly residents, who leased out their whole flat to stay with their children to have another source of income. Some of these elderly residents may not be well educated and may not know what their legal obligations are as a landlord. As such, I have three questions for MHA.
First, will the landlords be held responsible if the original tenant subsequently allows others to stay in the premises without their knowledge?
Second, can the HDB flat owners rely on the advice of the property agents? Would they be deemed to have done their duty as long as they carry out the checks as advised by the property agents?
Third, for elderly residents who may have mobility issues, can they rely on the property agents to carry out the necessary checks?
Mr Speaker, Sir, while it is important that flat owners do the necessary checks before leasing out their premises, we have to be mindful that many elderly flat owners may not be well educated or may have mobility issues. As such, I hope the MHA can give clarifications on my questions.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to strengthen the laws against online vice activities and to enhance the Police’s levers against vice syndicates. However, I do have a few questions and suggestions for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary.
The proposed amendments to the Women’s Charter are timely as the sex trade in Singapore has been evolving in tandem with new technologies. As a former Police commander, I have seen first-hand how illegal vice activities have moved from brothels masquerading under the guise of massage parlours, to online messaging applications like WeChat which utilises geo-targeting technologies to allow anyone to find sex workers in their vicinity.
The confluence of the popularity of such messaging platforms and the rise in short-term rentals, perpetuated by platforms like AirBnB, will increase the difficulty of enforcement against vice syndicates. Through short-term rental platforms, syndicates now have easy access to a large inventory of locations that they can hop around to offer prostitution services. As of last week, a simple search of such services on an infamous online forum easily yielded over 1,800 listings that offer massage and sexual services, mostly by foreign nationals here on social visit visas, in various \"discreet apartments\" across Singapore. My suspicion is that many are operating out of apartments rented on a short-term basis, to avoid detection.
Therefore, while I am supportive of the proposed amendments to tackle irresponsible leasing of premises for vice activities, this only deals with homeowners who legally rent out their premises. How will our police officers enforce against the syndicates that tap on illegal short-term rental platforms to offer vice activities?
Messaging platforms are also introducing new technologies that will make it harder for our anti-vice officers to catch vice syndicates. The recent furore over the SG Nasi Lemak chat group has exposed the use of Telegram as an encrypted messaging platform, used to disseminate both obscene and pornographic content, including the offer of sexual services. Telegram also has a \"self-destruct\" feature, which users can set their messages, photos and files to be deleted on both the sender and the recipients’ devices. With the constant evolution of such digital platforms, it is crucial that our enforcement officers be updated regularly on the latest technologies that are being used to circumvent the detection of vice syndicates in Singapore.
Mr Speaker, the vice syndicates facilitating sexual services in Singapore are often based overseas. I am therefore happy to see that the proposed amendments to the Women’s Charter has introduced extra-territorial jurisdiction to section 146A. While this plugs a legal gap by allowing the Police to take decisive action against any overseas person using remote communication services to facilitate the provision of sexual services in Singapore, I would like to ask how will this be feasibly enforced? To deter people from committing such offences, could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary provide a concrete example of when a person based overseas would be in breach of the new section 146A, and how would the Ministry act against such a person who is not physically in Singapore?
While we tackle the rise of vice activities perpetuated through new media, it is vital that we continue to take action against the business operations of unsavoury establishments that masquerade as public entertainment outlets in residential areas especially those with young children.
During my time with the Clementi Police Division, my officers regularly took enforcement actions against the massage parlours suspected to be offering illegal sex services in mixed-use developments such as Bukit Timah Shopping Centre. But despite our constant enforcement actions, seedy establishments continued to operate – many times out of the same shop unit – as syndicates were able to find locals to register themselves as new owners of the massage parlours and act as their fall-guy. In our colloquial terms, we term this as \"finding a tua pek kong\".
Now as a Member of Parliament, I receive regular complaints from residents about the seedy public entertainment and massage outlets located in mixed developments such as Orchard Towers. Members would agree with me that such seedy businesses should not be co-located in residential areas especially those with young children. How would the new definition of \"brothel\" and the amendments to section 148 tackle the \"tua pek kong\" phenomenon and eradicate such seedy public entertainment and massage outlets in mixed-use developments?
Can the Ministry also consider imposing a cap on the number of such outlets in a specified area, particularly in areas where there are many residences? This is a point that I have raised before here in Parliament. From my policing experience, I have often noticed that once an area has reached a certain threshold of such outlets, syndicates tend to gravitate towards the area as their next business opportunity, resulting in a quick surge of illegal vice activities.
Lastly, we must not forget about providing a safe reporting channel to the women who have been exploited and forced to work as sex workers. I read with concern about a report published by the US State Department earlier this year, which claimed that there were 16 trafficking cases in Singapore in 2018, of which 10 involved sex trafficking. I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary if this indeed is accurate, and what are the measures provided to women who may be in such circumstances and would need a safe reporting channel.
Mr Speaker, the proposed measures under the Bill is a step in the right direction as it will provide the Police with the legal tools necessary to combat vice activities and vice syndicates operating through online media. However, while we pit our wits against these syndicates, it is vital that our anti-vice officers recognise the shift in such trends, which are abetted by new encrypted messaging technologies and short-term rental platforms. I also urge more enforcement action to be done to ensure that such seedy businesses are not co-located in mixed-use residential developments, where there are many young children residing. With that, I support the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Sun Xueling.
Ms Sun Xueling: Mr Speaker, I thank Members for their support for the Bill. I shall first address the broader questions on the Government’s policy on managing vice, before going into questions relating to specific amendments in the Bill.
First, regarding the Government's policy on vice and our vice management strategy.
Mr Louis Ng asked if these amendments will only drive vice elsewhere, further underground. Mr Alex Yam gave a passionate argument for the abolition of prostitution altogether in Singapore.
There are no easy answers to this. Mr Alex Yam shared that we should eradicate the exploitation of women, instead of management. He proposed abolishing prostitution. However, as Nominated Member Anthea Ong pointed out, the economic and social factors, such as poverty and a lack of realistic career options that push women into prostitution, will not go away by criminalising prostitution. She pointed out that sex workers and empowering these women can instead be part of the solution.
We studied the approaches adopted by various countries – some ban the purchase and selling of sex, others focus on criminalising demand and yet others have chosen to decriminalise or legalise the sex industry.
The experiences of these countries are mixed, but what Mr Wong Kan Seng said 20 years ago and which Mr Louis Ng quoted, still holds true: no country has successfully eradicated prostitution.
In Singapore, we take a pragmatic approach towards vice. We prioritise our efforts by: (a) ensuring organised crime groups and syndicates do not gain a foothold through vice activities; and (b) addressing public nuisance caused by vice-related activities, such as soliciting in public and vice in heartlands.
I acknowledge Mr Ng's concerns about syndicates which will continue to evolve alongside changes to our laws and our enforcement efforts. But we cannot do nothing either. Where that line is crossed, the Government must intervene to safeguard our neighbourhoods. This intervention is part of our larger vice management strategy, which Prof Fatimah Lateef, Mr Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Alex Yam and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked about.
Upstream, we target platforms which may be used to facilitate vice activities by: (a)\ttaking down and blocking vice websites as and when they are detected; (b)\testablishing a regulatory regime for public entertainment and massage establishment outlets, which may be fronts for vice activities; and (c)\tdetecting and deterring foreigners seeking to enter Singapore for sex work.
We also remind residents to be vigilant against vice activities by working with partners such as HDB and the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) to promote awareness among residents and property agents; and raising deterrence against vice activities by publicising Police's enforcement efforts.
Downstream, the ICA and Police conduct raids on premises suspected of harbouring immigration offenders and vice activities; and the Police also conduct joint operations with their overseas counterparts, to target the upper echelons of these syndicates. I gave an example of such a joint operation with our counterparts in China, in my earlier speech.
Members also had questions about these downstream enforcement practices.
I appreciate the concerns faced by the resident in the example shared by Prof Fatimah Lateef. The Police do indeed hope to work with eyes and ears on the ground, be it vigilant property owners, tenants or property agents, to aid ongoing investigations or uncover unreported crime.
The Police may not appear to respond immediately to all information received, but this is also because they will have to verify the information before conducting any enforcement action.
But I assure Members that the Police value every piece of information provided by members of the public. The amendments today also demonstrate our commitment to weed out vice syndicates from residential areas. There are many channels available for the public to provide such information, including lodging a Police report or using iWitness.
The same goes for sex workers who are victims of crime. Ms Anthea Ong, through her examples, also made a broader point about a perception that syndicates are getting away scot-free, in spite of sex workers coming forward to assist with Police investigations.
The Police will follow up on information provided by sex workers, but as explained in my earlier speech, syndicates are finding ways to evade detection. This means that in some cases, the Police may find it challenging to identify the agents, or to establish the culpability of persons involved. And this is why we need these amendments in the Bill.
The Police update their enforcement strategies to remain effective. For example, they also conduct \"precision\" operations, to quote Ms Ong, targeted at the upper echelons of the syndicates.
So, there is a broad spectrum of enforcement operations conducted by the Police: regular, sustained enforcement raids targeting vices in the heartlands, and precise strikes to disrupt the syndicates.
Members of Parliament Mr Melvin Yong and Prof Fatimah Lateef asked about the vice situation at areas such as Orchard Towers and Geylang. The Police have adopted a targeted enforcement strategy at these locations. Broadly, they keep a high enforcement and operations tempo at these locations. Depending on the ground issues, the Police also work with other enforcement agencies and community stakeholders to detect and deter illegal activities.
I mentioned that we have in place a regulatory regime for massage establishments and public entertainment outlets, as part of our vice management strategy. It is outside of the scope of the amendments, but I will briefly talk about the principles.
The Police take into consideration URA's planning intent, the law and order situation of an area, and the operators’ background, before issuing licences to these operators. The operators have to comply with the licensing conditions, which include ensuring no immoral activity is carried out in the premises, and the Police conduct regular enforcement checks on the outlets. Errant operators may face regulatory sanctions, or even criminal penalties under the relevant legislation.
Ms Anthea Ong, Mr Alex Yam and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked for some vice-related statistics.
Between 2016 and 2018, about 8,800 foreign females were arrested for vice and immigration offences. In the same period, 328 vice abettors were arrested. The number of \"pop-up brothels\" in operation is difficult to estimate with certainty, but suffice to say that it is on an upward trend. We do not collect data on persons who purchase sexual services, as this is not an offence.
So far, I have set out our law enforcement strategies. I now turn to the issue of protection and support for sex workers, which Ms Anthea Ong, Mr Louis Ng, Mr Melvin Yong and Mr Darryl David spoke about.
We have tough laws against trafficking-in-persons, under the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act (PHTA).
There are safe reporting channels available to victims – persons can report to the Police or MOM via their hotlines and websites, or call 999 if immediate Police assistance is required. We also have in place a victim care framework, which includes providing assistance with temporary accommodation, food, counselling services, medical care and temporary employment.
Sex workers should not keep silent if they have been abused or exploited. Any sex worker who is a victim of crime should come forward and get Police's assistance. The Police will look into all allegations of criminal offences. Support is available for prosecution witnesses, such as assistance with housing and employment.
Mr Melvin Yong cited the report by the US State Department, regarding trafficking-in-persons. The report misrepresents the ground realities of the trafficking situation here. The MHA issued a clarification, published in the Straits Times, in July this year. Of the 16 alleged trafficking cases, 10 were alleged to be sex trafficking. Subsequent investigations by the Police ascertained that none of the 10 alleged sex trafficking cases were substantiated as trafficking under the PHTA. MHA has also clarified this with the US directly.
Ms Anthea Ong also asked about criminal compensation for sex workers who have been victims of crime. As Ms Ong has highlighted, there is already an existing legal framework under the Criminal Procedure Code.
Under the law, compensation is a matter for the Courts to consider. Where appropriate cases are brought to the attention of the Police by the victim, the Police will highlight to Attorney-General Chambers to consider making such a case on behalf of the victim.
Regarding conditional immunity for prosecution witnesses suggested by Ms Anthea Ong and Mr Louis Ng, this is an issue that needs further deliberation.
We will have to take into account, holistically, the circumstances and actions of the sex worker and prevailing laws and policies.
The Women's Charter is meant to protect women in general, including sex workers from being exploited by pimps. The Police have not prosecuted any sex workers for sex work, as prostitution is not an offence. However, foreigners who work as sex workers in Singapore have also violated the conditions of their entry into Singapore, and are considered prohibited immigrants under our law.
We will thus have to carefully consider the impact of granting immunity to such individuals on public safety and our criminal justice system as a whole.
Mr Louis Ng also shared about helping women transit out of sex work. Community partners do play an important role in helping Singaporean sex workers, be it in helping them transit out of sex work, or providing social support to them. The Government will support such efforts where possible.
But we must also recognise that most sex workers are foreigners, and foreigners who are prostitutes in Singapore would have flouted our immigration laws. Again, we have to carefully consider the impact of our policies on public safety and law and order.
I will next address Members' queries on specific clauses in the Bill.
Mr Darryl David and Mr Melvin Yong asked how the extra-territorial application of section 146A would be used in practice to target offenders based overseas. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah said the anonymity offered by some of these platforms could hinder investigations.
With the amendments to section 146A, we will be able to arrest offenders when they enter Singapore, even if they were overseas at the point of commission of the offence.
If they are in a country with which Singapore has a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) or extradition treaty, it may be possible to seek their assistance for investigation or send an extradition request to the country, if this is practical or expedient. Even if there are no formal reciprocal agreements, the Police will work with our foreign counterparts to share information and conduct joint enforcement and investigation.
While we acknowledge that extra-territorial laws have their limitations, the amendments to section 146A will still be an improvement over what we have today. I explained the need for these amendments in my earlier speech.
To ascertain the identity of these offenders, the Police can rely on section 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code to order the production of any document or thing necessary for investigations. The Police also work with their overseas counterparts to share relevant information.
I have just set out how the Police will rely on the amended section 146A, to go after syndicate members overseas. The other amendment to section 146A, is to allow the Police to go after syndicate members in Singapore, even if they use a remote communication service based overseas. The amended section 146A is not only applicable to syndicates members overseas.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Melvin Yong and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked about the use of social media and social messaging platforms to advertise the provision of sexual services in Singapore.
Most syndicates rely instead on dedicated websites, such as SGWolves, which was taken down last year. Many social media platforms have community standards and processes for users to report such posts to the company for take-down.
We thank Mr Gan for his suggestion to require internet intermediaries, such as social media providers, to do more to combat vice on their platforms proactively. MHA is also working with other Government agencies to study the issue. In doing so, we are seeking to find the right balance between our public safety outcomes, without imposing requirements that are unreasonably onerous on companies. In any case, such platforms are considered \"remote communication services\" under section 146A.
With these amendments to section 146A, syndicates which use these social media and social messaging platforms to advertise or facilitate the provision of sexual services in Singapore, will be liable for an offence, even if the server is overseas, or even if the person posting the advertisement is overseas.
Ms Anthea Ong and Mr Alex Yam asked if the higher maximum fines would be enough to deter the offenders. The higher maximum fines are part of a broader suite of amendments to better deter vice syndicates. The Bill also raises the maximum jail terms, and penalties for re-offending. Taken as a whole, this sends a strong signal to vice syndicates regarding the seriousness of the offence.
In determining the appropriate maximum penalties, we took into account the penalties in other relevant legislations, such as the PHTA, which also carries a maximum fine of $100,000, imprisonment of up to 10 years, and caning, even for first time offenders.
Additionally, the prosecution can also apply to confiscate vice earnings under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, or CDSA, and we have done so in the past.
Several Members asked whether the identity checks, as a form of reasonable diligence, would be effective in deterring syndicates from renting premises for vice activities. Some said identity checks, by themselves, may not be helpful in determining the tenant’s motives, and asked if it would be fair to hold landlords responsible for tenants' subsequent actions.
At the point of signing the lease agreement or releasing the premises for occupation to a tenant, if the property owner or master tenant had done what was reasonably possible to ascertain that the premises is not going to be used as a brothel, the owner or master tenant will not be liable for an offence even if the unit is subsequently used as a brothel.
But, the tenant or occupier could be prosecuted for an offence of keeping, managing or assisting in the management of a brothel; the Bill does not amend or abolish this offence in section 148 subsection (1).
And where the tenant is not directly managing or keeping the brothel, the tenant cannot escape criminal liability unless: he or she can show that he or she had no knowledge and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the premises are used as a brothel.
The latter is an amendment in clause 12(b) in the Bill, which will make it harder for a tenant or occupant to turn a blind eye.
This is a balanced approach. We had considered imposing post-transaction requirements, such as spot-checks on the unit, installing CCTVs, or checking with the neighbours. We consulted a wide range of stakeholders on this and the general consensus was that it would be too onerous to impose legal obligations on property owners to implement post-transaction checks at this juncture.
Stakeholders said property owners or master tenants faced practical limitations. For example, as leases or sub-leases usually require them to respect the tenant's or sub-tenant's right to quiet enjoyment, it would be challenging to conduct surprise checks if the tenant or sub-tenant was not around to allow the inspection.
The owner or master tenant might arrange the inspection in-advance, but this would defeat the purpose of the checks since syndicates will remove any evidence of illegal activity. And, as Mr Louis Ng highlighted, the owner or master tenant may not be able to determine whether the place is used as a brothel. There were also concerns about potential risks to the personal safety of the person conducting the checks, if crime syndicates are involved in the running of brothels out of these rented premises. As Mr Darryl David and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah said, those who have done their reasonable diligence should not be unjustly punished. The Members are correct in this regard.
The proposed approach in the Bill for owners and master tenants to exercise reasonable diligence at the point of entering into tenancy agreements, is not too onerous and is something that many are already doing today.
As I said in my earlier speech, this amendment is also intended to get property owners and tenants started in asking the right questions. These will help deter syndicates attempting to misuse another person’s identity documents, in order to rent a place to be used as a brothel.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing asked if property owners can rely fully on property agents’ advice and to carry out the checks for them.
Property agents play an important role in helping homeowners and tenants comply with the law. We are therefore working with CEA to ensure that property agents are aware of these legislative changes and to introduce professional guidelines to ensure that property agents help owners and tenants meet these reasonable diligence requirements.
In my earlier speech, I also talked about the disciplinary action that property agents could be liable for, if they were found to have behaved negligently. Property agents are allowed to conduct checks on behalf of property owners who are unable to meet the prospective tenants in-person – for example, landlords who are overseas, or elderly landlords who may not be ambulant.
Apart from property agents, trusted parties such as a family member can also conduct these checks on their behalf.
However, an owner is ultimately responsible for the lease of his own property. Owners who rely on third parties to check should verify that the checks have been completed satisfactorily, before entering into the lease agreement or allowing the prospective tenant to occupy the property.
While property agents have a professional duty to advise their clients to the best of their abilities, and indeed most of them do so, the property owner should also be asking the right questions and satisfy himself or herself that the unit is being rented out in a responsible manner.
To Mr Melvin Yong’s question on the use of short-term rental platforms, the owner and tenant of the property-in-use are still responsible for the reasonable diligence requirements under section 148 of the Women’s Charter. In addition, there are rules in place regarding the illegal or unauthorised use of premises for short term accommodation. Property owners may also be liable for an offence under the Planning Act.
Just as Prof Fatimah Lateef, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Mr Alex Yam said, property owners, tenants and property agents are our \"eyes and ears\" on the ground. These amendments are part of our efforts to promote better collaboration with the community to remain vigilant against vice activities.
Neighbours, managing agents and security guards are also part of this larger community. We encourage the community to keep vigilant and report suspicious activities to the Police.
One final point – to Ms Anthea Ong's comment on the use of the term \"mentally defective\", I acknowledge her point and we will look into this in subsequent reviews of the Women's Charter.
Mr Speaker, I hope I have addressed Members' concerns. The Bill is needed to enhance our ability to deal effectively against vice activities of syndicates and individuals, especially those operating online, and to ensure better protection for our neighbourhoods from vice activities. Sir, I beg to move.
Mr Speaker: Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam: Mr Speaker, one clarification and one supplementary. Mr Speaker, I agree that no country has eradicated prostitution, but we can certainly try. Because in Singapore, we do the same for the vice of drugs and we do so with much pride. Banning drugs has not meant that we have completely eradicated them from our society but we have reduced the nefarious effects that come with these, such as violent crime, gangsterism and organised crime.
Prostitution is no different, brings with it sexual violence, organised crime and other after-effects.
I therefore ask if the Ministry would consider adopting an abolitionist route as adopted by France, Sweden and Iceland to criminalise the punters, the clients, but offer an escape route for a better life for those who are in this trade. As we have heard from many Members, many would not have willingly entered this trade. Having been involved in work in the welfare of sex workers in the region, what we can do to uplift a lot of communities is perhaps the most important part and there are a lot of levers that Singapore as a developed country can do.
At the end of the day, prostitution is no more than a repetitive round of sex acts. I hope that the Ministry can consider some of these for future legislation.
Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his clarification. As I mentioned earlier, the experiences in other countries – he mentioned Sweden – have been mixed. There is no consensus as to whether laws that criminalise demand for paid sex actually decrease the actual demand for sex. Some studies have assessed that any change in data simply reflected changes in policing practice and the way in which sex work is organised. We mentioned earlier, and some of the other Members have also mentioned, we do have grave concerns that by criminalising sex, we drive clients and sex workers underground and we make it harder for sex workers to protect themselves or for social workers to reach them.
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Thank you, Sir. I have three clarifications. One is on the immunity. I think the Senior Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that it is harder to grant immunity when there are immigration offences as well. So, can we look into at least granting immunity when there are no immigration offences? These really are the Singaporean sex workers.
Second, my call about funding for the next step programme, which is about helping Singaporean sex workers transit out of the industry, I think that is a much better way. Rather than keep trying to arrest them, we help them to get out of the industry, which will reduce the number of sex workers.
Third is whether MHA is open to having a closed dialogue with the sex workers themselves. Hear from them directly and see how we can work together to address some of the concerns that MHA has.
Ms Sun Xueling: On the first point that the Member mentioned, I would like to clarify that we actually do not prosecute Singaporean sex workers for sex offences, for providing sexual services, because it is not an offence. But for the foreign sex workers, they have committed an immigration offence and that is why they have to be deported.
On the second point about transiting out of sex work, I mentioned that we have various policies in place and this is something that the Government will also look into actively to help Singaporean sex workers transit out of the sex trade.
On the last point on a dialogue, I think that the Police, when they do come into contact with the sex workers, they do interact with them. But if he feels that there is a way for us to work even closer with VWOs to engage the sex workers, we will be happy to work with the Member further on this.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Ms Sun Xueling]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
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The Minister for Manpower (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
The CPF system has evolved to meet the changing needs of each generation of Singaporeans. It started as a retirement savings scheme in July 1955, when many workers in small- and medium-sized companies did not receive retirement benefits from their employers. CPF helped them to have something for retirement. In 1968, in order to improve housing affordability, CPF usage was expanded to help members buy HDB flats. From 1981, CPF savings could also be used to buy private properties. This made home ownership a reality for over 90% of Singaporean households and helped them to share in Singapore’s growth. It also gave them an asset to rely on in retirement. In 1984, in order to meet rising healthcare needs, we created the MediSave Account. This helped Singaporeans cope with big healthcare expenses, such as hospitalisation. As life expectancy continued to rise, so did the risk of Singaporeans outliving their savings. In 2009, we started to transition from the Minimum Sum Scheme, now known as the Retirement Sum Scheme, to the CPF LIFE annuity scheme. Members on CPF LIFE have the assurance of a constant stream of retirement income for as long as they live.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Lim Biow Chuan) in the Chair]
The CPF system is a continuous work-in-progress. Its three-in-one feature is also unique. No other retirement system tries to help people fulfil three basic needs in retirement – housing, healthcare and day-to-day spending. Comparisons with other systems often neglect this important fact. There is also considerable complexity mainly because new rules have to co-exist with previous rules for earlier cohorts.
Be that as it may, CPF should continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of our people. This Bill is part of that evolution. It will amend the CPF Act in two broad areas: first, to cater to changes in employment practices; second, to clarify and streamline the administration of the CPF Act.
With the Deputy Speaker’s permission, I will also use this opportunity to respond to Mr Chong Kee Hiong’s supplementary question earlier this afternoon and provide an update on the changes we are making to the Retirement Sum Scheme in response to feedback from members of the public.
In 2017, Ministry of Manpower had set up a Tripartite Workgroup on self-employed persons (SEPs) to look into the concerns of SEPs and make recommendations on how to address them. In both the Committee of Supply debates of 2018 and 2019, I gave updates on the Workgroup's recommendations and their implementation. One recommendation was to help SEPs save for their retirement and healthcare needs through the CPF system.
Today, SEPs must make contributions to the MediSave Account. Unlike regular employees, there is no requirement for them to contribute to the Ordinary and Special Accounts. Members know how MediSave Account balances can be very helpful. They can be used to pay for medical treatment and MediShield Life premiums, which helps with hospital bills. The converse is true: a depleted MediSave Account exposes the SEP to risks of not having the support for healthcare expenses when he or his family needs it most. Currently, SEPs make their MediSave contributions every year based on their earnings in the previous year.
This approach of making yearly contributions for past years' earnings can be improved. Unlike regular employees, SEPs do not have a simple process to make small regular contributions as and when they earn income. When the time comes to make the out-of-pocket lump-sum contribution the following year, SEPs with cash flow constraints face difficulties. This happens more often than not. In any given year, about 60% of SEPs do not make their MediSave contributions in full in a lump sum. This is very significant – about 130,000 of them.
As a result, some choose to pay via a 12-month instalment plan. Nonetheless, a significant number do not sign up for an instalment plan or have stopped paying their instalments. The root cause of this may be that these SEPs have irregular income. Should they wish to get back into regular employment with more steady income, we have many schemes to help them do so. In fact, last year, more SEPs switched to regular employment.
But for those who remain in self-employment, we should also find a way to help them avoid slipping further back. This is what the pilot is about – helping SEPs keep up with their MediSave contributions, to strengthen their protection against health shocks.
The first set of amendments will allow for a pilot \"Contribute-as-you-Earn\" scheme, CAYE for short. This will be for a small group of about 6,000 SEPs who provide services directly to the Government and public sector agencies. As a service buyer, the Government can help SEPs directly transmit their contributions to their MediSave Account, and then pay the rest of the service fee to them. The Government plans to start this pilot from 1 January 2020.
With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, may I ask the Clerks to distribute the CAYE infographic?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, please. [A handout was distributed to hon Members.]
Mrs Josephine Teo: Let me illustrate how CAYE works. Take for example, Sam, who is a 48-year-old self-employed soccer coach. A Primary school engaged Sam to conduct a two-hour soccer clinic. The Primary school paid Sam $120 for the session, of which $20 was the expense that Sam incurred. Effectively, his income from this session was $100. Under the current contribution model, the school would have paid Sam the full service fee amount of $120.
With CAYE, the school will help Sam make a contribution of $10 for the two-hour soccer clinic. Why $10? Well, this is because Sam has estimated that his income from this job is around $100 after taking out the expenses. Based on his income in the previous year, the MediSave contribution payable is 10% of the income he earns and not the total service fee, which can include expenses. At the same time that it contributes the $10 to Sam’s MediSave Account, the school pays out to Sam the balance $110 for this particular assignment.
We can expect Sam to take on various jobs throughout the year, not all of them with MOE schools.\tSupposing his net trade income in total is $30,000. He would have to make a MediSave contribution of $3,000. Suppose also that $13,000 of his income came from work done for MOE. By the time the CPF statement arrives, the schools would have helped him contribute $1,300, or 10% of $13,000, throughout the year. And so, as a result, the remaining contribution is no longer $3,000 but a reduced amount of $1,700.
How does Sam benefit from this? I think we can see that his risk of not being able to make the contribution in full is now lower – it is $1,700 instead of $3,000.
Like regular employees, Sam can make smaller and more regular contributions to his MediSave as and when he receives a payment. This is helpful as his income may be seasonal due to, for example, less work during examination periods. CAYE will also help Sam grow his MediSave monies. By contributing earlier, he will accrue more interest on his MediSave contributions.
Some SEPs are more comfortable with the current model of MediSave contributions and may prefer not to be on CAYE yet. SEPs who have made their MediSave contributions in full or are keeping up via an instalment plan will be allowed to opt out of this pilot. Such SEPs can set their CAYE contribution rate to zero.
For SEPs who have not been keeping up with their MediSave contributions, we will continue to give them time to clear their back payments. But it is better that they make contributions through CAYE. This will help them keep up with the current MediSave obligations and prevent their obligations from snowballing.
