Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [Allotted Day].
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
The Chairman: Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, contained in Paper Cmd 2 of 2015. As there are no amendments, I propose to take the Heads of Expenditure en bloc. I will first take Heads E, K, L, P, Q, S, V and X of the Supplementary Main Estimates.
[(proc text) Question, \"That the sums stated for the Heads of Expenditure as shown on page 6 of Paper Cmd 2 of 2015 stand part of the Supplementary Main Estimates,\" put and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question, \"That the sum of $761,893,800 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Supplementary Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 contained in Paper Cmd 2 of 2015,\" put and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolution to be reported. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question, \"That the sums stated for Heads L, O and Q as shown on page 8 of Paper Cmd 2 of 2015 stand part of the Supplementary Development Estimates,\" put and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question, \"That the sum of $168,614,200 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Supplementary Development Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015,\" put and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolution to be reported. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Thereupon Mdm Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker : Deputy Prime Minister Tharman.
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The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam): Mdm Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has come to certain resolutions.
[(proc text) First Resolution reported, (proc text)]
[(proc text) \"That the sum of $761,893,800 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Supplementary Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, contained in Paper Cmd 2 of 2015.\" (proc text)]
[(proc text) Second Resolution reported, (proc text)]
[(proc text) \"That the sum of $168,614,200 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Supplementary Development Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, contained in Paper Cmd 2 of 2015.\" (proc text)]
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions.\"
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolutions accordingly agreed to. (proc text)]
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[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
Resumption of Debate on Question [5 March 2015],
\"That the total sum to be allocated for Head P of the Estimates be reduced by $100.\" – [Mr Hri Kumar Nair].
Question again proposed.
Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang): Mdm Chair, according to our latest annual Crime Brief for 2014, it was good to note that rates for some of the more worrying crimes, such as unlicensed moneylending or UML-related harassment, housebreaking and theft, continued to decline.
I was particularly happy to note that UML-related cases have continued to decline, with a further 20% drop in overall harassment and a 46% drop in those where property was damaged. The overall number of harassment cases, at 5,763, is still high.
I would like to hear about the measures the Ministry has taken that have assisted in driving down this rate and whether any further steps will be taken to continue to deal with this issue.
I was also concerned that the overall crime rate had increased by 7.4% largely driven by cheating involving e-commerce. I understand from reading the brief that this is correlated to the rise in people using Internet shopping facilities. I believe this figure was 17% in 2012 but it has since risen to 52%. Examples of these crimes, such as phoney PayPal email scams, Internet love scams and cyber extortion.
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Are any special measures needed to fight the new types of crime that are developing on the back of the popularity of the Internet? If so, what steps may be taken to detect and solve such crimes? Are there any preventative measures that may be taken to stem the growth in such crime, even as more Singaporeans embrace the Internet and e-commerce?
Ms Tin Pei Ling (Marine Parade): Mdm Chair, the Next Generation Frontline Policing Model has been implemented progressively across Singapore. The objectives of introducing this model in 2012 were to allow frontline resources to be more nimble, focused and responsive in fighting crime and, at the same time, engage the community in a deeper and more meaningful manner.
Now that more than three years have passed, I would like to ask the Minister if he could provide an update on the progress and effectiveness of the programme implemented so far. Has the Ministry seen an improvement in addressing issues, such as unlicensed moneylending, neighbourhood crimes and public nuisances, with the new Policing Model?
I understand that the Police has leveraged technology to better enable its crime prevention and crime fighting capabilities. Nonetheless, there remains a need for real people on the ground to keep an active lookout, reach corners that technology cannot and engage the broader community.
As the Police continues to recruit capable Police officers under the Frontline Policing Model, there is a need for a network of community stakeholders who can complement the efforts of our law enforcers. Hence, I would like to ask the Minister if he could update on how volunteers and community partners have been engaged and involved to help keep Singapore safe and secure.
Dr Janil Puthucheary (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mdm Chair, our heartland neighbourhoods are changing. In rapidly growing new towns like Punggol, we have larger numbers of young couples and families moving in. They are living away from their extended family and childhood friends. Families are increasingly fragmented and deep networks of trust and social reciprocity have yet to be formed.
The nature of the threat of crime has also changed, as was described by my colleague, with more scams and cybercrime, less violence and housebreaking. These changes will continue for some time and the nature of the challenge for Home Team officers will change.
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How has SPF modified its processes to better engage with residents and improve trust, neighbourliness and a sense of responsibility? Are there new skills, processes and techniques that the officers need at hand? How has this been balanced with the need to keep our neighbourhoods secure in the face of changing threats?
Mr Arthur Fong (West Coast): Mdm Chair, everyone knows that Singapore is a safe place, but low crime does not mean no crime. That is the common refrain. We often hear from fellow Singaporeans that they hope to see a stronger police presence, particularly where they live. This desire for more Police presence makes it tough to accede to, in view of the labour market and recruiting constraints.
The Community Policing Scheme or COPS, which augment the presence of men and women in blue, has proven successful. This can be seen from the Crime Statistics released in January. COPS has increased security and safety in the neighbourhood through collaboration and support of the community. My residents in Clementi have remarked that the unlicensed moneylending or UML harassments have, indeed, dropped.
There are currently 20 Neighbourhood Police Centres or NPCs working in partnership with the community to roll out COPS. Many grassroots leaders have enrolled, but I must add that many volunteers in COPS are non-traditional grassroots volunteers who simply want to take ownership of the safety and security of the neighbourhood.
The number of NPCs is targeted to reach 35 by 2015. How can their effectiveness be enhanced to complement the good work of these Police officers and to add to the success of the programme? How can the community contribute and participate in taking ownership of the safety and security of their neighbourhoods?
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai (Moulmein-Kallang): It has been three years since this House passed the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act to remove the mandatory death penalty in certain limited instances of trafficking. These and other amendments were introduced at a time when Singapore's drug situation had shown some improvement over the years.
At that time, however, this House had expressed a concern that the perceived relaxation of the death penalty could lead to a misperception that the law is softening its zero-tolerance attitude towards drug trafficking.
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Since then, we have had the following statistics from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB): the drug abusers arrested by the CNB have decreased 14% between 2013 and 2014. The number of new drug abusers has also seen a slight decrease of 5% over the same period. In relation to drug abusers, there is a decrease in the recidivism rate for drug abusers released from the DRC over the 2012 period.
These are generally good signs, but we cannot and can never afford to be complacent. The Director of CNB recently expressed the concern that two-thirds of new abusers are below the age of 30. Whilst new abusers have come down, the fact is, he said, \"more of our young people are trying drugs\". It is, therefore, with some alarm that I learn from the Singapore Children's Society that they have started seeing young abusers, some as young as 13 or 14, appear and being treated for drug abuse.
Madam, two further factors are significant in my view. First, while the street value of drugs in 2014, estimated to be about $8.1 million, has come down markedly from that in 2013, it is significant that the quantity by weight has increased. Cannabis, for instance, has gone up by about 125%. What this tells us is that the same or greater quality of drug is being brought in at a lower value and this could mean that they are more accessible on the street.
Secondly, of all the new abusers, new methamphetamine abusers made up the largest proportion while new cannabis abusers saw an increase of 7%. Methamphetamine is one of the most commonly abused drugs among youths. It is popular because it has short-term upsides; it has been touted to give you better outcomes for examinations, to let you do better in sports and so on. But it also has very severe long-term adverse effects, such as brain damage.
These signs tell us that we must remain unabated in our unstinting fight against drugs. The drug problem is a serious social tragedy. We cannot look at it only in terms of the individual drug abuser who suffers from the addiction.
In that context, may I please ask the Deputy Prime Minister to comment on two issues: first, to reaffirm Singapore's commitment to an absolute zero tolerance of drug abuse and trafficking; second, in light of the numbers that we see on youths and on methamphetamine, to outline the Ministry of Home Affair's (MHA) strategy, specifically in arresting the increase in the number of new and young abusers.
Finally, may I use the remaining time in my final cut on MHA to record appreciation and gratitude to the many men and women who serve on the Home Team. We live in an ever-changing environment. We face new and novel threats both from within our own country and from outside. Many of the Home Team officers put their safety and well-being in harm's
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way on a daily basis as they go about their job to keep Singapore and Singaporeans safe. For that, we are grateful for their dedication.
The Chairman: Mr Alvin Yeo is not here. Mr Ang Wei Neng.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Chair, my topic in this segment concerns heavy vehicles and I would like to declare my interest as I am the Senior Vice-President of SBS Transit Limited, a subsidiary of ComfortDelgro Limited.
The sheer size of the heavy vehicles means it could cause much more severe harm during an accident. I noted from the Singapore Police Force's website that the number of fatalities that resulted from accidents involving heavy vehicles has increased by 37.5% from 32 cases in 2012 to 44 cases in 2013.
Speeding by heavy vehicles is a major concern. I understand that heavy vehicles are required by law to install speed limiters to restrict their maximum speed to 60 kilometres per hour. There are almost 49,000 heavy and very heavy goods vehicles in Singapore end of last year, 2014. How many of the 49,000 heavy vehicles have working speed limiters?
Very often, I see heavy vehicles travelling along the second or third lane on a four-lane road, especially along expressways. So, probably, they are speeding. However, the Traffic Police has only caught 57 vehicles for faulty speed limiters or related offences in the past five years. That is, there are 49,000 heavy vehicles on the road but only 57 heavy vehicles were caught with faulty speed limiters by the Police in the past five years and yet in the first half of 2013 alone, 1,766 heavy vehicles were caught for speeding violations. Why the discrepancy?
Are heavy vehicles required to check the speed limiter during the annual vehicle inspection mandated by the Land Transport Authority (LTA)? From what I understand, the check is quite superficial. The annual inspection does not verify if the speed limiter is working or tampered with. It does not need the heavy vehicle to run on the chassis dynamometer to verify if the speed could exceed 60 kilometres per hour. The chassis dynamometer is a bit like a treadmill. The chassis dynamometer test is only required if the Police had caught drivers speeding in heavy vehicles. That means they do not have to be tested on a dynamometer unless they are caught by the Traffic Police and they have to send the vehicle
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for a check more thoroughly.
So, instead of having the Traffic Police do more enforcement action, as mentioned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) previously, maybe the Traffic Police could work with LTA to refine the inspection process to better detect whether the speed limiter is functioning during the annual inspection. That is, we have to nip the problem in the bud.
Dr Janil Puthucheary: Mdm Chair, the safety of all road users is something that we will have to continually work at, as young people learn to drive, as seniors continue to drive for longer, as more people of all ages ride a motorbike or cycle and as the different forms of commuters come into contact more often.
We are lucky to have such well-maintained and well-constructed roads, but these are a temptation for some drivers to speed. In newer towns like Punggol, especially where people have not yet moved in, these well-constructed and well-maintained wide, straight roads are a natural venue for illegal racing.
Despite its unending nature, road safety is important because the lives at stake often are not the culprits, they are the innocent victims. The culprit is the person who chooses to drive at excessive speed and the victim is often the pedestrian or the passenger. Could the Minister please provide an update on the road safety initiatives and how effective these interventions have been?
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Teo Chee Hean): Mdm Chairperson, let me first thank the Members for their views and questions relating to the Home Team, and also for their support and thanks to the officers in the Home Team for the job that they do.
May I have your permission to display slides and ask the Clerk to distribute a handout with some Home Team statistics?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [A handout was distributed to hon Members.]
Mr Teo Chee Hean: I shall now explain our plans for resourcing a ready Home Team and taking community partnerships to the next level, to achieve a safe and secure Singapore.
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Robust laws, effective enforcement and strong community partnerships have helped us maintain a high level of safety and security.
Singapore's overall crime rate of 589 cases per 100,000 population remains low compared to other cities such as London, Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong. This is in spite of a 7.4% increase in the number of crime cases in 2014 compared to 2013, and this was driven largely by an increase in online crimes. We will say more about that later. The number of unlicensed moneylending harassment cases fell below 6,000 cases in 2014, a substantial decline from the almost 18,000 cases in 2009. The recidivism rate for ex-offenders is low and has remained relatively stable.
While the number of drug abusers arrested fell by 14% in 2014 compared to 2013, we remain concerned about younger persons getting involved in drugs. Senior Minister of State Masagos will say more about the work of the Task Force on Youths and Drugs later. The number of immigration offenders arrested continued its downward trend – there were 2,040 immigration offenders arrested in 2014, a 63% decrease from 2009, while maintaining the same level of enforcement. Our fire fatality rate has also remained low compared to cities such as New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Our road safety situation has improved. The number of fatal traffic accidents and fatalities have been on a downward trend for the past three years. The installation of new digital red light cameras at road junctions has also helped to improve safe driving behaviour. The number of violations detected went up sharply when these red light cameras were first installed in March 2014. This is significant, as it means that many drivers had previously been beating red lights and each of these occasions could have caused a serious accident. However, the number of violations detected per camera per month had decreased by over 80% by December. In fact, by December, fewer total violations were detected by these red light cameras compared to July 2014, even though there were twice as many cameras. The cameras have helped to improve driving behaviour and road safety.
The Safe Cities Index 2015 by the Economist Intelligence Unit recently ranked Singapore top for personal safety, which measures crime, police engagement and perception of safety.
Mr Hri Kumar asked about our future security challenges. Let me elaborate on three key developments – terrorism, transnational and cybercrime, and domestic challenges such as our changing demographics.
First, terrorism. Terrorism is a global threat, which also impacts Singapore and our region. The conflict in Iraq and Syria has already drawn more than 20,000 foreign fighters, more in numbers and countries of origin than in the Afghanistan conflict in the late-1980s.
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This includes an estimated 350 from Southeast Asia. Upon their return home, these fighters may be more prone to violence. Almost on a daily or weekly basis, we see new revelations or videos of fighters from our region who have been involved in Syria or Iraq.
Self-radicalised individuals may also be influenced by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS to carry out attacks in their home countries. Such attacks are often opportunistic, and therefore difficult to detect and prevent. The Sydney siege in December 2014, the Paris attacks in January 2015 and the Copenhagen shooting in February 2015 took place even when those countries were already on high alert.
The Home Team will continue to deter and deal with terrorism by securing our borders, hardening our infrastructure and maintaining our capability to respond swiftly and effectively to any threats that come to light. We will continue to conduct exercises to hone our response, as well as enhance our intelligence capabilities and work with international partners to identify and pre-empt terrorism threats.
We take decisive action early to place persons who pose a threat to our security under detention or restriction orders. Since 2002, our security agencies have detained 66 such persons under the Internal Security Act and, of these 66 persons, 57 have since been released. Currently, nine persons remain under detention and 21 persons are on restriction orders, including some who had intended to take part in conflicts overseas. It is heartening that Singaporeans from all communities understand the fragility of our peace and harmony and support the work of our security agencies. Other jurisdictions, in Malaysia, Australia, the US and Europe are strengthening their laws to allow preventive measures against terrorism threats.
Our community and religious groups also play a key role in preventing and deterring terrorism and in maintaining social cohesion and harmony in the aftermath of an attack. For example, Singapore's Religious Rehabilitation Group or RRG launched its Resource and Counselling Centre in July 2014. The RRG has produced pamphlets and online material to counter extremist ideology, in particular, the type that draws persons to fight in Syria and Iraq. Singapore will be hosting the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration on 16 to 17 April 2015 to share best practices and build capabilities among more than 20 participating countries to counter radical ideology.
Individual Singaporeans too play an important part in maintaining vigilance. If you notice any signs that a friend or family member has possibly been radicalised, you should alert the authorities. Acting pre-emptively could help stop them from harming themselves and protect others from being harmed. Through such alerts, we have already been able to refer young people who were becoming radicalised for religious counselling and to bring
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them back onto the correct path.
However, despite our best efforts, it is not possible to ensure that a terrorist attack will never succeed or happen in Singapore. I agree with Mr Hri Kumar and Mr Arthur Fong about the need to ensure that our society is ready to withstand a terrorist attack and maintain social cohesion and harmony in its aftermath. Madam, those who carry out such attacks seek to divide our society and strike fear in innocent people. If an incident were to occur, we must stand united as a community and condemn the violent acts of these particular individuals. Such extreme views do not reflect the beliefs of the wider community, and indeed are rejected by them. As Singaporeans, we must continue to build on what we have in common, rather than accentuate our differences. We must also carry on with our daily lives, reach out to each other, and not allow fear to paralyse our society.