Let me just make clear a number of things since it concerns CPF.
There is absolutely no change to the obligations of the self-employed for CPF contributions. Even after Parliament passes the amendment, the obligations are the same as before.
The only change concerns how those contributions are made. Instead of a lump-sum payment once a year, small contributions will be made from SEPs' income each time the income is earned. As this pilot only involves SEPs who provide services to the Government, only a fraction will be affected. If these SEPs have in fact been up-to-date with their payments, they can also opt out of the pilot.
As part of our consultations for the Bill, we had in-depth discussions with the NTUC and leaders of the SEP associations. They have generally welcomed the introduction of CAYE and recognise its benefits. However, they are also concerned with some of the SEPs who are already falling behind in payments. Specifically, Mr Ang Hin Kee and leaders from the National Instructors and Coaches Association (NICA), the Professional Photographers Association (Singapore) (PPAS) and the Singapore Association of Motion Picture Professionals (SAMPP) suggested that the Government provide some matching of the SEPs' MediSave contributions when they participate in CAYE. I have discussed with my colleagues and we agree this is a good suggestion. The Government will look into providing some support for SEPs participating in the CAYE pilot.
Some Members may ask if we can extend CAYE so that like regular employees, all of Sam's contributions would have been made as and when he earned an income. Let me emphasise CAYE is a pilot. We have not taken a decision on whether CAYE will be extended to include payments made to the SEPs by private sector companies or intermediaries, such as for insurance and real estate agents. Some of the intermediaries have already indicated interest. They can see the benefit of helping their agents make MediSave payments as and when they earn an income. This is especially if the lump-sum payment happens to be required during a lull period the next year when the agent earns less income. However, let us try out CAYE first, see how well it works and decide later if and how other SEPs can also benefit.
Mr Deputy Speaker, let me now turn to employment practices which are also changing and, therefore, require that we keep pace by updating the CPF Act. We therefore plan to amend the CPF Act to be more responsive to the evolving needs of employers and employees. Let me explain.
Today, employers may structure wage components that are tied to certain contractual obligations. For example, a sign-on bonus with a minimum service period condition. If the employee chooses to leave before the minimum completion date is up, he is required to return the sign-on bonus to his former employer. This practice is allowed under the Employment Act. To restore both parties to their original positions, the employee also needs to return the CPF which his former employer paid on the sign-on bonus. However, the CPF Act does not allow the CPF Board to grant refunds for this repayable component.
Regulations prescribed under the amended CPF Act will give employees flexibility to apply for a refund for the CPF portion within one year of having to return the conditional wage. Employers may also apply for the refund, with the employee's consent.
Let me illustrate with an example. Suppose Daniel receives a sign-on on bonus in January on the condition that he works for one full year. He gets $4,000 in cash and $1,850 in his CPF, which is the contribution on the sign-on bonus. If he so happens to leave his job in March, he has to return a total of $5,850 to his employer. Of which, $1,850 is actually in his CPF account.
Under today's rules, Daniel will be out-of-pocket for the $1,850 as CPF Board is unable to refund this amount from Daniel’s CPF to pay back his employer. With this amendment, Daniel may apply to CPF Board to refund the $1,850 from his CPF account to his employer if he wishes. With Daniel’s consent, his employer may also apply directly to CPF Board for the refund.
Let me state for the record that we neither encourage nor discourage the practice of sign-on bonuses. With the changes, regulations can be made to allow members and employers greater flexibility to accept and offer such payments, knowing they can obtain a refund of their CPF contributions if the payment has to be returned.
The second and final set of amendments provide greater clarity and efficiency in the administration of the CPF Act. I will provide one example.
The Home Protection Scheme (HPS) is a mortgage insurance scheme. It protects CPF members and their families from the risk of losing their home if the breadwinner meets with an unforeseen event, like death. When this happens, it understandably takes some time until the claim is paid. The grieving family will need time to report the claim. CPF Board will need time to process and make the claim payment to the mortgage bank or to HDB in the case of HDB loans. Meanwhile, the interest on the mortgage loan continues to accrue.
In practice, CPF Board has always paid the interest accrued on the outstanding loan all the way until the claim is paid. In other words, families have not needed to make further payments because of the time it took to report and process the claim. This amendment simply regularises this practice in the legislation.
This sums up the key amendments to the CPF Act. Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move.
Mr Deputy Speaker, may I also seek your permission to respond to the supplementary question raised by Mr Chong Kee Hiong?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, Minister.
Mrs Josephine Teo: I will take this opportunity to briefly talk about changes we are making to the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS) in response to feedback from Members. I shared in a written Parliamentary reply in October that MOM and CPF Board were reviewing the RSS payout rules. We have completed the review.
With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, may I ask the Clerks to distribute a factsheet on the changes to Retirement Sum Scheme payouts?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, please. [A handout was distributed to hon Members]
Mrs Josephine Teo: Although we have introduced CPF LIFE, the RSS is still the main CPF retirement income scheme today. Most members aged 65 and above today receive their retirement payouts through the RSS. More members will start receiving their retirement payouts through CPF LIFE from 2023 onwards, when the first cohort of mandatory CPF LIFE members reaches their payout eligibility age. Members will be automatically included in CPF LIFE if they have at least $60,000 in their Retirement Account at age 65. CPF LIFE will provide them with payouts for as long as they live.
On the other hand, RSS payouts are designed to last up to 20 years from the payout eligibility age. This takes into account the base interest rate earned on Retirement Account savings, which is now 4%. We call this the “base payout”. In 2008, the Government introduced Extra Interest and again in 2016, the Additional Extra Interest. This benefited all members and especially those with lower balances. It was deliberately designed as a progressive move. All this extra interest earned from age 55 is used to stretch the payouts beyond the usual 20 years, up to age 95 at most, to protect members from outliving their RSS payouts. So, the base payouts would have lasted up to 20 years, but with the extra interest, they last longer, can be up to 95 for some members.
We have received feedback from some members who felt that the RSS payout duration of up to age 95 was too long. Designing payouts to last up to age 95 will cover the longevity risk of up to four in five members. In other words, only one in five members is expected to outlive his RSS payout. While this approach is fundamentally sound, it does mean that for the members who had remaining balances in their Retirement Accounts when they passed on, their RSS payouts could have been slightly higher.
We will change the RSS payout computation to address members’ feedback on long payout duration. The key change we will make is to design RSS payouts such that they will last to age 90 at most, instead of age 95. The base payout will continue to last up to 20 years.
Today, all of the Extra Interest and Additional Extra Interest that a member earns from age 55 goes towards extending his RSS payouts beyond 20 years. We will adjust this. Extra interest earned from age 55 until the member starts his payouts will now be used to increase his payout amount. Extra interest earned after the member starts his payouts will continue to extend his payout duration. Moreover, the extension will go to age 90 at most, instead of age 95. Particularly for RSS members whose payouts were originally projected to end past age 90, these changes will increase their payout amounts.
Let me illustrate with an example. Let us say Mr Tan is aged 65 today and starting his RSS payouts. Based on his Retirement Account savings and the current RSS payout rules, he will receive a payout of about $470 for 30 years. His payout duration comprises 20 years of base payouts and an extension of 10 years from the extra interest earned on his savings. In other words, his payouts will end when he is aged 95. Under the new RSS payout rules, his payouts will increase from $470 to $520. However, the payouts will end at age 90.
The new RSS payout rules will continue providing longevity risk protection for up to two in three members. In other words, the majority of members on the RSS will still receive payouts for as long as they are expected to live. For those who prefer a longer payout duration, they have the option of joining CPF LIFE before age 80. This will guarantee that they receive payouts for as long as they live.
Allow me to also add, for avoidance of doubt, that there is no change to the payout eligibility ages or withdrawal rules for RSS members. If you are 65 today, you can start to get your payouts. That remains the same.
I would also like to be very clear that members who are currently receiving payouts will either get the same or higher payouts as a result of these changes to payout rules. No one will see a reduction in the payouts that they are currently receiving.
Separately, we will adjust the RSS payout computation so that when members defer their payouts, or make a top-up, they will generally see an increase in their payout amount.
The changes to how RSS payouts are computed will take effect in 2020. All RSS members who turn 65 from 1 July 2020 will be on the new payout rules.
Let me repeat that there is no change to when they can start their payouts, only how those payouts are computed. As per usual practice, members will receive a letter six months before their 65th birthday. This letter will inform them that they can choose to start their payouts from 65 if they wish.
As for older RSS members who have already chosen to start their payouts under the current rules, we will apply the new payout rules to them from 1 January 2020 if the resulting payout amount is higher than their current payout. Around 60,000 members will see their payouts increase as a result.
To communicate the change clearly to RSS members who have started their payouts, CPF Board will send a one-time letter. Relevant RSS members who are receiving their payouts will receive this letter, which will inform them whether and how they are affected.
To conclude, the changes will see RSS payout duration last to age 90 at most. All RSS members who are currently receiving payouts will get either higher payouts or the same payouts.
Mr Speaker, the CPF Amendment Bill provides workers and employers with more flexibility, in particular, flexibility to adapt to future employment practices. It also clarifies the administration of the CPF Act.
Together with the changes to the RSS payout rules, we are making CPF processes more member-centric. This is not a one-off task. As Members will appreciate, we will have to continue updating the CPF system to better serve the changing needs of its members.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Supplementary questions regarding the Minister's answer to RSS will be taken at the end of the Bill.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill.
I note that there are several amendments to the CPF Act. However, my focus today would be the introduction or provision of the Contribute-As-You-Earn (CAYE) scheme.
The CAYE scheme is designed to help self-employed persons contribute to their MediSave account as and when they are paid for their work, instead of requiring a yearly lump sum. Starting from 2020 onwards, under the CAYE scheme, self-employed persons will have small and regular contributions made to their MediSave accounts when the Government pays for their services. The Government will transmit the MediSave contributions of the self-employed person to his/her MediSave account. He/she will then receive the balance fee.
In this regard, it is similar to the existing CPF contribution scheme which requires employers to make monthly contributions to their employees' CPF accounts. I also note that the CAYE scheme is presently at its infancy and, at this point, the pilot run is not applicable to the private sector. I am glad to note that the Minister has agreed to consider some form of matching contribution for this pilot CAYE.
While the CAYE scheme is no doubt commendable and a positive attempt by the Government to support freelance and self-employed workers, I have the following questions for the Minister.
First, we note that, at present, the CAYE pilot scheme will only be applicable for Government contracts and there are no plans to extend it to the private sector as of now, during this pilot phase, presumably to ensure that there are no glitches and that MediSave contributions are calculated correctly. My question is: are there plans to extend it to the private sector? If there are plans, when can we expect that it would be extended to the private sector? And does MOM foresee any resistance from the private sector?
Second, I note that, at present, there are approximately 6,000 self-employed persons who provide services directly to the Government and, therefore, stand to benefit from the CAYE scheme. As of last year, I understand that there were approximately 200,000 self-employed persons in Singapore's resident workforce. If the figure of 200,000 remains the same this year, it would mean that only 6,000 out of the 200,000 self-employed persons – about 3% – provide services directly to the Government.
Would the Minister be able to provide some clarification as to why only 3% of the self-employed persons provide services directly to the Government? Is it because the Government generally prefers contracting with bigger and more stable companies with established reputations? In this case, what more can be done to help self-employed persons remain competitive? Or would it be due to the differences in demand and supply of the nature of the services provided by the self-employed persons? Does MOM see the figure of 3% as worrying? In which case, what more can be done? We need to ensure that these freelancers do not lose their rice bowls, amidst the economic uncertainty. What other ways are there which the Government is utilising or considering to support the healthcare and retirement needs of freelancers in Singapore?
Third, we observe that there is increasing fluidity in Singapore's employment landscape. For instance, some freelancers have opted to diversify their careers by picking up regular employment and working as employees by day and freelancing at night, subject to the terms of their employment contracts.
In such a situation, those involved in regular employment by day, would already have the requisite CPF contributions through the employer's plus employee’s CPF contributions needed for the big-ticket items in life, such as housing, retirement as well as healthcare bills and so on.
In this case, would the CAYE scheme still serve its objective of ensuring that these self-employed persons are self-sufficient? Are there considerations for this class of persons to be exempted from MediSave contributions in respect of their freelance work and revenue, to avoid imposing additional financial constraints upon them, especially since the Singapore economy is going through an uncertain period?
Lastly, as a general observation, the CAYE scheme was developed to plug the lacuna in the law and assist self-employed persons with saving monies in their CPF account to tide them through rainy days and fund big ticket items. The root cause of this issue is fundamentally because self-employed persons, or freelancers, are not employees and, therefore, not entitled to CPF contributions to begin with.
However, it is worth highlighting that in some countries, such as Norway and Australia, certain classes of self-employed persons, such as food delivery riders, are now considered \"employees\" and accorded employees' rights and benefits, including the right to join unions. Perhaps, in due course, it may be time to examine our laws to determine if certain classes of freelancers should be accorded \"employee\" status and the associated benefits, especially where their contract for service resembles an employment contract. Perhaps, a good starting point would be to allow freelancers to be covered within the scope of the Trade Unions Act. Sir, my clarifications notwithstanding, I stand in support of this Bill.
Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I recently took an MRT ride with a freelance trainer and, a few weeks later, I had lunch with another freelance coach. Both of them shared a similar story with me, about the need to use hand sanitizers regularly. So, I was curious as to why they said that. And it is so coincidental that both asked me the same thing.
I guess the reason they gave me was that, as a freelancer, you have to look after your health and make sure you do not fall sick. Other than the fact that you may have to pay medical bills, recuperate at home, but you also may miss out on fulfilling your clients' obligations that you promise to deliver. That is about taking personal ownership – looking after one's health, buying appropriate insurance, topping up your MediSave account and exercising regularly.
In fact, over the last few years, Mr Deputy Speaker, I have met with many freelancers – sports coaches, tutors, actors, movie-makers, band instructors, those who do rigging in stages and outdoor events, emcees, photographers, beauticians, choir instructors, orchestra directors, fitness instructors, translators, taxi and private hire drivers, getai performers. This is just to illustrate the wide spectrum of industries and vocations that many of our freelancers today come from. It is no longer the traditional tutors and taxi drivers alone. Many of them shared with me that they do adopt a healthy lifestyle and exercise regularly, contribute to their MediSave account. Some even bought prolonged medical leave insurance to cover potential loss of income should they fall sick or recover from some major surgery.
As the Minister rightly pointed out earlier, 60% of them do not do so. And this is especially so among younger job entrants who just became freelancers. I spoke to many of them and they shared that they think that this is only a transition job; it is not something that they will hold on to for a long time.
Making MediSave contributions are not at the top of their mind among these young freelances. In fact, in my engagement with the CPF Board, I also learnt that many experienced freelancers are also not prompt in making MediSave contributions even though there are instalment plans made available with the CPF Board. And the Minister had earlier also alluded to the same facts. The reasons may be varied, Mr Deputy Speaker, but the outcome is the same. Freelancers run the risks of inadequate medical provisions.
So, what are we to do about this? How do we help to place them under the safety net that every other employed worker is provided for? Some argue that freelancers, \"You are independent. Look after yourself. Make the necessary provisions.\" Others ask for more Government interventions.
With this amendment, I think the role that the Government is taking on is clear.
First, as a responsible service buyer, the Government wants to help freelancers make contributions to their MediSave accounts so that they can have adequate savings for medical needs through the CAYE scheme.
Secondly, it is also imperative that the Government ropes in all Singaporean workers to come under its CPF safety net in an efficient and effective manner. I am, therefore, supportive of this amendment. I have three requests for the Government's consideration, of which, the Minister has already answered one.
First, I hope that the Government can be more proactive in supporting freelancers beyond the CAYE. The emerging gig economy is something that we are all aware of and it has created a new form of employment among many workers. One key concern is that there may be risks that may be passed on from companies to these gig workers who actually are unable to take on much risks, such as instability in their wages and not being prepared for retirement. My hon colleague Mr Patrick Tay also alluded to the fact that food delivery drivers may fall into this category of workers who may be unaware of the risks.
For instance, I have also mentioned in my previous speeches that we, too, see many freelancers doing food delivery. Although they wear the attire of the platform provider and comply with rules quite similar to that of an employee, they are being classified as freelancers. I know that the Ministry has a WorkRight programme to ensure that those mis-classified workers will be put right and be clocked back as far as CPF and other statutory rights are being provided for.
However, do we need to, therefore, relook whether there is a need to re-categorise the different types of freelancers, identify those who are more vulnerable and ascertain to see if they need to be provided and protected by the law? Whilst we want to retain the flexibility of a gig economy, we should also review the way we define who is an employee in view of today's new employment arrangements.
Secondly, many freelancers are already making their MediSave contributions to an instalment plan. And I am glad that the Minister has earlier mentioned and announced that the Government is seriously considering a support system to the MediSave contribution of freelancers who transact with Government entities. This is a welcomed announcement.
There is, Mr Deputy Speaker, already a precedent among taxi operators who co-contribute to taxi drivers' monthly MediSave contributions, that is, the Drive and Save (DAS) scheme. So, this announcement by MOM will definitely help freelancers transit to this new arrangement and I look forward to the details of the support.
Thirdly and finally, I would like to urge that the Ministry look at enhancing training support for freelancers. This should address the training needs of not just freelancers who transact with Government buyers, but more importantly, the employability of all freelancers. I mentioned earlier, some young freelancers shared that they started off freelancing, thinking it is a transition job but there are other older freelancers who also thought that it was a transitional job, but over time, it became their only full-time choice. This is because even if some struggle to improve their wage prospects or income doing freelance work, they do not possess the adequate skills to move to other jobs.
In the Ministry's regular survey, I hope statistics can be collected pertaining to the training status and employability of our freelancers. This is to ensure we roll out timely interventions before the employability gap grows larger. Meanwhile, can we consider supporting them in their training endeavors with funding help in the form of training allowance or absentee payroll that we offer other workers?
Mr Deputy Speaker, we need new solutions and I am very glad that the Ministry has already roll out a programme like the CAYE. Such new solutions are needed even as we address the unintended consequences of this new form of employment. This will ensure that freelancers do not unnecessarily struggle with employment or employability options. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Motion.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this CPF (Amendment) Bill seeks to pilot the Contribute-As-You-Earn Scheme for self-employed workers. The scheme will see service buyers deduct a portion of their payment to self-employed workers to contribute to the workers' MediSave accounts. This scheme actually does not make any material change to the workers' position since they already have to make a contribution to their MediSave account based on their previous year tax returns. What it does is to smooth out the contributions so that workers will not face a situation where they have to fork out a lump sum annually and may not have enough cash on hand to do so. This scheme is also limited in that it is to be piloted by the Government and affecting only self-employed workers on contracts for service with the Government.
A critic could give a cynical shrug to this limited move by the Government and argue that this does not change the status quo, except to secure contributions to MediSave. I am not going to see it this way. Rather, I choose to see the Contribute-As-You-Earn Scheme as a wedge that could open the door for the Government to regulate the self-employed work sector and do more for self-employed workers. In the spirit of the Contribute-As-You-Earn Scheme to address the income protection, retirement adequacy and contracting issues faced by self-employed workers, I will speak on these three areas accordingly, in terms of the next steps the Government can take to do more for self-employed workers.
Income protection. The first area where the Government can do more for self-employed workers is to address income protection linked to work-related injuries and medical exigencies. Firstly, self-employed workers are not covered by the Work Injury Compensation Act. This is despite the fact that self-employed workers are exposed to the same work-related injury risks as their counterparts who are considered \"employees\". With regards to work-related injuries, this difference between a self-employed worker and an employee is more a legal artefact rather than a distinction grounded in reality.
The Minister had said in July in reply to a question on work injury insurance for food delivery riders by the hon Member Mr Desmond Choo that the distinction between employee and self-employed workers is that a company has control over the work arrangements of employees but has no full control over the work arrangements of self-employed workers.
Surely, this is overstating the case in reality. On the one hand, companies often have considerable control over the work arrangements of self-employed workers, especially for companies operating in the gig economy using membership tiering, incentives and penalties to regulate workers' discretion. On the other hand, companies do not often have full control over the work arrangements of employees, especially for companies operating in the gig economy as the same digital platforms will be used for different categories of workers.
I believe the Ministry is aware that the distinction is not black and white. Thus, Minister Teo said that the Workplace Safety and Health Council has been encouraging food delivery companies to buy personal accident insurance for all their riders and that major operators Deliveroo and GrabFood already do so. Given this blurred distinction between self-employed workers and employees in the new economy, would it not make more sense for the law, for WICA, to change to include self-employed workers?
Secondly, self-employed workers may not have enough income protection if they face medical exigencies. Based on the Tripartite Workgroup's recommendations, the Ministry worked with insurers NTUC Income and Gigacover to offer Prolonged Medical Leave insurance to self-employed workers. The insurance provides income of $60 to $80 a day for hospitalisation and prolonged medical leave. This is good progress.
However, almost two years have lapsed since this initiative was started and the low participation of self-employed workers may be a concern. The Ministry promoted the insurance to two occupational groups that together comprised 30 per cent of all self-employed workers, namely sports coaches and instructors and taxi and private-hire drivers. I would like to ask what percentage of self-employed workers in these two occupational groups are now covered by Prolonged Medical Leave insurance?
Also, Minister Teo mentioned in the COS debate in March this year that Grab and Gojek were providing free Prolonged Medical Leave insurance to regular drivers and that ComfortDelgro was considering. Is ComfortDelgro now providing the insurance to its taxi drivers?
Would the Minister consider legislating to make it compulsory for service buyers in certain sectors to purchase Prolonged Medical Leave insurance for their regular self-employed workers? Many self-employed workers are regular contractors with the same service buyers for many years and even decades. The self-employed workers in the two occupational groups fit this description. This is due to the oligopolistic or monopolistic character of the sectors they work in. The distinction between self-employed workers and employees are blurred in such sectors. Grab and Gojek recognise this and provide free Prolonged Medical Leave insurance to their regular drivers. It would make sense thus to legislate for income protection insurance for such sectors.
Retirement adequacy. The second area where the Government can do more for self-employed workers is to address retirement adequacy leveraging the Contribute-As-You-Earn scheme and also the SkillsFuture movement.
Firstly, it is known that self-employed workers are deprived of CPF savings since they miss out on the 20% of wages employees are compelled to save and the 17% additional contribution by employers. The Government has urged self-employed workers to make voluntary contributions to their CPF if they can afford to do so. But the problem is that self-employed workers are already lagging in their savings compared to employees. A Manulife survey in 2018 found that in reference to a $1 million retirement savings target, the average savings gap of self-employed workers was 55% larger than regular employees.
One way to address this issue is to leverage the Contribute-As-You-Earn scheme to encourage self-employed workers to make regular voluntary contributions to their CPF with the right incentive. For example, self-employed workers could opt in to contribute 10% of their income up to the monthly contribution ceiling of $6,000 through the Contribute-As-You-Earn scheme. The Government could incentivise this by offering a flat and thus progressive CPF top-up of, say, $300 a year to self-employed workers who join this programme for the whole year. Progressive service buyers could be encouraged to match the Government's CPF top-up.
Secondly, with the national skills development framework well in place and catered to employees, self-employed workers who are deprived of SkillsFuture support could become disadvantaged. As many self-employed workers treat their gig work as temporary jobs to transit to full-time employment, they could become disenfranchised if they are unable to tap into SkillsFuture support and resources to upskill to make the transition.
Ultimately, given the structure of our labour market and our national pension system, it makes sense to safeguard the retirement adequacy of our self-employed workers by helping them upskill and transit to full-time work as employees benefiting from full CPF contributions. Self-employed workers make up 8% to 10% of our workforce. This is a significant group. The SkillsFuture movement cannot afford to ignore self-employed workers. There need to be schemes targeted at self-employed workers to upgrade and develop their skills.
Contracting issues. The third area where the Government can do more for self-employed workers is to address contracting issues in terms of standards and the test for dependency.
Firstly, most self-employed workers are still not covered by basic standards of contracting. In a recent reply to a question by the hon Member Assoc Prof Walter Theseira, Minister Josephine Teo said that, as of July 2019, 47,000 workers were covered by the Tripartite Standard for Contracting with Self-Employed Persons, as adopted by 600 employers. This barely covers a quarter of the 200,000 self-employed workers reliant on proper contracting to earn their living.
It is stated that the Tripartite Standard \"specifies a set of fair and progressive employment practices for service contracts that all service buyers should implement at the workplace\". The practices comprise terms of products or services to be delivered and written key terms that include names of contracting parties, parties' obligation such as nature of services to be provided and payment due for each product or service and due date of payment. These are very basic practices underpinning a contract for service. As fundamental practices, should not the Tripartite Standard be made mandatory for all companies seeking to contract with self-employed workers?
Secondly, in the last three years, of the total of 308 cases of suspected misclassification received by the Ministry, 160 cases involved workers assessed to be misclassified as self-employed workers, with an average of about 100 workers a year found to be misclassified. Affected employees were paid overtime pay and CPF contributions due to them. What were the criteria used to assess misclassification? Should these criteria be used to test whole occupational groups to see whether there is systematic misclassification due to new digital technologies allowing for platform engagement work?
In Australia, there has been discussion about the test of dependency with regards to platform engagement work. The argument is that many independent contractors signing on to work on digital platforms end up being dependent on the control and direction of the company they are working for, which looks like regular employment. Unions have pointed out that companies in the gig economy exhibit multiple features of employment such as regulating the behaviour of workers, providing equipment to perform work, interviewing and screening workers, providing training, arranging shift rosters and so on.
Is the test of dependency a valid test in Singapore for distinguishing between self-employed workers and regular employees? If so, should not the Government conduct a systematic review of all classification of self-employed workers, especially in key sectors of the gig economy?
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Contribute-As-You-Earn scheme is a wedge that keeps the door open for us to discuss, debate and act on improving the lot of self-employed workers as they navigate the new economy. I have argued that WICA should cover self-employed workers, that we should legislate for income protection in oligopolistic sectors, that we should encourage regular voluntary CPF contributions using incentives, that there should be SkillsFuture schemes targeted at upskilling self-employed workers, that the Tripartite Standard for Contracting with Self-Employed Persons be made mandatory, that the test of dependency might be applied to the current classification of self-employed workers contracted to platform companies. I support the Bill.
Assoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is the result of a 50-year journey towards greater social protection for the self-employed through the Central Provident Fund scheme. Today, self-employed persons (SEPs) are only required to contribute to MediSave. Contributions to other CPF accounts are voluntary. When this Act is passed, we will be able to help SEPs contribute to CPF through the Contribute-As-You-Earn or CAYE mechanism.
I will cover two broad issues in my speech: First, the legislative history of how SEPs are treated in the CPF Act and second, the economic reasons why this amendment is necessary, timely and should spur us to providing even greater coverage of SEPs through CPF, beyond Medisave contributions, in the future.
I will start by highlighting a key change in the primary legislation. The present section 77(1)(e) provides the Minister with the discretion to require SEPs to contribute to CPF. This is the legislative basis for regulations requiring SEPs to contribute to MediSave. This will be replaced by the new section 9A, which states that SEPs must contribute to CPF. To support CAYE, the new section 9B requires collectors who engage and pay SEPs to make contributions to CPF on their behalf. Clauses in section 9C amongst others provide the Minister with discretion in how this will be implemented.
At first, this would appear to be a substantive policy change. It is a shift in the primary legislation from stating that SEPs may be required to contribute to CPF, to stating that SEPs must contribute to CPF. But in fact, a reading of the legislative history of section 77(1)(e) shows that Parliament has always intended for the self-employed to be covered by CPF. Fifty-one years ago, in 1968, then Minister for Labour Mr S Rajaratnam first proposed the idea of covering SEPs through CPF. The present section 77(1)(e) originates in the CPF (Amendment) Bill No 26/1968.
In the second reading debate on 1 August 1968, Mr Rajaratnam stated, and I quote, \"The principal purposes of the Bill are… (iii) to enable the provisions of the Central Provident Fund Ordinance to be extended to cover persons who are self-employed and who do not at present contribute to the fund.\" He went on to say that the necessary regulations to effect this would be made in due course. It appears clear Parliament intended in 1968 that CPF should compulsorily cover SEPs.
Unfortunately, between 1968 and 1992 we appear to have lost the momentum to cover SEPs through CPF. As far as I can tell, no policy required SEPs to contribute to CPF during those years, although the text of section 77(1)(e) was amended in 1973 to the present format.