Second, transnational and cybercrime. Globalisation has made it easier for criminal groups to plan criminal activities outside Singapore, carry them out here, and enjoy the proceeds of their crime elsewhere. With the Internet and electronic transfer of funds, criminals also find it easier to operate across borders, and to enter new markets. The Police and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) have recently dismantled several cross-border illegal moneylending and drug smuggling syndicates. Senior Minister of State Masagos will say more about our efforts to combat the drug menace later.
Cybercrime, in particular, is a new frontier. Several Members – Mr Hri Kumar and Mr Edwin Tong – spoke about this. Last year, we saw a sharp increase in online crimes. Cheating through e-commerce, Internet love scams and cyber extortion cases grew by 200% to 2,113 cases in 2014. Police will increase their public education efforts against cybercrime. For cheating crimes on the Internet, the victims themselves can take action to avoid them by being more vigilant and careful. Hence, we have education programmes to inoculate them against this.
Cybersecurity is also a concern as a growing number of critical systems, such as power generation and banking, are computer-controlled or connected to the Internet. Both Government and private entities around the world have been targets of cyberattacks by state and non-state actors. Sensitive information has been stolen or infiltrated systems damaged. \"Hacktivists\" have also been taking to cyberspace to disrupt services and spread fear and alarm to promote their causes.
We amended the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act in 2013 to enable the Government to take more effective and timely measures to prevent, detect and counter
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cyberattacks on essential services. After studying the matter carefully, we have also set up the National Cyber Security Centre in April 2014 to provide early detection capabilities and worked with stakeholders responsible for our critical information infrastructure to strengthen our overall cyberdefence capabilities.
To improve our national cyberdefence efforts, a new Cyber Security Agency under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will commence operating on 1 April 2015. My colleague, the Minister for Communications and Information, Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, has been appointed by the Prime Minister to be the Minister-in-charge of Cyber Security and will address these issues in greater detail in the debate on MCI's estimates, including Mr Tong's comments about the adequacy of experts.
Third, besides the security challenges of terrorism, and transnational and cybercrime, our changing domestic operating environment also places greater demands on the Home Team. As the number of citizens aged 65 years and above grew from about 318,000 in 2009 to 415,000 in 2014, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) saw a corresponding 31% increase in ambulance calls over the same five-year period. We expect demand for emergency medical services to rise further as the number of elderly citizens doubles to about 900,000 by 2030. We will also need new Police and fire stations to serve new towns and new commercial developments.
With more people travelling for work and leisure, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority or ICA saw more than 500,000 people passing through our checkpoints daily in 2014. That is 500,000 people every day crossing our checkpoints last year. This is an increase of about 33% from 2009. With Changi Airport Terminal 4 and the Rapid Transit System coming into operation, we expect the numbers to grow further in the coming years.
So, Madam, how do we deal with these challenges? Over the past two and a half years, the Home Team has been reviewing our strategic long-term plans, together with our partner agencies and also with MOF. The aim was to map out the strategies to address challenges facing the Home Team over the next five to 10 years and match them with the resources.
We will ensure that the Home Team is adequately resourced to implement these strategies and plans. Within the coming five-year period, we will add 2,000 more officers across the Home Team, and MHA's expenditure will increase from the current 1.1% of nominal GDP in FY2014 to around 1.3% of GDP. For FY2015, it will increase by 11.7% and reach 1.2% of GDP.
With greater certainty and a higher level of funding, we can make long-term plans, develop our forces more systematically, build stronger operational capabilities, as well as
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strengthen community partnerships.
I will elaborate on our plans in these three dimensions – making full use of the potential of our Home Team officers, significantly stepping up our investments to leverage on systems and technology and taking community partnerships to the next level.
First, making full use of the potential of our Home Team officers. Several Members, such as Mr Hri Kumar, Mr Arthur Fong and Dr Janil Puthucheary, asked about the Home Team's manpower resources. Over the last 10 years, manpower in the Home Team had grown from about 19,300 to 24,700 officers – that is 5,000 officers over 10 years. We will continue to grow these numbers judiciously and moderately. Over the next five years, we will add another 2,000 officers to the Home Team to cope with increasing traveller volumes, boost frontline policing and emergency medical services, and improve response to public order incidents and fires.
We have also made progress in expanding the Special Operations Command or SOC, something that Mr Hri Kumar asked about. The Police started recruiting additional officers last year and aim to recruit about 150 officers to the SOC by end-2015. And we expect that all 300 officers will be added to the SOC by 2017. This involves selecting very good people and making sure that they are well-trained and properly equipped. So, it takes a little bit of time.
Even though all of us would like to have more manpower, there are natural limits to how much we can grow the number of officers we have in the Home Team, given the smaller cohorts of young Singaporeans entering the workforce each year. We will partially address this issue by re-employing more of our officers. The retirement age for Home Team uniformed junior officers was extended in October 2013 to 55. We want our officers to continue working with us as long as they are fit and able to carry out their duties.
We will continue to provide opportunities for our Home Team officers to upgrade their capabilities, including sponsoring them for diploma and degree programmes and deepening their specialist skills. As we rely more on better qualified and trained officers, we will restructure our Home Team officers' careers to provide more opportunities to advance into the senior ranks. For example, the Police are studying ways to provide more seamless advancement opportunities for their officers. These measures will ensure that we continue to be an employer of choice and help us retain officers, particularly the good officers that we have.
We will also provide more comprehensive training and meaningful deployments for our National Service (NS) personnel. Our NSFs and NSmen already carry out frontline duties on
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a daily basis. At least two out of the four firefighters that you see in every SCDF fire vehicle responding to fires daily are full-time NSmen. From this year, we will deploy more SCDF NSmen who are back for their in-camp training to complement regular officers as frontline responders. So, when you see them responding to an emergency or fire, about half of them are full-time National Servicemen, our NSmen, responding to the call of duty every day.
Our Police NSFs and NSmen also patrol our neighbourhoods, coastal waters, airports and public transport network. The Police will assign more Police NSFs to frontline duties and better align full-time National Service with their corresponding NSmen roles.
Second, we will significantly step up our investments to leverage systems and technology as force multipliers. We expect to increase our development expenditure gradually from about 8% of the Ministry's total expenditure in the past five years to about 20% over the next five years. Together with comprehensive operating models and strategies, this will help our officers to do their work more effectively. We will allow technology to do the things that technology does better and have our officers do things where the officers themselves, through their personal interaction and judgement, can do better.
For example, the SCDF had brought its new command and control system into service at the end of 2013. The new Police command and control system, together with the new Police Operations Command Centre, commenced operations in November 2014. We will continue to improve and integrate our command-and-control systems so that we can build a consolidated situation picture and help our ground officers and our frontline officers when they are sent to the scene, to respond more quickly, precisely and effectively.
Footages from Police Cameras installed at the void decks of HDB blocks and multi-storey carparks have already led to the arrests of unlicensed moneylending harassers in 224 cases since 2012. Police Cameras have already been installed in over 4,000 HDB blocks, and installation in the remaining 5,000-plus blocks will be completed by end-2016. I am happy to say that residents have welcomed it and Members of the House, too, have told me that their residents welcomed it and, in fact, have asked me whether we can speed it up. But we are going about it as fast as we can. We will also build a new Police Divisional Headquarters and two fire stations in the next five years to meet increased demand from new towns and commercial centres.
Mr Edwin Tong and Ms Sylvia Lim asked about our checkpoints. We have completed several key measures recommended by the 2014 Ministry-level review committee. These will enhance security at our land checkpoints. We have introduced an integrated command and control structure to strengthen coordination among the officers from the various Home Team agencies operating at these checkpoints. In addition, 119 CCTV cameras have been installed to enhance coverage and monitoring at the checkpoints. Mobile crash barriers have
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been deployed as an additional line of defence to stop vehicles from dashing through. More than 1,000 additional CCTV cameras will be installed at both checkpoints by June 2017 for greater coverage. These cameras will be connected to a video analytics system to enhance the identification of vehicles and security threats, such as intrusions and unattended baggage. Other measures, such as double drop-arm barriers at the vehicle counters, crash-rated vehicle security barriers, anti-climb fences and anti-crash walls, will be implemented in phases over the next three years to minimise disruptions to the continuing checkpoint operations.
Madam, these initiatives form part of our overall strategy to use technology to keep our checkpoints secure, while facilitating timely clearance in the face of growing traveller and cargo volumes and, indeed, the growing security challenge. All 164 motorcycle counters at Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints will be automated by end-2016 compared to the 43 automated ones currently. These automated counters speed up motorcycle immigration clearance by up to 30% and help reduce congestion for all users of the checkpoints. Automation will also allow ICA to re-deploy officers to other critical tasks, such as screening travellers who may have a high-risk profile.
To further improve immigration clearance and border security, from April 2015, ICA will conduct a trial at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to capture the fingerprints of all arriving persons. The fingerprints are used to verify the traveller's identity before he is allowed entry to Singapore and will facilitate automated self-clearance during his departure from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. If the trial is successful, ICA will implement this system progressively at other checkpoints. This will make it easier, facilitate departure for visitors and Singaporeans and also help us save on manpower.
To handle the higher traveller volume at Woodlands Checkpoint, ICA will also operate 10 more car counters at the Old Woodlands Checkpoint by 2016. This is on top of the 40 car counters already at Woodlands Checkpoint and up to 20 additional car counters at Old Woodlands Checkpoint that currently operate during peak periods, Sundays and public holidays. We are also studying the medium- to long-term infrastructure needs at Woodlands Checkpoint and the new transit links across the Johor Straits.
MHA will also invest in our marine capabilities to safeguard our shores. More sea- and land-based barriers will be deployed to harden Singapore's coastline. We will equip Police Coast Guard with better surveillance and interception capabilities to deny intrusion and disable vessels carrying out illegal activities. MHA will also integrate the Police Coast Guard, ICA and SCDF marine command bases for better coordinated response to marine safety and security threats.
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Madam, the community plays a major role in keeping Singapore safe and secure. This includes building resilience to counter radicalisation and withstand any terrorist incident, fighting crime, helping youths in befriender programmes, keeping our roads safe, supporting the reintegration of ex-offenders, reducing the risks of fires, and responding to fire and medical emergencies. Many people have volunteered their time, contributed ideas, initiated programmes, responded to emergencies and reported crimes. And we thank every one of them for their help. We intend to build on this strong foundation of community involvement and take our community partnerships to the next level.
We will better organise, facilitate and support these community efforts, through programmes and platforms that, for example, encourage crowdsourcing. Technology can help us to do so in a sustainable and scalable manner. Beyond the PolCams that we have in all 10,000 HDB blocks and multistorey carparks, there are already some five million smartphone cameras in our own pockets and almost a million vehicles on the road, with an increasing number of them with cameras installed. The Police will take a major step to improve its existing platforms for members of the public to send in videos on traffic violations and crime-related information. This will also be a critical source of information should there be a major incident, such as after the 2013 Boston Marathon bomb attacks when Boston police made good use of videos from the public. Second Minister Iswaran will elaborate on this later.
We will also invest resources to make it easier for community responders to help. If someone has a cardiac arrest, there is no one who can provide help faster than the person who is right next to him. Swift and effective CPR from bystanders can significantly increase the victim's chances of survival. Since May 2012, SCDF's 995 emergency line has medical dispatchers and nurses to coach emergency callers over the phone to administer CPR for cardiac arrest victims in what are often the crucial minutes before medical assistance arrives. With telephone assistance, the proportion of cardiac arrest victims who received CPR from bystanders has more than doubled from 22% in 2011 to 47% in 2014. Senior Minister of State Masagos will say more about the major initiatives we are introducing for community partners to help save lives in a medical emergency, using both technology available today, as well as using people who want to be our partners.
As we prepare ourselves for the future, we must also recognise and honour our Pioneers who built a strong foundation for the Home Team. Over the past 50 years, our Home Team Pioneers have tackled serious security challenges, including terrorist acts, subversion, secret societies, major crimes, riots, drugs and major civil disasters and fires. They showed courage and determination and risked their lives to maintain Singapore's peace
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and security, and to strengthen our national unity and social harmony.
We want to pass on the values and ethos of our Pioneers to inspire new generations of Home Team officers. For this, we will be honouring our Home Team Pioneers, who embodied the spirit of pride, service, sacrifice and duty in their service to Singapore, with a special \"Tribute to Home Team Pioneers\" consisting of an exhibition and reception for our Pioneers in May this year. This highlight is part of a series of Home Team SG50 events, culminating in the Home Team Festival in November.
Mdm Chairperson, safety and security have been the foundation of our social stability and economic progress. The Home Team will continue to build on the strong foundation laid by our Pioneers. We will make timely investments to build a capable and future-ready Home Team, with committed and well-trained officers, who effectively use systems and technology, and take our partnership with the community to the next level. Through this inclusive and comprehensive approach, we can build a safe and secure home together.
The Second Minister for Home Affairs (Mr S Iswaran): Mdm Chair, I thank Members for their questions and suggestions pertaining to the work of the Home Team. Deputy Prime Minister Teo has laid out the overall strategy of MHA and I will now elaborate on some of our specific efforts to fight crime and ensure the safety of our neighbourhoods.
The crime rate in Singapore remains low, but as we have noted, overall crime in 2014 increased by 7.4%. This increase was largely due to cybercrimes, such as cheating involving e-commerce. The threat is not unique to us. Cybercrime is rising fast around the world in tandem with the widening reach of the Internet, more interactions and transactions taking place online, and the growing sophistication of criminal organisations.
It is a timely reminder that we cannot take the safety and security that we have for granted. As our environment changes, new threats and needs will emerge and we must be prepared to invest resources and efforts to build capacity and respond effectively. As Deputy Prime Minister has explained, there is a limit to how much we can grow the manpower of the Home Team. So, it is essential that our Police and other Home Team officers are trained for and deployed in roles that optimise their impact on the ground. It is equally important that we use technology as a force multiplier and strengthen our community partnerships to complement the work of our officers.
Enhancing our capabilities, harnessing technology and working with the community – these are the key elements for our strategy to tackle current and emerging threats to our law and order. It also underpins our community policing strategy.
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Mr Arthur Fong, Dr Janil Puthucheary and Ms Tin Pei Ling have asked for an update on how we have progressed with policing within the community. Madam, may I have your permission to show some slides on the LED screens?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Mr S Iswaran: Madam, community policing has been the cornerstone of our policing strategy for the past 30 years. Police has been able to keep our neighbourhoods safe and secure, and built a high level of trust with the community, through our network of Neighbourhood Police Centres or NPCs, Neighbourhood Police Posts or NPPs and ground officers.
The new Community Policing System or COPS was introduced in 2012 to enhance frontline policing within the community. Under COPS, Community Policing Unit officers are selected, trained and deployed to build ties with residents, and strengthen police presence within the community. Crime Strike Force officers have built up good ground networks with stakeholders within the community, thereby improving Police's ability to fight localised crime. By April 2015, all 35 NPCs would have adopted this new COPS model.
Our NPPs are also being revamped to provide round-the-clock automated police services, while our officers are more deeply engaged with the community. We have received good feedback from the three pilot NPPs at West Coast, Radin Mas and Marsiling. Six more NPPs will be revamped by the end of this year.
As part of the broader policing effort, we continue to explore new ways to use technology – a point which Ms Sylvia Lim has raised. PolCams are a case in point. They are being deployed in our HDB blocks. They help to deter and detect crime and allow us to deploy our police officers in frontline functions to focus on interacting with the community or investigations where the human touch, experience, instinct and judgement are key.
Since 2012, when Polcams were first installed, Police have progressively upgraded these cameras from standard to high definition, as the technology has improved, and the costs have moderated. Police can now obtain footage with sharper resolution, which thus enhances the effectiveness of Police investigations.
Over the past two and a half years, PolCams have been installed in more than 4,400 HDB blocks and multi-storey car parks across Singapore; more than 430 cases have been solved through PolCam footage, which also provided investigative leads in more than 890 cases. We are on track to install the PolCams in all 10,000 HDB blocks and multi-storey car
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parks by the end of next year.
Our frontline officers have also started to use body-worn cameras (BWCs) while frontline policing vehicles are equipped with In-Vehicle Video Recording System (IVVRS). My Police colleagues have kindly lent me this to show Members what the body-worn cameras look like. As Members can see, it is fairly light, compact, not very sinister looking. In fact, it is very friendly. The key elements in these are that it has recording capabilities in high definition; the recording can be encrypted; there will be an indicator light when the recording is on, so that members of the public know that a recording is taking place; and also, footage cannot be downloaded, edited or deleted by officers without the proper software and authorisation by the CEO of NPC. There are some very strong safeguard measures built into this.