It was only in 1992 that SEPs were first required to contribute to CPF, for MediSave only. The CPF Act was then amended to provide for administering SEP MediSave contributions, including penalties for non-compliance. In the Second Reading debate on 31 July 1992, Mr Chiam See Tong asked why SEPs were asked to contribute to MediSave only, when the original purpose of CPF was to provide for old age protection in general.
Then Minister for Labour, Dr Lee Boon Yang replied, and I quote, \"We are only extending this contribution to the CPF by the self-employed for Medisave at this present moment. In fact, we would like to encourage all self-employed persons to contribute to the other accounts in the CPF, that is, the Ordinary Account and the Special Account. I am very pleased that Mr Chiam supports this move. In due course, perhaps we can take up his suggestion and move in the direction to extend the entire CPF scheme to all self-employed persons.\"
I note that the CPF Act did not need to be amended in 1992 in order to require SEPs to contribute to MediSave. The subsidiary legislation was enacted on 1 July 1992 under section 77(1)(e) and predates the second reading of the CPF Act that year. So, the powers under section 77(1)(e) have always been sufficient to require SEPs to contribute to CPF.
So, what are the lessons for us? First, I think the difference in the framing of the primary legislation does matter. Section 77(1)(e) only says that SEPs may be required to contribute. There is discretion provided to the Minister. The new section 9A in this Bill says that SEPs must contribute. In retrospect, the original discretionary framing of section 77(1)(e) may explain why we took 24 years, from 1968 to 1992, to require SEPs to contribute to MediSave. Section 77(1)(e) does not impose any requirement to act, even though the Parliamentary intent to cover SEPs with CPF was clear in 1968.
Second, I think we should be cautious about framing this amendment narrowly as limited to SEP contributions to MediSave through the CAYE mechanism. The 1992 second reading resulted in this narrow policy position. But in reality, the Parliamentary intent in 1968 was to for SEPs to be covered by CPF in general, and, of course, MediSave did not even exist back then.
Third, I urge Parliament to affirm that one part of the intent of this Bill is to permanently have SEPs contribute to CPF – that is the plain reading of section 9A – with the appropriate discretion to Government in terms of how this is to be implemented over time.
I have heard the Minister’s opening speech and I acknowledge that the Government’s policy position has not changed. SEPs are only required to contribute to MediSave. Nonetheless, I believe we must aim for broader coverage and protection for SEPs in the goodness of time. We do not want, I think, another 24 years to pass where no progress is made on SEP CPF coverage, at least not without good reasons. Otherwise, we might as well just limit this CPF (Amendment) Bill to MediSave contributions only, if there is no intent to eventually move towards full CPF coverage of SEPs.
I will now turn to the economic reasons supporting this Bill. Sir, according to MOM’s Own Account Workers Survey, there were 190,900 residents engaged in own account work or self-employment as their primary job in 2017. If you look at the profile you will find that they are generally older and less educated; slightly more than half are aged 50 and above, and 60% have less than tertiary education. Actually, relatively few work in the so-called gig economy; most are taxi drivers, insurance and real estate agents, and other traditional self-employment vocations.
Sir, I will set aside for now the problem of SEPs who earn very low or intermittent incomes and who, as a result, have difficulty setting aside any funds for social protection. The solution for them must be improving non-contributory social protection schemes such as the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme, and of course skills upgrading. The CAYE scheme is not their remedy.
My interest is in SEPs who have the earning capacity to contribute to their own social protection. In 2017, nearly 60% of primary own account workers earned more than $20,000 a year, and 40% earned more than $30,000 a year. Employees who earn such incomes are able to contribute for their own CPF. So, the CAYE scheme must eventually give such higher-earning SEPs the same coverage that employees obtain from CPF today.
The basic reasons why SEPs should be covered by CPF are the same as that for employees. There are behavioural biases which make it difficult for us to set aside funds for our retirement and future needs. We may want to save for the future, but we face self-control problems, so spending money today always seems easier than saving money for tomorrow. We may be loss averse, so taking money out of our pockets and locking it away as CPF savings is psychologically difficult.
What makes saving uniquely difficult for SEPs is that they receive income today, but must pay CPF contributions tomorrow. CPF assessments are finalised based on the preceding year’s Net Trade Income. This means that by the time CPF contributions are assessed and due, SEPs have long since received their income. They may have cash flow problems. They may believe that CPF contributions are an out-of-pocket loss. Employees, by contrast, do not have this problem. Because their CPF contributions are deducted from salaries at source, employees do not experience the same cash flow problems, or the same sense of loss, as SEPs do. The CAYE mechanism will overcome these problems.
There is an additional broader economic benefit of CAYE. Today, SEPs earn higher take-home wages than employees for doing the same kinds of work. For example, taxi drivers may receive higher take-home incomes than bus drivers do. This is not just because of differences in the cost structure of SEPs, such as the lack of employee benefits. The main reason is that CPF contributions reduce the take-home income of employees. Of course, an employee’s total wages, which includes CPF contributions, may, in fact, be higher than that of an equivalent SEP. But it is natural for workers to make decisions based on take-home wages, since this can be spent immediately.
This wage differential between SEPs and employees in equivalent work may distort the labour market. It may explain why so many Singaporeans have found gig economy jobs attractive in recent years. It contributes to the ease with which such gig economy platforms recruit workers away from traditional employment. It may also encourage an unnecessary and inefficient shift in the labour market towards self-employment, especially if firms have a lower wage bill for SEPs because they can get away with paying less, and still pay higher take-home wages – there is no CPF contribution to deduct. CAYE, when implemented, will reduce the gap between SEPs and employees in take-home wages, and will help to reduce the effect of this important distortion in wages.
However, there is also potential for CAYE to be applied more creatively to help our SEPs contribute to CPF and manage their finances. A common problem with SEPs is that they face highly variable incomes. For example, an external school sports coach for our schools may have to conduct training sessions continuously in the run-up to competitions but have low demand for their services during exams. Our taxi and private-hire drivers have large differences in daily earnings depending on the weather, weekends and public holidays, and so on. This is a problem of feast or famine. While employees enjoy a steady income, SEPs are exposed to peaks and troughs in income.
CAYE could be used to help SEPs manage their incomes, by taking a greater share of contributions from high earning periods, and lower contributions or even no contributions, when earnings are low. Consider a full-time private hire driver. She might earn just enough to cover expenses on bad days. It would not be practical or desirable to levy CAYE contributions then. But on good days, she might earn enough profit that she would gladly contribute to CPF to save for the future. A well-designed CAYE could allow SEPs to contribute to CPF with significantly less pain than a flat contribution rate would.
This concept is built on proven research and practice. The Nobel-prize winning behavioural economist Richard Thaler, together with Shlomo Benartzi, proposed a similar programme called “Save More Tomorrow” that asks people to commit to saving more out of future income, rather than present income. In a paper published in the Journal of Political Economy in 2004, they found that offering the chance to save for retirement starting with future pay raises, rather than present income, substantially increased both participation in retirement savings, and savings rates. However, the concept must be adapted to the needs of SEPs. Singapore can take the lead in showing that we can sustainably provide social protection even for gig economy workers and other emerging types of employment in the future economy.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this CPF (Amendment) Bill will significantly improve social protection for self-employed persons. I urge Parliament to affirm that we should move eventually towards full coverage of self-employed persons through the CPF system. I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, Mr Ang Hin Kee.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, can I make a point of clarification?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes. What is it regarding?
Mr Ang Hin Kee: It is for the hon Member Assoc Prof Daniel Goh. It is on a point which he made earlier. I just wanted to check if I heard it correctly and get some clarification from him.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Please go ahead.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh earlier mentioned that some employers of, for example, taxi operators, and the likes of it, provide some kind support and maybe even uniform to the drivers, who therefore, they should be classified as employees and given statutory protection such as CPF contributions and the likes of it. I wonder if that is correct? If that is correct, would the operators today be alarmed that what they did voluntarily – which we had persuaded them by saying: can you co-contribute to the MediSave of the taxi drivers; can you provide subsidies for their uniforms – would now change and they should therefore make them their employees and start granting them paid leave, changing the entire model from a freelance one to an employee model. This is because that will fundamentally change the structure of the taxi industry from one where the majority are freelancers to one where these freelancers are employees.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Are you rebutting him?
Mr Ang Hin Kee: I would like to have his clarification on whether that was a suggestion from him in the speech he made earlier.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Okay, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I am not alluding to taxi companies because they are not platform companies, so to speak.
I am talking about the case of Australia where because of the gig economy and the use of online technologies and platform engagement technologies, there are certain features that come of that, in which self-employed workers start to look like employees because of certain kinds of incentives and membership-tiering, and all these kinds of features, and also the kind of conditions that are being placed on the self-employed workers to adopt. So, the direction and the dependency on the companies' control and direction is an important criteria in judging whether these are actually employees and not contract workers. That is the test of dependency. I am not really talking about current taxi operators and what not, but platform companies.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, Mr Ang.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: One further point of clarification. Grab and Gojek and the likes of Uber are platform operators. When they came into the Singapore scene, we spent quite a lot of time to persuade them to co-contribute to the MediSave; to find ways to support them in their training; to support them for their healthcare needs although they are freelance drivers. They know for a fact that they are freelancers, but these platform operators actually provided support because we persuaded them to do so and they saw the logic of doing so. So, is Assoc Prof Goh suggesting that these platform operators, such as Gojek and Grab, therefore treat their drivers now as employees?
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am suggesting that the Government consider the use of the test of dependency to look at the classification of the self-employed workers to see whether they fit into certain models of employment and I do not think that is very different from what you have actually called for yourself.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Do you want to ask him for more clarifications or are you answering his query?
Mr Ang Hin Kee: I just want to clarify his interpretation of what I called for.
What I called for is that there are certain groups of freelancers, for example, food delivery riders, who are asked to come at certain hours, take the equipment, wear the uniform, and do the work as though they are employees. But the same platform operators, whether Grab or Gojek, also offer options whereby drivers become freelancers. So, the same platform can, on the one hand, offer people genuine bona fide freelance arrangements, but because they were persuaded to and gladly make some contributions to the riders in order that they work with you on a long-term basis and they gladly do so, but we do not consider them as employees. For riders doing food delivery, that is something which I called for, indeed.
Mr Deputy Speaker: I think this is an interpretation of the term \"employment\" by the Courts, so we will leave it to the Courts or MOM to make a decision on it. Can I have the next speaker? Mr Arasu.
Mr Arasu Duraisamy (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, the main focus of the proposed amendments to the Central Provident Fund Act is to introduce the Contribute-As-You-Earn scheme or CAYE for short. If executed well, CAYE could be a welcome step in streamlining the payment contribution process to MediSave for Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) and helping SEPs better manage their cashflow.
This is a timely amendment and answers a key concern of SEPs, who do not have the certainty of finding consistent work and face more difficulties than the average salaried employee in saving regularly for their healthcare needs.
While SEPs’ MediSave contribution rates remain the same, CAYE changes the payment process itself by having service buyers contribute regular payments to MediSave on SEPs’ behalf. To ensure that SEPs are not made worse off by the introduction of this system, we must exercise care in operationalising CAYE.
We need to make sure that the CAYE system is understandable and easy to navigate for SEPs. Details of the payment process and even the online interface for payments must be made simple and clear, for both SEPs and service buyers.
At the same time, the educational outreach to SEPs and service buyers must be effective, in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. In the pilot phase, outreach can be focused on SEPs and Government Procurement Entities (GPEs). However, in future phases where more SEPs may be affected, we need to ensure that the outreach extends to SEPs and service buyers in different industries and through different channels.
Also, affected SEPs should be consulted before the launch of CAYE in each phase, to ensure that the process is understood and pre-emptively iron out any potential wrinkles that may be highlighted during the consultation.
SEPs have widely different relationships with their clients and have different degrees of dependence on intermediaries. Also, SEPs can be paid per task or have their payments contractually scheduled over a period of time. This means that CAYE may not work as well or in the same way for each group of SEPs. To ensure a high level of compliance, consultations should be held with as many different types of groups as possible prior to implementation. MOM should also consider creating a one-stop resource to provide relevant information and to allow SEPs to submit queries relating to their CAYE contributions.
Some SEPs have expressed concern about CAYE potentially increasing existing delays to payments owed to them, due to the additional logistical arrangements that need to be made by the service buyer. I understand that the CAYE payment process is meant to be easy and automated, so service buyers should not have to use CAYE as an excuse to delay payments. Will MOM consider introducing penalties for undue payment delays, to encourage prompt payments by service buyers, and GPEs in particular for the pilot phase?
I have another question. I understand that the pilot phase will allow companies in private sector to voluntarily adopt the CAYE scheme. How about individual SEPs? Some SEPs who are not within the pilot phase may want to participate voluntarily as they see this system as beneficial for their MediSave needs. Will these SEPs able to sign up for CAYE and compel their service buyers to opt in to this system for them?
Beyond CAYE, more can be done to support SEPs holistically. I have previously advocated for the compulsory provision of work injury insurance by service buyers to ensure that SEPs have recourse if they suffer injuries in the course of their employment. There are some notable examples of private companies who provide prolonged medical insurance for the SEPs working on their platforms. More can be done to encourage service buyers to provide insurance coverage for SEPs, as this promotes healthy sustainability and even growth for the industry.
Even if SEPs end up with the responsibility of procuring insurance coverage for themselves, we need to help responsible SEPs who purchase such insurance guard against undercutting by peers who do not. This is particularly relevant in higher-risk occupations. Service buyers and GPEs should be encouraged to factor such costs in, to minimise undercutting and provide a more level playing field for SEPs.
To conclude, Sir, I hope CAYE is mobilised effectively, to make the transition painless and help every SEP better save for their own and family members’ healthcare needs.
While the principle of personal responsibility remains key for SEPs who have chosen this path, we can and should strengthen our support for SEPs, to help make self-employment sustainable and to celebrate the contributions of this diverse and dynamic group of workers in the Singapore economy.
We will continue to advocate for the institutional support for SEPs because every worker matters. I stand in support of the Bill.
Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Deputy Speaker, in Malay, please.
(In Malay) [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: I support the proposed amendments to this Bill, which will ensure that the CPF system remains relevant to the changes in the job landscape and employment practices.
There are many challenges faced by freelancers or self-employed persons, who are estimated to number around 200,000. Many shared that their top worry is whether they can find enough work and having income stability. In fact, one out of four self-employed persons is unable to keep up with their obligations to contribute to their MediSave account annually.
I welcome the amendments that will help about 6,000 self-employed persons who provide services to the Government to make automatic MediSave contributions through a Contribute-As-You-Earn (CAYE) scheme. I have a number of questions.
Firstly, some of them may have difficulty making this contribution, as it would affect their income. Would they be given assistance, particularly those who have payment arrears?
Secondly, would MOM allow this group to voluntarily opt-in if the self-employed persons in a specific industry collectively agree to participate in this scheme even if they are providing services to the private sector?
Thirdly, would there be incentives provided to encourage this group to make their MediSave contribution?
On the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme, could MOM share the reasons why it could not give members the option of choosing the CPF payout duration? Are there members who wish to shorten their CPF payout duration in order to receive a higher monthly payout to pay for their daily expenditure?
(In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, notwithstanding my queries and suggestions, I support all the amendments to the CPF Act and the update to the CPF Retirement Scheme.
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Deputy Speaker, in Singapore, over the last 10 years, the trend on the number of self-employed persons (SEPs) that make up the resident workforce is between 8% and 10%. This number is not large but with increasing digitalisation of the economy and the technological disruptions, employment practices are changing and this trend could shift.
The Tripartite Workgroup's (TWG) Recommendation on Self-employed Persons cited autonomy as the reason that \"some 80%\" of SEPs in Singapore have chosen self-employment over being a regular employee.
SEPs are their own bosses. The attractiveness of being your own boss and reaping the rewards when you succeed does come with a set of challenges and the focus of today's Bill, while there are other challenges like business risks and all that that SEPs face together, with the regularity of income, the focus of today's Bill is on the healthcare and savings for retirement.
Clause 5 of the Bill seeks to amend the Act to provide for the Contribute-As-You-Earn (CAYE) Scheme. This will allow for certain persons called \"collectors\" making revenue payment to self-employed persons to be required to make contributions to the CPF funds of self-employed persons as outlined in the new section 9B.
While I am supportive of the Amendment, I do have some comments and clarifications with regards to the CAYE Scheme.
The Minister announced that the CPF Pilot for CAYE will start in January 2020 with SEPs providing services directly to the Government or the public sector. This will impact some estimated 6,000 SEPs. This will help this group of SEPs providing direct services to the Government or public sector make smaller and regular contributions to their MediSave, and as such when these payments are made when the SEP receives payment for his or her services. This will minimise the risk of the SEPs of not being able to make lump-sum contributions on an annual basis. So, for the contributions made, there will also be more MediSave Account interest earned.
There is however a very short time for SEPs providing services to the Government or the public sector to plan for this change as January 2020 is less than two months away. Some SEPs may face transitional cashflow impact. Will there be any assistance provided to SEPs if required and how? Minister did say that those who have kept up with their MediSave contributions or the installment plans for their MediSave contributions will be given the option to opt out of the Pilot and I assume if they wanted to to start later.
But for those who do have difficulties, what help would be provided? As previously reported, one in four self-employed persons has not kept up with their MediSave obligations annually. For the SEPs who are facing financial difficulties and are unable to make contributions for the outstanding amounts to their MediSave, the Minister did mention that some help will be given for those who are behind in their contributions to catch up. Can Minister elaborate what help this would be because they were not be given the option to opt out?
SEPs are a very diverse group. Feedback received from self-employed persons during the Tripartite Workgroup public consultation identified lack of CPF savings for healthcare and retirement needs as one of the common challenges faced by SEPs. The CAYE Scheme, I believe, is a practical way to support SEPs address this challenge. So, if the CAYE Pilot Scheme does prove effective in supporting SEPs make regular MediSave contributions, when will the scheme be extended to the private sector? Mr Deputy Speaker, notwithstanding my clarifications and comments, I do support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Josephine.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Deputy Speaker, let me thank the Members for their comments and for supporting this Bill. I also want to thank Assoc Prof Walter Theseira in particular for his extensive research that allowed him to share a very interesting piece of legislative history concerning intent for self-employed persons. I must say that Members' enthusiastic comments are going to make my response a little longer than I originally expected.
Some comments, of course, perhaps, are not directly related to this Bill. I invite Members to file Parliamentary Questions so we can address them properly. One of Assoc Prof Daniel Goh's questions was recently addressed by my colleague, Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad, during the debate on Work Injury Compensation Act. I believe the Member did not speak on the Act but he had quite a lot of questions there and they have also been addressed, so I shall not repeat them.
Let me now turn to the comments related to this Bill. Members of the House have acknowledged that the Contribute-As-You-Earn pilot will help SEPs meet their MediSave obligations more easily through smaller and more regular contributions.
We continue to work on addressing other common challenges faced by SEPs, as identified by the Tripartite Workgroup on SEPs in 2018.
Member Mr Arasu raised the point on payment delays. These and other payment-related disputes can happen because of unclear contract terms. As such, we have launched the Tripartite Standard on Contracting with SEPs to reduce payment-related disputes. We also introduced a template on the key terms of engagement to shape contracting norms.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh seemed to dismiss the number of companies that have already signed on to this standard. I would humbly remind him that actually sometimes the buyers of services of SEPs are individuals like you and me – the plumber that comes to the home, someone who does an odd job.
If we think about it, actually, it would be quite unrealistic to expect individual service buyers to sign on to the Tripartite Standard. The fact that already so many service buyers have come on-board is not a small step that has been accomplished. Of course, we will continue to build on it but I hope he will not dismiss it too lightly. There is a lot of effort involved, and if he would like to get involved with promoting it, we welcome it too.
In addition, we have supported the development of skills training, both technical and non-technical, for SEPs. Relevant Skills Framework that SkillsFuture Singapore puts out now take into account the needs of SEPs.
To protect SEPs from the loss of income due to prolonged illness or injury, we have worked with insurers to introduce prolonged medical leave (PML) products.
I am pleased to update both Mr Arasu and Assoc Prof Daniel Goh that close to 30,000 SEPs are now covered by PML insurance. Keep in mind that this product is relatively new to the market. So, 30,000 is really not a bad start. This is already about half of those in occupations like private-hire car drivers and taxi drivers.
As to whether the take-up can increase, certainly, we will be keen to promote it. But we have to leave it to the SEPs to decide for themselves whether and to what degree self-employment is their main source of income, for which PML protection is important. Keep in mind that quite a lot of them have other sources of income. Also, for some of the SEPs, it will always be the case that they assess that their risks are very low and they would rather not have to incur the upfront costs of PML.
To complete the follow-up to the Tripartite Workgroup's recommendations, we are now piloting CAYE. The pilot allows us to try out this new system among a small group of about 6,000 SEPs, gather feedback from users and iron out any glitches, as Mr Ang pointed out.
Mr Patrick Tay, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Zainal Sapari asked if CAYE could be extended to the private sector. Mr Arasu asked if they can volunteer instead. Currently, there are no plans to extend CAYE to the private sector. We can decide later, depending on the results of the pilot. But those who wish to volunteer are welcome to approach us to explore.
Similarly, we can consider Mr Patrick Tay's suggestion to explore extending the scope of the Trade Unions Act to SEPs if supported by the associations.
Assoc Prof Walter Theseira is in favour of extending compulsory CPF contributions to Ordinary and Special Account savings. But he also said in the goodness of time, but not 24 years. As I was listening to him, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh's expression of concerns about SEPs' retirement adequacy came to mind, and I wondered if he or the Workers' Party has a view on Assoc Prof Walter Theseira's suggestion. Does the Member also feel that in order to boost retirement adequacy for Self-Employed Persons, he would support and would call for the extension of their contribution obligations to the Ordinary as well as the Special Account? It would be interesting to hear from the Member, since he expressed a concern about SEPs' retirement adequacy.
I should say that, currently, the Government has no plans to extend CPF contribution obligations for SEPs to the Ordinary and Special Account. However, we will continue to encourage voluntary CPF contributions from SEPs. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh's suggestion on incentives to boost retirement savings is really not new, it is something we have been studying and I hope to be able to give Members an answer in the goodness of time.
Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Zainal Sapari, Mr Ang Hin Kee, the Labour Movement and leaders of the SEP associations suggested providing support for SEPs when they participate in CAYE. As I had said earlier, the Government is studying their suggestions seriously and will provide more details when ready.
Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Zainal Sapari also raised an important concern that SEPs may face cashflow constraints as they transition to this new scheme. We will allow SEPs to opt out if they have been keeping up with their contributions. For the small group of about 600 affected SEPs who are not keeping up, CAYE will certainly help them to avoid snowballing arrears. If any one of them needs additional support, we are prepared to help based on the specific circumstances. We can, for example, look at their instalment plan and see whether there is room to stretch it out.
Mr Patrick Tay, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh and Mr Ang Hin Kee raised the question of whether SEPs can be reclassified as employees, if I heard the Members correctly. Let me just explain that the Singapore Courts have given clarity on determining whether an individual is an employee or a SEP. The difference is Contract of Service or Contract for Service. Those are the technical references.
Some of the factors used by our Courts include the degree of control exerted by the company and its ability to decide on the hours of work. I think the concept is not very different from dependency.
MOM has applied this approach to determine the classification of work arrangements. For example, MOM reviewed the contract arrangement of online matching platforms such as food delivery riders from Deliveroo or FoodPanda. Based on the factors spelt out by the Courts, the workers were assessed to be self-employed. But as Mr Ang pointed out, depending on actual work arrangements, some of these workers could be employees too. So, the employees and the SEPs can co-exist on work that look very similar. We really need to drill down into the specific work arrangements and we are committed to doing so.
In cases where employees have been misclassified as \"Self-Employed Persons\", please be assured that we will take the employers to task. In one case which we handled recently, a transport and logistics company was issued with a stern warning and had its work pass privileges suspended for misclassifying its driver as an SEP. Based on our investigations, the driver was in effect an employee because his employment terms indicated an employer-employee relationship in terms of the amount of control that the company exerted. The company was asked to rectify and pay back the worker what he was due, including CPF contributions.
Mr Patrick Tay asked about the number of SEPs who provide services to the Government. SEPs tend to be concentrated in certain industries which Government does not regularly procure services from, for example, real estate agents and insurance agents. So, the 3% should not be considered alarming in any way.
Mr Tay also asked if SEPs who are concurrently employees are still required to make CAYE contributions. Well, they are actually no different from people who hold two employee jobs. The employee will also make two streams of contributions from the two jobs. Keep in mind, however, that for all members, there is a cap on total CPF contributions. SEPs who are concurrently regular employees will not need to contribute beyond this cap if they make an application to CPF Board. So, if they want to cap it and treat it as though he was one regular employee only, they can apply to do that.
We will also study Assoc Prof Walter Theseira's suggestion on allowing SEPs to vary CAYE contribution rates according to their income peaks and troughs. I must say that I find that a very interesting idea. Let us study how we can implement it.
To summarise again on CAYE, there is no change to the CPF obligations of SEPs. We are simply breaking up the contributions into smaller, more manageable parts as and when the SEPs earn. Only a small proportion of SEPs are part of the pilot. These SEPs can choose to opt out and set the CAYE contribution rate to zero if they have contributed to their MediSave in full or are keeping up under an instalment plan. We have also not taken a decision whether to extend CAYE any further.
Let me deal with other feedback. We will always welcome feedback on how to make our CPF system better. Therefore, I would like to thank Members of Parliament who shared their feedback on the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS).
Mr Zainal Sapari asked if members could have the option to end their payouts even earlier than what it is today. We are primarily guided by life expectancy. Shorter payout durations mean higher payouts but this comes at the expense of increased risk of outliving those payouts.
In 2018, more than half of Singapore residents aged 65 were expected to live past 85 years old. This means that if RSS payouts ended just after 20 years, at age 85, more than half – the majority – of RSS members may have no CPF payouts for their remaining lives.
In comparison, extending RSS payouts until age 90 at most will protect up to two in three members from outliving their payouts. This provides a reasonable level of assurance for members, while still increasing their payout amount as compared to the current RSS rules. Members also have the option of joining CPF LIFE before the age of 80 if they are personally worried about outliving their RSS payouts.
To Members of the House, I seek your help to reassure your residents of the following, that there is no change to when they can receive their RSS payouts. Those who are 65 today can instruct CPF Board to start their payouts anytime. With the new rules, members already receiving RSS payouts will either get the same or higher payouts. No one will get a lower payout than they are already receiving. Members who are on CPF LIFE will not be affected at all and will continue receiving monthly payouts for life.
Mr Speaker, let me say something about helping members understand how CPF works for them. The CPF caters to 3.9 million members. 150,000 employers interact with it regularly. Each member and employer is unique.
Most members at different times of their lives interact with CPF Board on housing, healthcare and retirement matters. They may also use their CPF savings for investment, education and insurance. On top of all that, members may be included in the many Government schemes administered by CPF Board on behalf of other agencies. Such schemes include the Workfare Income Supplement, Silver Support Scheme, MediShield Life, GST Vouchers and so on.
At the same time, CPF rules have to evolve to stay relevant. Quite often, new rules have to co-exist with old ones to honour commitments to older members. As a result, even when family members compare notes, they may get confused.
Let me assure members that CPF Board is constantly striving to communicate better.
This is done at three levels: through mass media channels; segmented outreach; and direct personalised communications.
First, mass media. CPF Board uses multiple media channels to reach out to as many Singaporeans as possible and increase their understanding of CPF. The Board conducts regular campaigns, including in vernacular languages to clarify details of schemes, such as nominations and top-ups. The Board also uses social media to share bite-sized information with followers. Besides Facebook and Instagram posts, video series explain retirement issues in a light-hearted, easy-to-digest manner.
Second, segmented outreach. The Board tailors its content to the needs of various groups. Ground outreach in the heartlands is especially important. For example, many of us would have seen CPF Board's Retirement Planning Roadshows in our neighbourhood centre or mall. These roadshows are held over five weekends across the island. This year alone, the roadshows received about 170,000 visitors.
To further expand its reach, CPF Board also works with other agencies and grassroots organisations. In 2019 alone, CPF Board conducted over 60 engagement sessions for more than 6,000 grassroots leaders (GRLs) and residents. The Board trained 300 GRLs in 2019, enabling them to reach out to more than 3,000 residents right in their neighbourhoods.