The body-worn cameras and in-vehicle video recording system complement the existing forensic methods that aid police investigations and the gathering of evidence. With \"live\" streaming capability, they will also strengthen Police's incident management capabilities.
Of course, there is always the risk of information overload – Ms Sylvia Lim alluded to this. But we believe it is better to facilitate the flow of such information which can aid our crime detection and deterrent efforts and find efficient and effective ways to make sense of this data. This is why we have continued to enhance our data and video analytics capabilities to process large volumes of information. For example, Police currently use a video review tool which incorporates compression technology and analytics capabilities. Objects and persons of interest can be identified quickly and an hour-long video footage, for example, can be compressed such that critical events can be viewed quickly in a matter of minutes. This is an example of how we can use technology to gather the information. We can significantly reduce the time needed to process the information and this will enhance efficacy and productivity.
The third limb in our strategy is strengthening our community partnerships. It is a key aspect of COPS which has been given added impetus through the creation of Community Policing Units or CPU at the NPCs. CPU officers are chosen for their strong interpersonal skills, and their ability to communicate well. They are given training to enhance these skills.
Ms Tin Pei Ling asked about the role of community partners. Madam, community partnerships are indispensable to MHA's efforts to keep Singapore safe and secure. Time and again, both in Singapore and elsewhere, the role played by the community has been the key differentiating factor in the deterrence of, or response to, a crime or terrorist incident. A vigilant, prepared and resilient community is an invaluable partner and a powerful ally in the fight against any threat to our safety and security. Therefore, the Police's approach is to support and empower individuals and groups to take ownership of the safety and security
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of their homes and neighbourhoods.
The CPUs at our NPCs have reached out to residents, and many have stepped forward to form and participate in Neighbourhood Watch Groups and Citizens-on-Patrol groups. Some have also come forward to join our Volunteer Special Constabulary and partner our regular officers to perform frontline policing duties.
Our fight against unlicensed moneylending or UML is one example of how we have adopted these strategies to address specific crime concerns with some success. In 2009, there were about 18,000 UML cases. To tackle this scourge, we strengthened legislation by amending the Moneylenders Act in 2010 and enhanced Police's capabilities to deal with UML. Specialised units at CID and at the Divisional level were established to lead the effort and guide enforcement and preventive efforts. Police Cameras deterred potential harassers and provided crucial evidence for follow-up investigations.
Our community partners also played an important part through the work and vigilance of the Neighbourhood Watch Groups and members of public. Some have initiated other commendable efforts. For example, Sembawang NPC and the Nee Soon Town Council have worked together to train conservancy workers to look out for loan shark runners and other illicit activities in the community. It is this concerted and collective effort that has led to a substantial 67.8% decline in UML cases over the last five years to about 6,000 in 2014.
The increase in cybercrime is another area of concern which Mr Edwin Tong and Mr Vikram Nair have highlighted. Last year, we saw a sizeable increase in the number of crimes committed online, especially cases of cheating through e-commerce. Many of these involve scammers who impersonated sellers on online platforms to deceive victims into buying goods that would never be delivered.
The crimes themselves may not be new but the medium has changed. Criminals and syndicates are adapting their modus operandi to exploit the opportunities arising from the ubiquity and the anonymity of the Internet. Individuals from all walks of life have fallen victim to these ruses, including well-educated and tech-savvy professionals.
Compared to the more conventional types of crime, online crimes also pose a different set of challenges to our law enforcement agencies. First, they are often transnational in nature, involving perpetrators based overseas. Second, these funds can be transferred almost instantly leaving the victims with little recourse. Third, given the nature of the
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Internet, there is no shortage of tools and applications to cover one's tracks.
Police all over the world are grappling with the difficulties of tracing, apprehending and bringing the perpetrators of cybercrimes to justice, as well as to recover lost monies. That is why we need to emphasise education and prevention – the dictum of caveat emptor has never been more relevant. Just as we would exercise due care for our safety and property in the real world, we should have similar care and vigilance in the virtual world – be wary about buying items when prices are too good to be true, because they often are; refrain from financial transactions or the exchange of personal information with people whom we do not know; and be careful when befriending strangers on the Internet.
The Police have taken active steps to educate the public on online crimes and raise awareness of common methods of online scammers. As part of the Anti-Scam Public Education Campaign, the National Crime Prevention Council and the Police have launched a website at www.scamalert.sg to raise awareness of the common scams in Singapore. They also do other outreach through roadshows, posters and so on.
We are also building our capabilities to deal with cybercrime. Police will establish a new Cybercrime Command within the Criminal Investigation Department or CID. The Cybercrime Command will specalise in cyber-investigations, digital forensics and cybercrime policy. Investigation officers and digital forensic officers specialising in cybercrime investigations will also be deployed at each of the six Land Divisions by the end of this year. This will ensure that our frontline units are equipped with the necessary skills to investigate cybercrime cases.
Beyond this, the Police will continue to work closely with international and regional law enforcement agencies and industry stakeholders. In the region, Singapore leads the ASEAN Cybercrime Working Group, which provides a platform for regional capacity building and information sharing. Police will also work with INTERPOL's new Digital Crime Centre, located in Singapore, to develop digital forensics and new solutions to tackle cybercrime.
Mdm Chair, given the complex operating environment and rapidly evolving crime threats, it is imperative that Police have the necessary capabilities, resources and powers to fight crime through information gathering, investigation and, eventually, bringing the perpetrators of crime to justice. Let me assure Mr Gerald Giam that we take the safeguarding of information obtained by Police very seriously. Police are empowered under the Criminal Procedure Code or CPC to collect the necessary information to support investigations into criminal activities. Such information may be shared with other Government agencies only if provided for under the law. And whether it is PolCam images or, as I have just shared with you, in the case of the body-worn cameras, specific steps are taken and built-in measures
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put in place, in order to make sure the data is well safeguarded.
Internally, the Police have in place strict security protocols governing the use of and access to data. There are stringent guidelines, standard operating procedures and system security features to guard against data breaches and the misuse of data. The system is also subject to regular audits. We have zero tolerance for the misuse of Police data and will take firm action against anyone who does so.
Madam, let me conclude by returning to the point on community engagement. To take community partnerships to the next level, we need to create new platforms and enabling technologies to make it easier for Singaporeans, especially a younger generation who are more tech-savvy, to come forward to work with and help the Home Team.
So, we are extending our outreach in the online space. Apart from being an effective means to reach out to the community with crime alerts and public education messages, the value of social media lies in its ability to facilitate the crowdsourcing of information that can help Police in its day-to-day work and its investigation into crime. Every smartphone, GoPro camera and in-vehicle recording systems, they can all be put to good use and they are potentially a very valuable source of information. Police will provide the platforms and portals to enable this.
We are encouraged by the response to the Facebook pages set up by the various NPCs in the last two years. Together with the SPF Facebook page, more than 20 cases have been solved through Facebook appeals. So, it is not just a medium for social interaction but it can also help us in some very meaningful and important work in terms of preserving the safety and security of our neighbourhoods.
Police have also set up the CrimeStopper and the Traffic Police's \"E-Feedback on Road Users\" online portal. This allows for almost real-time reporting of incidents, and is convenient for members of the public because they can make these reports without having to go to a Police station and do it from anywhere literally. Police are able to then use the videos and pictures sent by the public as objective evidence to facilitate investigations.
We are seeing more members of the public providing information to the Police via CrimeStopper, with a 63% increase from 1,121 cases in 2013 to 1,832 cases in 2014. Since December last year, Traffic Police have also received almost 100 videos of traffic violations. Depending on your perspective, you would see that as a plus or a minus. But I think from an overall law enforcement perspective, this is an example of how we are trying to bring together various resources that reside within the community, in order to ensure we are able
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to undertake effective enforcement.
I want to encourage more to come forward and use these avenues to help solve crime together. Taken together, these programmes and crowdsourcing initiatives will enable us to take community partnerships to a new level. It lends itself to a more dynamic, two-way partnership that strengthens interaction, collaboration and the flow of information between the Police and the community, thereby empowering the community to play a more active role in keeping our neighbourhoods safe and secure.
Mdm Chair, Singaporeans have placed their trust in the ability of the Home Team to keep Singapore safe and secure. This is a trust that has been painstakingly built over many years through the work of our Home Team departments and officers, much of this taking place quietly behind the scenes. As our operating environment becomes more complex and the nature of crime continues to evolve, we must never take our safety and security for granted. In the Home Team, we will continue to invest in new capabilities, harness technology and work with the community to build a strong and future-ready Home Team that will help keep Singapore safe and secure.
The Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Mdm Chair, I will now speak on the drug situation in Singapore, road safety and the Home Team's efforts in community partnerships.
First, an update on the overall drug situation, which Mr Edwin Tong asked about. The international and regional drug situation continues to be challenging, with higher production, higher trafficking and higher consumption of heroin and methamphetamine. International drug syndicates have also formed networks within Southeast Asia to manufacture, receive and distribute drugs to the region. So, Mr Edwin Tong is right – this has increased supply and led to a drop in drug prices. Unfortunately, Singapore remains a major destination for these drugs, either for transhipment or for imports.
The Central Narcotics Bureau or CNB has maintained its enforcement tempo. In 2014, CNB dismantled 21 drug syndicates and seized about $8 million worth of drugs. Among the drugs seized last year was 35 kilogrammes of cannabis, a 10-year high. This 35 kilogrammes of cannabis can feed more than 5,000 addicts for a week.
On the demand side, there are two worrying trends. First, the proportion of younger drug abusers has increased. Of the total drug abusers arrested in 2014, 34% were below the age of 30, up from 29% in 2010. Among new abusers arrested, two-thirds were below the age of 30, up from half in 2010. The educational profile of abusers arrested is also changing, with more from institutions of higher learning. Second, we are arresting more cannabis
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abusers, with 184 abusers arrested in 2014. The number may be small but this is a 50% increase over five years. The majority of cannabis abusers are young people aged below 30.
Given these challenges, it is important that Singapore maintains a zero-tolerance approach against drugs. Zero tolerance means that we strongly reject the scourge of drugs and do not condone its presence in our society. Zero tolerance means that we tackle both drug supply and demand. We take a tough stance against those who wish to profit off drug addicts but, at the same time, we rehabilitate those who consume drugs, even as we take firm action against repeat abusers. I am glad that the community has given its strong support to tackle the drug situation firmly.
Other countries have chosen a different approach. Because they could not keep drug abuse low, they moved on to address secondary problems arising from drug abuse. They have, for example, opiate substitution programmes to help drug abusers to stay socially functioning, or needle exchange programmes to minimise the spread of HIV. Some states in the US have even decriminalised drug possession to alleviate prison overcrowding. These initiatives do not treat the underlying drug addiction.
Singapore is different. Our tough drug laws keep our streets largely free from drugs and save lives. More importantly, our laws have kept crime low and deterred organised drug syndicates from operating in Singapore. Let us keep it that way.
Allow me now to focus on youths and the worrying trend of a rise in youth drug abusers arrested, though the absolute numbers are still small. I currently co-chair a Taskforce on Youths and Drugs with Minister of State Sim Ann, which was set up to tackle the youth drug abuse problem head-on. We will release our findings and recommendations later this year. The recommendations will build on our current comprehensive approach to tackling drug abuse among youths, and this comprises Preventive Drug Education or PDE, effective enforcement and early, targeted intervention for youth abusers.
Upstream, PDE will continue to be our first line of defence in the war against drugs. We must continue to communicate our strong anti-drug message clearly, and in an engaging and better way that resonates with our youths.
Youths may have the impression that cannabis is a \"soft\" drug. This is not true. Heroin and methamphetamine addicts in our prisons in Singapore have been known to start their addiction with these drugs with cannabis.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, weed, or ganja, is addictive and harmful. It is especially harmful to young people and has been linked to impairments in brain
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development, psychomotor skills and even cognitive decline with a drop in IQ. The applications of cannabis for managing pain and epilepsy have also not been clinically proven. There are safer and more effective alternatives.
Next, CNB will continue to maintain its high tempo of enforcement amid a rapidly evolving operating environment. We are constantly on the lookout for emerging drug trends. Let me share some examples.
First, with the rise in e-commerce, some have tried to order drugs online. CNB is watching this development closely. We will intercept suspicious packages and prosecute those who conduct drug transactions online.
Second, some youths, when travelling overseas, have been experimenting with drugs because they think that they are beyond the reach of our laws. CNB performs checks at our checkpoints and airports and has taken action against individuals found to have consumed drugs overseas.
Third, we are keeping an eye on music events. This is after several youths and young adults, including one Singaporean, died from suspected drug overdose at music events held in this region last year.
Finally, we have enhanced our early intervention programmes for youth drug abusers of different risk profiles. In the past two years, we have introduced the Youth Enhanced Supervision Scheme for first-time low-risk youth abusers and the Community Rehabilitation Centre for those at moderate risk of relapsing to drugs. These new programmes are more targeted and take into account the individual circumstances of abusers.
We must do all we can to prevent our youths from being tempted by drugs and ensure that those who take drugs do not relapse. All this is possible only if our youths are resilient, possess the will to change and take individual responsibility for their actions. Only then, we can save our youths from drugs and work towards a drug-free society in Singapore.
Mdm Chair, Mr Hri Kumar asked about skills upgrading and employment outcomes for inmates. The Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises or SCORE provides skills training to inmates during their incarceration, and this is aligned to the national Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework to improve their employability upon release.
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SCORE also helps inmates with longer sentences secure employment before their release. This follows through from the training received in prison as an important part of their reintegration process. Those with sentences of less than one year though, who comprise the majority of releases each year, are typically not offered assistance, as they have not been out of the workforce for very long. Post-release though, regardless of sentence length, all ex-offenders can approach SCORE for employment assistance and job matching. However, we only track the employment outcomes of inmates who approach SCORE for assistance. The outcomes have generally been positive. Other than skills training and employment assistance by SCORE, the Yellow Ribbon Project has significantly changed the community's perception of ex-offenders. Ultimately, the onus is on the individual to take charge of his rehabilitation.
Mdm Chair, let me now address Dr Janil Puthucheary and Mr Ang Wei Neng's questions on road safety. In 2014, although injury accidents increased slightly, the number of fatal traffic accidents and fatalities continued to fall. Overall, we have seen improvements in our road traffic situation and our road fatality rate has decreased by more than 50% over the past two decades. More can still be done to improve road safety. The Safer Roads Singapore action plan aims to foster a culture of safe and courteous road use, through a three-pronged strategy of enforcement, education and engagement.
On enforcement, our sustained efforts have improved the drink-driving and red-running situation. Even with an increase in the number of drink-driving enforcement operations conducted, I am glad that the number of persons arrested for drink-driving actually fell from 3,019 in 2013 to 2,954 in 2014. The number of fatal accidents involving drink-driving also declined from 14 in 2013 to 10 in 2014.
The Deputy Prime Minister spoke about the effectiveness of red light cameras and we hope to do the same for speeding. The number of speeding violations detected increased by 6.5% since 2013 to about 280,000 violations in 2014. The number of fatal accidents involving speeding also increased from 39 in 2013 to 42 in 2014. The Traffic Police have begun installing 20 new digital speed enforcement cameras across 11 locations islandwide starting this week, and we will step up enforcement against speeding. I have personally seen drivers slowing down when approaching traffic junctions, as the traffic lights turn amber, as they are aware of the cameras, or if they think there is one. I am thankful that our motorists have been responsive. I hope that they will also regulate their speed on the roads. Together, we can reduce accidents and save lives.
I agree with Mr Ang Wei Neng on the need to ensure that heavy vehicle drivers are also safe drivers. We have kept up the enforcement tempo against heavy vehicles, and the number of accidents involving heavy vehicles has remained stable over the last five years. But we can do more. Larger heavy vehicles are also required to install speed limiters, which
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are regularly inspected.
On top of this, we introduced additional speed limiter inspections for those caught speeding. Since then, the number of such heavy vehicles caught multiple times for speeding in a given year declined from 270 in 2013 to 230 in 2014. The total number of heavy vehicle speeding violations also decreased from 1,953 in 2013 to 1,743 in 2014. We will continue keeping a close watch on the situation. Speed limiter or no speed limiter, we expect all our heavy vehicle drivers to drive responsibly. We agree with Mr Ang and work with LTA to explore better methods and better technologies for this purpose.
Overall, when it comes to enforcement, we will deal firmly but fairly with those who flout our traffic rules. Traffic offences pose a serious danger to other road users. For compoundable offences, the Traffic Police have the authority to issue a composition fine and, where required by law, demerit points, in lieu of court prosecution. Therefore, it saves the offenders the hassle of going through the court process. These penalties will not be waived even upon appeal to the Traffic Police, unless there are very strong extenuating factors which can be substantiated. Should the motorist disagree with the decision, he should present his case to the Court, rather than submitting his appeal to the Traffic Police.
On public education, vulnerable road user groups, such as children and elderly pedestrians, remain a priority. Last year, the Traffic Police reached out to more than 45,000 students to teach them good road safety habits. The Traffic Police and the Singapore Road Safety Council also organised two Road Safety Concerts for the Golden Age in 2014, reaching out to more than 2,000 seniors.
On engagement, the Government has partnered the transport and logistics industry through the Safer Roads Industry Taskforce to promote safer driving among vocational drivers. We will release the recommendations later this year.
Ultimately, the efforts of the Government alone are not enough. All road users must exercise individual responsibility and practise safe and courteous road use. The Traffic Police will, in the coming months, launch a new road safety campaign to encourage all road users to \"Use Your RoadSense\". This campaign encourages all road users, including motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, to be more patient and careful on the road.
Mdm Chair, finally, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Arthur Fong spoke about the need for strong community partnerships. We have built up and developed community volunteer programmes in many areas over the years.
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As the Deputy Prime Minister said, we must now take community partnerships to the next level by helping the community take ownership of its issues and facilitating those who are prepared to play their part. We believe that people are innately willing to help others in need. The Government will do more to encourage and enable more members of the community to play their part, whether it is to be vigilant against terrorism, to fight crime, to deter harassment by illegal moneylenders, or to save lives. We will facilitate this in a systematic and comprehensive way. The Second Minister spoke earlier on how the Police's crowdsourcing initiatives have empowered the community to help detect and deter crime. Our existing community involvement initiatives, like the Yellow Ribbon Community Project and Community Befrienders, are running well. I would now like to touch on how community partnerships will transform our approach towards emergency response.
In any emergency, the first few minutes are crucial. The best first responder in such situations is the bystander. For example, in the case of a cardiac arrest, rapid and effective CPR and AED intervention from bystanders increases the chances of survival by as much as 30%. SCDF has empowered bystanders to provide immediate CPR assistance by changing the script of our 995 operators from \"Do you know how to do CPR\" to \"I need you to help administer CPR\". Since the change, the proportion of cardiac arrest victims who receive CPR from bystanders has more than doubled from 22% in 2011 to 47% in 2014.
We will go beyond these episodic interventions. Under SCDF's \"Save a Life\" initiative, we will train, equip, and organise a network of community responders that will be able to respond quickly and effectively to cardiac arrest cases in the community. It is imperative that we do so as our population ages and a significant proportion of cardiac arrest cases take place at home. We hope to launch the initiative in all constituencies by end-2018. For a start, we will carry out a pilot later this year in six constituencies – Bedok, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Pasir Ris West, Radin Mas and Tampines West. In particular, I would like to thank Dr Teo Ho Pin for acknowledging the need for such an initiative and volunteering for it during the Budget Debate. SCDF is already in touch with the grassroots leaders in his Bukit Panjang constituency and we will work closely with his constituency on implementation.
Let me explain how this programme will work. First, in partnership with MOH, we will grow the pool of community responders. All volunteers will be trained to administer CPR and operate AEDs. No prior medical training or background is necessary. Second, we will make AEDs more accessible at HDB blocks. For a start, we will install them at the lift lobbies of every two to three HDB blocks in the pilot constituencies. Third, SCDF has developed a new myResponder App that alerts users to cardiac arrest cases nearby and locates the nearest AEDs. With the \"Save a Life\" initiative, the person who responds to your cardiac arrest can be your friend, can be your neighbour, or even your son or daughter. This is possible when we train our volunteers, equip them properly and then link them to those who need their
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help.
We will also help the community organise itself to take greater ownership of its security and emergency response. SCDF and SPF will soon launch the pilot of the Neighbourhood Active Responder Programme or NEAR in two constituencies, in Tampines East and Tampines West. NEAR represents a fundamental shift in the roles that volunteers play in the community – from passive to active first responders. It complements the \"Save a Life\" initiative. NEAR volunteers will be trained to respond to residential fire incidents and medical cases requiring first aid treatment, including cardiac arrest cases. On weekends, when activated, they will respond to these emergencies in bicycles equipped with a combination of a first aid kit, AED, fire extinguishers and smoke evacuation hoods.
They will also patrol their estate and be on the lookout for suspicious characters and crimes in progress. About 100 persons have thus far stepped forward to volunteer and we hope to implement this programme in more and in all constituencies.
The safety and security of our community is our collective responsibility. Community partnerships have a tremendous multiplier effect on the Home Team's efforts. Our volunteers are a dedicated and passionate group, comprising individuals of all ages and from all walks of life. I commend their tireless contributions and sacrifice, and look forward to many more members of the community joining us to do their part to keep neighbourhoods and Singapore safe and secure.
Mdm Chair, Singapore remains safe and secure because of the hard work put in by the Home Team. We must not take this for granted. As the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned, we will augment the Home Team with more manpower and resources, and invest in systems and technology. Community partnerships are the third pillar to this strategy and we will take our partnership to the next level in the coming years. Together, these three pillars will form our overall strategy going forward to ensure Singapore remains safe and secure.
The Chairman: We have a bit of time for clarifications. Ms Sylvia Lim.
Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Madam, I have two clarifications for Deputy Prime Minister Teo and one for Minister Iswaran. First of all, for Deputy Prime Minister Teo, earlier, he mentioned about the plans for MHA to enhance its manpower numbers. He mentioned over a five-year period that there will be 2,000 more officers across MHA. I would like him to clarify whether he is talking about new recruits and is it just restricted to uniformed officers or does it include civilians. And, at the same time, later on in his speech, he mentioned 19,000 to 24,000. Could he clarify where these numbers are going to come from and is it
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over the same five-year period as well?
The second question for the Deputy Prime Minister Teo is on Checkpoint security. I would like to ask whether the Ministerial Committee appointed last year has completed its work already and whether its report is purely internal or a version of it will be made public.
For Minister Iswaran, it is on the issue of cameras and video recording. I would like to ask about the body-worn cameras.
First of all, whether they are actually going to be issued to all officers in uniforms attending to cases or is it just on selective basis?
Secondly, what would be the trigger for the camera to be turned on? Is the officer supposed to exercise on judgement to decide when it is necessary to record the footage? Is it to protect himself if he senses potential problems or is it an SOP that it should be turned on in certain kinds of cases?
Third of all, I would like to ask Minister Iswaran whether the Police would review its stance not to video record statements recorded from accused during Police investigations. I know the Police's position on this. But, personally, I feel that it is something that is worth doing because it not only protects the integrity of the statement recording process during investigation and protects the accused to make sure the statement is accurate, it also, very importantly, protects the Police against frivolous allegations of abuse or accusations of malpractice.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: Mdm Chairperson, perhaps there were too many numbers. I will read them again for the benefit of Ms Lim. Over the last 10 years, manpower in the Home Team has grown from about 19,300 to 24,700. That is more than 5,000 officers over the last 10 years, and we will continue to grow these numbers. Over the next five years, we will add another 2,000 officers to the Home Team across all the Home Team agencies. These include uniformed officers as well as non-uniformed officers.
On the checkpoints review, yes, they have completed the review and submitted the report to me. The report is an internal report because it covers many security-related issues, which are not appropriate to put out in public.
Mr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for her questions. The first set of question pertained to how the body-worn cameras will be used and in what sort of circumstances
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would it be turned on.
First, it is a process of roll-out at the moment, but there will be certain SOPs established. I would say that in general, the approach is: it should be switched on at all times unless there are specific circumstances under which you are authorised on the SOP not to have it switched on. For example, if they are investigating something very sensitive, maybe a sexual assault case or something like that, then, there may be some exceptions. Those are certain areas which they may be specifically excluded. Because if you have too much arbitrariness, then I think the value of it as a source of evidence will also be diminished.
In terms of whom, primarily, it would be the patrol officers. The intention is to have all patrol officers put on the body-worn cameras, because these are our people on the front line. For all the good reasons that have cited elsewhere as well, it is important that our officers have this capability with them.
In terms of what the Member's final point was on the video recording of statements: this is something that is being studied and we will be able to give an update in due course.
Mr Ang Wei Neng: Thank you, Mdm Chair. I have a clarification for Minister Iswaran. I am pleased that MHA has responded to my call to set up a dedicated cyber crime unit. I have made this call in my past Parliamentary Questions or PQs over the last half a year. This dedicated crime unit, which is now called Cybercrime Command, is sited in the CID as well as in the Division. I have also noted the education effort to fight cybercrime. Could MHA also consider working with the ISPs to put up online ads at the appropriate website to remind people not to fall into cybercrime?
The other question I have is: I have noted that the retiring age of a Police officer is 55 years old, not the senior officer but the Police officer, would MHA consider extending the retirement age for those officers who are still fit, or re-employ them in a bigger number if they are still fit?
Mr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for his question and also his persistence and perseverance with respect to this matter over the years, as he has pointed out. Specifically, the Member's question was whether we would be able to enlist the help of the ISPs in order to enhance the alertness and awareness. That is something that we will certainly consider working with. At the end of the day, the nature of this crime and trend is such that we do need all hands on deck in order to achieve the best possible outcome in terms of preventing its recurrence and growth. We will enlist all the help that we can get.
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Having said that, there would be certain practical limitations and we have to see how this can pan out in practice.
The other question the Member pose was whether the retirement age could be extended. It is something we have considered and the answer is yes.
The Chairman: If there are no other clarifications, Mr Hri Kumar, would you like to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Yes, Madam. Despite the heavy burdens MHA bears and the challenges that it faces, it will be remiss of me not to acknowledge that we still enjoy one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Everyone travels in, out and around Singapore without fear, and our loved ones continue to sleep under the blanket of security the Home Team provides. So, I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Iswaran and Senior Minister of State Masagos and MHA for their dedication and hard work. And it will only be proper that I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
The sum of $4,416,468,500 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.
The sum of $582,336,800 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.
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A recent article in The Straits Times caught my eye. In the article, it was reported that there were too many Koreans chasing after too few jobs. The report stated that the college entrance rate stands at 80%, up from 30% in the 1990s. South Korean parents were reported to spend up to 19 trillion won, or S$22.4 billion, on extra tuition. But many college graduates were unable to find jobs due to severe labour mismatch. The jobless rate for people aged 15 to 29 is 8% and government data from South Korea showed that there were more than three million graduates who were \"economically inactive\".
In another BBC article last July, it was reported that a staggering 7.26 million will graduate from China's universities in 2014. In fact, the article was entitled \"What do you do with millions of extra graduates?\" Unemployment among these new graduates six months after leaving university is around 15%.
Having read such depressing news, I wonder about our Singapore graduates. Like South Korea and China, Singaporeans place a high premium on education and many students aspire towards getting a tertiary education. This is evident from the fact that a recent household survey found that Singapore families spent a staggering $1.1 billion on tuition.
I am concerned that more and more students see achieving a university degree as the ultimate objective in life and they will be assured of a bright future once they graduate. To me, there is nothing wrong in wanting to pursue further education. However, I worry about Singaporeans who, after spending so much time and money on attaining a higher education, are unable to secure well-paying jobs. Will Singapore have the high youth unemployment rates that we see in South Korea, in China and in many parts of Europe? If we do, I am sure that there will be great frustration and deep resentment among these people.
Last year, I urged the Government to ensure that all our students from ITEs, polytechnics and universities are properly prepared to meet the future needs of the various industries. We must ensure that the skills which our students learn in our Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs must be practical and relevant to the industries. Hence, I am glad to hear the recent focus in the Budget Statement about the need to invest in our citizens to prepare them for the future.
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Much was said about SkillsFuture in the Budget Debate. I agree that we must help our citizens deepen and master skills relevant to their jobs because our people are our only natural resource. In this competitive world, Singaporeans cannot take full employment for granted. May I ask the Minister, how will SkillsFuture help Singaporeans understand better the need for lifelong learning to achieve deeper skills in their profession or work, and to remain relevant in the workforce? Just in today's The Straits Times, it was reported that fewer workers find their training useful. Can MOE ensure that courses and skills taught by education and training providers are useful and relevant? Can the Minister elaborate more about the SkillsFuture credit and how Singaporeans can upgrade themselves using the SkillsFuture credit?
Next, allow me to speak briefly about tuition. Whilst I know that many students rely heavily on tuition, I am concerned that tuition will eventually become a crutch for these students. Some of them are so heavily reliant on tuition to achieve high scores that they may have lost the skill of self-directed learning. This will put them at a disadvantage when they enter the workforce as they may not develop problem-solving skills on their own whilst they were students. They will always have a safety net in their tuition teachers.
Can we ask our schools to encourage students who are already performing well to reconsider whether they truly need tuition? Teachers can encourage their students to be bold and confident to develop the skill of self-learning without the need for tuition teachers to constantly hold their hands and check their work. If we take a small step in this direction, we will gradually be able to reduce students' over-dependence on tuition. This hopefully will gradually reduce stress as students should see that actual competence, application skills and lifelong learning skills are more important once they enter the workforce.
Finally, I am excited to hear about the enhanced subsidies for mid-career Singaporeans. I feel that we can encourage Singaporeans to seek further development by pursuing either skills development or further education once they are clearer about their career goals. However, I wish to urge MOE to consider allowing the enhanced subsidies to be given to Singaporeans who have worked for at least five years and not wait until they are 40 years of age.
I know of many young people who, after having worked for a few years, feel that it is timely for them to upgrade their skills and this is before it becomes more difficult for them to take time off to balance office work, family life and still continue their studies. Minister, I wish to appeal that we allow them to seize the opportunities offered by our education system once they are ready instead of waiting until they are 40 years old.
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[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Chair, efforts to restructure our economy is well underway to prepare us for the global challenge. With this effort, a rapid transformation will take place in our nation's industries. The implementation of SkillsFuture and other relevant schemes for lifelong learning and upgrading are important and necessary. It is hoped that this will bring about the necessary mindset change to Singaporean workers and students. This mindset change is key to the success of SkillsFuture.
Although we understand the long-term benefits of lifelong learning and upgrading initiatives, it is only a projection and a potential that will not produce quick results. I believe that many people will want to know and understand in more detail how the SkillsFuture schemes can provide motivation and a positive impact as soon as possible to our students and workers, especially for the mature workers. Can SkillsFuture continuously help our students and workers to achieve progression in their careers?
As for SkillsFuture programme in schools and Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs), what are the objectives and outcomes that we would like to achieve for our students? Can the internship and Earn and Learn programmes decide a good and stable career or is it merely for education and training? How can we ensure a good match and minimise the attrition rates and complications among students in the SkillsFuture programme so as to achieve a more optimal outcome?
Ms Tin Pei Ling (Marine Parade): Madam, I am heartened by the Government's introduction of the ASPIRE and SkillsFuture. I hope that all of these initiatives, taken together, will over the long term foster a workforce that is always up-to-date, shrewd in making career choices, higher employability and highly sought after regardless of how the world or economy changes. More importantly, a population that is passionate about lifelong learning and ever willing to seek out opportunities to meaningfully challenge ourselves.
Madam, I have two suggestions. First is to allow a wider selection of courses to be covered by SkillsFuture Credit. This could include post-graduate qualifications, such as Master's programmes in local institutions. It will no doubt help Singaporeans who aspire and
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have the ability to attain higher qualifications to do so.
SkillsFuture Credit is about empowerment and giving Singaporeans the autonomy and responsibility over their own personal development and career progression. Hence, why not let Singaporeans decide what are best suited to their development and to their needs because SkillsFuture credit is, perhaps, only a small fraction of the total cost of a master's programme but it is a nod towards the desire to upgrade.
Hence, my second suggestion is to allow Singaporeans to tap into their own CPF money to fund these programmes, at least partially, and make it known that if they tap on their CPF, they are expected to put it back post-graduation.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Chair, the definition of mid-career varies. Typically, it means someone who has worked for 10 to 15 years and is probably in their late-30s or 40s. At this mid-point, one might come to a crossroads and:
(a) have a feeling of a need to upgrade and deepen his work skills so as to do better in his career; or
(b) seek the ultimate goal and meaning of one's life and contemplate a possible change in his career; or
(c) in the worst-case scenario, face retrenchment because his skillset has become redundant or his company has closed down or relocated.