I would like to especially commend grassroots advisors who have been proactive in organising CPF briefings for their GRLs and residents. Dr Maliki Mohamad, for example, has personally conducted 10 sessions in Siglap and engages his audience with flipchart diagrams and slides. I think this must be continuing in the good tradition of former Minister Lim Swee Say – he was just here earlier. He also conducted many sessions in the whole of Bedok area where he serves as Member of Parliament. Ms Foo Mee Har has personally done six briefings this year alone in Ayer Rajah. Mr Murali and Ms Sim Ann have actively supported CPF ground engagements in Bukit Batok and Bukit Timah. I personally have done more than 20 sessions in Bishan North and joined in sessions organised by advisors like Er Dr Lee Bee Wah. These sessions go a long way in educating the public about CPF schemes that are relevant to them and clarify their doubts.
CPF Board also conducts talks that target member segments such as young members who have just started work, the self-employed, and employers. The talks cover topics that are most relevant to each group, such as housing matters for young members who are purchasing their first homes.
To provide members some idea of the materials available, CPF Board has compiled information packs which are available for your collection in the Parliament Library.
Thirdly, besides mass media and segmented outreach, CPF Board uses direct personalised communications.
Many members still prefer one-on-one discussions about their specific circumstances. For most members, their first point of contact will remain one of our five CPF Service Centres – in Bishan, Jurong, Maxwell, Tampines and Woodlands. In 2018 alone, these centres received one million customers. On average, that is nearly 800 every day at every service centre. Staff at these service centres are equipped to engage members in vernacular languages, even in some dialects.
To bring CPF services nearer to members, especially the elderly, CPF Board sets up mobile service centres. These mobile centres move around to a new heartland location, usually the Community Centre (CC) or library, every two months. Members can make enquiries and perform a range of CPF transactions, without having to travel to a service centre.
In 2019, mobile service centres were set up at six locations – Kampong Chai Chee CC, Yew Tee CC, Geylang Serai CC, Bukit Merah CC, Toa Payoh Library and the one currently running at Potong Pasir CC until the end of this year and, of course, Nee Soon CCs can be considered, too. Since this initiative started in 2016, more than 36,000 have been served.
For those who prefer phone clarifications, they can contact the CPF call centre. The call centre is staffed by experienced CPF officers who can manage queries in a variety of languages. In 2018, the call centre received about 660,000 phone calls. That is about 2,750 calls per day.
Other communications that goes directly to members, such as the package members receive at age 55, or letters on their RSS or CPF LIFE payouts, have been simplified and enhanced over the years. Where the member is required to take action, this is clearly indicated for the member's attention.
For members reaching milestone ages, CPF Board provides personalised, face-to-face guidance as part of the CPF Retirement Planning Service. This is available to members turning 54 or reaching their payout eligibility age of 65. Members who have attended these sessions found it very helpful. Over 97% said that they would recommend it to others.
CPF Board has also recently redesigned its mobile app, giving members easy access to their CPF details and transactions like making top-ups. About 350,000 members use this app.
We are also constantly updating our outreach. For example, CPF Board will be putting out a series of educational posters in housing estates to clarify common CPF misconceptions. We are working with the Silver Generation Office to engage older members. We will also link these members up with other Government agencies, if necessary, such as the Social Service Offices, HDB or MOH.
In summary, Deputy Speaker, communicating CPF has been and will remain a top priority for us. We welcome suggestions from Members of the House on how we can do better.
With this, Deputy Speaker, I hope that I have addressed Members' questions and suggestions. And with your permission, I beg to move.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Ang Hin Kee.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to seek some clarifications from the Minister for Manpower. There were suggestions that taxi operators and so on, should start to pay for PML premiums on behalf of drivers. I wonder what is the Ministry's take on this compulsory arrangement that some had suggested. Would it therefore lead to an increase in, say, for example, rental cost of the vehicles? Who will ultimately pay for the cost? Will it lead to an increase in fare structure because the operator will essentially find a way to transfer this or the premium somewhere else? I wonder what is the Ministry's thinking about some of these suggestions that were made.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Deputy Speaker, I thank Mr Ang for following up on this suggestion. Mr Ang knows the taxi drivers very well. I think he fully understands that when the issue of PML insurance was raised in discussions with them, the issue of cost and who will bear it, was prominent in their minds.
Mr Ang is correct to point out that the cost has to be carried by someone. It is potentially the company that leases out the taxis. But he is also very right to say from the taxi companies' point of view then, it is entirely possible that they choose to recover these costs through higher rental costs which would impact the drivers without necessarily giving them an opportunity to recover this cost from the commuters which is why, I think, our thinking is not to be hasty about making PML insurance compulsory.
I think the fact that the individuals choose to be self-employed persons, we have to give them the ability to decide for themselves what kinds of protection are relevant to them. If they were comfortable with the present arrangements and do not see much need for this kind of protection to be made compulsory, it may not be right for us to insist on it for now. Keep in mind the vast majority of self-employed persons, including taxi drivers and private hire car drivers, have chosen this livelihood as a preference. It does not mean that all of them do not wish to move into regular employment.
So, our approach right now is to keep it voluntary and then, with a good base load of insured persons – in fact, the insurance premiums could be brought down, and if the insurance premiums have been brought down, then to the self-employed persons, they will do their sums and see whether it is useful to them, considering the benefits that come with it.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Just a quick response to the Minister's question. I am going to echo my fellow Assoc Prof and say that, yes, in the goodness of time.
Mrs Josephine Teo: I thank Assoc Prof Daniel Goh for his clarity and in the goodness of time, if this should come to pass, I hope he will give his strong support too.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Josephine Teo]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Adjournment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Resolved, \"That, at its rising today, Parliament do stand adjourned to 11.00 am tomorrow.\" – [Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien]. (proc text)]
The Leader of the House (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, \"That Parliament do now adjourn.\"
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Deputy Speaker, Sir, whatever changes there may be in the socio-economic environment, one thing we cannot escape from is the psychological motivation for a person to seek a job and be gainfully employed. So, the availability of jobs, good paying jobs, matters for Singaporeans. But it is not uncommon to hear accounts about how Singaporeans have been discriminated by errant employers, company owners and HR managers who exploit our system unfairly.
The matter on fair employment practices has always been close to my heart. I have raised this issue in my maiden speech here four years ago and I am grateful for the opportunity to file this Adjournment Motion. This is because I strongly believe in TAFEP's potential to tackle discriminatory employment and hiring practices.
Many Members of this House have spoken on TAFEP related issues over the years. They highlighted how instilling fair and progressive employment practices among employers remains a critical goal of TAFEP. But that goal is a work-in-progress. The aim of this Motion is to suggest how to strengthen TAFEP to achieve its goal.
There are many dimensions to job discrimination. For the purposes of filing this Motion, I want to focus on just two main issues. First, age discrimination; and second, efforts to localise jobs.
First, looking at the labour data, employment rate of older workers has shown steady gains over time. Workers aged 55 to 64 employment rate rose from 57.2% in 2008 to 66.8% in 2018. This is a good testament to efforts to allow our older workers to continue contributing to our economy. Our annual average resident unemployment rate by age does show that unemployment rates for 40-49 and 50 over, have fallen slightly in 2018 from 2017, but more recent quarterly seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for 50 and over has risen slightly. That sets the macro context on this issue. Things are improving but this demographic segment could be susceptible and needs to be monitored over time.
The retirement and re-employment ages have also been raised over the years. This is to keep pace with our ageing population. It encourages older Singaporeans to stay socially, physically and mentally active, make good use of their skills and experience. Unfortunately, some employers are not keeping pace with the times. This may be anecdotal, but, I have met Singaporeans in their 60s, 50s and 40s even, who have trouble seeking employment for more than a year. They have the qualifications, even went for courses and networking sessions, took career coaches' advice and brushed up their resume, interviewing skills and so on. They are prepared to take pay-cuts and explore other industries. Yet they are hitting walls everywhere. Some rarely get a shot at interviews. I know there are companies that employ or are willing to employ seniors. But we need more employers to do this.
One resident told me he was advised by a career coach, after numerous job applications that met with no responses, that he should shorten his work history so as not to emphasise his real age. Recently, I sat in at a professional image coaching session. Most had recently been retrenched, in their 40s and 50s. The coach had dedicated an entire section on sprucing up one's image to look youthful on social media. Even WhatsApp's profile pictures had to be carefully curated to make them look younger than their actual age.
Singapore's employment laws largely protect employees against wrongful dismissal on discriminatory grounds such as age, pregnancy or family responsibilities. Possible penalties range from curtailment of work pass privileges to employers paying compensation for any wrongful dismissal.
But are these enough. I have heard some feedback that current penalties as too lenient, lack of bite. They want tougher penalties for greater deterrence. However, international studies have shown that the effects of such anti-discrimination legislation on employment outcomes are not conclusive.
In the US, studies showed that age discrimination against seniors remain prevalent, even with the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and similar state laws, in place. In particular, legislation can potentially deter hiring especially when they result in higher termination costs. So, in short, anti-discrimination legislation may not be the solution to encourage greater hiring of those in their 50s and above.
There are other non-legislation efforts undertaken abroad that we could explore or take note of. Two countries have gone beyond the usual provision of upskilling courses and interview workshops to motivate the unemployed and encourage hiring of seniors. In Belgium, the campaign \"There is no age for talent\" was launched in 2017 and it included events organised by unemployed people aged 55 and above, to motivate their peers and employers to address ageist attitudes. The \"Active Together 45+\" programme was started in a city in Poland to help 120 socially excluded persons to return to the labour market. So, the message to get out to all employers is that: capabilities matter more and not age.
My first suggestion: in the UK, employers are challenged to increase their older workforce by 12% by 2020. They are also urged to age-audit their workforce and make the data publicly available. In Singapore, we set numerous targets to achieve progress, for issues ranging from carbon emissions to smoking rate. Can we introduce one for increasing the older workforce so companies should set targets for older worker proportion of the workforce. With our steadily greying population, it is only a matter of time that this becomes inevitable. Employers should embrace it, instead of avoiding it. So, the onus is on the companies to set this with unions, as the needs of the firms may significantly depend on the industry and the nature of work.
My second suggestion: certification schemes are part of the push to eradicate ageism in other countries. One example is the Austrian NESTORGOLD programme that also supports companies in developing age-inclusive and diverse work environments.
In Singapore, companies that wish to signal their intention to be a fair employer sign the Employers' Pledge of Fair Employment Practices. Having the intention is admirable and improving the workplace is always an on-going process. But can we go one step further and introduce certification for companies that meet specific requirements to provide age-inclusive and diverse work environments? This certification can be a criterion for the application of various grants and support.
Nevertheless, eradicating ageism is a long-term process. Disruptive changes in the economy and economic cycles have made it even more challenging for the older unemployed to find work. One can sink into depression, especially if they have done all they could, including attending courses to upskill themselves, but are seeing little progress for their efforts.
Next, I move on to efforts to localise jobs. In Singapore's context of a small open economy, competitiveness and growth is important. Singapore needs the skills of foreign specialists to supplement our workforce in areas where we are lacking in expertise. However, we cannot continue to have inflow of foreign specialists in perpetuity without regard for the well-being of our Singapore Core. On the other hand, we also want to help our companies succeed with the right talent, but we want Singaporeans to participate in their success. So, we must have a right balance.
Indeed, during one of our Committee of Supply debates in 2016, Members spoke about building the Singaporean Core. Then-Minister Lim Swee Say acknowledged the perception among some Singaporeans who felt they were in a minority in their workplaces. This was largely because of companies that allowed pockets of foreigners to concentrate and failed to work on building the Singaporean Core. To address these concerns, the MOM would assess whether companies have a Singaporean Core compared with the rest of their industry and look at their commitment to developing this Core as well as the value of the company to the country. Companies that are weak in all three criterias will be advised to build their Singaporean Core. But if they remain resistant, they will face closer scrutiny and could see their Employment Pass privileges curtailed.
MOM has various policies in place to encourage companies to hire Singaporeans such as the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). But I feel TAFEP need not be too shy to name companies that have not acted in good faith. Partly, it will send a stronger signal and may trigger whistleblowers who can provide leads to check up other companies so it is harder for them to get away. Sometimes, all it takes is some clever drafting of job applications to ensure that the job goes to the preferred candidate. This is why I feel we can enhance our best practices further to ensure a good balance in the economy and improve local-foreign workforce complementarity.
I have some suggestions to enhance our tools and mechanisms where possible to help address some of the issues I raised above.
As I try to come up with these suggestions, I have this at the back of my mind. I meet corporates, SMEs in Singapore and regionally as part of my work and labour force issues, talent and cost, are always a key factor. We take it for granted as workers sometimes and assume companies will always want to be in Singapore. This depends on whether Singapore remains attractive as a place for business and to continue to create jobs for Singaporeans.
On the other hand, as a Member of Parliament, I see residents coming to see me, giving feedback about the difficulties in getting a job. I just met a resident trained in IT who is around 50 years old and recently lost his job and currently unsuccessfully looking for a job for the past six to 12 months. He has a special needs child and has a family to support, so his concerns are real. So, individual matters and individual's difficulties matter too. I have the opportunity to see these two sides of the coin on this issue. A concern of course are irresponsible businesses, taking full advantage of the business argument always.
I have been thinking what else can be done to improve things where possible in Singapore's context without tipping the balance negatively for the economy and Singapore's competitiveness.
My first suggestion: we must take action against companies, if no attempt is made to localise workforce over a period of time. As this is not reflective of good corporate citizenship. There must be greater effort at localisation over a period of time, which is needed to support Singapore's competitiveness, workforce sustainability and building our Singapore Core. I would suggest that companies set localisation targets for their workforce, in consultation with tripartite partners. By localisation targets I mean, proportion of workforce that is local or setting a target for overall local proportion. It needs to be set by the companies.
This can be targeted for a range of skills and may need to be company specific or dependent. It could for example, incorporate elements of training for eventual local employment and with a specific localisation target in three to five years. This I feel, would make TAFEP, wield a bigger stick, in a targeted sustainable manner working with employers, to provision for opportunities for our workers whilst at the same time making business sense.
My second suggestion: But it cannot be all sticks, there could be some carrots. One carrot approach is via the Capability Transfer Programme (CTP), as we all know, which currently supports firms to bring in foreign specialists to transfer capabilities to the local workforce. It also provides for firms to send locals abroad for training to improve local-foreign workforce complementarity.
The funding support for CTP can include salary and training support for foreign and local specialists, as well as Singaporean trainees on overseas attachments to acquire new capabilities. But the current CTP as it stands, applies to incoming foreign specialists.
My suggestion is, can we consider expanding the CTP to support transfer of capabilities from foreign employees currently \"already employed\" in Singapore to local workers, with the eventual aim of localising jobs, working in tandem with the localisation targets I had mentioned earlier.
My third suggestion: Mr Deputy Speaker, I also feel the Employment Pass eligibility criteria ought to be regularly updated and tightened when needed, appropriately. For example, the current minimum salary of $3,600 for young graduates could be too low. At this wage level, many Singaporeans should be given the jobs.
I hope, Mr Deputy Speaker, MOM and TAFEP would support these suggestions to enhance TAFEP's carrots and stick.
In conclusion, to any rational business owner, there are always trade-offs when there are conflicting interests. And sometimes, it's natural for employers to place the perceived interests of their company over the perceived interests of another individual or the worker, even if they acknowledge that this individual is from a more vulnerable group. So, left on its own, discrimination in the labour landscape is not something that will diminish over time by itself. Yet, its costs are too great to not address and to not address now. Sir, I beg to move.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo, you have six minutes.
Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join this Adjournment Motion. I agree with Member Mr Saktiandi Supaat that age discrimination or ageism is an issue we have to watch closely. It should have no place in an aging workforce like ours but unfortunately, it exists and makes our society less inclusive than it should be. However, like he also rightly pointed out, there are no silver bullet solutions.
Based on my ground experience in the Labour Movement, age discrimination can take two forms. First, the intentional variant, employers hire younger workers at the expense of older workers even though they could be equal or even surpass younger worker in capabilities. These employers can be quite artful in rejecting candidates at the pre-hiring stage. When already in employment, they might let go of workers through undeserved performance mark-downs; or making work assignments unduly difficult; or to offer workers a \"rock or a hard place\" job option at re-employment as a subtle way of signalling \"perhaps, you should go\". These are the egregious cases where the errant employers must be taken to task.
The second variant is unintentional. For example, preferring younger workers presumably because they have fewer medical problems or a longer career runway. Or allowing unkind age-related remarks to go unaddressed at workplaces. Or some advertisements that are discriminatory without intending to so so. For example, there are some advertisements seeking to hire digital natives. That would clearly exclude me, in my 40s, because I was born in the age of mainframes and typewriters in the 1970s. While I am not a digital native, I can pick up the digital skills to be a digital migrant.
Both of these variants clearly requires quite different approaches. Before we discuss the possible approaches, we must note two issues. The employment rates for our older workers have been trending upwards better than many developed countries. This is good progress and we must persist in this effort. Second, interventions should not result in undue dead-weight compliance costs without over-riding benefits to the older workers. For example, many pieces of legislation introduced overseas have not resulted in tangible benefits. The question is how do we protect workers from age discrimination without unintentionally making them less attractive to hire? How does Singapore continue to be pro-business and pro-worker at the same time?
I will like to offer a couple of suggestions. For the egregious cases where TAFEP and MOM have clear evidence of errant practices, would the Ministry consider publicly naming these companies? I understand the intent of the Fair Consideration Framework is to improve HR practices. But there could be alternatives to finetune the process. For example, the Singapore Police Force publishes the three-year grading for the security agencies annually. The security agencies would therefore work very hard to improve their processes.
Perhaps MOM can publish the egregious ones and publicly track them for a certain period of time. Companies must also know that while we offer second chances, we will also not hesitate to take tougher measures if you are recalcitrant. To paraphrase Lord Hewart CJ, \"justice must be done and seen to be done.\" Our workers must know that we have been standing up for them and justice will be brought to bear on bad employers. And if you have improved, it would also be reflected transparently.
Second, age discrimination is rarely blatant. In fact, evidence are largely based on circumstantial observations. For example, if a company let go of an older worker and subsequently hire a younger one subsequently, three to six months down the road, it is difficult to prove a case of ageism. But that is with a longitudinal analysis of a company's practices that can surface discriminatory hiring or employment practices. Would the Ministry consider doing such studies? I think these studies will also show up companies that had consistently favoured foreign workers over local talent. The Labour Movement will certainly be keen to support such a study.
Third, we need to correct the unintended ageism at the workplace. Many employers hire younger workers simply because they are cheaper, or have higher learning abilities or a longer runway. In fact, this is not true. Learning ability is as much a capability as a skill that is honed over time. And there is no runway to speak of if your younger worker who tends to change job every two to three years. We need to debunk these myths. We cannot legislate away the myths but we can educate. And that is where the tripartism way of improving capabilities of our HR professionals is paramount.
Our goal in building the Singapore workforce is clear – one that is inclusive and built upon a strong Singaporean Core. Confronting ageism and building a strong Singaporean Core must be the aim of all companies and agencies. It need not always be the stick, like Member Mr Saktiandi has said. We must also reward companies for being aligned to the national mission. The Special Employment Credit is an important economic and policy signal that there is value to hiring older workers beyond what is perceived at face value by companies. I encourage the Government to continue to maintain this signal.
I also agree with Member Saktiandi that inclusive and exemplary companies should be rewarded in access to grants and support. Perhaps, the Ministry can also consider granting exemplary companies with administrative green lanes and longer leases perhaps to show Government's commitment to building an inclusive workforce.
The difficulties in building an inclusive workforce with a strong Singaporean Core have multiplied because of rapid economic changes and our ageing workforce. An inclusive workforce can, in fact, be a competitive workforce. No one will doubt that professional team sports are one of the most ruthlessly competitive industries in the world. Yet, many athletes are playing well into their late 30s and 40s now. Some of them are hired specifically for their experience and locker room influence for the younger players. The Chinese have a saying, \"上有政策，下有对策“。It roughly translates to, \"For every policy, there is a counter move.\" Therefore, the way ahead is not one necessarily of more legislation. It is one whereby we affirm that every worker matters through trust and true belief amongst workers, employers and the Government. I support the Motion.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad.
The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank Mr Saktiandi and Mr Desmond Choo for speaking about this important issue.
Our over-arching goal is to develop fair and progressive employment practices within the backdrop of a harmonious labour relation.
In labour-constraint Singapore, where we continue to create a surplus of jobs, businesses have a natural incentive to improve the employment practices. However, as the Members noted, some employers may still lag behind with outdated practices.
But let me clear, workplace discrimination, even in small pockets, is simply not acceptable. We must do everything we can to stamp it out.
To this end, MOM and our tripartite partners adopt a multi-pronged approach that actively promotes fair and progressive workplaces, stay vigilant to detect and investigate all forms of workplace discrimination, acts firmly against errant employers while helping them improve.
The tripartite approach is important. It recognises that workplace practices are shaped not by Government only and certainly not through legislation alone, as Mr Sakitiandi acknowledged. Employers and unions all play a critical part.
Our measures include the tripartite standards, the Human Capital Partnerships Programme and the Tripartite Alliance Awards. These publicly recognise companies with fair, responsible and progressive employment practices.
Mr Saktiandi suggested certifying age inclusive companies. The Tripartite Standards on Age-friendly Workplace Practices already does so. This includes not using age as a selection criterion for recruitment and designing jobs and workplaces to be age-friendly.
TAFEP is a tripartite body that: (a) educates employers and workers on the merits of inclusive and progressive practices; (b) issues tripartite guidelines on fair employment practices; and (c) investigate reports of workplace discrimination. The guidelines are unambiguous on workplace discrimination. They state that employers should recruit and select employees on the basis of merit.
To be clear, hiring a younger worker, in itself, may not reflect discrimination. The key to consider employees based on merit without discriminating on any measure, including age, race, gender, religion, marital status, family responsibilities or disability. A younger worker should also be given a chance to prove his merit even if he has less experience. But, more importantly, employers must also give fair consideration to Singaporeans.
When TAFEP finds employers that fail to abide by the guidelines, it works with MOM to take enforcement action, including curtailing work pass privileges.
Over the last three years, MOM has taken enforcement action against about 900 errant employers for such infringements. One example concerns a marine engineering company. Our investigations found that it had rejected 20% of job applications for no reason other than age.
Mr Desmond Choo will be pleased to know that this company had their work pass privileges curtailed. They certainly did not think that TAFEP or MOM were lenient. For six months, they had to deal with unhappy customers and potential liquidated damages for project delays.
MOM and TAFEP also take the stern action through the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). The FCF requires employers to fairly consider all jobseekers, in particular, Singaporeans should not be discriminated against.
Under the FCF, employers must advertise on a national Jobsbank before submitting employer pass or employment pass (EP) applications. This is to ensure that these job openings are made public and not only to a close circle of friends. Employers that treat these advertisements as paper exercise or what some say, \"wayang\" have been uncovered and have been taken to task.
In fact, MOM and TAFEP have been improving the methods to detect and scrutinise suspicious employers.
For example, TAFEP investigated a metal fabrication firm that applied for an EP for an engineer role. The employer required candidates to have a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering but this was not stated in the Jobsbank posting. The employer also disregarded a local candidate who had a Masters Degree in Mechanical and Materials Engineering and provided false information to TAFEP by claiming to have interviewed three other candidates. In fact, they had pre-selected the foreigner and did not interview anyone else. MOM rejected the EP application and debarred the employer from hiring new foreign workers for six months.
MOM also proactively identifies firms with workforce profiles that suggest possible discrimination against Singaporeans, such as having an exceptional share of foreign PMETs compared to the industry peers or an extremely high concentration of a single foreign nationality.
We place such employers on the FCF watchlist and scrutinise their EP applications closely. Since 2016, we have placed about 600 firms across all sectors on the watchlist. A total of 2,300 EP applications have been rejected by MOM or withdrawn by employers. In addition, employers on the FCF watchlist have hired more than 3,800 Singaporean PMETs to date. While MOM clamps down on the EP applications, TAFEP also engages the employers on one-on-one basis to help them improve their HR practices and support local hiring. Of the 600 firms, TAFEP has helped 260 firms to improve and exit the watchlist so far.
We also deal firmly with those who try to play games with us. For example, we have employers on the watchlist who used related entities to apply for EPs to by-pass our controls. For such cases, we curtail the work pass privilege of all their related entities.
Mr Sakitiandi called for the EP policy to be tightened. MOM regularly reviews the EP salary criterion, taking reference from local PMET salaries and a similar experience in seniority. This is to ensure that local PMETs are not disadvantaged based on cost as their salaries go up over time.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister of State, your have three more minutes.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: To clarity, the minimum salary requirement of $3,600 applies to young graduates with good qualifications. And experienced EP holders in their mid-40s would need to earn much more to qualify compared to a similarly experienced local PMET. So, our last EP salary requirement was adjusted in 2017. As part of our regular process, we will review if it needs to be updated to preserve a level playing field for local PMETs.
Our multi-pronged approach has worked visibly well. Despite the employer tactics that Mr Desmond Choo described, older worker employment has gone up steadily. More older Singaporeans are employed today than ever before – 500,000 today compared to about half, 270,000 just 10 years ago. The unemployment rate for workers aged 50 and above has also been consistently lower than the overall unemployment rate.
FCF watchlist has also raised awareness and shifted employer behaviour. In fact, locals continue to hold the majority of jobs that companies can hire EPs for. But I should also add that our strong stance against favouring foreigners has not gone unnoticed. For example, in a recent global competitiveness ranking by the World Economic Forum, Singapore was ranked 93rd in terms of ease hiring foreign labour. From the view of business leaders, they see far much favourable regimes outside of Singapore. It is an international business hub. Such perceptions carry some costs. If leading global companies think twice about investing in Singapore or rethink their future plans for Singapore, the result could be fewer good jobs for Singaporeans.
So, it is a delicate balancing act. But ultimately, we must also continue to create good jobs and help more Singaporeans access them.
Mr Saktiandi also spoke about capability transfer and called for businesses to step up in localising their workforce to support Singapore's competitiveness and workforce sustainability. MOM supports his call. In fact, MOM introduced the capability transfer programme (CTP) to support companies to transfer global expertise and capabilities to Singaporean workers. The results are encouraging. And since the start of the CTP in 2017, more than 120 companies and 800 local workers are expected to benefit from CTP-supported projects. We will study Mr Saktiandi's suggestion to expand the CTP and including how it can support companies to set localisation targets.
To conclude, workplace discrimination of any kind is unacceptable. In Singapore, the tripartite partners are fully committed to stamping out workplace discrimination altogether. I thank the Member as well as Desmond Choo from NTUC for their support for this Motion. We welcome and look forward to more initiatives in the Labour Movement to tackle workplace discrimination of all forms. We need all hands on that. And as Member Choo mentioned earlier, every worker matters.
Let us also ensure that Singapore remains competitive and redouble our efforts to help more locals access the jobs that are created. Thank you, Deputy Speaker.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Order. The time allowed for the proceedings has expired.
[(proc text) The Question having been proposed at 6.46 pm and the Debate having continued for half an hour, Mr Deputy Speaker adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order. (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 7.16 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":"Matter Raised On Adjournment Motion","questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Achievements of Overseas Singaporean Unit Since Formation in 2006","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"18 Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what are the achievements of the Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU) since its formation in 2006.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: Singaporeans are our family, no matter where they are in the world. As with family members around the world, we keep in touch regularly and stay connected. The Overseas Singaporean Unit, or OSU in short, was formed in 2006 to coordinate the Government's efforts to engage overseas Singaporeans.
Since 2006, OSU's suite of face-to-face programmes and online engagement channels have reached out to more than 100,000 overseas Singaporeans. OSU has successfully cultivated an extensive network of overseas Singaporean clubs and associations, as well as community leaders who take an active role in galvanising the overseas Singaporean communities around the globe. Cumulatively, these overseas Singaporean communities organise more than 100 events annually, such as National Day or festive celebrations, social gatherings, and networking events.
On 1 June 2019, OSU became part of the Singapore Global Network – SGN in short – within EDB. SGN's mandate is to broaden and deepen our overseas Singaporean network with friends and fans of Singapore. This stronger and wider network will serve Singaporeans and Singapore well, for economics, fellowships and friendships. This is especially important in the increasingly tumultuous and fragmented world today. I look forward to what the SGN can do for Singaporeans and for Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Haze on Tourist Arrivals and Attendance of Major Events","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"19 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the impact of the haze on tourist arrivals in Singapore; and (b) what has been the impact of haze on attendances at major events here.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: From January to September 2019, tourist arrivals grew by 2.1% compared to the same period in 2018 to reach about 14.3 million. We are unable to ascertain the exact impact of the haze on tourist arrivals, but it is possible that our tourist numbers could have grown even more if not for the haze in August and September.