For those who need to upgrade to deepen his skills so as to perform better in his fields of work, he is definitely more self-motivated and can help himself to look for suitable courses, and he will find SkillsFuture Credit very useful.
For the second group, maybe the Government could collaborate with the industries to provide more mid-career scholarships to facilitate change of career, perhaps as a means to encourage people to tilt towards growing industries. It does not mean that we are encouraging people to change jobs or change career. Several literature about mid-career crisis shows that very often people find themselves unhappy in a path which they have trodden for some time. This is a modern-day illness.
As for the third group, it is the most worrying. For many people in their late-30s and 40s, they would have several significant financial commitments, such as housing mortgages,
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young or school-going children and elderly parents to support and so on. And they can ill afford to lose their jobs at this time of their life. This group deserves the most attention.
Mdm Chair, as we accelerate our economic restructuring, more Singaporeans will be displaced from their jobs. It is most painful when someone loses his job after working so hard for so many years in the same field. One particular group of people is those working in the manufacturing sector. A significant number of Singaporeans were retrenched when the factories were closed and relocated to Penang and China and so on. Although many new jobs have been created, a lot of these opportunities are created in the service sectors. The displaced workers from the manufacturing sector find it hard to adapt and make such a switch.
In my own personal capacity, I have tried to help some retrenched Singaporeans by offering them opportunities in the service sectors but my experience is not too positive. I used to interview several middle managers displaced from the manufacturing sector before I could find one who would possibly fit into a management role in the service sector. Even then, only one out of five who was eventually offered made it.
I hope MOM can help more displaced workers, help them to organise courses and work with e2i to find new ways to help them.
Mrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): Lifelong learning is the pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons which enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development but self-sustainability rather than for competitiveness and employability.
Lifelong learning can also be seen as something that takes place on an ongoing basis from our daily interactions with others and the world around us.
As Singaporeans are living longer these days, they can make use of their added years in ways that please them especially when they have time on their hands. If their counterparts in Hong Kong who embrace lifelong learning can enter the classroom, there is no reason why our elderly should not emulate them if they have the interest, energy and desire to live a more enriching and fulfilling life through continuous education.
For seniors, who for various reasons had to stop their studies during their younger days, learning opportunities for them will be most welcomed and should be made available to them. Learning opportunities should also be provided to needy elderly in recognition of their
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contributions of the generation who built up Singapore and who have survived difficult times in the past and have advantage of life experience.
Intergeneration learning in class is unique and beneficial, in that both the younger students and the senior ones can learn from each other through interactions and also to overcome apprehensiveness with each other in the classroom.
We are living in a globalised world and with constant scientific and technological innovation, some seniors can even pursue courses of higher learning online either in homes or offices.
I am heartened to note that Singapore is studying the feasibility of the Hong Kong scheme for the elderly to re-enter the classroom where the seniors can take classes in participating universities and schools during the weekends and at night for tertiary education or life skills, such as basic computer use and crafts.
Hong Kong's scheme receives subsidies from the government. Hopefully, the Government will work out some form of enhanced subsidies for courses to fund the programmes under the one billion SkillsFuture plan for continued education for the future. Providing seniors with a tertiary education will certainly help keep individuals mentally alert and raise their self-esteem.
Journey of continuing education is not smooth-sailing but the highs outweigh the lows if one is patient enough. Lifelong learning is just not about achieving another qualification for jobs but our lives will be enriched, too.
Quote: \"The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realise the less I know\".
Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, internships will play an increasingly important role as we move to a more skills-based economy. I have spoken on this topic before. While I am happy that there will be more internships and we are told that they will be structured, I remain concerned about how industries will be engaged to ensure that internships are meaningful even as we ramp up the number of such places.
I have taken interns over the past 15 years and I have spoken with others who have as well. From the perspective of companies, the supply of interns has been somewhat unpredictable. Some institutions give longer period of notice of incoming interns and some
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are as short as two weeks before commencement. Sometimes, we are allowed to interview and select interns but often we are not.
It will be difficult for companies to plan for a meaningful project if the supply is unpredictable and if the existing skills of interns are not properly matched to what companies need. For projects to be even more meaningful and realistic, where possible, it will be better if there could be continuity across different internship intakes from education institutions. We can encourage projects commenced during internship to continue, as, say, a final year project when the intern returns to school.
This year, we have a new Earn and Learn programme with generous funding support. I hope to see internship funding support for companies that take in a minimum number of interns a year so that they can dedicate resources to meet internship rigorously akin to a sort of apprenticeship.
I also hope there can be close coordination between companies and supervisors in schools so that projects would be useful to companies while the internship experience will result in the learning required by the school. Where possible, we can also bring in the expertise of industry associations to help plan and validate internship programmes.
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member): Mdm Chair, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Chair, Members of Parliament, good afternoon. The 2015 Budget has initiated the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme to help match graduates of Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education or ITEs with potential employers. From this year onwards, the Government will be collaborating with the retail, food and logistics sectors to nurture a batch of SkillsFuture Mentors to help SMEs with training their talents. This is very good news.
The role of education is to fulfil the needs of society. Our local talents are trained in a rigorously structured framework. The advantage of this model is being able to upgrade the quality of our workforce as a whole. However, if any industry is being overlooked during the planning phase, there will be gaps in our manpower resources.
Gaps have already appeared in some of the traditional industries. On this note, I urge all industry and trade associations to be actively involved in the planning of our future manpower resources. Not only must they convey their respective industry needs to MOE accurately, they should also support the internship programme wholeheartedly. Through the
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internship, students can have first-hand experience of the work environment, understand whether their personal interests and strengths can have growth potential in the industry and help them to chart their future career path. On the other hand, this programme could also help employers to identify the most outstanding young people and recruit talent.
However, we must also realise that larger corporations have the capability to provide internships and attract talents. SMEs, on the other hand, often lack a proper system in place. But, if they do not get involved with manpower resource planning now, the manpower crunch would get even more severe in time to come.
In order to conform to the times, traditional industries and SMEs must also grab the opportunity to improve their overall image. For example, by and large, young people are not keen to seek employment as workers wearing singlets in cake shops. But if the boss works hard to improve the work environment and enhance the job's skills value, the requirement would then be to hire a pastry chef clad in a smart uniform which would then project a professional image and satisfaction to the employee.
Going forward, professional education and career counsellors will be assigned to all secondary schools, ITEs, polytechnics and universities. Industry and trade associations must engage closely with these counsellors to ensure that they have adequate and comprehensive industry knowledge and help them change the stereotypes students have on traditional industries.
I sincerely hope that more trade associations would partake in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme. At the same time, I would like to understand what yardsticks the ITEs and polytechnics use to select industries for their internship programmes. Only if we fully understand what yardsticks and considerations are being used can the owners of traditional industries collaborate with schools in a more purposeful and systematic manner.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Chair, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] It is said that the biggest fear for a man is to choose the wrong career, while the biggest fear for a woman is to marry the wrong man. In modern society, gender equality means women also work and are equally wary of choosing the wrong career.
While we invest heavily on SkillsFuture, we also need education and career counsellors to counsel the students to help them understand their own strengths and weaknesses as
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well as their area of interest and various options. Secondary school students can then make informed choices when they select courses at tertiary institutions, and ultimately, make wise decisions in their career choices.
However, the education and career counsellors engaged by MOE must, first of all, have actual working experience in the different fields and receive specialised training in order to advise the students effectively. Otherwise, they will just be engaging in empty talk and mislead the students.
We are all aware that every parent wants their children to be successful. However, not everyone can become a doctor or a lawyer. As such, schools should communicate with parents and parents should work together with schools so that each student can make career choices according to their ability and interest instead of just picking the one with the highest pay. After all, no matter which job you do, you can achieve greatness.
(In English): In English, Madam. I have mentioned in my Mandarin speech that we need to involve parents when MOE counsellors provide career guidance to the students. At the tertiary level, it is more important for the students to intern at relevant companies to apply the skillset they have acquired at the educational institutions.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman, in his Budget Statement, mentioned that the Government would roll out \"enhanced internship in two-thirds of polytechnic courses and half of ITE courses over the next two years.\" This is an ambitious target. Could MOE share with us what is the number of internship opportunities required to support the target? How is the Government incentivising the companies to provide meaningful internships? At the end of the day, it has to be a win-win situation for the company, as well as for the student.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Moulmein-Kallang): Madam, beneath the observable 10% of an iceberg above the water level, is an important 90% of its total mass. It is this 90% beneath the surface that the ocean currents act on and causes the iceberg's behaviour at the top. I would like to apply the analogy of the iceberg to explain why it is still very hard for Singaporeans to believe that every school is a good school.
First, what is observable at the top of the iceberg. The drive to get into what are perceived as the better schools is still relentless. This is despite all the good work that the Minister has done. Top PSLE scores are no longer announced. Ten-year series assessments
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are made easily available for all. More education awards for good character; ASPIRE and even plans to replace the PSLE T-score system to one that is less competitive. Yet, the belief that some schools are more desirable or better than others still remain.
Cut-off points to enter Junior Colleges last year went as low as three points for schools, such as Raffles Institution and Hwa Chong Institution. The tuition industry continues to thrive to a size of probably more than $1 billion now. Even polytechnic students go for tuition these days. The Direct School Admissions or DSA was not encouraging. Parents and students soon found out the best way to ace the DSA system is by excelling in certain co-curricular activities or CCAs that will put them ahead of other candidates. Popular schools now not only attract the best brains but also the best brawn.
Back to the iceberg analogy. Beneath what is observable, there are underlying structures and strong beliefs and mindsets that continue to feed the undesirable behaviours. In the interest of time, I will name just a few.
Many Singaporeans hold dear the mental model that for a good life, you will need good academic results to get into good schools so that you can get into a good university which is the passport to a good job, good salary, good spouse, hopefully good children and the cycle repeats. This is a mental model that cannot be coaxed away. People can only be convinced if they see and encounter sufficient evidence and personal experiences to replace it.
Another mental model, this time held by employers including the public service, is that graduates from top schools are more desirable and their academic scores are the key determinants of their ability and potential. Their hiring system reflects that accordingly.
The education landscape itself too is shaped by a system which primarily promotes students through academic scores and mainly assigns them to schools based on academic results from high-stakes examinations.
Many of these deep-seated mindsets originate from well-meaning intent. Education is, after all, the most obvious and empowering way to social mobility. But unless these underlying structures and mindsets are addressed, it is futile to try to get the buy-in that every school is a good school. And schooling will continue to be a pressure cooker.
There are several ways I would like to suggest to get rid of these unhealthy symptoms at the tip of the iceberg.
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One, get rid of unnecessary high-stakes academic examinations such as the PSLE. Too much time in a primary school is spent preparing students for this.
Two, pilot a 10-year integrated through-train school without compromising rigour in both academics and character building.
Three, develop a solution-based approach to organising schools and education programmes. Make solid, good subject modules available to all schools, whether they are academic or not, from foundational to typical to advanced levels.
Four, exit schools such as the gifted schools or the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools in the system. Instead of congregating students of the same abilities in one geographic location, assign students of mixed abilities under one roof in classes led by teachers or life coaches. Students can belong to one same base class, but they follow their Individual Education Plan; and in the course of the day, take classes suitable for their own ability and pace with other students of similar learning needs. Part of this is already what we see in the polytechnics and universities.
Five, be more aggressive in the use of technology to make available the best education practices and packages available to teachers, students and even caregivers to level up their playing field.
And lastly, much more must be done to provide the evidence and experiences that prove that there are many pathways to a good life. Employers, including the public service, must lead the way to find more progressive ways of hiring, promoting and recognising employees beyond the usual academics. Parents who have enjoyed the success of taking the path less travelled must share their experiences.
The vision of making every school a good school is a progressive one. It will, however, remain a dream unless all of us in this country work with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to make this happen.
Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, today many parents think that their children must get into the so-called \"top\" schools, based on academic results, in order to be successful in life. By allowing academically top students to congregate over time in some popular schools, we fuel the perception that these schools are better than others.
It also results in a self-fulfilling prophecy, as students who attend these schools, because of their strong academic performance to begin with, indeed do well subsequently and as they progress higher in their education. This creates a scarcity mentality that makes parents
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want their children to do well academically in order to qualify for these \"top schools\". As more of the academically stronger students gravitate to these \"top schools\", it raises the cut-off point of these schools, as Ms Denise Phua had mentioned earlier, making them look even more like \"top schools\", because parents do not know how else to measure the quality of a school.
This causes parents to spend a considerable amount of money on tuition for their children in order to help them to score better academically, so that they can still make it to these \"top schools\". This mentality has created a \"tuition\" race, fearing that if they do not provide their children with tuition, they will lose out to those children who are already getting tuition. Therefore, this is a disadvantage for lower-income Singaporeans.
MOE has set a goal for our children to learn independently on their own and to be self-directed in learning. The tuition mentality defeats this goal. Could the setting of a quota in each school for academically stronger students help spread these students across more schools and avoid a situation where such a vicious cycle forms?
It could also allow parents to be less fixated with the cut-off points of the schools since all schools will have a spread of academically stronger students and academically weaker students. Educationally, this also means that the school will have to be able to cater to students from across a different range of academic performances. The other advantage is that all our children learn about the diversity in society and this interaction of students of different talents and abilities will build a stronger society in the long term. Today, many of the same mould are put together in the same schools.
This approach I am suggesting will also allow parents to finally see beyond the cut-off points to take note of the many distinctive programmes that our secondary schools are rolling out, particularly aimed at catering better to the different strengths and interests of our children, across a wide range of domains – programmes that could spur the interest of their children to want to learn, see relevance in learning and make them more engaged and self-directed in learning.
Ultimately, our hope must be for each child to develop holistically, discover their interests, build on their strengths and stoke the flame for learning that will last a lifetime and benefit from interacting with people of diverse backgrounds that will later build a stronger society and a stronger Singapore. I, therefore, would like to ask the Minister if he feels that he is succeeding in changing the mindsets of Singaporeans that every school is, indeed, a good school.
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Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, this is the fourth year that I am speaking on the topic of through-train schools from primary to secondary. If I seem persistent, it is because I truly believe that in a suitably diverse education landscape, Singaporeans should have access to such a publicly-funded education option.
Such through-train schools would not require the pupil to go through the PSLE. It will allow the schools to develop holistic education for a longer period with the pupils, allowing time to work on their character and values, as well as other aspects beyond examinations. From results seen in other countries and in private schools that offer such a through-train system, academic achievements need not be compromised.
I previously outlined broad ideas on how we can start with eight of such schools distributed throughout Singapore and exclude all top schools from being part of such a pilot. I call for this to be implemented gradually and on a pilot basis because majority of Singaporeans may not yet understand how an education system can work without the PSLE.
Nevertheless, I am convinced that there is a sizeable minority who would be prepared to let their children go through 10 years of education in the same school, even if it means their children would find it difficult to enter the existing top schools without the PSLE. I call upon the Ministry of Education (MOE) to seriously study the option, conduct public surveys to gauge the level of support of parents of such pilot schools and to publish these results, so that we can have a meaningful conversation on this education option.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Madam, the Senior Minister of State for Education had said in this Chamber that \"our education system is run on the basis that tuition is not necessary.\" I believe many parents would like to think so, but the stark reality on the ground tells a very different story.
An opinion piece in The Straits Times on 24 September 2013 titled \"Tuition too prevalent to ignore\" cited sporadic but startling data on this issue. It was reported that the private tuition industry is a $1 billion industry and various polls suggest anything from 50% to 90% of households here send their children for tuition. That is a lot of households and money spent on something the Ministry of Education (MOE) thinks is not necessary.
And do we, as legislators, believe that tuition is not necessary under our education system as well? How many of us here in this Chamber had put our children through tuition or are doing so right now? Another article that ran on 30 October 2013 took an even stronger
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stand that tuition is popular because of issues in our education system.
I urge MOE to conduct a nationwide survey into the tuition culture. Such a survey could be easily done online or by giving each student a simple form to take home for the parents to fill up.
Madam, is MOE not curious enough to study why parents are sending their children for extra private lessons despite having access to one of the best education systems in the world? I am quietly confident the results of such a survey will help MOE decipher this great mystery about our tuition culture and, perhaps, it will also help formulate more effective policies not just for the students but for the teachers as well.