Transboundary haze has been a persistent problem in our region and could have a negative impact on outdoor activities. The extent of the impact depends on the severity and duration of the haze. For this year, we have been fortunate that it has not caused major disruptions in our economy thus far. However, this may not always be the case if the haze persists. This is why it is important for Singapore to continue working with our neighbours to implement haze mitigation measures and to ensure our economy is sufficiently diversified to remain resilient to external shocks.
The impact of transboundary haze is far-reaching. It is not just Singapore's economy and the health of our people that are affected, but the economies and health of those in the region as well. The fires also released large amounts of greenhouse gases which add to global warming concerns. It is important for ASEAN countries to work together to tackle this serious problem, and prevent the haze from recurring.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Increasing Number of SkillsFuture Awards for Singaporeans Aged 40 and Above In View of Economic Slowdown","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"21 Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider expanding the number of SkillsFuture awards for Singaporeans of age 40 and above in view of the economic slowdown.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The SkillsFuture Study Awards support early to mid-career Singaporeans to deepen their skills in growth sectors or areas of demand. The number of study awards is determined by sectoral lead agencies based on each sector’s manpower and skills needs.
Should economic and labour conditions worsen, the Government will consider introducing additional measures to help employers and employees with training and skills upgrading, so that our workers can acquire the relevant skills to stay employed, or transit to other sectors and companies. This will include Professional Conversion Programmes.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assistance Extended to Trafficked Victims While They Are Waiting for Cases to Be Heard","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"23 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs how are trafficked victims being assisted while waiting for their cases to be heard and what can be done to better support their rehabilitation.
Mr K Shanmugam: While waiting for their cases to be heard, victims are provided with shelter, food and counselling. Additional victim care support is also available, depending on the victim’s individual circumstances.
An example of additional support is home leave, where agencies make arrangements, including buying air tickets, for victims to return home, where they may get more emotional support, while awaiting trial proceedings. This is on the understanding that they will return for the trial.
Another example is the Temporary Job Scheme, under which the Government assists victims who are willing and able to work. Such temporary employment facilitates the victims' rehabilitation while they remain in Singapore to assist with investigation and prosecution.
The Government partners NGOs, such as HAGAR and the Good Shepherd Centre, to support the victims.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"2019 Trend for Bankruptcy Orders","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"24 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Law (a) what is the trend in 2019 in terms of bankruptcy orders; (b) whether the trend is expected to continue; (c) what is the level of bankruptcy orders compared to that of previous years; and (d) what are the specific factors causing the trend in bankruptcy orders.
Mr K Shanmugam: One thousand one hundred and twelve bankruptcy orders were made between 1 January and 31 August 2019. This is comparable to the number of bankruptcy orders made in the past five years, which saw an average of 1,725 bankruptcy orders made each year.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Ensuring Food Delivery Process and Carrier Bags Comply with Hygiene Standards","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"25 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) how does the Ministry ensure that the food delivery process and carrier bags comply with hygiene standards; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider requiring all food delivery workers to attend compulsory food hygiene and handling courses.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Food delivery companies are responsible for ensuring that the food they deliver is transported in a manner that is safe to eat and does not compromise food safety. This includes maintaining the cleanliness of the vehicle, as well as the receptacle and equipment used for the transportation of food, including carrier bags; and storing food at the correct temperature. Failure to do so would constitute an offence under the Sale of Food Act and the Environmental Public Health Act. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has been engaging food delivery companies on the need to adopt good practices in food hygiene and safety.
Food delivery workers are not directly involved in the preparation of food, such as the washing and cutting of raw food and the processing of ready-to-eat food. Therefore, there is no requirement for them to attend and successfully complete the Basic Food Hygiene Course. Nonetheless, SFA will continue to closely monitor the industry and will tighten requirements to ensure food safety if this becomes necessary.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Strengthening Singaporean Talent Pool in Local Finance Industry","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"26 Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng asked the Prime Minister whether he can provide an update on the efforts in strengthening a Singaporean talent pool in the local finance industry.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): Building a strong pipeline of local talent is a key priority for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and critical to our desire to develop a world class workforce for the financial services sector. The financial services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) sets out our strategies in some detail to achieve this. MAS has been working closely with our tripartite partners including financial institutions, the labour movement, and government agencies to implement these strategies.
As a result of our efforts, from 2016 to 2018, the financial services and fintech sectors saw a net increase of about 4,900 jobs on average each year, which is in fact above the ITM target of 4,000 per annum. This year, despite the slowdown in the economy, hiring in the sector remains healthy.
Let me outline MAS' key strategies to build a strong pipeline of local talent in financial services.
First, reskilling and redeploying local professionals into functions where jobs are growing. MAS, IBF, and the financial industry are working together to prepare our workforce with the skills for these jobs. Financial institutions have committed to reskill about 4,100 professionals under the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) in the next two years, and to redeploy them in new or enhanced jobs.
Tripartite partners are also supporting Singaporeans with resources on training and career services to cater to their aspirations. For example, in the equities market, NTUC, e2i, MAS, IBF, and the Society of Remisiers, have organised workshops for remisiers on future skills, jobs in demand, and career profiling assessments. We have seen good turnouts and received positive feedback.
Second, building technology skills for the financial services sector. The Technology in Finance Immersion Programme (TFIP) was launched in April this year to train local professionals in specific technology areas such as cloud computing, data analytics, full stack development and cyber security, through structured training and attachments with participating financial institutions. The inaugural phase for TFIP saw overwhelming demand for the more than 80 positions across banking, asset management and capital markets. We will expand the programme to include more employers and job openings.
Third, growing our talent pool and deepening specialist skillsets. We are leveraging work-learn pathways, which integrate classroom learning with structured on-the-job training, to prepare tertiary students for financial services sector jobs. For example, the Applied Wealth Management track in NTU's Bachelor of Business programme saw many of the inaugural batch of 33 students being offered jobs after they completed their first 10-week internship with DBS. We look forward to more such partnerships.
MAS and IBF are also working with the industry to establish competency standards in key job families to guide the design of training programmes for our local workforce. We also subsidise the training programmes heavily to make them accessible to workers. Over the past three years, an average of 21,000 individuals have benefited each year from these training subsidies. In addition, we have awarded about 440 scholarships and awards over the past three years to support training in specialist skills.
Fourth, developing the local leadership pipeline. As Singapore grows its role as an international financial centre, more regional and global leadership positions are opening up here. We want to help more Singaporeans equip themselves to compete for and take on these leadership roles. MAS has supported financial institutions efforts to groom younger Singaporean talents through structured management associate programmes, send promising Singaporeans for overseas postings, and deepen the finance leadership capabilities of senior Singaporean professionals. About 700 Singaporeans have been supported under these programmes from 2016 to 2018, and many have progressed to take on larger roles within their firms.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Recent Trends and Main Concerns of Re-employment Disputes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"27 Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo asked the Minister for Manpower what is the number of cases and trend of re-employment disputes over the last three years and what were the main issues.
Mrs Josephine Teo: MOM attended to about 60 re-employment disputes annually between 2016 and 2018. The extension of the re-employment age from 65 to 67 in 2017 made more workers eligible. This, together with heightened awareness on re-employment rights and obligations, may explain the recent uptick of disputes. Nonetheless, the number of re-employment disputes remains very small relative to the number of employees aged 60 to 69 years1 – with fewer than one in 3,000 employees filing reports with MOM.
The disputes were mainly over whether employees met the performance criteria or the medical fitness required for re-employment or dissatisfaction with the re-employment terms offered. Close to 70% of the cases handled by MOM were resolved through mediation, with the remaining mostly withdrawn. About four cases each year proceed to adjudication.
The tripartite partners are committed to achieving productive longevity in Singapore. Even as our workforce ages, it can remain competitive and adaptable. While employees need to have the right mindset and be willing to pick up new skills to adapt to the changing environment, employers should redesign jobs and provide the necessary training to their older workers. This will minimise re-employment disputes and ensure that older workers continue to thrive in the future economy.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":["1 : There were an average of 189,500 resident employees aged 60 – 69 between 2016 and 2018. Source: Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, Manpower Research & Statistics Department, MOM. "],"footNoteQuestions":["27"],"questionNo":"27"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Permanent Residents Hired as Drivers by Private Hire Car Operators","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"28 Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Transport (a) how many private hire car operators currently employ permanent residents (PRs) as private hire drivers; (b) what is the total number of PRs hired as such drivers with these operators; and (c) whether the companies are required to post job vacancies on the national Jobs Bank or with other recruitment entities to secure local drivers for the jobs.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Today, only Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) are eligible for a Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence (PDVL). PRs are only eligible for a PDVL if they are employed by businesses offering chauffeured services. As of August 2019, the percentage of PDVL holders who are PRs is just over 5%.
MOM requires companies to post job vacancies on the national Jobs Bank before hiring Employment Pass holders. PRs do not need a work pass to work in Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proposal to Review BTO Queuing Method","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"30 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) in determining the number of queue numbers to be issued to BTO flat applicants, what is the multiplier used in relation to the number of BTO flats for sale in the non-mature and mature estates respectively; (b) what has been the take-up rate for these applicants in 2016 to 2018 as compared to that in 2013 to 2015; and (c) whether the Ministry will review the BTO application process to allow those who have been given a queue number to drop out sooner so as to expedite the flat selection process.
Mr Lawrence Wong: For all flats offered in BTO exercises, HDB shortlists applicants up to 300% of the flat supply.
In both 2013 to 2015 and 2016 to 2018, about three in five applicants who were invited to book a flat in a BTO exercise proceeded to do so.
Shortlisted flat applicants are invited to book a flat in sequence of their balloted queue positions. They may request HDB to cancel their applications at any time. Generally, applicants are more likely to drop out nearer their flat booking appointment, or during the appointment itself, when their preferred flats are no longer available. At that point, it would be too late to advance the appointments of subsequent applicants as we will not be able to give them sufficient notice.
Shortlisted flat applicants may continue to apply for a flat in another sales exercise as long as they have yet to book a flat. This ensures that they will not miss out on applying for a flat in another sales launch, if there are flats they are interested in, even while waiting for their booking appointment from an earlier sales exercise.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enhancing Practices and Regulations for Funeral Service Sector","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"31 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) how is NEA working with funeral professionals to ensure that our departed loved ones are treated with dignity when taken into their care; (b) whether there has been any recent consultation with the industry on enhancing present regulations and practices; (c) whether any enhancements are expected; and (d) whether there are plans for a legislative and regulatory framework to govern the industry and to protect bereaved families.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The National Environment Agency (NEA) regulates funeral parlours to ensure that these facilities meet specific public health requirements. As part of the regulatory regime, NEA conducts periodic inspections of funeral parlour premises. NEA also engages the funeral services industry regularly on issues related to after-death services.
Earlier in the year, NEA had conducted a round of environmental hygiene inspections of all 21 licensed funeral parlours with embalming facilities. Following these inspections, NEA issued a circular to remind licensed operators of their responsibilities under the licensing conditions, along with advice on the appropriate handling of the deceased.
Beyond ensuring environmental public health, after-death services should be provided in a manner that is in accordance with religious practices and cultural preferences, and accords dignity to the deceased and comfort to bereaved families. In August this year, as part of continuing efforts to improve standards, NEA had engaged funeral directors and funeral parlour operators to seek their views on how the provision of after-death services could be enhanced. NEA is reviewing the suggestions from this engagement. We will continue to work with the Association of Funeral Directors Singapore, funeral directors and funeral parlour operators, in consultation with religious groups, to enhance the standards of after-death facilities and services in Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Re-employment of Retired SAF Officers and Training for SAF Officers to Find Second Careers After Retirement","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"33 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Defence (a) how many SAF officers are re-employed from 2017 to 2019; (b) how successful has the Ministry been in helping retired SAF officers to prepare for and find second careers after their retirement; and (c) what are the measures taken to ensure that officers have transferable skills upon retirement.
Dr Ng Eng Hen: The structure for a career within the SAF takes into account the need to maintain a credible defence force. Apart from leadership and management skills, SAF personnel must also be able to undertake physically demanding tasks, when called upon. Based on these requirements, SAF officers and warrant officers retire around 50 years old while military experts can work till 60 years of age. To compensate SAF personnel for their shorter careers, remuneration packages are higher and pegged to equivalent civilian jobs with older retirement ages. Retired personnel can be re-employed in limited vocations that do not require the physical rigour, but this forms a small proportion of vocations within the SAF.
Instead, SAF assists its retired personnel to continue with second careers. They receive support from certified career advisors in our own Career Transition Resource Centre, with services such as career coaching, networking events and job referrals. They are also provided funds and time-off under the Lifelong Employability & Advancement Programme (LEAP) to attend courses and seminars, go for job interviews, and embark on internships that can serve as a springboard into their sector of interest. These programmes have successfully assisted our personnel in their transitions; 80% secure jobs within six months of retiring from the SAF.
Employer surveys show that the skills and certifications obtained by SAF personnel during their careers are well-recognised by private and public sector employers. Our personnel undergo structured training to prepare them for leadership and management roles. They are also equipped with valuable competencies in areas such as human resource, finance, operations research and training pedagogy. A number of our programmes are developed under the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system, which ensures that the training SAF personnel receive are aligned to industry standards and therefore transferable. The SAF also collaborates with local educational institutions on work-study programmes that enable our servicemen to translate their work experience into professional accreditation.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans to Make Higher Education in Singapore More Accessible for Differently-abled","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"34 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the Ministry's plans to make higher education in Singapore more accessible and inclusive for the differently-abled by disabilities; and (b) what are the support schemes, financial or otherwise, that are available to such students.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: MOE is committed to ensuring that all students, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) enrolled in our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), receive the support they need.
Hence, all IHLs have set up dedicated SEN Support Offices which provide one-stop services to support students with SEN, from pre-enrolment to graduation.
Before enrolling in an IHL, students can approach the SEN Support Offices in the IHLs for advice on the types of courses that might be more suited to their interests and learning needs. We also put in place arrangements where schools will share SEN-related information with IHLs, to facilitate the students’ transition to a new education environment.
For Polytechnic and ITE students who require financial support in purchasing education-related assistive technology devices and support services, they can tap on the SEN fund. Eligible students with physical impairment may draw up to $5,000 from the SEN fund while those with visual or hearing loss may draw up to $25,000 over the course of their study, with more support provided to those with higher needs. Students with severe hearing, physical and visual impairment may draw up to $70,000 from the SEN fund over the course of their study.
To prepare students with SEN for the workforce, our IHLs put in additional effort in career guidance to these students, including helping them identify suitable internship opportunities and prepare them for their internships. The IHLs also work closely with SG Enable and Voluntary Welfare Organisations for specialised mentorship programmes and job matching. They are also training faculty and staff to raise their awareness and understanding of SEN, and to build a more inclusive campus culture.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Performance Metrics to Track Efficacy of SkillsFuture Programme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"35 Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Minister for Education what are the performance metrics to track the efficacy of the SkillsFuture programme and how has the programme improved productivity and employment opportunities.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The SkillsFuture programme comprises many initiatives to support the lifelong learning needs of Singaporeans from all walks of life.
There has been no widely accepted metrics to measure the efficacy of training, despite many countries having worked on this for many years. Nonetheless, Singapore has been evaluating the outcomes of training through several measures.
One such way is to collect feedback from employers and individuals on course quality and training outcomes. Post training surveys show that more than 80% of trainees felt that work performance improved after training. Additionally, MOM's Employer-Supported Training Survey found that 92% of employers reported that training had a significant positive impact on the performance of their workers.
There are also programme-specific studies, to evaluate the impact of training on wage and employment outcomes. For example, a study by MTI found that non-employed trainees who completed their Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training were more likely to find employment and earn higher wages than their previous jobs. The same study also found that WSQ trainees experienced a wage premium of up to 6% compared to trainees who did not attend such training.
MTI has also studied the wage data of the initial batches of graduates from the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme (ELP). It found that ELP graduates enjoyed a sustained wage premium of about 10%, over Polytechnic diploma graduates.
At the national-level, we have seen a rise in the training participation rate of the resident labour force, in tandem with the roll-out of various SkillsFuture programmes. Based on MOM's Labour Force Survey, the training participation rate increased from 35% in 2015 to 48% in 2018.
We are making good progress and achieving encouraging momentum with SkillsFuture. We will continue to monitor the training outcomes and enhance the programmes to prepare workers for changes in our economy, and to support lifelong learning for Singaporeans.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Public Education to Clear Misconceptions about Breast Cancer Screening","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"36 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Health whether the Ministry can strengthen public education to clear misconceptions and fear by women of breast cancer screening.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Early detection of breast cancer through screening is important because the outcomes of treatment for early stage cancers are better, compared with late stage breast cancer. Based on findings from focus group discussions conducted by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), women have several misconceptions surrounding breast cancer screening. Some examples include screening not being necessary when one feels healthy, \"it is better not to know\", and that mammograms are painful.
HPB partners organisations including Singapore Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Foundation, National Cancer Centre Singapore and National University Cancer Institute to address these misconceptions, and to make screening and the follow-up process easier to understand. HPB and its partners also actively dispel misconceptions associated with breast cancer screening and encourage regular screening through the annual Breast Cancer Awareness campaign, forums, media messages and in talks delivered by community leaders and breast cancer survivors.
However changing entrenched misconceptions is not an easy task. MOH and HPB will continue our efforts on public education on breast cancer and we welcome suggestions to improve our early detection efforts and save lives.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Qualifications of and Complaints against Chiropractors Practising in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"37 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the current number of chiropractors and chiropractic chains locally; (b) how many complaints against chiropractors or chiropractic chains have been received over the last five years; and (c) how is the training and qualification of chiropractors different from that of physiotherapists or Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Chiropractic Association (Singapore) estimates that there are about 150 chiropractors in Singapore. Based on the number of business entities1 registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), the number of chiropractic establishments is estimated to be about 90.
Over the past five years, MOH received an average of four chiropractic-related feedbacks per year, usually related to the misleading use of titles, advertising or claims, and sales and refunds on treatment packages. Chiropractic services are considered as complementary and alternative treatments, and are not licensed under the Private Hospital and Medical Clinic Act (PHMCA). Chiropractors are encouraged to practise self-regulation through their professional associations.
Most chiropractors in Singapore have four or more years of overseas university or postgraduate studies. For TCM practitioners, applicants with a five-year local Advanced Diploma in TCM or an overseas TCM Bachelor's degree recognised by the TCMP Board can qualify for the Singapore TCMP Registration Examination. For physiotherapists, the Singapore Institute of Technology offers a four-year Physiotherapy Bachelor's degree programme, jointly developed with Trinity College Dublin. The Allied Health Professions Council also maintains a list of recognised overseas qualifications for physiotherapists to practice locally.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":["1 : Business entities containing the words \"chiropractic\" and \"chiropractor\"."],"footNoteQuestions":["37"],"questionNo":"37"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Retirement Adequacy for Current and Future Cohorts of Retirees of Different Income Profiles","subTitle":"Including projected average monthly CPF Life payouts","sectionType":"WANA","content":"38 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the state of retirement adequacy for current and future cohorts of retirees of different income profiles; and (b) what are the projected average monthly CPF LIFE payouts which each of these income groups are expected to receive when reach payout eligibility age.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Members are likely to have a combination of means to fund their retirement, of which CPF is a component. The others include private savings, housing monetisation through the Lease Buyback Scheme, as well as support from their family. Nonetheless, with the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) designed to provide members with monthly payouts in retirement that cover their basic living expenses, the BRS attainment is one indicator for retirement adequacy. Over the last decade, the proportion of active CPF members attaining their cohort BRS at age 55 has improved from about two in five to more than three in five.
We are optimistic that retirement adequacy will continue to improve for younger cohorts. Among other things, their CPF balances have grown with rising incomes and labour force participation. This can translate to higher CPF monthly payouts in retirement.
In fact, a recent study by MOF showed that the median real income of younger Singaporeans born in the 1970s was double compared to those born in the 1950s when both were in their 40s. The younger generation also had a labour force participation rate 10% points higher. As a result, the median real Ordinary and Special Account CPF balances of the younger generation was three times higher than the older generation, with balances at the 20th percentile more than seven times hig
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update of Lift Upgrading Programme Status for Flats that Previously Did Not Qualify based on Cost Cap Quantum","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"39 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for National Development whether he can provide an update on the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) for blocks of flats that have not been eligible for the LUP because of the cost cap quantum eligibility before an LUP is approved for a particular block.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) was launched in 2001 to provide direct lift access to flats and enhance convenience for residents, especially the elderly and less mobile. At the start of the programme, there were more than 5,300 HDB blocks without 100% lift access.
Over the years, HDB has adopted innovative technical solutions to provide such blocks with lift access. Through these efforts, the vast majority of the 5,300 blocks have since been able to benefit from LUP. Currently, there remain about 150 blocks where it is still not possible to implement LUP due to cost considerations, or existing technical constraints. We will continue to study if there are any cost-effective solutions to extend the LUP to these blocks.
Meanwhile, Singaporeans who are in urgent need of direct lift access due to medical conditions or mobility reasons can approach HDB for housing and financing assistance. HDB will assess each request on a case-by-case basis to see how best to render help.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Improved Chances in Additional Ballot for BTO Flats for First-time Buyers who had Failed Attempts","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"40 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) how effective has the current grant of an additional ballot chance for each failed attempt by a first-timer in securing a BTO flat been; and (b) whether HDB will review and consider alternatives such as the improvement of chances by multiples of 20% for each attempt so that the applicants will have almost guaranteed success after more than three attempts.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Currently, first-timer families are given two ballot chances when HDB shortlists flat applicants to book a flat. Those who have been unsuccessful in two attempts for BTO flats in the non-mature estates will be given an additional ballot chance at their subsequent application for a BTO flat in the non-mature estates. As a result, in recent years, virtually all first-timer families have been successful within their first three tries for a BTO flat in the non-mature estates. We will continue to review and update our policies where necessary to ensure that new HDB flats remain accessible to all first-timer families.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Income Per Capita Criterion for Pre-school Subsidies for All Families","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"41 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development why is the Ministry not using income per capita as the basis to assess qualification for pre-school subsidies for all families instead of just for larger families of five or more members.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) uses household income to assess whether a family qualifies for means-tested preschool subsidies. This approach looks only at the income of both parents of a child in a household.
However, we recognise that for larger families with more dependants, total household income may not capture their financial means. Hence, we have allowed families with five or more members and who have three or more dependants, to have their income assessed on a per capita basis. The per capita approach helps larger families but is more involved, as we have to look into the income of all family members staying in the same residence.
Extending the per capita approach to all families is not necessarily more advantageous for smaller households. ECDA has structured the preschool subsidies such that for 4-member households, the household income and per capita income ceilings for each subsidy tier are equivalent.
What this means is that for a 4-member family with household income of $7,500, their per capita income would be $1,875 and they would fall within the same tier for Additional Subsidy regardless of the household income or per capita income approach. For a 3-member family with the same household income, their per capita income would be $2,500 and they would then be disqualified from receiving Additional Subsidy as their income exceeds the current per capita income ceiling.
In summary, our approach of using household income for most families with the provision for larger families to use the per capita approach, is a pragmatic one of being helpful to larger families without disadvantaging small families or imposing a more involved assessment method on most families.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Concession for Families Caring for Persons with Cognitive Disabilities","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"42 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how many families with care recipients who have cognitive disabilities and are between 16 and 64 years of age have benefited from the policy to allow these families to apply for the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) levy concession and grant; and (b) what steps have been or will be taken to reach out to families who may benefit from this policy.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Government provides two schemes to help caregivers defray the cost of hiring a Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW), in caring for persons with disabilities for all ages, including those between 16 and 64 years old.
The Ministry of Manpower offers the FDW Levy Concession to persons with disabilities if they require assistance with at least one Activity of Daily Living (ADL). The levy concession allows care-givers to pay the FDW levy at a concessionary rate of $60 a month, instead of $300. As of 30 September 2019, there were about 2,300 families with persons with disabilities aged between 16 and 64 benefiting from the FDW Levy Concession scheme.
Until September 2019, the Ministry of Health offered the FDW Grant that complemented the FDW Levy Concession. Caregivers of persons with disabilities who require assistance with at least three ADLs could benefit from the FDW Grant, in addition to the FDW Levy Concession. The grant comprised a $120 monthly cash payment given to caregivers to offset the cost of hiring an FDW. As of 30 September 2019, there were 996 families with persons with disabilities aged between 16 and 64 benefitting from the FDW Grant.
To enhance support for persons with disabilities, MOH introduced the Home Caregiving Grant to replace the FDW Grant on 1 October 2019. The new Grant provides a higher amount of $200 monthly cash payment to caregivers, and can be used for a broader range of caregiving expenses beyond defraying the costs of hiring FDWs.
To publicise these two schemes, the Ministry of Social and Family Development has reached out to Social Service Agencies (SSAs) in the disability sector, such as Special Education schools and care service agencies, to provide them with information on applying for the FDW Levy Concession and the Home Caregiving Grant. Information on the changes to the Home Caregiving Grant has also been widely reported in the media, and publicised through social media posts. Detailed information on the Levy Concession and the Grant can also be found on the websites of the Ministry of Social and Family Development, SG Enable, the Ministry of Health, the Agency for Integrated Care and the Ministry of Manpower.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proper Disposal of Car Batteries to Prevent Pollutive Discharge in Singapore's Water Catchment Areas","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"43 Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether the Ministry can provide details on how Singapore's car industry disposes of car batteries and what measures are in place to ensure that batteries and chemicals are not disposed of indiscriminately into our water catchment areas.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: There are three main types of car batteries in the market today. They are lead acid batteries for regular cars, and lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries for electric and hybrid cars.
Lead acid batteries contain lead which is harmful to the environment and human health, and acid which is corrosive. Spent lead acid batteries are classified as Toxic Industrial Waste (TIW) under the Environmental Public Health (TIW) Regulations. They are required to be collected and disposed of by Toxic Industrial Waste Collectors licensed by NEA. Lead acid batteries that have reached their end-of-life are usually removed from cars at workshops and collected by licensed Toxic Industrial Waste Collectors. These collectors must adhere to safety practices in the collection and transportation of the lead acid batteries, and are prohibited from disposing of the batteries indiscriminately, such as in general waste bins, public areas or water catchment areas.
Lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries from electric and hybrid cars are typically removed from cars at workshops, car dealerships or scrapyards, and sold to local e-waste recyclers or exported for resource recovery treatment.
In 2021, the NEA will implement the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach to manage e-waste, which will cover lithium-ion batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries. Under the EPR framework, producers who bring the products to market are responsible for the collection and proper treatment of their waste. The Resource Sustainability Act will give effect to the EPR framework.
In the case of lithium-ion batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries, authorised dealers and parallel importers of electric or hybrid cars will be the designated producers. These producers will be required to provide free take-back and disposal services for all end-of-life batteries, or engage an operator who will organise the collection of batteries from scrapyards, workshops, and dealerships, and ensure that the collected batteries are properly disposed of at licensed e-waste recyclers. NEA will also impose recycling requirements that all e-waste recyclers must meet. They include requirements for the proper handling and treatment of e-waste as well as material recovery targets. NEA is working closely with LTA and industry stakeholders on the operational details.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Installation of Water Dispensers in Shopping Centres, Public Transport Stations and Office Buildings","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"44 Mr Mohamed Irshad asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether the Ministry has plans to directly install or encourage the installation of more water dispensers and water coolers in shopping centres, public transport stations and office buildings, to reduce the consumption of bottled water.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: My Ministry encourages the installation of water dispensers and coolers in Singapore. This supports Singapore's Zero Waste efforts by reducing the consumption of bottled water, and also supports our War on Diabetes. According to latest figures compiled by the Singapore Food Agency, we import about 17 million bottles of water per month from Malaysia alone. Given that water from the tap in Singapore is perfectly safe to drink, we can and should definitely do more to reduce consumption of bottled water.
NEA has installed water dispensers in all 26 MEWR-owned hawker centres which NEA operates, and will do so in all our upcoming new hawker centres. NEA is also working with MOH and Town Councils on providing water dispensers in the HDB-owned hawker centres, as the common areas in these centres are managed by the Town Councils.
Owners of other premises are also encouraged to install water dispensers and water coolers. For example, under the Green Mark for Healthier Workplaces scheme which Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) jointly developed, companies are awarded points for providing water dispensers in office premises. HPB's Singapore HEALTH Award also recognises companies for such efforts to create a healthier workplace.