The \"teach less, learn more\" movement was started in 2006 to develop our students holistically beyond preparing for examinations. I am not sure how much lesser the schools are teaching right now but the perception on the ground is that students are learning more from tuition.
Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, MOE and the Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs will play an increasingly important role in enabling Singaporeans to engage in lifelong learning. We must continue to enlarge the pathways and accessibility to education in Singapore. The credit scheme introduced by the Government will certainly spark off a lot of interest for working adults to keep on acquiring or learning new skills. Through continuous self-improvement even well into working life, they will achieve mastery in whatever jobs they do. I am confident this will allow them to develop new skills should they wish to switch to new industries or whatever new things they want to do when the economy continues to restructure. In other words, they will be futurised, like what Mr Lim Swee Sway said, to thrive in a competitive and rapidly changing global economy.
I hope our IHLs and training centres will be able to meet the thirst of Singaporeans who want to acquire knowledge. But we need to ensure that there are enough places for our students and workers, and also to ensure that it is accessible to all our students at every level of our education system. I would like to know what is the Ministry doing to oversee the quality of such courses and to ensure that all the time, energy and investment spent by our students and our workers will follow through to a good matching to a good paying employment and career?
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Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, it has been 31 years since we started the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). Each year, about 1% of the cohort is picked for GEP through a series of national tests for abilities in English, Mathematics and Science at the end of Primary 3.
I had previously called for MOE to review centralised GEP and, in its place, provide support for as many schools to develop their higher ability students so that their students would not need to relocate to one of the nine GEP schools at Primary 4.
There are many forms of giftedness, not just in language, Science and Mathematics. Some are gifted in the arts or in sports. The current definition of GEP is narrow. We can encourage all schools to have various forms of deep, specialised enrichments and engagements. When we need skills, we can tap on the school cluster system or work through existing institutions with strong expertise in Science, the Arts or Sports. For the very rare pupil with extreme giftedness, who will even find the current GEP un-engaging, we can tap on our universities.
Some non-GEP schools have developed their own gifted classes to encourage their best students to stay with the school rather than relocate to a GEP school. We need not have this competition. We can spread the programme developed for GEP across more schools and also widen our definition of giftedness.
Lastly, after 31 years, has MOE done longitudinal studies to track GEP graduates into their careers and can these studies be made public? I hope the public can have more data on the outcomes of GEP to examine its continued relevance.
Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, last year, I posted a note on my Facebook making the argument that despite our good education system, Singaporeans are still coming up short in one area and, that is, spoken English. Some people have responded agreeing, while some said that my post does not recognise our other qualities. But no one said that our standard of English was good enough. Of course, we produce some good writers and speakers, but when it comes to communication skills, it is not enough for only some to do well.
This is because the ability to communicate is a vital skill in any job, any profession; and it is, therefore, important for everyone to reach a competent standard. The real questions
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we should ask are what qualities do we want in a person who goes through and graduates from the Singapore system and are we seeing those qualities today?
In terms of the ability to communicate, I submit that the answer is no. It is a grievance shared by many employers I have spoken to. Singaporeans have good substance but not enough form. While they may know a lot or have a lot to contribute, they lack the ability to express themselves clearly and confidently. This puts Singaporeans at a serious disadvantage in the international workplace.
What is it about the way we teach that produces students who do very well in Mathematics and Science, but not in languages? It is not just about grammar, vocabulary and spelling, but phrasing, articulation, presentation and, ultimately, persuasion. Because much of what we do in life involves persuading someone else of something.
If we can agree that an important objective of our education system should be to produce articulate and confident young adults, then we need to ask ourselves: why are our current policies not achieving this desired outcome? Are we, for example, paying enough attention to language skills at the preschool level, because that is the first opportunity we have to develop the child and prevent bad language habits from being picked up?
Some of our language policies may also be counter productive. Let me give some examples.
If a student obtains a grade between C6 to A1 for Higher Mother Tongue at the GCE \"O\" levels, he can deduct two points from his L1R5 score. In fact, he can deduct these bonus points even if he uses Higher Mother Tongue instead of English for calculating his language score at the GCE \"O\" levels. And so, there is less incentive to do well or do better in English.
Oral examinations are given a weightage of only 15% at PSLE and 20% at the GCE \"O\" levels, no equivalent at the GCE \"A\" levels. So, there is very little incentive to improve communication skills. The effect of our scoring policies has led to the decline or demise of English Literature, as Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin pointed out a few days ago.
Even for Higher Mother Tongue, our policies may be counter intuitive. If a student passes Higher Mother Tongue at the GCE \"O\" levels, he does not have to take the subject any further. The incentive is, therefore, to do Higher Mother Tongue up to the GCE \"O\" levels so that you can drop it and do one fewer subject thereafter. And many of our students do that – they earn the two bonus points and then they drop the subject. The choice about doing Higher Mother Tongue is, therefore, more a tactical one instead of an educational one. The result is that we have many students who stop formal instructions and, in fact, stop using
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the language at the age of 16.
We know that people always act to further their own interests. So, if we are serious about improving our ability to communicate, we should re-engineer our system to encourage the right behaviour and right learning habits. The payoff is that our young will be equipped with a real and valuable skill that will benefit them for life.
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Madam, in this year's batch of Edusave Character Award presentations, I went around asking some students why they thought they won the awards. A common response is: \"I do not know\" or \"I am not sure\".
I know the intentions behind giving the Edusave Character Awards are noble when introduced in 2012, but it would be useful to take stock of the usefulness of the awards at this stage. Is it really helping the moral development of our young? What sort of values and traits are the schools actually rewarding in their selection of the winners and how is this being communicated? And more fundamentally, should we scrap the cash element to the Character Awards altogether?
I urge MOE to subject the scheme to careful scrutiny and explore better ways to signal the importance that MOE places on character and values.
Various studies have shown that when it comes to character education, extrinsic motivation is not only quite different from intrinsic motivation but, actually, tends to erode it. Individuals who have been rewarded for doing something helpful become less likely to think of themselves as caring people and more likely to attribute their behaviour to the reward. Hence, researchers have found that children who are frequently rewarded are less likely than other children to keep doing those things. In short, it may be counterproductive to dangle cash rewards in front of children for displaying good character.
And, even worse, when their numbers have been artificially limited to only 2% in each school. This sets the stage for a competition and I wonder if this has resulted in them being held up as role models that others want to emulate or if it has led to the perception that these are just the lucky ones who got spotted by their teachers.
Madam, the word \"education\" comes from the Latin root words which mean \"to lead out\". To support our students' social and moral growth, the process of learning requires that they be given the opportunity to make sense of such concepts as fairness, courage and resilience. They must be invited to reflect on complex issues, to figure out for themselves –
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and with one another – what kind of person one ought to be, why this is worth striving for and how to stay the course when things go bad around them. No character awards can help them. In this way, through the process of learning, they learn to be self-motivated, self-directed and be anchored in the truth that they have control over the kind of person they want to be.
One thing I have found in my chats with young people is that some tend to pick up news from the social media, quite uncritically, and repeat the problems highlighted, asking for solutions. Sometimes, I feel that they expect a model answer from me, like an examination question. I often ask them back, \"Well, what do you think? What can you do about it? Let us discuss.\" It may not give them the satisfying pat answer that they seek and, for some who are unused to this approach, they may find it disconcerting.
But such critical thinking and self-awareness is important if we want to help our young become moral people, as opposed to people who follow blindly what they are told or reflexively rebel against what they are told. That is why I believe our education system should put greater focus on developing critical judgements, fostering individuality as well as an interest in the community, national and international problems.
Schools should make better use of Literature, History and Sports to discuss human nature, to look at a problem from different angles and to think through carefully before taking action in stressful situations.
Being in a caring school community would help students to develop their sense of self and also a sense of civic consciousness. The school itself must have character and the students must feel a sense of belonging to it. We cannot afford to have anonymous schools and anonymous principals – which we are in danger of inculcating if we continue to rename schools and change principals rapidly.
In this regard, I welcome the $20,000 grant to each school to use for the causes that they identify. I urge schools to use this wisely, to build on its own school character and, at the same time, channel the students to worthy causes that will imbue in them a sense of personal responsibility for the wider community around them. If they feel a sense of real responsibility towards the school and the community, some behavioural changes should follow: they will be less likely to litter, for one, less likely to blame others for problems and more likely to want to be part of the solution.
I am also concerned about the tuition mentality and how that affects character development in our young. Even students who are doing well in school feel the need to go for tuition. I fear that this will breed in them a crutch mentality, erode their sense of self-
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confidence in their own abilities and feel the need to go for more courses just to feel they can make it when they should feel confident in their own abilities, in their abilities to reach high. I am also worried that excessive tuition —
The Chairman: Ms Ng, can you please wind up your speech? Time is up.
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: The role of parents is also crucial in character-building. I would like to ask the Minister how it will engage parents in character-building.
Prof Tan Tai Yong (Nominated Member): Madam, Singapore has had an amazing run the past 50 years. We have grown from a third-world to first in a generation. And as Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday, there is renewed interest about us and not just about what we have achieved in economic terms. There is now a deeper curiosity on where we have come from, what we stand for as a nation, what we have gone through, the social implications of our development, the values we have forged in the process and how we will ride the future.
Singapore is also unique and fascinating because in the developmental journey, we have moved along the highways. Our growth is hyperbolic. This means that every generation that has lived and grown in Singapore has had vastly different experiences.
Generation gaps are very stark in Singapore, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world. The social structures, education system, jobs, life experiences, even buildings around us and mindsets are very different from one generation to the other; even our primary language of communication may not be the same as that of our parents.
This Budget is about building our future and I am very heartened that this Government has laid down plans to strengthen Singapore's competitiveness. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has identified five growth clusters Singapore will build deep capabilities in, namely in applied health sciences, smart and sustainable urban solutions, logistics and aerospace, and in Asian and global financial services.
Science and technology research is, indeed, necessary for us to develop a competitive edge in those areas. And, in this, the National Research Foundation or NRF plays a critical role. It was set up as a department in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 2006 and, over the years, it has achieved much funding to develop policies, plans and strategies for research, innovation and enterprise (RIE). Indeed, the Singapore Government has committed another
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$16 billion in R&D from 2011 to 2015 under the RIE2015 Plan.
While much has been invested in building deep technological capabilities, it is also timely to invest to build up our capabilities in humanities and social sciences research. No scientific invention or progress exists in a vacuum, but what is significant is its impact on people's lives. Steve Jobs has notably said, \"It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough – it is technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities that yield us the result that makes our hearts sing.\"
Furthermore, the world's problems today are complex and multifaceted; problems cannot be solved by a study of the physical sciences alone.
There are economic, social and political consequences behind every policy move. Hence, we need to build deeper capacity in the humanities and social sciences to complement our traditional strengths in science and technology and augment our relevance as thought leaders in many areas.
Research into human experience adds to our knowledge about the world we live in and gives us tools to imagine the future. Humanities and social sciences research adds a dimension to enrich our understanding of our history, people, values, nation, social environment, economy and the impact of the global environment on our country. This knowledge and understanding can help us shape our future. Conversely, without robust academic research, what we know about our past, or of our policies today are but views and opinions or, worse still, conjectures.
This is a good time to invest decisively into the humanities and social sciences as Singapore seeks to build itself up as a knowledge capital. The establishment of a national humanities and social sciences research council that could support research in the humanities and social sciences the way NRF supports science and technology research would complete the research ecology in Singapore.
I understand that MOE already supports such research through its established Academic Research Fund that universities have access to. But having a dedicated national council that undergirds a national research capacity that goes beyond the universities will allow the building of a larger and more diverse research base in Singapore. There are many groups outside the universities that do important work on people and society that could benefit from such support.
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A small investment in the humanities and social sciences – and we know they do not cost a lot – can give us a potentially large impact on our development as a society and country.
Let me end by quoting a verse from a poem by the late Arthur Yap:
\"There is no future in nostalgia.
And certainly no nostalgia in the future of the past.
Now, the corner cigarette-seller is gone, is perhaps dead.
No, definitely dead, he would not otherwise have gone.
He is replaced by a stamp-machine,
The old cook by a pressure-cooker,
The old trishaw-rider's standby a fire hydrant,
The washer-woman by a spin-dryer.
And it goes on
In various variations and permutations.
There is no future in nostalgia.\"
No future in nostalgia, I must add, save what we build from history and nostalgia, and social understandings from what we learn of people's behaviour and motivation, and all our varied variations and permutations.
Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Madam, parents hold primary responsibility for building good values in their children. However, they need the support of the community and our schools are an integral part of this community. Schools are where our children spend most of their waking time and also can provide a more systematic framework than the home environment.
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I would like to make a suggestion how schools can help to build good values in students. But, not to worry, this does not require curriculum development, homework, examinations or extra lesson time. It just takes 10 minutes a day.
When I was in primary and secondary schools, we had duty rosters to sweep the floor, empty the dustbin, clean the windows and clean the blackboard. Members would remember the days when we still used chalk blackboards. To clean the blackboards thoroughly, we had to use a wet cloth so we had to bring rags from home; we had to fetch water in pails and, after cleaning, had to hang the rags to dry. I am not sure if the duty roster practice was a standard one during those years but, today, based on a random check with my own children – three children in three different schools – it is not done consistently.
Singaporeans have become used to a \"cleaned\" city instead of being a clean one. With more children growing up in homes with domestic helpers and our worsening littering problem, I would like to suggest that we emulate the daily cleaning routines in Japanese and Taiwanese schools. There should be a compulsory standard system for all primary and secondary students to be responsible for their own classroom's cleanliness. A roster needs to be drawn up for the different tasks and time be allocated before a lesson for the cleaning duties. So, just 10 minutes a day will not only teach students practical life skills and foster teamwork but also inculcate in them respect and appreciation for manual work.
So, Madam, today, where we no longer write on blackboards, we can write duty rosters. While we no longer use chalk dusters, we can put cleaning rosters to good use.
Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin (Nominated Member): I declare my interest as a social innovator with the Thought Collective. Values in Action or VIA is good. Let us talk about how to make it great. What stops VIA from having a bigger social impact is that though it gives kids content about values, it fails to give kids context surrounding the problems all these values could help solve. Teach a kid to be generous to the poor without grounding him with insights into why not all social solutions or situations are created equal and he might end up either cynical or, maybe, just not helpful.
The problem schools face in creating more impactful VIA programmes is not a lack of good intent. It is a lack of a strategic network of support. Teachers do want to do good, better, but they need outside expertise. So, what schools need are trusted partners from the civil
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society sector with whom they can co-create and consult.
The core business of schools is the holistic education of our children, not the holistic understanding of how to make great social impact. That is the core business of civil society and they are the missing link who could help. These are the people who know and care for these social problems inside out and they spend their entire careers thinking of solutions. So, roping in your academics, innovators, thought leaders, who hold a strong future vision for social sector solutions but having no avenue to engage you to share where the biggest possibilities for an impact are. So, two suggestions on how socially driven innovation can be nurtured in schools.
First, let us recast an exciting new socially oriented vision for co-curricular activities (CCAs). CCAs should still be primarily a fun avenue for kids to develop their non-academic interests. But let us add a social goal for them to accomplish as well. Unlike the Sports and Drama CCAs, many student clubs like Library, Gardening and even Student Councils do not have big national competitions for the students to gun for. So, this proposal is particularly great for them because it now gives them a national level challenge to engage in. Use CCAs to help kids frame the exploration of personal passions with the broader perspective of \"How can my individual passions actually help solve a community problem?\"
Second, form a consortium of civil society leaders and future-forward civil servants that can strategise about what are the top national social issues to work on where students can actually make a dent in. Turn it into a programme that every school can execute through their CCAs. So, let us teach kids to converge their personal interests in serving a country's needs. Kids want to be part of a big picture. If we are going to give them $20,000, let us show them how big that picture can be and help them make a real obvious difference rather than an imagined \"feel good\" one.
Dr Benedict Tan (Nominated Member): Years ago, I was on a socio-civic mission to a rural part of Indonesia. With me was a group of Singaporeans in their late teens. One of them pointed to an animal crossing a road and said: \"Eh, what kind of cat is that? It is so big!\" I glanced at the so-called \"cat\" and was dumbfounded. It was actually a goat! You see, this young man had never seen a goat before and is only familiar with domesticated cats and dogs.
Madam, I would like to suggest that outdoor education feature more prominently in our school curriculum. I declare that I am the President of the Singapore Sailing Federation.
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Previously, there was much emphasis on the majority of students attending the Outward Bound School or OBS at least once during their school life. Hence, many of us grew up with trekking, orienteering, camping, kayaking and sailing experiences, which would not have been easily accessible to the average child living in an urban Singapore.
Outdoor education is now more important than ever as Singapore becomes more urbanised and our young spend more time in front of computers. Outdoor education instils an appreciation and respect for nature, builds character, independence, resilience and leadership. Surely, Basic Military Training cannot be the first time that a youth is exposed to the jungle and having to fend for himself.
When the Ministry of Education (MOE) first pushed for outdoor education, many schools ensured that each cohort would have undergone the OBS course at least once during their school life. Over the years, my impression is that fewer and fewer schools insist on this, with OBS reserved only for a selected few, such as during orientation or leadership training. Also, outdoor education may have become too tame, with some schools counting pitching a tent on the school field as outdoor education.
I am heartened that, as of the beginning of this year, OBS has become a part of the National Youth Council or NYC and would be spearheading NYC's efforts as a national youth developer. And from my understanding, the annual capacity of OBS would be significantly increased in the coming years to broaden its outreach and engagement with our youth. This is an exciting prospect as all Singaporean youth would once again have the chance to experience adventure-based learning from the passionate instructors at OBS. I know that many of these instructors welcome the renewed focus on our youth.
But with around 40,000 students in each cohort, I hope that MOE will fully leverage not only on OBS but also on the MOE Adventure Learning Centre and other providers to put every single one of our youths through a quality outdoor education programme.
I hope MOE can update the House on the percentage of students from each cohort who has undergone a proper outdoor education experience and whether there is any intention to increase this percentage.
Ms Rita Soh Siow Lan (Nominated Member): Madam, in my response to Budget 2015 on the aspect of growing our human capital, I am in agreement with the Ministry of Education's (MOE) mission to build in every child the confidence and desire to learn, studying
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from pre-primary to primary schools.
It is important to start early and, during these formative years, each child is exposed to a broad range of activities for him to discover his talents and interests as he grows. Each child will be able to gain knowledge, skills and values he needs to thrive in the 21st century. And these core values, as stated in MOE's guidelines, are specifically with respect to respect, responsibility, resilience, integrity, care, harmony and even social and emotional competencies, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, responsible decision-making and also emerging competencies, such as critical and inventive thinking, communication skills collaborative and informative skills, are also very important. All these skills and competencies are an integral part of the total curriculum, as identified by MOE.
I highlighted earlier, we are excellent in producing highly competent and qualified talents. However, I believe that to attain the next level of growth, we need individuals who truly love and desire to master their craft! We need to be passionate about what we are learning and to be emotionally invested in the process, especially so in the fields where design is the key competency and where the integration of the head, heart and the hands, working together, is a must. The kids must be encouraged to use their hands, heart and head in a connected manner.
I had also expressed a few concerns, both as a business owner and industry representative. Over the past decade or so, many of us have noted a gradual decline in the skill sets which require the use of our hands. Particularly in my field of architecture, which combines the need for scientific knowledge and artistic skills, employers and industry professionals alike have noticed with frustration that there is this steady decline in the level of craftsmanship among incoming batches of graduates. The use of computers and their addiction to mobile devices have further diluted the focus and training in the visualisation, sensory and tactile aspects of their crafts. Hence, I decided perhaps to look at some specific areas of focus for the arts programmes in our primary schools.
When I look at the MOE Art syllabus for primary and lower secondary, I love what is written. Madam, please allow me to read the introduction.
\"Art plays an important role in our everyday life. Art beautifies, captures memories, communicates ideas, imparts values and evokes emotions. Art exists all around us in different forms, such as in the colours and patterns in the nature to everyday images and design on magazines, products and media.
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In history and across countries, art reflects cultures and beliefs. Learning about art provides an additional avenue through which students can understand their own and others' histories and cultures. Through making art, our students learn to reflect and express their uniqueness by communicating their thoughts and emotions using images and objects. The role art plays in our students' growth and development cannot be overstated. Through positive learning experiences in art, students develop visual literacy which enables them to observe and perceive the world with increased awareness and aesthetic sensitivity. Making art also encourages the development of creativity while engendering a sense of self-worth. This equips the students to better understand and engage with the world they live in.\"
To achieve these objectives, therefore, they are teaching under the framework of \"Seeing, Expressing and Appreciating\", taking into consideration the cognitive, affective and psycho-motor dimensions when learning art. Although our students are provided with opportunities to observe the environment, generate ideas and create artworks, discuss on art and how its values impact the society, I still feel that the following can be further improved.
Broadly speaking, with regard to the wide spectrum of art medium that was given to the students, I feel that we often treat our art programme as a safari, where students spend more time seeing than doing. So, in the area of art techniques, in terms of painting, moulding, rendering and using digital media, it is still very general in terms of the guidelines. I did a quick scan of the websites of 12 primary schools to see what kinds of art programmes were offered. It was by no means a detailed research, but my observations are as such.
A lot of the art modules are essentially co-curricular activities (CCAs), meaning they are done outside curriculum time and are non-compulsory. About half of the students focus on Arts and Crafts, using various mediums of work. A lot of schools are teaching digital art at around the P4, P5 and P6 levels. Art, Music and PE are often lumped together, which is very much a bundled curriculum, and there are very different approaches between schools.
I could not help but look back at my days when I was in school, where we were exposed to many different types of art mediums – potato printing, making of models with plasticine, clay, basket weaving – all these can go on. But even in secondary schools, we had technical workshop classes such as woodwork, metalwork, and many of us fell in love with these craft lessons and they set a foundation for our later years in our chosen pursuits.
A hands-on and integrated approach to learning art and craft benefits the students, even the majority that will go on to pursue careers in fields that are not art-related. Therefore, I have three questions: one, the focus on digital art in the later primary school years – is it really increasing exposure or should we be laying the foundation for the students
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before they learn to use Photoshop?
The Chairman: Ms Soh, can you please conclude your cut?
Ms Rita Soh Siow Lan: The second question is, can we tie art appreciation to the subjects we learn later? Even simple building blocks teach lessons about mechanical structures. Lastly, Art programmes seem optional. Can we integrate them into the main curriculum?
Mr Zainudin Nordin: Madam, education is often and rightly called the universal social leveller. Since the early days of nation-building, we have witnessed many successes and achievements from people who came from humble and diverse backgrounds, who had access to an education in academics, skills or both. Singapore is, indeed, very fortunate to come under a Government that not only recognises the importance of education but strives to make it accessible for all.
Yet, Mdm Chair, as we become more developed, data has shown that more students from high and middle-income families are still doing better in schools. In this regard, how does the Minister ensure that sufficient support is given to students from low-income families to help them benefit from our good education system?
I think the Government has done quite a lot to help financially but problems of low-income families can go beyond monetary issues. The myriad of social problems faced by low-income families can ruin a child's ability to develop well emotionally and academically. What can be done to help these children in their education journey?
Moreover, Madam, how can we equip and train our educators so that they are passionate about the teaching cause and are motivated to help students learn better, regardless of their background? At the same time, how are we equipping our educators and teachers to ensure that they are able to identify issues and problems faced by the children and assist them as early as possible and do this in a more passionate and holistic way for the good of children from the low-income family?
Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Madam, the children are our future. I applaud the support given by the Government to invest in education. As our nation strives to be an
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inclusive society, this must permeate to our education policies as well. I believe that the Government should promote greater inclusiveness and support for all Singaporean students.
The decision to extend personal Edusave to all Singapore students was a step forward but the decision to limit examination fees waiver only to those studying in mainstream schools makes us fall short of being inclusive.
I would like to call for the Government to re-examine its position on Madrasahs as private schools, but rather to see them as part of our education landscape. It is important that we support the Madrasah students who will play an important role in defining the values and principles of our Muslim society in the context of a multiracial and multi-religious nation.
I would like to call for the Government to waive national examination fees for all Singaporean students, as long as it is their first attempt at taking the national examinations, including the International Baccalaurette examinations. This should apply even to those in private educational institutions or those choosing to home-school their children.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, it has been about five years since the Allied Educators or AED scheme was introduced. From around 600 AEDs in 2009, this number has grown to about 2,400 today. There are about seven AEDs in each primary and secondary school. We must recognise the important role that our AEDs play in the classroom to assist our teachers and help ensure none of the students is left behind despite their different learning styles and abilities.
While I am heartened that MOE has stated that they have met their staffing needs for AEDs in each primary and secondary school in an earlier Parliamentary Question or PQ reply, I still feel that even more AEDs may be required in our schools. The reasons are two-fold.
First, the developmental support programme that has been rolled out by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) that will help about 2,000 preschoolers across Singapore will mean that students can be diagnosed with mild developmental needs much earlier. This is a good thing so that appropriate intervention can be extended to them through our preschool in their primary school years. Inadvertently, this would mean more AEDs may be required to seed the continuity of appropriate intervention and assistance throughout the student's school years.
Second, the recent announcement by MOE on the school-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme for all primary schools by 2016 would also mean that more AEDs or learning
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support educators are needed in our classrooms, again, to ensure continuity and appropriate intervention and assistance to students with dyslexia.
It is a challenge for MOE to employ sufficiently trained and qualified AEDs who are passionate about and committed to their cause. Raising salaries is just one way to attract more to enter the profession but it may not be enough to retain them.
Would MOE consider having a more comprehensive professional development pathway for our AEDs that may, one, help them to be more recognised for their work and see a clear career path; and, two, allow them to change career tracks to become a General Education Officer or classroom teacher once they have garnered classroom experience and content proficiency? In addition, would MOE consider implementing the SkillsFuture and Earn-and-Learn Programme to allow stay-at-home mothers, mid-career entrants or retirees to join the teaching fraternity as AEDs? This could be one way to train and deploy more AEDs to our schools.
On the matter of after-school care, many have voiced the desire to see each primary school providing after-school care within their premises in the next couple of years. This is necessary for many working parents of primary school-going children as having the after-school care within the school lends a sense of security and assurance.
However, providing the physical space is an easy part. The challenge is having sufficient caregivers to helm these after-school care centres. I would like to propose that MOE consider piloting a project where our tertiary students from the polytechnics and universities to sign up as youth volunteers to help run the after-school care centres as part of the community or Values In Action (VIA) projects. MOE may have to provide the funding for the infrastructure, while these youth volunteers can source for extra fundings from external sources or through crowdfunding for programmes or operating expenses of these after-school care centres.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Nee Soon): Mdm Chair, with all primary schools going on single session, I know of many working parents with children in primary schools who encounter difficulties in the care arrangements of their children after school. This is especially so for those who elect to not have domestic help or a caregiver at home, or those with two or more children.
We have set up the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to oversee the childcare sector, but I urge the set-up of a similar outfit with a single Ministry taking full ownership to focus its efforts on beefing up the number and quality of student care centres in Singapore. One way is to equip the majority of primary schools with after-school student
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care facilities. These student care centres in primary schools will be a great boon for working parents or parents with two or more children.
Children can use the afternoon till evening to rest, spend quality time picking up new skills, interacting with friends, going on learning journeys or having fun through games or sports within the school premises. Perhaps, self-help groups, volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs) or co-operatives can provide this service across the Primary schools in Singapore.
Ms Lee Li Lian (Punggol East): Madam, it is a known fact that the strong demand for childcare will inevitably be the same for student care in time to come.
I had spoken about this in last year's Debate on the President's Address. New estates like Sengkang and Punggol house younger families. Therefore, school-based student care centres (SCC) are well received in these areas. Such centres provide the much-needed convenience as both parents are working. It provides parents with peace of mind, that they need not worry about where their children will be heading to after school or whether it is safe for them to travel home alone. Such centres also offer enrichment classes and supervision to children doing homework. Such an arrangement reduces the family's need for a domestic helper and is especially useful to children that lack home support.
In last year's Committee of Supply or COS debates, the Minister announced that the public can expect another 40 SCCs. While this is welcomed, I believe the Ministry can do more to push for at least one student care centre in every school. I would like to call upon the Ministry to place greater emphasis on this.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Last year, at the Debate on the President's Address, I mentioned that young families have a need for student care services. Today's need for childcare centres will turn into tomorrow's need for student care services. Student care services will help monitor the students' behaviour, as well as their homework. Parents need not worry about where to leave their children after school or whether the kids will be safe going home alone. This arrangement will reduce the family's reliance on domestic helpers. I hope the Ministry of Education (MOE) can pay more attention to this issue.
Mr Ang Wei Neng: Madam, I appreciate MOE's effort and promise to increase the number of school-based Student Care Centres or SCCs to 120 by 2015. I also want to
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congratulate the Minister for the success of the scheme. Many of the school-based SCCs are full and, with long waiting lists, as soon as they are opened.
The shortage of vacancies in some of the school-based SCCs that are near to rental blocks is even more severe as the demand is high. I hope the Minister could share with us on the constraints of providing more places at these school-based SSCs, whether it is space and infrastructural constraints in the school or manpower constraints faced by the operators.
If it is a manpower constraint, would MOE consider extending similar subsidies and grants for volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs) to expand the places at these centres or set up additional SCCs near the school? For example, I have a VWO that is ready to do so in Jurong and I hope the Minister can consider it seriously.
The Minister for Education (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Madam, with your permission, may I display some slides on the LED screens?
The Chairman: Yes, please.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Madam, I thank the many Members for their thoughtful and wide-ranging comments.
This year, we celebrate our nation's Golden Jubilee. We celebrate how education has enabled generations of Singaporeans to build a better life and enabled us to build a nation. We thank our Pioneer educators and their parents.
Looking back, in 1965, education meant 读书 or \"study book\". Our Pioneers had a sense of where they wanted to be in the future, where they were and worked hard to bridge that gap. The big gap then was basic literacy and numeracy skills – so \"study book\" made sense as they learnt the three \"Rs\" – reading, writing, arithmetic. Many became literate and numerate.
We then built on this education system, year by year. At critical points, we made important choices to adapt and change. Educators, parents and students responded with spirit and each wave allowed us to make further progress with purpose. With these changes, we built a good education system, developed our people and grew our economy.
But there were also inadvertent negatives. In our minds, \"study book\" became increasingly about examinations, grades and qualifications. A strength in focusing on academic grades can be over-done and become a weakness, as we leave little time to develop other attributes that are necessary for success and fulfilment. Students tell me of
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the stress they face because of the high expectations placed on them.
The chase for better grades fuelled a tuition industry. It created a vertical stacking of qualifications, as well as the tiering of schools in the minds of parents, based mainly on academic results – a hierarchy of grades.
We are not unique in this. The same \"study book\" culture that enabled the other three Asian dragons – South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan – to make great strides is also generating the same, if not even greater, pressures in their societies.
Like our Pioneers before us, we have to ask anew: where do we want to be in the future, where are we today and how do we make the leap?
At Our Singapore Conversation two years back, many Singaporeans expressed their aspiration for a cohesive home full of spirit and trust. A home where we all have opportunities to pursue our dreams. A home where we all have the assurance that we will each be taken care of when we face difficulties and where we live out lives of purpose. So, it is not just what we do. It is who we are as a people.
But many also recognised that the future will be more uncertain and volatile as the global economy and political order change in unpredictable ways. Political and religious developments elsewhere can strengthen or weaken our social cohesion. An ageing population will create challenges that we cannot totally foresee. A younger generation that is digitally connected can either be more united or more divided.
The nature of jobs will also change. For a start, many existing jobs will disappear. Smart machines and lower-cost workers elsewhere will take these jobs. So, we have to change jobs, maybe several times over our lifetime. But jobs that need uniquely human qualities cannot be displaced by machines and, indeed, will become more valuable.
Even the same job will look different. So, traits like creativity, inventiveness, adaptability, social and emotional skills and cultural and global awareness will give Singaporeans an edge.
New, interesting and diverse jobs will be created. Some of us will be self-employed, some of us will create jobs for others as entrepreneurs. And if our economy grows well, more jobs will be created.
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So, all these present new and multiple pathways for success. Faced with such challenges and opportunities, we are at a crossroads. We have two options. We could continue with the \"study book\" path, with a narrow focus on grades and examinations, and descend into a spiralling paper chase and expanding the tuition industry, as many Members have warned. Employers choose not to invest in employees, relying wholly on academic qualifications to determine who gets the job. Educators drill and test and see their duty as helping students to obtain the best possible examination grades. Parents obsess over grades and spend ever-increasing amounts of resources to give their child an edge over other children. Students chase the next point and spend most of their time going for more tuition and enrichment in very narrow areas. Stress levels in society climb and the system churns out students who excel in examinations but are ill-equipped to take on jobs of the future nor find fulfilment in what they do. And unemployment or under-employment becomes pervasive. Everyone is worse off.