My Ministry also encourages all event organisers to use water dispensers and reusable cups instead of plastic bottles. Event organisers may refer to the \"Best Practice Guide for organising environmentally-friendly events\" that is available on the Towards Zero Waste website.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Outlook for Retail Industry Given Seven Straight Months of Decline","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"46 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry given the continued decline in retail sales for the seventh straight month, what is Ministry's assessment of the outlook for the retail industry and what will the Ministry be doing to help retailers and the workers that are employed in this sector.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: From January to August this year, retail sales volume, excluding motor vehicle sales, fell by 1.8% year-on-year. Retail demand has been affected by weaker consumer sentiments amidst heightened uncertainties in the global economy. There are also structural challenges facing our retailers, such as tighter labour constraints and increasing competition from e-commerce.
There are retail companies which are doing well in this challenging environment. Some have made good use of technology to deliver new concepts and offer innovative retail experiences to their customers. Others have expanded into the e-commerce space by adopting an omni-channel format that integrates online and offline retail. For example, Skin Inc tapped on Enterprise Singapore's support to develop an online strategy targeting the Chinese market, including setting up online stores on WeChat and Weibo, which are some of the largest online platforms in China. Skin Inc has also developed an offline strategy to promote and launch new products to customers through Sephora's physical stores. This omni-channel strategy is expected to give the company a three-fold increase in its China sales.
New companies have also entered the local retail scene. Last month, Japanese retail chain BEAMS set up two pop-up stores in Singapore, which are among their largest outside of Japan. This is an example of pop-up retail, which is gaining popularity as it allows retailers to test new products and concepts.
As part of the rejuvenation of Orchard Road, the Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) is curating the use of event spaces along the Orchard Road Pedestrian Mall (ORPM). Since April this year, ORBA has secured 22 pop-ups and organised monthly night markets. The ORPM is becoming the choice venue for well-known retail brands to launch new products, beyond the traditional retail setting. In January this year, we launched Design Orchard, a one-stop shop for locals and tourists seeking out unique, locally designed products, featuring over 70 local brands.
The Government will work with retail companies to upgrade their capabilities and grow their business. We introduced the Retail Industry Digital Plan in November 2017 to provide a step-by-step guide for retailers to digitalise their processes. To help retailers expand overseas, Enterprise Singapore provides internationalisation support through seminars, business missions, and building platforms for our local retailers to gain brand exposure overseas. An example is the \"Singaporium\" pop-up in Manila, Philippines, which took place in September this year. The event involved 17 local retail, food and lifestyle brands and attracted an estimated 400,000 visitors. Local fashion retailer Benjamin Barker and pet store chain Pet Lovers Centre are examples of companies which have recently expanded into regional markets such as Malaysia and the Philippines.
As the industry transforms, our workers also need to be upskilled. The Retail Skills Framework helps our retail workers assess their career interests and identifies relevant training programmes to upgrade their skills. This is supported by the efforts of our unions, Trade Associations and Chambers (TAC) and employers. Last month, Dairy Farm Singapore, the owner of retail chains including Cold Storage, Giant and 7-Eleven, set up a Jobs, Skills and Training Committee together with the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union to help more than 5,000 of their workers in training and skills upgrading.
Retail workers who are affected by restructuring or business closure can tap on WSG for career advisory and matching services to other hiring retail firms. There are currently around 2,000 vacancies in the retail sector, ranging from Cashiers to Marketing and Business Development Managers, and Sales Associate Professionals. Workers who would like to pursue career opportunities in a new industry can also tap on WSG’s support through the Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP) and Career Trial under the Adapt and Grow Initiative.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"MRT Stations with Designated Parking Spaces for MRT Maintenance Vehicles","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"47 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Transport (a) how many MRT stations have designated parking spaces for the MRT maintenance vehicle and how many do not have; (b) where are these maintenance vehicles expected to park in view of the heavy equipment that the maintenance workers have to carry; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider providing designated parking spaces at all new MRT stations for maintenance work to be carried out more effectively.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: About half of all MRT and LRT stations already have designated parking spaces for maintenance vehicles. For the remaining stations where site constraints do not allow for such parking spaces, LTA has made special arrangements for maintenance vehicles to temporarily park at nearby taxi stands or bus stops during engineering hours. This ensures that workers have a safe place to alight and do not have to carry heavy equipment over long distances.
For all new stations, LTA has factored in designated parking spaces for maintenance vehicles. Where site constraints do not allow for such parking spaces, LTA will work with operators to make special arrangements for maintenance vehicles to park nearby.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Construction of Designated Cycling Paths in Bukit Panjang Town","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"48 Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for Transport whether he can provide a progress update on the construction of designated cycling paths in Bukit Panjang Town.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We plan to build 7 km of cycling paths in Bukit Panjang Town and to complete it by 2021. The project is on track. We will complete 5 km next year, and the remaining 2 km in 2021.
By next year, residents living along Bukit Panjang Ring Road, Pending Road, Fajar Road, Jelapang Road, Saujana Road and Jelebu Road will be connected to key transport nodes and amenities like the LRT stations, Bukit Panjang town centre, supermarkets, polyclinic, eateries and malls. The cycling path network will be extended to cover Senja Road and Petir Road by 2021.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Upgrading Plans for Local Equities and Equity Derivatives Market","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"49 Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Prime Minister whether there are plans to (i) reinvigorate the local equities and equities derivatives market and (ii) help the Singaporean worker in this sector to stay relevant with technological advances.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): My reply will focus on the first part of Mr Ong Teng Koon's question, on plans to re-invigorate the local equity and equity derivatives markets. I have addressed the second part of Mr Ong's question on helping Singaporeans stay relevant amidst technology advances earlier, in my response to Mr Cedric Foo's question.
Let me first summarise where Singapore stands in the competition. We have a leading position as an Asian equity derivatives trading centre, just as we currently do for fixed income and foreign exchange trading. However, Singapore's cash equity market has some structural shortfalls. SGX, MAS and the industry are working to fortify our existing strengths as a financial hub, and putting particular effort into plugging the shortfalls in cash equities.
Let me start very briefly with the equity derivatives market. We are a leading derivatives trading centre in Asia. Singapore-based exchanges offer a wide array of Asian and global derivatives products, including equity, foreign exchange and commodities derivatives1, and with good liquidity in each segment. The compound annual growth rate of trading volumes over the last three years grew by more than 12%. We are working continuously to grow this derivatives ecosystem – by broadening the suite of products, attracting more brokers, market makers and liquidity providers, and attracting investors to Singapore.
However, Singapore's cash equity market does not enjoy the same regional leadership position. While SGX is well regarded as a listing destination for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and the healthcare, and consumer sectors, it has challenges in other segments.
SGX, MAS and the industry have been working on several initiatives to enhance the attractiveness of Singapore as a listing and trading venue for equities.
First, to grow a pipeline of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), SGX has attracted market makers and liquidity providers to enhance market liquidity, and admitted new Mainboard issue managers and Catalist sponsors2. These initiatives will take time to bear fruit.
Second, to attract new overseas issuers and investors, SGX has been actively seeking cross-border partnerships and expanding its global footprint. SGX has partnered Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to boost capital raising opportunities for technology companies. The partnerships have generated a healthy pipeline3 of companies looking to secondary list on SGX.
Third, SGX has introduced the Dual Class Share structure4. This enhances Singapore’s value proposition as a listing destination for new high-growth technology companies. With this additional listing structure, SGX is cultivating a budding pipeline of technology companies that have expressed keenness to tap on this structure for listing on SGX.
Fourth, SGX has started working with private market platforms to build the IPO pipeline. Such platforms can provide growth companies access to a wide network of investors for financing needs just prior to IPO. An example is Capbridge, which has transacted $900 million of private placements and pre-IPO rounds in 2018 and currently has 45 deals in the pipeline.
Fifth, SGX has stepped up its investor outreach efforts in recent years to generate investment ideas and interest. Till date, SGX's initiatives such as the SGX Equities Fund Flow Tracker and MyGateway newsletter, have reached over 270,000 individual retail investors in Singapore and over 1,000 international institutional investors.
Finally, MAS is also supporting capital raising on SGX through various grant initiatives. MAS launched the S$75 million Grant for Equity Market Singapore or GEMS, in February this year, where we co-fund the listing expenses of companies in high-growth and technology sectors. We will also provide grants to widen the research coverage of SGX listed stocks, especially of small and mid-cap companies. Since the grant inception, MAS has approved seven listing grant applications. Research houses tapping on GEMS have committed to hiring close to 50 fresh graduates and experienced research analysts over the next three years.
So, to repeat what I mentioned earlier, we are working on our shortfalls in the cash equity market, while at the same time fortifying our existing strengths such as in equity derivatives.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":["1 : These include equity derivatives contracts on SGX and ICE Futures Singapore covering India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, emerging markets equity indices (in partnership with index providers such as FTSE Russell and MSCI), and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) FANG+ index. ","2 : SGX currently have 47 Mainboard issuer managers and Catalist sponsors, out of which 31 are active in underwriting/sponsoring IPOs on SGX Mainboard/Catalist. There are seven new Mainboard issue managers and Catalist sponsors in the past two years. W Capital and Evolve Capital are the latest two companies authorized by SGX this year.","3 : SGX currently have two mandates and 15 leads from the SGX-Tel Aviv partnership and five high potential leads from the SGX-NASDAQ partnership.","4 : DCS allows companies to have shares with different voting rights, allowing founders to raise capital for expansion while retaining control of their companies. SGX introduced the DCS structure in June 2018."],"footNoteQuestions":["49"],"questionNo":"49"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Smart Nation Initiatives in Singapore and ASEAN","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"50 Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Prime Minister whether he can provide an update on the progress of the Smart Nation initiatives in Singapore and ASEAN.
Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): We continue to make steady progress in our use of digital technologies to restructure our economy, generate new jobs, solve real-world problems and improve the quality of life of our citizens.
SingPass Mobile, which was launched just one year ago, has over 600,000 users enjoying secure password-less logins, and a quarter of all SingPass transactions are now conducted on SingPass Mobile. When PayNow was launched in July 2017, there were 150,000 transactions totalling about $24 million in the first month of operations. For the past quarter from July to September, PayNow transaction values have consistently crossed the S$1 billion mark each month, with more than 6 million monthly transactions during the same period.
As for the Moments of Life app, since February this year, the birth registration service has expanded to cover all private hospitals, and the cumulative number of births registered via the app has increased from 2,000 to over 12,000. In September 2019, more than 60% of all eligible births were registered through the app. We have recently expanded the app to support seniors aged 60 and above in their journey to live active and engaged lives. Together, these initiatives bring greater ease and convenience to citizens, helping us to save time and enhancing our daily lives.
Our digitalisation efforts are also benefiting businesses and the economy, and many companies are making use of digitalisation to spur innovation and transform their businesses. Over 450,000 entities make 30 million transactions on CorpPass yearly. More than 7,000 companies have signed up to use MyInfo to improve how they serve their consumers, including the banking sector who are using MyInfo to make the \"know-your-customer\" process quick, convenient and seamless. Just last week, the GoBusiness Licensing portal became operational. Business owners who wish to set up a food services business now only have to fill in a single form with no more than 90 data fields, as compared to 14 forms with 845 data fields previously. These initiatives help new businesses to hit the ground running, and enable existing businesses to become more customer-centric and efficient, which in turn make them more effective and competitive.
Industry sectors are also benefiting from digitalisation. For example, the construction sector is adopting Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) which harnesses Building Information Modelling technology to reap time and cost savings across the entire building life-cycle, from planning and construction to facilities management. BCA launched the IDD implementation plan last year, and aims to have more than 40 projects by next year.
Looking externally, Singapore continues to work closely with ASEAN member states to enhance smart city projects through the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) initiated in 2018, during Singapore's chairmanship. At the ASCN annual meeting in Bangkok in August 2019, Singapore was appointed Shepherd to advise and support the ASCN Chair, as well as work with the Chair to organise programmes and initiatives – for example, capacity-building workshops – to develop the ASCN further.
ASCN has generated significant interest from ASEAN’s external partners to form project partnerships with the ASCN. So far, 40 project partnerships have been signed. The US, Japan, and the ROK have launched and operationalised targeted initiatives to engage the ASCN. At the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit last year, Australia announced the ASEAN-Australia Smart Cities Initiative worth A$30 million to support the development of smart cities. The long-term success of the ASCN depends on the external partners' continued involvement, and we are heartened to see the growing strength of the ASCN.
Our journey to build a Smart Nation continues. In a recent Smart City Index by IMD Business School that measured how citizens perceived the scope and impact of efforts to make their cities \"smart\", Singapore was ranked first. This is a heartening outcome. We will strive to do even better and work with citizens and companies to deliver solutions that improve lives and enable business innovation.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Para Sports in Schools during Physical Education or Character and Citizenship Education Classes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"52 Ms Yip Pin Xiu asked the Minister for Education whether he can consider including para sports as a basic experience across all schools in PE or Character and Citizenship Education.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: MOE promotes inclusive Physical Education (PE) and sports through multiple avenues. Para events have been introduced at the National School Games (NSG), in Swimming, Track and Field, Tenpin Bowling and most recently Shooting. These para events have attracted steady participation from our Special Education (SPED) Schools and mainstream schools annually.
MOE also supports Play Inclusive, a collaboration between Special Olympics Singapore and SportCares. During the inaugural event in 2018, 450 participants comprising athletes with intellectual disabilities partnered with students from mainstream schools to play badminton, basketball, football and floorball. The number of participants doubled in the 2019 edition.
In addition, almost every mainstream school is currently resourced with a teacher trained in Inclusive PE to enable all students with varying abilities to enjoy physical activities and sports together. Through these activities, students gain a better understanding of each other, including those with special needs.
We will continue to explore ways that meaningfully meet the needs of our diverse profile of students, while helping them appreciate those with different abilities. But like many other meritorious topics, from climate change, computer coding, social equity to financial literacy, MOE will take great care before introducing them as compulsory subjects or activities. We can engage students in these topics through existing school lessons or activities, in an organic and interactive way, which can be more effective.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Elderly and Children Diagnosed with Illnesses and Health Conditions Due to Malnutrition in Recent Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"53 Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Minister for Health how many vulnerable persons, particularly the elderly and children below 18 years of age, have been diagnosed with illnesses and health conditions due to malnutrition in the last five years and what measures are in place to assist them.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: According to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease study, nutritional deficiencies such as protein-energy malnutrition, iodine, vitamin A and dietary iron deficiencies, accounted for less than 1% of the total disease burden in Singapore. Among Singaporeans less than 20 years of age, malnutrition accounted for about 4.5% of the disease burden in this age group. Based on data from health Promotion Board's (HPB) School Health Services in 2017, the prevalence of children in K1 and K2 who were underweight and severely underweight was 7.6%.
As for older Singaporeans, a National University of Singapore study published in 2017 estimated the prevalence of under-nutrition among Singaporeans aged 55 and older at 2.8%. A study published in 2018 by the Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, found that the prevalence of underweight in a nationally representative cohort of over 4,500 Singaporean residents aged 60 and above was 6.6%.
MOH and HPB undertake efforts to encourage Singaporeans to eat healthily, such as raising the consumption of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, while reducing the in-take of trans fat, sugar and salt.
There are also specific efforts to address under-nutrition in children and seniors. For example, we have engaged maternity hospitals to implement WHO's Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, which supports mothers in breastfeeding their infants as breast milk provides infants with all the essential nutrients for optimal growth and health. HPB has also introduced Healthy Meals programmes in pre-schools and mainstream schools. The programme enables children to have well-balanced meals and cultivate in them healthy eating habits.
For families unable to afford basic living expenses, MSF's social service offices provide them with ComCare financial assistance, which cover their food expenses and other expenses. As part of the initiatives announced by the HealthySG taskforce, HPB will also be piloting a targeted programme with activities and incentives that are customised to the needs and circumstances of lower income families. For a start, HPB will focus on improving nutrition for these families. Examples of activities would include guided healthier eating trails, supermarket tours, cooking classes and nutrition workshops.
For children from lower income families, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has partnered with KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) to deliver the KidSTART Home Visitation Programme. ECDA will also be working with the National University Hospital (NUH) to extend the Programme to more children and their families. Through regular visits by ECDA and hospital home visitors, parents will receive support in acquiring skills and practical knowledge across areas of child development, health and nutrition.
Under the National Seniors Health Programme, MOH and HPB also support seniors through community based education efforts such as regular health talks and cooking demonstrations. These help our seniors learn about the importance of a healthy balanced diet, as well as practical ways to incorporate key nutrients such as protein and calcium into their daily diet.
In 2012, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) introduced the Nutrition Movement to support our Community Care service providers in preparing and providing nutritious and tasty meals for seniors. The movement partners with professional chefs to deliver initiatives such as AIC's Culinary Training and Chef Partnership Programme. To date, more than 200 cooks from over 70 Community Care organisations have taken part in the Culinary Training initiative to improve their culinary capabilities and cooking standards. Activities include practical training on preparing normal and soft-textured meals, and demonstrations by professional chefs on nutritious meal preparation based on the recommendations by dietitians.
In the community, AIC's Meals-On-Wheels programme, which delivers meals to homebound clients who may be unable to prepare their own meals, has also adopted HPB's Healthier Catering guidelines.
We will continue to look at ways to support better nutrition for all Singaporeans.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Education and Outreach Measures on HIV Infections","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"54 Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Minister for Health (a) whether he can provide an update on the progress of the Ministry's education and outreach measures on HIV infections; (b) whether the Ministry has been able to detect more cases at an earlier stage and through voluntary testing; and (c) whether the Ministry has been able to help more cases delay the onset of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and what is the average duration of such delays.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Singapore's approach towards the prevention and control of HIV, is based on the four key principles of \"ABCD\". That is, \"A\" – abstinence from casual sex, \"B\" – being faithful, \"C\" correct and consistent use of condoms, and \"D\" – early detection and treatment.
The benefits of \"D\" or early detection and treatment of HIV infection are clear. It can suppress the HIV viral load and prevent the onset of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), thus enabling HIV-infected persons an improved quality and length of life that is relatively symptom-free. Based on our estimates, 77% of HIV-positive persons in Singapore know their status. Among those who know their status, 86% are on treatment. And 98% of those on treatment are virally suppressed.
We have been working on efforts to encourage more at-risk persons to test for HIV regularly. Testing has been made widely accessible in primary care and hospital clinics. For persons who prefer anonymity, there are designated anonymous test sites at GP clinics as well as an Action for Aids mobile testing van operating at different sites. HPB also works with partner agencies on outreach programmes to encourage at-risk individuals to take preventive measures on HIV and to go for early and regular HIV testing. These include tapping on platforms such as World AIDS Day activities.
We have made some progress through these efforts. The proportion of persons diagnosed with late-stage HIV infection decreased from 51% in the five-year period between 2009 to 2013 to 44% between 2014 and 2018. The proportion of new HIV-positive cases detected through voluntary testing increased from 14% from 2009 to 2013 to 19% between 2014 and 2018.
We will continue to look into new and enhanced approaches and initiatives to encourage early and regular HIV testing among at-risk groups.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Monthly Average Number of Appeals to Traffic Police made by Members of Parliament on Behalf of Residents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"55 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the last two years, what is the monthly average number of appeals to Traffic Police made by Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents; (b) what is the percentage of successful appeals for waiver of fines or demerit points; and (c) what assistance is provided to the appellants when they are unable to pay the fines or when their driving licences, which are needed for their livelihood, are suspended.
Mr K Shanmugam: In 2017 and 2018, the Traffic Police received about 350 appeals per month from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents. Traffic Police waived the fines or demerit points in about 3% of the appeals.
Motorists who flout traffic rules put themselves and other road users at risk. To ensure that our roads are safe for everyone, Traffic Police applies the traffic rules consistently for all motorists. Appeals for the waiver of fines or demerit points are considered only if the motorist can show proof that traffic rules were breached during a medical emergency.
In cases of financial hardship, the appellant will need to request for general financial assistance from other Government schemes, where the appellant qualifies.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Penalties for Wilful Obstruction of Emergency Vehicles","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"56 Mr Yee Chia Hsing asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the current penalties for wilful obstruction of emergency vehicles, such as ambulances and fire engine trucks, and whether the penalties can be raised.
Mr K Shanmugam: Under the Road Traffic Act, it is an offence for motorists to obstruct emergency vehicles that are responding to an emergency. The composition sums for this offence were recently increased on 1 April 2019. It was raised from $130 to $150 for light vehicles, and from $160 to $200 for heavy vehicles. Offenders will also receive four demerit points.
In cases where there are aggravating factors, Traffic Police will prosecute offenders in Court. First-time offenders can be fined up to $1,000 or imprisoned up to three months, or both. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $2,000 or imprisoned up to six months, or both.
The number of reported violations has generally been low. As the composition sums for failing to give way to emergency vehicles were recently increased, we will monitor the situation and consider further action where necessary.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Community Disputes Resolution Act on Number of Disputes between Neighbours","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"57 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for National Development whether the number of disputes between neighbours living in HDB flats in the past four years has fallen after the Community Disputes Resolution Act came into effect.
Mr Lawrence Wong: HDB does not comprehensively track the figures of neighbourly disputes in HDB flats. In any case, it is not clear why there should be a link between the number of disputes happening in any year with the establishment of the Community Disputes Resolution Act. Whenever HDB receives a report of a neighbourly dispute, it will first encourage the neighbours to resolve their disagreements amicably between themselves, or seek the assistance of grassroots and community leaders to provide informal mediation.
If the dispute continues, HDB will suggest to the residents involved to seek voluntary mediation at the Community Mediation Centre, or to take the matter to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT) as a last resort. In that sense, the CDRT is not meant to deter or reduce the number of disputes, but to provide a way to resolve longstanding neighbour issues.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cross-agency Collaboration for Evaluation of Design for Covered Footpaths","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"58 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for National Development whether the Municipal Services Office will work with other agencies to evaluate the design of covered footpaths with the view of widening the footpaths.
Mr Lawrence Wong: LTA, URA, HDB and other stakeholder agencies have drawn up a common set of Walking and Cycling Design Guidelines to help industry and Government agencies improve urban street design for commuters. The guidelines, which have been in place since 1 February 2019, describe the recommended design and width of covered linkways and their associated footpaths.
Newer covered linkways generally conform to these recommended specifications.
Older covered linkways built before these harmonised guidelines may not conform to these specifications. Where needed, and where there are no site constraints, MSO works with the relevant agencies to consider the cost-effectiveness of widening the covered linkway and its associated footpath.
I thank Mr Lim for his feedback, which helps us improve our shared living environment.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Manufacturers’ Information on Recycling Classification on Product Packages","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"59 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether there are plans to request manufacturers to provide information to consumers on the recycling classification of their product packages or by displaying marks on their packaging to increase public awareness on how to recycle.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: We currently have no plans to require manufacturers to provide consumers with the recycling classification of their product packaging or to display such labels on their packaging. In countries that require consumers to sort and segregate their recyclables, recycling labels are useful to inform consumers of the material that the packaging is made of. Consumers are then able to deposit the packaging in the appropriate recycling bin.
However, Singapore adopts a commingled approach for the collection of household recyclables under the National Recycling Programme. The public does not need to sort their recyclables according to material type. All recyclables are collected in the same bin and transported to material recovery facilities where they are sorted, baled and sent for recycling. The commingled approach makes recycling more convenient for the public, takes up less space and facilitates more efficient collection of recyclables.
My Ministry and NEA will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to raise public awareness on recycling, including exploring the possibility of displaying recycling labels on packaging. We launched the #RecycleRight movement to encourage Singaporeans to recycle right. The key is to avoid contamination of recyclables through food waste and liquids. We also rolled out a redesigned recycling label for our blue commingled bins to clearly indicate examples of what can and cannot be recycled.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Subsidy on Treated Water Supplied to Malaysia","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"60 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether the Government tracks the amount of subsidies given to Malaysia for the supply of treated water every year; and (b) if so, what is the estimated amount of subsidies given to Malaysia since the Government started such tracking.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Under the 1962 Water Agreement, Johor is entitled to buy treated water of up to two percent of the total quantity of water we import to Singapore on any given day, or about five million gallons of water per day based on the 250 million gallons of water we draw from the Johor River per day. The treated water is sold to Johor and at the stipulated price of 50 Malaysian sens per thousand gallons. Both Singapore and Malaysia must comply fully with the 1962 Water Agreement and neither can unilaterally change the terms of the Agreement, including the prices of raw and treated water.
As the Member has rightly pointed out, we are subsidising treated water sold to Malaysia. The treated water price of 50 Malaysian sens per thousand gallons is only a fraction of the cost to Singapore of treating water at the Johor River Waterworks and supplying it to Malaysia, which was Malaysian Ringgit 2.40 per thousand gallons in 1997. The exact subsidies have varied over time as our cost has increased over the past 20 years due to factors such as the higher cost of materials and energy. We are, however, unable to share the amount of subsidies that have been provided over time.
At Malaysia's request, Singapore has been regularly supplying Johor with 16 million gallons per day, and up to 22 million gallons per day at times, of treated water. This is beyond Johor's entitlement of five million gallons of water per day under the 1962 Water Agreement. All treated water supplied to Johor is sold at the same price of 50 Malaysian sens per thousand gallons, without prejudice to our rights under the 1962 Water Agreement. We do so out of goodwill and in the spirit of good neighbourliness.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of British Inventor's Announcement to Drop Electric Car Project in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"61 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what is the impact of Dyson's sudden announcement of closure of its automative division in Singapore and how will the previous investment commitments by the company be honoured.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: Dyson's decision to wind down its electric vehicle business will not impact its presence and operations in Singapore. Out of Dyson's 1,200-strong workforce in Singapore, 20 employees are from their electric vehicle business. Dyson will redeploy the affected employees within the organisation.
Although Dyson will no longer pursue its electric vehicle business, it will continue to grow its core business in Singapore, develop battery technology for consumer products and expand R&D in areas such as sensors, robotics and artificial intelligence, which will also support the development of a smart mobility eco-system.
Other companies have also expressed interest in developing smart mobility solutions in Singapore. They value our highly skilled workforce, strengths in advanced technologies such as robotics and automation, and strong intellectual property protection regime. We will continue to work with these companies to harness these opportunities for Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Hybrid and Fully Electric Cars Registered in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"62 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Transport (a) how many hybrid cars and fully electric cars are registered currently; and (b) whether there are plans to convert all taxis, private hire vehicles and public buses to hybrid or fully electric vehicles.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: There are currently 34,000 hybrid and 1,000 fully electric cars registered in Singapore.
Under the Land Transport Master Plan 2040, we have articulated a vision to have all taxis, private hire cars and public buses be hybrid or fully electric by 2040. As for existing vehicles, it is for the owners to decide if they wish to switch.
We understand that all taxi companies and some private hire car booking providers and car rental companies have committed to having 100% cleaner fleets by 2040.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Improving Connectivity from Private Estates to Public Transport Nodes to Encourage More Go Car-lite","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"63 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Transport (a) how can the connectivity from private estates to public transport nodes be improved as citizens are encouraged to go car-lite and more seniors are not driving due to old age; and (b) what are the short- to mid-term plans that can be implemented.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We are committed to ensuring that there are adequate public bus services for both public and private residential estates, subject to a minimum level of ridership. We work closely with the local Members of Parliament and grassroots leaders to better understand commuters’ need when planning bus services throughout Singapore.
Today, around 20% of our bus services serve private estates. The bus services that ply through private estates take routes that serve the largest number of residents. While we try to provide better coverage to the estates, it is not always possible to serve every corner. We seek the Member's understanding.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Conventional Credit Assessment Method for Bank Loans","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"64 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Prime Minister whether the policy and guiding principles for bank loans based on conventional credit assessment methodology will be reviewed and updated to be relevant to changing business models.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): MAS' regulations and guidelines pertaining to banks seek to ensure that they make sound lending decisions, which support resilient and sustainable financing of our economy and the markets that they serve abroad.
Big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are opening up new avenues for lenders to improve their risk management, as well as improve outcomes for customers across a range of business activities.
The availability of unconventional data sources, such as customers' near real-time cashflows, transaction and payments data patterns, could potentially lead to better insights on customer preferences, behaviour, and credit worthiness. Such insights could benefit customers themselves, by allowing banks to provide better tailored and useful services. For example, they could lead to more differentiated pricing benefiting customers with strong credit standing, or greater availability of credit to previously under-served segments of the market.
But the core principles of credit risk management that underpin MAS' regulations remain relevant. Proper governance and oversight, robust risk models and methodologies, independent credit assessments and reviews are some of these fundamental supervisory requirements. However, new lending practices that rely heavily on unconventional data sources or artificial intelligence do come with specific risks that banks have to address. The use of inaccurate or non-representative data could result in wrong lending decisions or pricing and unintentional biases. AI algorithms that determine lending decisions may also be harder to validate for accuracy relative to more established lending processes.
To promote the responsible use of AI and data analytics, MAS has co-developed with the financial industry a set of principles to promote fairness, ethics, accountability and transparency in the provision of financial products and services (FEAT Principles). Through these FEAT Principles, MAS is working with financial firms to strengthen internal governance around data management and use. MAS expects financial firms to put in place robust data and model governance frameworks and processes that support transparency and auditability, so that data-driven or AI models can be explained, understood and monitored, and be subject to regular reviews and validation. Financial firms are also expected to ensure that the use of AI and data analytics continues to be aligned with their corporate ethical standards and codes of conduct.
We are closely monitoring these developments in technology and business models. MAS will continue to proactively refine and adapt its regulatory and supervisory approach in a way that promotes innovation while safeguarding public confidence in our financial sector.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Subsidies for School Bus Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"65 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Education whether there are subsidies for school bus services, especially where a family has multiple children attending school.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) provides financial support for Singapore Citizen (SC) students from lower income families in our Primary schools, Secondary schools and Junior Colleges. For Primary and Secondary schools, the FAS covers school and miscellaneous fees, textbooks, uniforms, meals and transport expenses, including a 50% subsidy of school bus charges.
As FAS is provided on a per child basis, families with more children are not disadvantaged nor adversely affected.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Hands-on Community Activities for Singapore Students on Overseas Cultural Immersion Trips","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"66 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Education whether the overseas cultural immersions for students can include hands-on activities by which the students can meaningfully contribute to the communities there.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: As part of the efforts to help our youth develop 21st Century competencies, schools organise overseas trips every year aimed to expand our students in areas like cultural enrichment, language immersion and education in history or geography.
Depending on the objectives of the visit, community projects may be included as part of the trip. Where appropriate, schools could have our youths conduct English and Mathematics lessons for the local children, paint the walls in the school or refurbish the library. In the process, we hope our students develop a sense of empathy as they learn about the life of their peers in the countries they visit and draw lessons from the tenacity and resilience of these communities.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Take-up Rate for Dementia Day Care Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"67 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Health (a) how many Singaporeans are currently utilising dementia day care services; (b) what is the existing ratio of capacity to demand; and (c) whether there are plans to also subsidise transportation costs to the day care centres.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: As at end June 2019, dementia day care centres across the island had capacity to serve up to 3,400 clients each day. At the same time, there were about 3,100 Singaporeans utilising dementia day care1. Some may not attend day care every day, depending on their individual care arrangements.
MOH provides means-tested subsidies for transport to and from dementia day care centres for eligible clients. This includes subsidies for centre-owned transport services, taxi services or private-hire car services where appropriate.
MOH will continue to monitor the demand for dementia day care services and support seniors and care-givers to receive the care they require.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":["1 : No. of active clients based on submissions on Intermediate and Long-Term Care Portal in August 2019. Data may be incomplete for non-subsidised clients."],"footNoteQuestions":["67"],"questionNo":"67"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Frail Patients who Do Not Show Up for Follow-up Treatment at Specialist Clinics Despite Polyclinic Referrals","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"68 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Health (a) since 2010, what is the number of frail patients who have not showed up for follow-up treatment at specialist clinics after polyclinic referrals; (b) what are the reasons that these patients are not attending the follow-up treatment; (c) how can the Ministry or agencies assist in improving the situation; and (d) what are the longer term plans for geriatric care in the heartlands.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: About 12% to 20% of patients aged 65 and older do not show up for their SOC appointments despite alerts and reminders by the hospital or polyclinics.
Based on surveys conducted by public hospitals, the main reasons for not attending SOC appointments include improvement in the patient’s medical condition, the patient having sought other treatments or treatments at other healthcare providers, the patient or care-giver not being well enough to attend, the patient had forgotten about or decided not to proceed with their appointments.
Other than alerts and reminders to the patients or their nominated caregivers, MOH has put in place the Medical Escort and Transport scheme to accompany and assist frail patients from their homes for their medical appointments at SOC or polyclinic and back. At hospitals and polyclinics, staff are trained to identify and assist frail patients when they arrive for appointments, for example providing wheelchairs and wheelchair assistance if needed. In cases where a patient has multiple SOC appointments, hospitals may help consolidate his or her appointments to reduce the number of visits needed.
As our goal is to enable seniors to age-in-place, we have also put in place measures to support frail seniors and their caregivers by enhancing the accessibility, quality and affordability of care options in the community. For example, the Silver Generation Office (SGO) reaches out to seniors through its volunteers, the Silver Generation Ambassadors (SGAs). When needed, SGAs connect seniors to health and social care services through the Community Network for Seniors (CNS). CNS then works various healthcare and community partners to coordinate care services for the seniors, including ensuring seniors receive medical follow-up in a timely manner.
MOH will continue to expand care options in the community and work with the public hospitals, polyclinics and community providers to assist frail patients to access medical care.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enhancing Road Safety for Elderly Pedestrians with Public Education","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"69 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how is the Ministry raising awareness amongst our elderly to use pedestrian crossings and refrain from jaywalking; and (b) how is the Ministry strengthening public education and outreach efforts to the motorcycling community to pay greater attention to elderly pedestrians.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Traffic Police regularly engages the elderly at places they frequent, such as Senior Activity Centres, to raise their awareness on road safety by highlighting the common causes of accidents and the dangers of jaywalking.
The Traffic Police also partners the Singapore Road Safety Council and its community partners to organise regular road safety events to engage the elderly. This includes the recent Road Safety Carnival for Seniors held on 12 October 2019.
They also conduct road safety outreach efforts to raise awareness among motorists, including motorcyclists, to look out for pedestrians, especially when driving in the Silver Zones. These include road safety messages which are disseminated island-wide, and the \"Use Your RoadSense\" movement which aims to build a culture of road-safe behaviour. Specifically for motorcyclists, there is the annual Singapore Ride Safe campaign to promote good road sense and riding behaviour.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Subsidy for Replacement of Fire-rated Main Doors for HDB Flats","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"70 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for National Development for HDB flats owners who are required to have fire-rated main doors and wish to replace them, whether the Ministry will consider offering these owners the same amount of subsidy as those owners who choose to replace their main doors with non-fire rated ones under the Home Improvement Programme to ensure equitability.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Since 1996, the Fire Code has required the main doors of selected HDB flats, such as those which face fire escape routes, to be fire-rated. All flats built by HDB since then have been provided with fire-rated main doors, where required. For flats built prior to 1996, HDB had carried out a one-off door replacement exercise for those which needed fire-rated main doors to comply with the Fire Code, at no cost to residents.
As the units with fire-rated doors have already enjoyed a free replacement of doors by HDB, HDB will not provide any further subsidy for the replacement of these doors during the Home Improvement Programme.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Use of Photographs or Video Recordings of High-rise Littering and Feeding of Pigeons to Prosecute Perpetrators","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"71 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether photographs or video recordings of high-rise littering and feeding of pigeons be used to prosecute perpetrators; and (b) if so, how can the Ministry work with the community and law enforcement agencies to bring more culprits to task.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: NEA deploys surveillance cameras with video analytics to catch high-rise littering offenders. These cameras have helped improve NEA's enforcement efforts, leading to more than 2,200 offenders being caught since deployments began in 2012.
NParks similarly installs cameras and conducts surveillance at identified feeding hotspots to curb pigeon feeding. It also works with Town Councils to put up notices to solicit information about feeding activities in order to carry out targeted enforcement operations.
Members of the public can submit photos and video-recordings of high-rise littering and pigeon feeding incidents to NEA and NParks respectively to aid the agencies’ investigations and enable more targeted enforcement operations against such offences.
While there are laws against high-rise littering and pigeon feeding, it is more important that we foster collective responsibility for our environment and cultivate positive social norms.
To this end, NEA works closely with grassroots leaders and community organisations to address feedback and raise awareness among residents by distributing advisories against high-rise littering during home visits and promoting graciousness and civic-mindedness at community events. It also collaborates with the Public Hygiene Council and partners of the nationwide \"Keep Singapore Clean\" movement to inculcate the habit of keeping our homes and neighbourhoods clean. NParks and the Town Councils have also been working together to educate residents about the issues caused by pigeon feeding through advisories, posters, and outreach events.
The Government will continue to enforce against high-rise littering and curb pigeon feeding, but we cannot do it alone. Every one of us must do our part to keep Singapore a clean, green, and sustainable home for our future generations.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"New Timeline to Complete Construction of Johor-Singapore Rapid Transit System","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"72 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Transport in light that the suspension of the decision to construct the Johor-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) ends on 31 October 2019 (a) whether Malaysia has agreed to proceed with the construction of the RTS; and (b) if so, what will be the estimated new timeline to complete the construction of the RTS.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: On 21 May 2019, Singapore and Malaysia signed a Supplemental Agreement to suspend the construction of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link Project up to 30 September 2019. Malaysia had requested the suspension, to give them time to study ways to reduce the project cost. While the RTS Link Bilateral Agreement makes no provision for a suspension, in the spirit of bilateral cooperation, Singapore agreed to Malaysia’s request. On 20 September 2019, Singapore received Malaysia’s request for an extension of the suspension period to 31 October 2019. Singapore agreed to Malaysia's request.
On 21 October 2019, Malaysia conveyed to Singapore that they intend to proceed with the RTS Link Project with some changes. Malaysia was however not yet ready to share the details of their proposed changes with Singapore. Without the details, Malaysia's proposal is incomplete and Singapore is unable to make a thorough assessment of the technical and commercial feasibility of the proposal.
On 29 October 2019, Malaysia requested a further extension of the suspension period by six months to 30 April 2020. In the spirit of bilateral cooperation, Singapore agreed to Malaysia's request to further extend the suspension period.
Singapore welcomes Malaysia’s decision to proceed with the RTS Link Project. This is a mutually beneficial Project for both countries. The RTS Link will significantly ease Causeway congestion, facilitate business and tourism, and bring our people closer together. While we are not obliged to accept Malaysia’s proposed changes, we will continue to keep an open mind and assess them carefully and objectively.
Both sides are currently discussing the changes to the Project, which will require amendments to the RTS Link Bilateral Agreement. Apart from the re-stated Bilateral Agreement, two other agreements will need to be signed at the same time by the end of the suspension period. They are the Joint Venture Agreement between Singapore's SMRT Corporation and Malaysia's Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to constitute a joint venture Operating Company or \"OpCo\", and a Concession Agreement for the Singapore and Malaysian Governments to appoint this OpCo as the RTS Link operator. The discussions swill take some time, and both sides are working hard on this.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Higher Cost of Monthly Student Concession Pass Covering Travel on Trains and Buses","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"73 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Transport why does the hybrid monthly student concession pass that covers both MRT trains and buses cost significantly more than a solely bus or MRT train monthly concession pass for a student.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: In Singapore, students enjoy significant concessions when travelling on public transport. Depending on their travelling habits, students can choose the concession option that best benefits them.
If they seldom mix their modes of travel, taking only buses or trains most of the time, they may, for instance choose the single-mode concession passes at $27.50 per month for buses or $25 for trains, if they are Secondary school students. Otherwise, they may choose the hybrid student pass which provides them with unlimited rides on both buses and trains. The latter, at $51 per month, is priced higher in return for full flexibility.
The student concession passes are significantly cheaper than the adult hybrid pass which is priced at $120 per month. As the concessions are funded by other commuters, further discounts will lead to higher fares for other commuter groups or a heavier burden on taxpayers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Patients Showing Resistance to Antibiotics in Recent Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"74 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Health (a) how many patients have shown resistance to antibiotics over the last three years; (b) what are the profiles of these patients; and (c) what measures are being implemented in 2019 to educate target groups about the correct use of antibiotics.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Antimicrobial resistance or \"AMR\" is a commonly occurring phenomenon, where microorganisms change and develop resistance after being exposed to antimicrobial drugs. However, the excessive and inappropriate use of antimicrobials has exacerbated its development. Today, AMR has been observed across a range of diseases, from common respiratory and urinary tract infections, to more serious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis. Treatment for resistant infections often involves newer generation drugs that are usually more expensive, require longer duration of treatment or lengthier stay in hospitals, and sometimes with potentially more side effects.
AMR in the community such as those treated in the GP setting is not centrally tracked. In our public hospitals, AMR is monitored through indicators on infection by the bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or \"MRSA\" – a resistant infection common in the hospital setting, and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae or \"CPE\" – a more recent form of antimicrobial resistance of emerging concern globally.
The infection rate of MRSA has dropped from 17.6 per 10,000 inpatient days in 2011, to 10.6 per 10,000 inpatient days in 2018. Between 2015 and 2018, CPE infection rates here have hovered around 0.9 per 10,000 patient days per year.
Individuals with weakened immune systems and those who require invasive procedures or medical devices are more vulnerable to AMR infections. A study of patients in public hospitals infected with CPE found that the median age was 66 years old and many had chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease. AMR is often exacerbated by the inappropriate and overuse of antibiotics. About three quarters of these patients had used antibiotics in the preceding 30 days.
Antibiotics should only be prescribed when necessary. Antimicrobial Stewardship Programmes have been implemented in all public hospitals since 2011 to guide doctors on appropriate antibiotic use, so as to slow down the emergence of AMR. Recognising that a long-term multi-prong approach is necessary to address AMR, the National Strategic Action Plan was launched in 2017, to reduce and prevent the spread of AMR through the five key pillars of (i) Education; (ii) Surveillance; (iii) Infection Prevention and Control; (iv) Optimisation of Antimicrobial Use; and (v) Research.
Under the pillars of Education and Optimisation of Antimicrobial Use, the National Centre for Infectious Diseases is working on professional education efforts, such as training programmes and guidelines on the management of infections and antimicrobial use.
Patients too have an important role to play in the appropriate use of antibiotics. In 2018, the Health Promotion Board launched the annual \"Use Antibiotics Right\" public education campaign to address the general public misperception that antibiotics are needed for minor ailments, such as the common cold or flu, and to encourage patients to discuss with their doctors the necessity for antibiotic use. Patients are also reminded to follow the instructions given by their doctors on their prescribed antibiotics.
We will continue to work with all stakeholders to tackle AMR as everyone has a part to play.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of CPF Account Holders who Have Exhausted Personal MediSave Funds over Last 10 Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"75 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Health (a) in each of the last 10 years, how many CPF account holders have exhausted their personal MediSave funds and managed to have support from immediate family members' MediSave for their medical treatment; and (b) how many have also exhausted their family members' MediSave funds or who have no family members to turn to and help has been given through MediFund.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: In recent years, the Government has introduced a range of initiatives to help Singaporeans save for their healthcare needs. For example, we provide GSTV MediSave top-ups of up to $450 each year to Singapore citizens aged 65 years and above. Eligible seniors also receive annual MediSave top-ups of between $200 and $800 under the Pioneer Generation Package, and MediSave top-ups of $200 for five years between 2019 and 2023 under the Merdeka Generation Package.
Singaporeans can tap on their family members' MediSave to pay for their healthcare expenses, and do not need to exhaust their own MediSave accounts before doing so. The number of CPF members with MediSave balances of less than $100 and tapped on their family members' MediSave for their medical treatment is about 2% of all CPF members who utilised MediSave each year between 2016 and 2018.
MediFund is a safety net for patients who face financial difficulties with their medical bills after Government subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave. Independent MediFund Committees consider each case holistically taking into consideration patients' circumstances, and patients are not required to fully exhaust their own or their family members' MediSave. As such, we do not track the number of Singaporeans who have received MediFund assistance because they have exhausted family members' MediSave or who have no family members.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Improvement of Quality of Standards for Buses Under Bus Contracting Model","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"77 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether under the Bus Contracting Model, the Quality of Service (QoS) standards for bus services, particularly with respect to scheduled headway during peak hours, have improved; and (b) how is technology leveraged upon to monitor the bus services' operating and quality of service performance standards regularly.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Commuters have enjoyed higher service levels, in particular during peak hours, since the transition to the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) in September 2016. All trunk bus services are now scheduled at headways of 15 minutes or less during the morning and evening peak periods, compared to the pre-BCM standard of 30 minutes or less.
Peak-hour service levels of feeder services have also improved. All feeder services now have scheduled headways of not more than eight minutes, compared to the pre-BCM standard of not more than 10 minutes for at least 90% of feeder services.
LTA regularly monitors bus operations and service performance by tapping on commuter travel data from the fare ticketing system, and bus GPS data from the Common Fleet Management System (CFMS). LTA uses these data to adjust bus capacities in tandem with demand changes, to ensure that bus services keep to the standards.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reach of HPB's Workplace Mental Health Solution Initiative","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"79 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Health (a) how successful has HPB's Workplace Mental Health Solution initiative been since its launch in 2012; (b) what other funding support has been given to encourage companies to roll out mental wellness programmes at the workplace; and (c) how many working professionals have utilised HPB's Talk2Us helpline to seek help in managing workplace-related stress.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Health Promotion Board's (HPB) Workplace Mental Health Solution initiative supports mental well-being programmes and resources at workplaces.
For example, a one-day on-site management training workshop helps equip managers and human resource personnel with knowledge to be supportive leaders at their workplaces. Two half-day workshops are also available to provide skills to those supporting others at work, and developing and implementing workplace mental health programmes. Close to 1,400 managers and HR personnel have benefited from these programmes since 2017.
HPB also partners landlords and developers to bring mental well-being talks and workshops on-site. Small and medium enterprises can choose from a list of co-funded mental well-being activities for implementation. There are also health coaching programmes which incorporate mental health tips for shift workers in sectors, such as retail, F&B and cleaning. In 2018, 9,500 workers benefited from these mental well-being activities.
In addition, HPB runs Talk2US. This is a free and confidential helpline to support working adults with workplace-related stress. Talk2US has helped over 460 employees in 2018.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Expected Fare Revenue Increase for Public Transport Operators from Commuters Fare Hike and Impact on Operators' Service Delivery","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"80 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Transport whether the expected increase in fare revenue for MRT operators amounting to $132.5 million a year arising from the fee hike announced by the Public Transport Council to deal with the cost pressures highlighted by the operators in their applications to the Public Transport Authority is sufficient to ensure that there will be no performance degradation by these operators.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: There are existing mechanisms in place to guard against performance degradation. Rail services are regulated through operating licences, which set out the minimum performance standards, while bus operators are contractually required to meet service standards.
The Government will continue to invest significant resources to support a reliable and high quality public transport system, while keeping fares affordable for all. Over the next five years, the Government expects to put in close to $1 billion to renew rail operating assets, and another $1 billion to subsidise bus operations every year. The heavy subsidies by Government, together with the estimated increase in fare revenue of $132.5 million from the 2019 Fare Review Exercise, will help sustain public transport service levels for both bus and rail.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Average Waiting Times for Appointments for Subsidised Mental Health Therapy and Counselling at Public Hospitals","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"81 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health what are the average waiting times and waiting time range for patients to get an appointment for subsidised mental health therapy and counselling treatment at public hospitals.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: In our public hospitals, mental health therapy and counselling are provided at Specialist Outpatient Clinics. Between 2017 and 2018, the overall median waiting time for new subsidised psychiatrist appointments across the public hospitals ranged from 24 days to 27 days. Patients whose conditions are more severe or who require more urgent attention are given earlier appointments.
Other than referrals to Specialist Outpatient Clinics, under the Community Mental Health (CMH) Masterplan, we are strengthening primary and community-based care and support for those with stable mental health conditions.
MOH will continue to work with public hospitals and service providers in the community, including schools, social service agencies and family service centres, to ensure that we provide holistic and timely support for persons with mental healthcare needs.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans for Singapore to Reach Net Zero Emissions","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Prime Minister following the SG Climate Rally where our youths called for peak emissions by 2020, halved emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050, whether the Government is (i) including carbon emission reductions and economic decarbonisation targets in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to be updated by 2020; (ii) enhancing our upcoming NDC to reflect its highest possible ambition; (iii) declaring a climate emergency to highlight the severity of the climate crisis and (iv) setting a timeline for Singapore to reach net zero emissions.
Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): Singapore recognises that climate change is a global and national existential issue and there is urgency for all countries to take climate action. Singapore’s Emissions Intensity (EI), that is, greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of GDP, is currently one of the lowest in the world. This is the result of choosing environmentally responsible policies as we developed, for example our vehicle control and use measures; and converting almost completely to the use of natural gas for electricity generation instead of fuel oil since the early 2000s. In comparison, many developed and developing countries are still using significant amounts of coal for electricity generation, and motor-vehicle fuel is still subsidised in several countries in our region.
We are continuing to do our part to address greenhouse gas emissions. We have pledged in our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that by 2030, we will further reduce our EI by 36% from 2005 levels. We also aim to peak our emissions at 65 million tonne of CO2 equivalent around 2030. This commitment was made after carefully assessing our circumstances, and what we are able to do.
Singapore's NDC is ambitious, given our circumstances. We are a small, highly urbanised city-state, and our small land area, lack of great rivers and low and variable wind speeds limit our ability to deploy nuclear and renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind and solar energy. Nonetheless, we seek to push the bounds of innovation such as deploying floating solar photovoltaic systems on our reservoirs and offshore to make up for shortage of land area to deploy them. Such innovations have given us confidence to raise our level of ambition, to double our solar deployment target from 1 Gigawatt peak (GWp) beyond 2020 to at least 2 GWp by 2030. At this level, solar power will be able to meet around 4% of our current annual electricity needs.
Achieving our NDC will require significant whole-of-nation effort. We constantly encourage businesses and individuals to be more energy efficient. We amended the Energy Conservation Act in 2017 to require large industrial emitters to implement good energy management practices. Our policies aim to help our industries, such as petro-chemicals and electronics, be among the best-in-class globally so that we can be a responsible supplier of such products. This year, we implemented an enhanced set of Industry Energy Efficiency schemes. The Government is also making major investments to enhance public transport and active mobility infrastructure so that, by 2040, nine in 10 of all peak period journeys will be made on \"walk, cycle and ride\" transport modes, where \"ride\" refers to public and shared transport. We were the first to implement an economy-wide carbon tax in our region and did so without exemptions.
We are studying how further advances in technology can help Singapore transit earlier to a lower carbon future, and exploring the feasibility of working towards net zero emissions. For example, the Government has commissioned studies to evaluate the opportunities and challenges of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), and \"green\" hydrogen, and recommend next steps for Singapore. We will also work with industry and our research community to explore pilot projects and implement research and development initiatives to improve their feasibility, and to develop the necessary frameworks to support adoption when these solutions become economically viable.
Climate change is a global issue that requires a global response, and we are committed to work with the international community to address this urgent challenge. For Singapore to do our full part, the Government cannot do it alone. We are heartened that Singaporeans, especially our youth, care deeply about this issue. A recent survey by the National Climate Change Secretariat also showed that most Singaporeans understand the importance of the issue and are prepared to take climate-friendly actions in their daily lives to address the issue. Saving electricity, using public transport and reducing waste are practical ways for Singaporeans to cut carbon emissions. We will continue to work closely with businesses, the community and individuals to do more to tackle climate change together.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Requirement for Temasek and GIC to Observe Policy of Rotating Engagement Partners of Their External Auditors","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"2 Mr Leon Perera asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether Temasek and GIC observe a policy of rotating the engagement partners of their external auditors after a certain number of years.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Temasek is an investment holding company and owns the assets it manages. It is audited by commercial auditors, and has in place a policy of rotating its audit engagement partners every five years. This is similar to the requirement imposed by SGX on listed companies to rotate the audit partner after five consecutive audits.
GIC manages the Government's assets. Hence, it is audited by the Auditor-General, who is appointed by the President and serves as an independent Organ of State under the Constitution to audit the entities managing public funds.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Progress of Discussion with Malaysia on Cross-country MRT Line","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"3 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport what is the latest progress of the discussion with Malaysia on the cross-country MRT line and how soon can it be completed.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: On 21 May 2019, Singapore and Malaysia signed a Supplemental Agreement to suspend the construction of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link Project up to 30 September 2019. Malaysia had requested the suspension, to give them time to study ways to reduce the project cost. While the RTS Link Bilateral Agreement makes no provision for a suspension, in the spirit of bilateral cooperation, Singapore agreed to Malaysia's request. On 20 September 2019, Singapore received Malaysia’s request for an extension of the suspension period to 31 October 2019. Singapore agreed to Malaysia's request.
On 21 October 2019, Malaysia conveyed to Singapore that they intend to proceed with the RTS Link Project with some changes. Malaysia was however not yet ready to share the details of their proposed changes with Singapore. Without the details, Malaysia's proposal is incomplete and Singapore is unable to make a thorough assessment of the technical and commercial feasibility of the proposal.
On 29 October 2019, Malaysia requested a further extension of the suspension period by six months to 30 April 2020. In the spirit of bilateral cooperation, Singapore agreed to Malaysia’s request to further extend the suspension period.
Singapore welcomes Malaysia's decision to proceed with the RTS Link Project. This is a mutually beneficial Project for both countries. The RTS Link will significantly ease Causeway congestion, facilitate business and tourism, and bring our people closer together. While we are not obliged to accept Malaysia's proposed changes, we will continue to keep an open mind and assess them carefully and objectively.
Both sides are currently discussing the changes to the Project, which will require amendments to the RTS Link Bilateral Agreement. Apart from the re-stated Bilateral Agreement, two other agreements will need to be signed at the same time by the end of the suspension period. They are the Joint Venture Agreement between Singapore's SMRT Corporation and Malaysia's Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to constitute a joint venture Operating Company or \"OpCo\", and a Concession Agreement for the Singapore and Malaysian Governments to appoint this OpCo as the RTS Link operator. The discussions will take some time, and both sides are working hard on this.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Statistics on PMD Riders Caught for Speeding on Footpaths and Reported Accidents between PMD Users and Pedestrians","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"4 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the number of PMD riders caught for speeding on footpaths since the speed limit was lowered to 10 km/h in February 2019; (b) what is the number of reported accidents between PMD users and pedestrians since this change; and (c) what other measures is LTA taking to mitigate such accidents.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We reduced the speed limit on footpaths from 15 km/h to 10 km/h on 1 February 2019. Between 1 February and 30 September 2019, LTA caught 55 personal mobility device (PMD) riders for speeding on footpaths. Over the same period, there were about 90 reported accidents between PMD riders and pedestrians on footpaths.
To restore safety on footpaths for pedestrians, we have decided to prohibit e-scooter usage on footpaths from 5 November 2019.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Tracking of Delivery Riders using PMDs to Carry Out Their Delivery","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"5 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Government keeps track of the number of delivery riders for food or other delivery companies who are currently using PMDs to carry out their delivery work and, if so, what is the current number of such riders; and (b) if it does not, whether the Government intends to start keeping track of the number of such riders.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: As food delivery riders can work for more than one company, we do not track their number. We understand from the major food delivery companies that their deliveries are largely done by motorcycles and delivery vehicles. Less than 30% of Deliveroo and FoodPanda's riders use e-scooters.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Peak and Off-peak Waiting and Clearance Times at Singapore-Malaysia Land Checkpoints","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"6 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the peak and off-peak waiting and clearance times at Singapore-Malaysia land checkpoints; and (b) whether the Ministry can publish data on daily and hourly average traffic volumes, waiting times and clearance times to improve accountability and allow commuters and businesses to plan ahead.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Woodlands and Tuas land checkpoints are among the busiest in the world. Every day, around 400,000 travellers cross them. Weekday traffic is usually highest from 5 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 9 pm. The waiting time at the Singapore checkpoints can go up to 1.5 hours during peak periods, and 30 minutes during non-peak periods. This does not include the time needed to clear immigration in Malaysia.
The waiting time increases significantly during school holidays, festive periods and long weekends, and could go beyond two hours.
Other unpredictable factors also affect the waiting time. These include traffic accidents, vehicle breakdowns, security incidents and traffic tailbacks from Johor.
ICA provides real-time checkpoint traffic updates via local radio stations, social media platforms, and LTA's Expressway Monitoring Advisory System signage. Travellers can also check the checkpoint traffic conditions via live CCTVs on LTA's OneMotoring website, or via commercial navigation apps that provide estimated travel times.
These real-time updates, and the broad traffic trends I had mentioned earlier, should help travellers plan their journey. It may not be useful or meaningful to compile and publish data on an hourly and daily basis.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Statistics on Infants and Toddlers Not Secured in Child Seats and Injured in Motor Accidents in Past 10 Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"7 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Home Affairs for each year in the past 10 years, what is number and percentage of infants and toddlers injured in motor accidents who were not secured in child seats.
Mr K Shanmugam: Traffic Police does not have the breakdown of data for the past 10 years.
For 2017 and 2018, an average of 53 infants and toddlers of age three years and below each year were injured in accidents while in motor vehicles. Twenty-seven percent of the infants and toddlers were in taxis or public buses, for which the use of child seats is not required. Fifteen percent of them were not in child seats. Seven percent of them were in child seats. For the remaining 51%, Traffic Police's records did not track whether they were in child seats.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assisting Retiring SCDF Officers to Transit into Civil Emergencies or Fire Safety-related Industries","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"8 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how is the Ministry helping retiring SCDF officers to transit into civil emergencies or fire safety-related industries; (b) how many officers has the Ministry supported in post-retirement career support; and (c) how will the Ministry strengthen its career transition preparation and support.
Mr K Shanmugam: SCDF has worked with SkillsFuture Singapore to accredit selected modules of SCDF's fire-fighting and emergency medical training programmes under the national Workforce Skills Qualifications framework. The competencies acquired by SCDF officers will thus be recognised by prospective employers and improve our officers' employability when they retire from SCDF.
MHA has also introduced a number of initiatives to help retiring SCDF and other Home Team officers prepare for a second career. We provide time-off for them to attend courses to learn new skills, and subsidise the cost of their courses. For example, officers may apply to pursue a Fire Safety Manager (FSM) qualification programme, which will enable them to take up jobs as FSMs for commercial and industrial buildings after retirement.
We actively engage prospective employers to source for suitable job opportunities for our retiring officers. We organise regular networking sessions where our officers can interact with prospective employers. We also facilitate officers' career transition by enabling them to take up a job attachment in a company prior to their retirement to try out the job. This will help both the officer and the prospective employer assess the fit before formal employment.
We provide career transition support to all our retiring officers. Over the last two years, more than 200 retiring SCDF officers have participated in these career transition programmes.
MHA has recently launched a new career transition resources portal to provide retiring and retired officers with useful information on different job industries, job opportunities, as well as career events and workshops. MHA also offers one-on-one career coaching sessions to our retiring officers to guide them on their career transition journey.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Effectiveness of Police’s PolCam 2.0 in Preventing and Solving Crimes in Heartlands","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"9 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how effective has the Police's camera system PolCam 2.0 been in preventing and solving crimes in the heartlands; (b) how will the system be enhanced in the future; and (c) what are the costs for maintaining and upgrading the system.
Mr K Shanmugam: As of September 2019, Police have installed about 11,000 cameras under PolCam 2.0 in town centres, neighbourhood centres, hawker centres and linkways leading to transportation nodes such as MRT stations and bus interchanges. Police will continue to install cameras in more public areas based on our operational needs to enhance public security and to prevent and detect crime.
The tender for the PolCam 2.0 project was awarded at a budget of $45 million, including maintenance costs.
These cameras have helped Police deter and solve crimes, such as unlicensed moneylending, robbery and theft, and outrage of modesty. As of September 2019, more than 3,400 cases had been solved with the help of video footage from Police cameras.
The Police will continue to leverage technology as a key strategy to ensure a safe and secure home for Singaporeans.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Deterrent Measures to Ensure Integrated Resorts Do Not Repeat Same Offences","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"10 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Home Affairs in respect of the big increase in the fines imposed on Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands last year (a) what measures have been or will be taken to ensure that the Integrated Resorts do not repeat the same offences in future; and (b) whether current punishments for the offences reported are sufficient to deter future occurrences.
Mr K Shanmugam: The increase was mainly due to lapses by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in performing required customer due diligence (CDD) checks; this accounted for $650,000 of the total increase from the year before. There was also an increase of $35,000 in financial penalties imposed for social safeguard breaches by both Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and RWS.
On the lapses relating to CDD, RWS had processed some transactions when the required checks on the patrons were incomplete, and had failed to verify the identities of certain patrons. The casinos handle a lot of cash, and are thus susceptible to risks of money laundering and terrorism financing. CDD requirements are important measures to mitigate this risk.
On the lapses relating to social safeguards, RWS had allowed five minors and MBS had allowed one, to enter the casinos. MBS had also allowed a Permanent Resident to enter without payment of entry levy.
Both operators have enhanced their processes, which include system enhancements to automate checks and the conduct of refresher training for casino employees.
CRA has been giving guidance to the operators on putting in place measures to prevent and detect lapses. CRA also conducts unannounced spot checks and inspections.
Mr Tan also asks whether the current punishments are sufficient to deter future occurrences. CRA will continue to monitor the situation. The law provides for stiff penalties. However, the Member will appreciate, that the stiff penalties exist, is no guarantee in itself, that there will be no breaches of the law.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"More Flexibility in Use of MediSave for Maintenance Rehabilitation","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"11 Mr Christopher de Souza asked Minister for Health whether the Ministry will increase flexibility in the use of MediSave for maintenance rehabilitation especially for stroke patients who need long-term maintenance to keep their physical condition up.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: MediSave is primarily designed to help Singaporeans put aside sufficient savings for their hospitalisation expenses, particularly in old age. In considering any further expansion, it is important to ensure that Singaporeans have enough MediSave for such purposes.
Today, MediSave is allowed for active rehabilitation, which helps patients recover their functional status, including those who are recovering from stroke. From mid-2020, severely disabled patients aged 30 and above can withdraw up to $200 per month in cash from their own and/or their spouse's MediSave accounts to support their care needs, which can be used for maintenance exercise.
There are also other forms of support available to patients. Patients receive subsidies of up to 80% for non-residential long-term care services, including maintenance exercise. Those who require further financial assistance can approach medical social workers for assistance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Details on Inflation Rate for Dental Services without Government Subsidies","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"12 Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Minister for Health with regard to the 2.1% inflation rate for dental services after Government subsidies over the past 10 years (a) whether the Ministry is able to provide the inflation rate without Government subsidies; (b) whether the Ministry has the figures for the inflation rate for private sector dental services; and (c) whether these figures take into account the costs for dental implants, dental prosthetics like dentures and also specialised procedures like root canal operations.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Healthcare inflation measures the growth in actual prices of healthcare related goods and services, inclusive of taxes and after Government subsidies. It is calculated based on the Healthcare Consumer Price Index (CPI) compiled by the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS).
We currently do not have specific data on inflation for dental services without Government subsidies. Between 2009 and 2018, the inflation rate for dental services provided by the private sector was 2.3% per annum.
These inflation figures reflect the price changes for dental procedures commonly used by Singaporeans, such as scaling and polishing, filling, dental prosthetics (dentures) fitting, root canal treatment and so on. Dental implants are currently not included in the CPI basket as they are less frequently used.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Statistics on Mid-career Professionals Joining Nursing Profession Through Healthcare Professional Conversion Programme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"13 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Health (a) in the past three years, how many mid-career professionals have joined the nursing profession through the Healthcare Professional Conversion Programme (PCP); (b) which industries do these mid-career nurses come from; and (c) whether there can be an accelerated Nursing PCP for informal care-givers who have to leave their jobs due to family circumstances and are now looking to return to the workforce.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) in nursing support mid-career Singaporeans who wish to enter the nursing profession. In the last three years, close to 300 locals underwent such programmes.
About 40% of them were from non-nursing professions in the health and social services sectors. The other 60% come from a wide range of industries, such as manufacturing, finance and public administration.
The PCPs for Registered Nurses at the Diploma and Degree level are accelerated programmes that allow mid-career individuals to complete their training in two years, compared to fresh school leavers who would take three years to do so.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Use of MediSave Savings for Mental Health Therapy and Counselling Treatment at Public Hospitals","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"14 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health whether patients can be allowed to use their MediSave savings for mental health therapy and counselling treatment at public hospitals.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Mental health therapy and counselling treatment are typically provided in the outpatient setting. Subsidies are available for patients receiving these treatments in public healthcare institutions. Under the Chronic Disease Management Programme, patients with mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety can also withdraw up to $500 from MediSave per year to defray the cost of these outpatient treatments. In addition, patients aged 60 and above may withdraw another $200 per year under the Flexi-MediSave scheme.
Where a patient's mental health condition leads to an inpatient stay in a public hospital, he or she can receive subsidies and MediShield Life coverage for his or her hospitalisation bill. MediSave can also be used to cover the inpatient stay.
Singaporeans who face difficulties with their medical bills at public hospitals after Government subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave may approach medical social workers at public healthcare institutions for additional financial assistance. No Singaporean will be denied access to necessary and appropriate healthcare because of an inability to pay.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Tracking of Over-prescription of Medicine and Guidelines for Prescription Quantities","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"15 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry is keeping track of over-prescription of medicine in terms of quantity that can lead to cost inflation and wastage; and (b) whether the Ministry is providing guidelines for prescription quantities.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: While the Ministry does not specifically track over-prescription of medication, there are measures in place to minimise excessive provision of medication.
Depending on a patient's condition, doctors generally prescribe a supply of medication till the patient’s next appointment date. The supply of medication is normally set at no more than three months for normal medication and no more than six months for more stable chronic illnesses. For newly prescribed medications, public healthcare institutions encourage patients to collect a shorter duration of medication to prevent wastage, as the medication may be unsuitable.
Public healthcare hospitals also carry out medication reconciliation prior to a patient's discharge. This is a process of creating a consolidated list of all medications a patient is taking and reconciling them where appropriate. It helps to reduce potential adverse effects arising from medication interactions and reduce unnecessary drugs. Dispensing pharmacists also review the patient's medication to eliminate unnecessary or excessive supply of medication.
Beyond the public healthcare institutions, the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore also holds regular public education events to encourage patients not to over collect medications.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proportion of Publicly Accessible Copyright Digital Materials Held by NLB and NAS","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"16 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what proportion of publicly accessible digital materials held by NLB and NAS, the copyright of which belong to the Government, are downloadable; and (b) whether all such materials can be made available for download and, if not why.
Mr S Iswaran: One million and three hundred thousand digital Government materials are made publicly available across various NLB online platforms. These include annual reports, newsletters, school magazines, photographs, archived websites, Government files, oral history interviews, speeches and press releases. Approximately 88,000 are downloadable. Not all can be made available for download, due to conditions governing access stipulated by the respective agencies.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Demolition of Sentosa Merlion","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"17 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether all alternatives were explored before the decision was made to demolish the Sentosa Merlion; and (b) in light of the public sentiment from locals and tourists, whether the decision to demolish the Merlion will be reconsidered and, if not, whether there are plans to build another Merlion statue as a replacement.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) decided to demolish the Sentosa Merlion after exhausting all options of retaining or relocating it.
The size and location of the Sentosa Merlion will severely constrain the development of the surrounding area. It will also block access along the thoroughfare for the elderly and less mobile.
It is not feasible to relocate the Sentosa Merlion. It is 37 metres tall, which is the same size as a 12-storey building with staircase, lift and other structural installations within it.
We recognise that some members of the public have sentimental regard for the Sentosa Merlion. This is why its removal was a difficult decision for SDC. As there are five other replicas of the original Merlion in different parts of Singapore, there are no plans to build a replacement.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans for Population of Pulau Ubin","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"18 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the Ministry's five- and 10-year plans for the population of Pulau Ubin; (b) what is the population by age and gender of Pulau Ubin since 2014; (c) what criteria are used for this calculation; and (d) what are the measures in place to meet their healthcare, social and emotional needs, and by whom.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Our current plans are to keep Pulau Ubin a natural getaway for Singaporeans to enjoy. There are now about 130 people residing or working on the island.
NParks works closely with the Friends of Ubin Network (FUN), a group of diverse stakeholders, to ensure the well-being of the residents in Pulau Ubin. NParks has also set up a dedicated Community Liaison Team to address the needs of the community there. The team gathers feedback from the community and coordinates the sensitive improvement of facilities and services to meet household needs.
For example, the team conducts safety inspections and house repairs, drainage and track improvements, provides rubbish disposal services and goes door-to-door to distribute potable water during droughts. The team also coordinates with agencies, community partners and the grassroots to provide resources and programmes for the welfare of Ubin's residents. Collectively, these efforts aim to preserve Ubin's cultural heritage and way of life.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Announced Government Budget for Upgrading of Public and Private Estates over Next Few Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"19 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for National Development with regard to the recent Government's announcement that $1 billion will be spent on upgrading public and private estates over the next few years (a) how much of the announced budget is expected to be allocated to improvements in private housing estates; and (b) how the Government ensures that spending on private estates is allocated in a fair and equitable manner across estates.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MND will set aside $29 million to upgrade 10 private estates under the 10th batch of the Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP). In selecting estates for EUP, we consider the age and physical condition of the estate. We prioritise the estates with greater need for upgrading and with larger scope for improvement through the upgrading works. These tend to be older estates where there is room to upgrade their parks or playgrounds and to enhance barrier-free access, together with the covering of drains to create footpaths.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of Existing Uniform Development Charge and Differentiated Charges for Hotel Operators and Backpacker Hostel Operators","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"20 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will review the existing uniform development charge and differentiated charges for hotel operators and backpacker hostel operators as both cater to different types of tourists and backpacker hostel operators provide basic common and shared facilities, to ensure a more level playing field for the industry.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Development Charge (DC) is a tax payable on any enhancement in land value arising from URA granting planning permission for a development application. The DC system allows the state to channel the gains from the enhancement in land value to offset the costs of developing public infrastructure, for example, roads and utilities.
DC rates are broken down in nine broad use groups and 118 geographical sectors. Hotels and backpackers' hostels are under the same broad use group, as they both provide short-term accommodation and are allowed on sites zoned \"Hotel\" under the Master Plan.
However, land owners and developers who think that the prevailing DC rate overstates the value of their land can request for a spot valuation. In such an instance, the Chief Valuer will then look at the specific proposed use of the land and determine the valuation based on that specific use.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of Operation of Reinstatement Clauses for HDB Commercial Leases","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"21 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for National Development whether the Government will review the operation of reinstatement clauses for HDB commercial leases with a view to (i) requiring some cost sharing for reinstatement between outbound and inbound tenants and (ii) requiring reinstatement to be done only when there is an inbound tenant so as to better utilise existing structures and reduce the cost and environmental impact of wholesale reinstatement of premises.
Mr Lawrence Wong: HDB's tenancy agreements require outgoing tenants to reinstate the premises before returning the premises to HDB, as all of these units will be released back to the market and taken up by new tenants. So, the reinstatement allows the incoming tenants to take over the premises quickly and gives them the flexibility to renovate the shop space based on their unique needs and requirements.
Nonetheless, to reduce wastage and costs, HDB is prepared and has allowed outgoing tenants to retain fixtures and fittings which are (a) in good and tenantable condition; (b) approved by the relevant authorities; and (c) deemed to be of use to the next tenant. Generally, these include common fixtures and fittings, such as floor tiles, power points and toilet fittings and fixtures.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Falling Water Level at Johor's Linggiu Reservoir","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"22 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of the water level at Johor's Linggiu Reservoir falling below 50% due to the on-going dry weather, what plans does the Ministry have to work with Malaysia to increase the yield of the Johor River, which has its water flow regulated by the Linggiu Reservoir, to ensure a sustainable water supply for both countries.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The water level at Linggiu Reservoir has fallen from 72% at the start of 2019 to below 50% in September 2019. While the water level has since risen slightly to above 50% in October 2019, Linggiu Reservoir has been slow to recover because more water is being drawn from the Johor River than is sustainable. This is exacerbated during dry weather, as PUB needs to discharge more water from Linggiu Reservoir to support water abstractions from the Johor River by both Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia has built water plants upstream of the Johor River Waterworks (JRWW), which have increased the abstraction of water from the Johor River beyond what is sustainable.
Singapore built the Linggiu Reservoir at a cost of more than $300 million to enable reliable abstraction of water at PUB's JRWW. If the Linggiu Reservoir fails, the Johor River flows during dry periods will not be sufficient to meet the abstractions of Johor's water treatment plants and Singapore’s JRWW. Singapore's right to abstract our full entitlement of 250 million gallons of water per day under the 1962 Water Agreement will then be compromised.
As mentioned by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the 9th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat in April 2019, Singapore and Malaysia have an interest to work together to ensure a sustainable water supply for both sides. MEWR and PUB have been engaging our Malaysian counterparts at both the federal and state levels through regular meetings and exchanges. Both sides have noted Singapore and Malaysia’s mutual interest in identifying appropriate and timely measures, including additional schemes, to increase the yield of the Johor River.
Singapore and Malaysia have long-standing cooperation on water issues and Singapore will continue to work with Malaysia to achieve mutually-beneficial outcomes and ensure a sustainable water supply for both countries.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Long-term Measures to Curb Amount of Packaging Used in Delivery of Online Purchases","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"23 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources what long-term measures will be introduced to curb the extensive amount of packaging used in delivery of online purchases.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Packaging waste is a priority waste stream identified in Singapore's Zero Waste Masterplan. We are putting in place a regulatory framework to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging under the Resource Sustainability Act.
Next year, we will implement mandatory reporting of packaging data and plans to reduce, reuse or recycle packaging. This includes packaging used in the delivery of online purchases. This reporting will focus companies' attention on the packaging that they are placing on the market and increase their awareness of the potential for reducing packaging use in their operations. The requirements will apply to manufacturers and importers of packaged goods, as well as supermarkets with an annual turnover of more than $10 million. This includes Singapore-registered e-commerce companies that are also manufacturers and importers of packaged goods, as well as online supermarkets. However, it is difficult to impose our regulations on overseas e-commerce companies. This is a challenge faced around the world. We will closely monitor developments in this area and consult the local industry on ways to bring these companies on board.
The reporting framework will lay the foundation for an Extended Producer Responsibility framework to manage packaging waste including plastics, which will be put in place no later than 2025 or even earlier. We will also complement the regulatory framework with measures such as educational campaigns and co-creation of solutions. We will convene a Citizens' Workgroup next year to discuss and identify the way forward for us to collectively address excessive consumption of single-use plastics in Singapore. My Ministry will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to reduce the consumption of packaging waste.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Online Versions of Syllabus on Schools' Websites for Access by Parents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"24 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Education (a) whether online versions of schools' syllabus can be put up on schools' websites so that parents can access and help guide their children where necessary; and (b) whether the Ministry can conduct guidance workshops for parents who are keen to help their children with their school work.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: Online versions of the syllabus for school subjects are already accessible from MOE's website. Similarly, schools share their key learning programmes and activities on their school websites and through briefings to parents.
These efforts help parents to understand what their children are learning in school and appreciate how schools have implemented the national curriculum to engage their children in holistic education.
We encourage parents to support their children in learning by helping them to discover their interests and strengths, and provide a home environment that encourages children to develop self-management skills, take ownership of their learning and grow holistically.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update on Plans for Primary Schools in Buangkok","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"25 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Education whether he can provide an update on plans to build and operate a Primary school on the parcel of land gazetted for a Primary school in Buangkok housing estate in light of there being 22 new blocks of flats and four new pre-school centres in the estate and the demand for Primary school places being likely to increase for this estate.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: MOE's school planning takes into account housing development programmes and projected population in the residential area, to ensure that there are sufficient school places to meet the demand of families with school-going children.
For the Buangkok housing estate, MOE is aware of the recently completed and impending new housing developments. There are currently six Primary schools within 1 km and another 10 Primary schools within 2 km of the Buangkok housing estate. The 16 schools have sufficient capacity to meet the projected demand from residents. Specifically, at the end of Phase 2C of the recent Primary 1 registration exercises, there were about 270 vacancies in the schools within 1 km and another 315 vacancies in the schools within 2 km of the Buangkok estate.
MOE will continue to monitor the demand and supply situation of the Primary schools in this area closely. We will also make the necessary adjustments to meet the demand for school places in the area. If required, we can consider opening more school places in some of the existing schools near Buangkok estate.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Bursaries and Scholarships Awarded by Autonomous Universities in Past Five Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"26 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Education (a) how many bursaries and scholarships (number and quantum) have been awarded by the respective Autonomous Universities (AU) in the past five years using (i) the endowment fund and/or reserve and (ii) Government funding; and (b) what are the criteria of awarding such bursaries and scholarships.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: In Academic Year (AY) 2018, more than 34,000 bursaries and/or scholarships were awarded to full-time Singaporean undergraduate students at the Autonomous Universities (AUs). This has increased significantly from AY2014, when around 21,000 were awarded. Please see Table 1 below.
In FY2018, the Government spent a total of $65 million on bursaries. As announced at the National Day Rally in August 2019, the Government will further enhance bursaries to cover up to 75% of subsidised tuition fees from AY2020 onwards. Government bursaries provide financial support for Singaporean full-time undergraduate students from lower and middle income families with gross monthly household income up to $9,000 or gross monthly household per capita income up to $2,250.
Apart from Government bursaries, the AUs also provide their own financial aid and scholarships, which are funded through AUs' endowment fund returns and reserves. As these are administered by the AUs, the eligibility criteria may also vary. These could include students' family financial circumstances, academic merit, and/or co-curricular performance. The quanta vary, as the award may range from one-off awards to full scholarships. The sizes of AUs' endowment funds are available in their annual reports. In FY2018, the AUs spent $23 million on bursaries alone for Singaporean undergraduates.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans to Promote Collaborative, Kind and Compassionate Working Relationship between Employers and Foreign Domestic Workers","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"27 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Manpower what is being done to promote a collaborative, kind and compassionate working relationship between employers and foreign domestic workers.
Mrs Josephine Teo: A healthy and strong working relationship requires the cooperation and effort of both employers and foreign domestic workers (FDWs). An important first step towards this is improving the chances of employers being matched with FDWs who can suitably meet their household needs.
With this aim in mind, MOM recently announced that from October 2020, employers and employment agencies (EAs) will be provided with more information on the past work experience of prospective FDWs to help improve matching outcomes. This would include the FDW's previous job scope, the residence type and household size of the FDW's former employer, as well as the FDW's reason for leaving her past employments.
Besides these efforts, MOM regularly reaches out to employers and FDWs through electronic direct mailers and newsletters that often feature best practices and tips on how to develop good working relationships through mutual understanding and support. For first-time employers and FDWs, entering into a new work arrangement entails substantial adjustment. This is why MOM requires all first-time employers of FDWs to attend the Employers' Orientation Programme (EOP), which helps them understand their roles and responsibilities as employers. The EOP emphasises the importance of developing a good employer-FDW relationship and reminds employers to be understanding and patient when guiding FDWs on their household chores and integrating them with the family. Similarly, first-time FDWs have to attend the Settling-In-Programme (SIP), which introduces them to the social norms in Singapore and teaches them how to maintain open communication with their employers.
There are also many on-going efforts by employment agencies (EAs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote a positive working relationship between employers and FDWs. The Association of Employment Agencies Singapore (AEA(S)) gives out awards to honour and recognise FDWs and employers who have maintained healthy long-lasting relationships. NGOs like the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) and the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (FAST) also organise fun and social activities to encourage bonding between FDWs and their employers. CDE and FAST now also offer dispute resolution services to help employers and FDWs work out their disagreements.
Many of our employers do make the effort to ensure that their FDWs are adjusting well. An FDW survey conducted in 2015 showed that the vast majority (97%) of FDWs were satisfied with working in Singapore. MOM will continue to work with EAs and NGOs to promote a healthy working relationship between employers and FDWs.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update on Introduction of Pilot Advance Placement Scheme for Foreign Domestic Workers","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"28 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Manpower since the introduction of the pilot Advance Placement Scheme (APS) (a) how many foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are brought in annually under the scheme; (b) what happens to these FDWs who are not subsequently employed; (c) whether employment agencies participating in APS are monitored in how they match employers with eldercare needs to FDWs and whether these FDWs are trained in eldercare specifically; and (d) whether there are plans to review the scheme.
Mrs Josephine Teo: In 2016, MOM introduced the Advance Placement Scheme (APS) to reduce the time taken for households with urgent caregiving needs, such as eldercare and/or childcare, to hire foreign domestic workers (FDWs). There are currently 32 employment agencies (EAs) on the APS.
The EAs on the APS are carefully selected based on their track record and training plans for their FDWs. In addition, MOM also monitors carefully the number of FDWs placed successfully by the EAs through the APS. On average, about 3,000 prospective FDWs were brought in under the APS each year. The vast majority (90%) of them were successfully matched with employers. For the remaining 10%, the EAs will make arrangements to send them home.
There is another scheme, the Eldercarer FDW Scheme administered by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), which specifically helps households that require FDWs trained in eldercare. There are currently 55 EAs under the Scheme. Households that require faster deployment of their FDWs can also select EAs participating in the APS. There are 15 EAs that are on both the APS and the Eldercarer FDW Scheme.
Since the introduction of the APS, MOM has progressively expanded the number of participating APS EAs to meet the demand from households. MOM will review the APS regularly to ensure its effectiveness.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Filing of Complaints with Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices for Denial of Access to Childcare Leave","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"29 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower under what circumstances can an employee file a case with the Ministry or the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for being denied access to childcare leave.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Childcare leave is a statutory entitlement. While childcare leave requests are subject to employers’ approval, employers should grant them unless they have good reasons for not doing so.
Any employee who thinks that he or she has been unreasonably denied childcare leave should report the employer to MOM. Over the last five years, MOM has not received any case where an employee had applied for childcare leave and the employer had unreasonably rejected the application. If a report is filed, MOM will look at the specific circumstances of each case and determine if childcare leave has been unreasonably withheld.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Uptake of Government-paid Child Care Leave Scheme by Working Parents in Past Five Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"30 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development for each year in the past five years under the Government-Paid Child Care Leave (GPCL) Scheme (a) what is the number and percentage of working mothers with (i) one child (ii) two children or (iii) more than two children who have taken six days of childcare leave respectively; and (b) what is the number and percentage of working fathers with (i) one child (ii) two children or (iii) more than two children who took six days of childcare leave respectively.
Mr Desmond Lee: Currently, when employers submit claims for Government-Paid Child Care Leave (GPCL), we only check whether the employee has a child below seven years old. We do not request information on the number of children the employee has. As such, the information requested is not readily available.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Amount of Subsidies Given to Anchor Operators of Childcare Centres and Kindergarten in Past Five Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"31 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Social and Family Development for the past five years (a) what is the amount of subsidies, including renovation costs, given to anchor operators of childcare centres and kindergartens; and (b) who are the top three anchor operator grant recipients and how much subsidies did each of them receive in the same period.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Government is committed to enhancing access to affordable and quality pre-schools. To achieve this, the Government funds operators through the Anchor Operator and Partner Operator schemes, and runs MOE Kindergartens.
The Anchor Operator scheme was introduced in 2009. Government grants are provided to Anchor Operators in return for them adhering to fee caps1 for the pre-school places they provide, plus significant demands on efforts to improve quality and invest in teacher development. In addition, Anchor Operators offer Malay and Tamil language instruction, and support enrolment of children from low-income families.
There are currently five Anchor Operators. As at end 2018, the Anchor Operators operated about 570 centres and enrolled 60,300 Singapore Citizen children.
As the size of Anchor Operators varies substantially, it is more meaningful to look at the amount of Government grants provided for each child. For 2018, the Government provided about $6,000 of grants (on average) for each Singapore Citizen child enrolled in Anchor Operator centres. The highest grant per child was provided for children in MY World Preschool, E-Bridge Preschool, and Skool4Kidz.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":"1","footNotes":["1 : For example, the fee for full-day childcare programmes run by Anchor Operators has been capped at $720 (before GST) since January 2014. "],"footNoteQuestions":["31"],"questionNo":"31"}],"writtenAnswersVOList":[],"writtenAnsNAVOList":[],"annexureList":[],"vernacularList":[{"vernacularID":3526,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Ms Sun Xueling","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20191104/vernacular-Sun Xueling Women's Charter 4 Nov 2019 -Chinese checked 19 Nov.pdf","fileName":"Sun Xueling Women's Charter 4 Nov 2019 -Chinese checked 19 Nov.pdf"},{"vernacularID":3527,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Er Dr Lee Bee Wah","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20191104/vernacular-Lee Bee Wah Women Charter 4Nov2019-Chinese.pdf","fileName":"Lee Bee Wah Women Charter 4Nov2019-Chinese.pdf"},{"vernacularID":3528,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Yee Chia Hsing","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20191104/vernacular-Yee Chia Hsing Women Charter 4Nov2019-Chinese.pdf","fileName":"Yee Chia Hsing Women Charter 4Nov2019-Chinese.pdf"},{"vernacularID":3529,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Zainal Sapari","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20191104/vernacular-4 Nov 2019 - Mr Zainal Sapari - CPF Bill.pdf","fileName":"4 Nov 2019 - Mr Zainal Sapari - CPF Bill.pdf"}],"onlinePDFFileName":""}