This is a grim road, but sadly one in which other societies have already trodden down. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, in his opening speech, raised vivid examples of what is happening elsewhere. Ms Denise Phua warned us that if we do not change, the currents beneath the oceans will cause us to drift and drift us in the wrong direction. This is one possible outcome.
Or we can have another outcome. We can act with boldness and resolve to take another path forward, to embark on a major transformation. We will need collective will and action by employers, teachers, parents, students and society at large where employers look beyond academic qualifications in hiring and promoting the best person for the job; where bosses support employees in skills upgrading; where educators focus on holistic education, building a strong foundation of values and the capacity to learn; where our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) play a leading role strengthening the nexus between learning and work and learning for life; where parents recognise every child's unique strengths and do their part to build their children's character; where students flourish through a range of academic and co-curricular activities (CCAs) and take different pathways to success and grow up to be well-rounded; where the economy stays resilient and flexible, with high levels of employment and many opportunities – high skills, high productivity and high wages. And where our society and our people continue to be caring, harmonious, gracious and cohesive, and we do not see education as a race among our children.
This is a path that no society has charted out fully yet – and I have been looking at education systems around the world. Charting this new territory will require us to, once again, be pioneers.
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Here, in Singapore, building on the many changes in our education system in the past, we have continued to make further changes and to make further moves in this direction. As Ms Denise Phua reminded us, we have focused on values and character, strengthened holistic education, removed school rankings and enhanced support for weaker and special needs students. We developed new ways of learning in our schools, made every school a good school, expanded applied pathways in tertiary education and, in this Budget, outlined a series of SkillsFuture initiatives that build on ASPIRE's recommendations.
All these changes have laid the groundwork for a transformation to create a better future for Singapore, a future anchored by deep skills and strong values.
But this future will belong to us only if we, as a people, shift our mindsets about education. This is not about \"study book\" or 读书. It is about learning in every domain, anytime, anywhere for a purposeful, meaningful, fulfilling life. In other words, we need to live the pioneering spirit; beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery; beyond learning in school to learning throughout life; beyond learning for work to learning for life.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned about the Integrated School Programme. Ms Denise Phua made very good suggestions on changes in our schools and also mentioned once again the integrated through-train programme. In fact, Ms Phua even raised an Adjournment Motion some months back. I would say let us go beyond what we do in schools. Let us go much further. It is not just about what Mr Png Eng Huat mentioned about tuition. It is about a more fundamental change. Allow me to touch on these fundamental changes.
The first major shift is to go beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery. How do we develop mastery in our fields? We do not have all the answers. But let me share a story.
When I was in the Police Academy more than 30 years ago, one of my Pioneer instructors was Mr John Chang. He did not have high academic qualifications, but he was, in my mind, one of the best instructors. He knew the law, he knew how to deal with tense situations and he knew how to teach. He explained to me that after handling every case, he would reflect on how he could have done better. He would imagine, in his mind, scenarios – how should he have reacted if the criminals he was dealing with had been more violent, if they were armed with firearms or if the victims were less cooperative and so on and so forth. He studied on his own, he attended classes, he asked his peers and seniors at work. Everybody whom he could get to, he would ask.
John was one of the few police officers who started as a constable, got many promotions, went all the way and retired as an Assistant Superintendent. You see a
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photograph of John when he was promoted. Quite a feat in those days.
I learnt a lot from John, as a very young officer, about what it means to be an effective learner and how one achieves mastery. He was self-directed. No one told him how to learn but he did so on his own. He was reflective. He thought through his own experiences and learnt from both mistakes and successes. He learnt in bite-size modules, picking up what he needed, when he needed. He kept an open mind and learnt from everyone, everywhere, at any time. He was disciplined. Learning was not left to chance but was built into his everyday routine. And he was passionate. He cared deeply about what he does. All these before we spoke about SkillsFuture.
Now in my job in education, I am lucky to meet many who, like John, devote themselves to mastery and in many different fields.
Let me quote just one example – Assoc Prof Chong Yap Seng, a Senior Consultant at the National University Hospital (NUH). A doctor by training, Prof Chong is leading a nationwide birth cohort study on how mothers' diet and lifestyle during pregnancy affect their babies' growth after birth. It is a study of great national impact to prevent and manage diseases like diabetes and obesity. Someone like him, steeped in knowledge of his field, does not shy away from applying his knowledge and skills innovatively to push new frontiers, to explore the unknown and to invent new things.
We should aim to be a nation where Singaporeans develop mastery in every field, Singaporeans who are resourceful, inventive and break new grounds. This will take collective effort across our schools, IHLs and industry.
So, let me outline my Ministry's contribution to this. In 10 years of basic education, we aim to, first, equip every student with a strong foundation in literacy, numeracy and thinking skills, whatever their starting point. Mr Hri Kumar mentioned the importance of expressing our ideas well and being confident. I fully agree with him and I thank him for these useful suggestions on how we could do better. And, indeed, we are starting very early now in preschool and in our primary school, with our new reading and oracy programmes.
Literacy skill, numeracy skills and so on are vital, as they enable our students to keep learning and progressing. Rigour will be maintained through appropriate assessments as checkpoints to help them track progress and to make good decisions on the best pathway to continue learning. And, where necessary, students can access levelling up programmes to build their basics.
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Second, we will give every student broad exposure to a whole range of subjects and co-curricular activities (CCAs) to pique their interest in various fields – sports, arts, outdoor adventures and so on. I share Dr Benedict Tan's enthusiasm for outdoor and adventure-based learning and I thank him for his suggestion. I also thank Ms Rita Soh for her suggestions on art education and how we can continue to improve it.
Third, continue to improve on our teaching, to stimulate curiosity and let every student put knowledge into action. This includes using ICT to teach, as Ms Denise Phua had highlighted. In fact, I am happy to share that we are already developing our Student Learning Spaces, and, hopefully, we will have high-quality content and many high-quality ways of using these.
Fourth, build in every student deep wells of character. It matters in life, and it matters in achieving mastery because mastery takes effort and perseverance in careers and endeavours.
An important aspect of learning for mastery is to match our students' strengths and interests to opportunities in our schools and IHLs, in careers and enterprises. Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), but I would like to go further. I would like to stimulate the curiosity of learning in all our children, provide plenty of learning opportunities for them in ways which are meaningful, for all our students, in all our schools.
A recent innovation in our schools is the Applied Learning Programmes or ALPs in almost all our secondary schools, and this is part of our \"Every School A Good School\" movement. In fun and creative ways, our students apply various domains of knowledge to solve complex, real-life problems in their field of interest.
Let me share two examples. First, Hillgrove Secondary. Hillgrove Secondary has an ALP on Flight and Aerospace. Students learn fundamental Aerospace theories and apply mathematics, science and design and technology by building and flying their own model planes. The students go on to take Advanced Elective Modules in Aerospace, where they learn how planes defy gravity while flying a flight simulator!
Rayner Lee really enjoyed learning at Hillgrove and, in fact, he is now doing Aerospace Technology at Nanyang Polytechnic and says, \"I chose Hillgrove because of the Youth Flying Club CCA. I wanted to be a pilot. My parents and school teachers encouraged me to take the Private Pilot Licence PPL. Now that I have my licence, I hope to join the RSAF as a pilot.\" Well, I hope Rayner flies high.
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Another example is Damai Secondary's ALP on Health Science and Technology. Students apply concepts from Chemistry and Biology to construct biomedical devices. They built salinity sensors that can analyse urine samples to determine the health of a person. Damai students also develop a sense of empathy when thinking about their users. Through tie-ups with IHLs and the community, students are inspired by the possibilities of careers in the healthcare and medical technology sectors. As Mdm Fiona Han, a mother of three sons in Damai, puts it, \"This is a great experience that allows them to broaden their future career choices.\"
Different ALPs open up different possibilities for students to put knowledge into action and bring learning to life. Learning becomes relevant and engaging for every student, in every school. We are not channelling students to specialise early. In fact, deep skills acquired in one field can be transferred to another.
For example, Ngee Ann Polytechnic uses the technical know-how in building unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs to build unmanned underwater vehicles UUVs to clean ship hulls – transferring skills from air to sea.
A team in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) worked with the Singapore Zoo's applied Medical Technology to design an incubator and succeeded in increasing the hatching rate of reptile eggs from 25% to 75%. So, if you see many more crocodiles in the zoo, you know why. It is quite productive!
We are fortunate that our vibrant economy has created a range of good jobs. With more choices, we need good Education and Career Guidance or ECG. There are many domains and fields that students could explore and develop deep skills in – whether it is design, business, arts, music or sports. By exposing students to possibilities, we empower them to make better choices and choose suitable pathways.
We will, hence, strengthen ECG at all levels. ECG curriculum in schools, ITEs and polytechnics will be enhanced and, by 2017, we will have a professional core of ECG counsellors and an online ECG portal that shows many exciting opportunities – enriched by our SkillsFuture initiatives.
Ms Rita Soh earlier spoke about how we should integrate the arts and sciences and how we should integrate the learning of head, hearts and hands. In fact, many meaningful and exciting things are also happening in our IHLs.
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If you have to build an exciting platform which the Prime Minister will stand on for a Chinese New Year celebration, how would you go about doing it? Well, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) students put to work their knowledge of engineering, design, arts and cultural awareness to create this year's Chinese New Year light-up display in Chinatown.
They designed a total of 338 goat lanterns, including 28 motorised ones. Three special goats, each weighing about 400 kilogrammes, were perched on a mountain to form the 10-metre-tall centerpiece. It is not only a wonderful sight to behold; it vividly brought in the Year of the Goat. And we all know that the Prime Minister was very pleased to grace the platform. You can see on the screen the Prime Minister's wefie with the team.
This is the fourth year SUTD students have helped to design the display for Chinese New Year and, each time, with each new animal of the horoscope, they learned from the previous year, pushed themselves to think differently and put all their skills and knowledge into a new masterpiece.
They put their heads, hearts and hands into creating this. And, indeed, our ITE motto is \"Hands-on, Mind-on, Hearts-on.\" Be it ITE or SUTD, this is an important way to learn. And, indeed, this is what it means to go beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery.
The second major shift that we need to make together as a people is to go beyond learning in school to learning throughout life. Let me share with Members another story.
I was at the Seletar Aerospace Park recently. Fifty years ago, Seletar was better known for the smell of pig farms. Fifty years on, I visited Seletar to witness the delivery of our first Rolls-Royce TRENT 1000 jet engine, made in Singapore for a Singaporean company – Scoot. A world of difference!
I met three Singaporeans working there – Ravinder, Cheria and Siti Mariani. Ravinder is a team leader with 24 years of aerospace experience. You would have thought that he knows everything, but he told me, and I quote, \"To me, every day is a learning process\". And this gentleman was serious when he said that. It turns out that his son is also interested in aerospace engineering and so he decided that he, too, \"had better return to school to pick up new skills and more skills\", so that he can mentor his son and pass on his skills to the next generation.
So, he enrolled in Temasek Polytechnic's Diploma in Aerospace Engineering and is now six months into his course. All that, whilst working hard at Rolls-Royce mentoring his younger
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colleagues, like Cheria and Siti.
Cheria is technically Ravinder's \"schoolmate\" in Temasek Polytechnic or TP as she is also pursuing a Diploma in Aerospace Engineering, but she is one-third his age. As an intern, she is learning at the workplace even as Ravinder is learning in TP. Siti, an ITE student in Aerospace Technology, was also part of the team. And whilst working at a bookshop at Changi Airport, she saw the aeroplanes taking off and it piqued her interest. She started to wonder how planes fly.
Today, she is a Rolls-Royce ITE scholar, thrilled to be building an impressive and complex engine with some 30,000 parts! And learning all that as an intern. So, you see, it is not just about learning technical skills. She said, and I quote, \"Rolls-Royce taught me to be versatile and assertive in order to keep up with changes in the aerospace industry.\"
Ravinder, Cheria and Siti are at different stages of life but all actively learning to be better, to succeed both at work and in life.
But I empathise with many Singaporeans who tell me, \"Once we start work or have family commitments, it is hard to set aside time to learn.\" Indeed, we have to address the practical constraints to empower lifelong learning.
Our IHLs will play a leading role in empowering Singaporeans to learn everywhere, throughout life. Our IHLs will work with companies that are keen to make workplaces great places for learning. We will have more enhanced internship opportunities so that young people like Siti and Cheria can learn and solve real-life problems and acquire soft skills. I thank Mr Yee Jenn Jong and Ms Lee Li Lian for their suggestions on internships and how we can engage the different players.
Our IHLs will create SkillsFuture Earn-and-Learn Programmes so that Siti and Cheria and others can be mentored on the job and acquire skills when they graduate. Students who take up Earn-and-Learn are effectively enjoying one year or more of highly-subsidised education. But instead of learning just in our IHLs, they enjoy a blend of facilitated learning in our IHL and structured mentoring at work. They acquire a higher industry-recognised qualification through this.
We will also put in place skills-based modular courses. By the end of the year, there will be over 300 modular courses offered by our polytechnics and universities. These will be in specialist areas, such as Digital Forensics and Investigation at SP, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at NTU, Functional Genomics at UniSIM and Coaching and Counselling
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and Skills at RP. As you can see, a very wide range!
We will subsidise part-time, Specialist, and Advanced Diplomas for all Singaporeans more generously even if this is not the first time you are getting one and provide the even more generous SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidies for Singaporeans aged 40 and above. I agree with Mrs Lina Chiam that we must encourage everyone to learn, including the elderly.
Our IHLs will play a leading role in specific sectors. For a start, we will appoint Sector Coordinators for 17 strategic sectors. These are sectors identified as future growth sectors or meeting critical needs in our society. Besides engineering and manufacturing sectors, we will also have early childhood education, which Senior Minister of State Indranee will speak more about later, as well as healthcare and many others.
Let me explain how this would work. Republic Polytechnic or RP, for instance, is the Sector Coordinator for Logistics. They will ensure a tighter nexus between learning in school and learning at work in the logistics sector. I want to commend the RP staff who were very enterprising in engaging industry players and galvanising 12 companies, including top players, like YCH Group, DHL Express and Yang Kee Logistics, to come together to design a 12-month Earn-and-Learn programme.
These companies will use RP's workplace training blueprints so that learning at work and learning at RP are integrated for maximum impact. Students who complete the programme will acquire skills that are in RP's Specialist Diploma in Supply Chain Management but they will do so on the job, be recognised for it and get paid in the process, without having to pay fees! They will learn how to deal with complexity and scale in global goods flow, data analytics, manage supply chains and inventories and devise plans to optimise transportation. As you can see, all are very high-skills areas. They will learn problem-solving, people skills and a range of soft skills. When they show that they have acquired and can apply the new skills, they will then take on greater responsibilities and see a wage increase. Mr Zainuddin Nordin earlier raised the issue of how we ensure that the skills that are learnt result in better progression. This is how, and I hope many more, industry players will come on board.
RP will provide specialised training for mentors to help companies build a network of industry mentors, skilled like Ravinder. This will multiply our effectiveness and spread expertise in the sector. I will do it systematically for each of these sectors. We will study different models of learning on-the-job, explore greater use of online learning and look at innovative approaches. This is how we will help all Singaporeans to go beyond learning in
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school to learning throughout life.
As we resolve to learn for mastery and learn throughout life, we need to rethink a few issues about learning and the significance of the changes. Let me share some observations. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD did a recent survey of adult skills. Workers in Japan ranked highly in their skills but ranked poorly in terms of how well these skills are utilised on the job. At the opposite end, workers in the US ranked poorly in skills but ranked among the top in using skills on the job – so whatever skills they have, they use them to the fullest.
Much of our Budget Debate focused on the quality control of courses and whether workers get to attend. These courses to learn skills matter. But this OECD study paints a very vivid story that what matters even more is whether workers use the skills learnt. We must not end up debating which courses can enjoy the credit and so on. We must not end up using SkillsFuture Credit to chase another form of qualification or debate which courses can acquire qualifications. Training courses are just the means. Our focus must be on the ends – acquiring, mastering and using deep skills.
So, if workers or companies attend courses to meet quotas or because there are some incentives for it, very little will be achieved from attending the courses. But if companies make the best use of the higher skills of workers, it leads to higher productivity and higher margins; in turn, they can pay higher wages. Higher skills, higher productivity and higher wages. This is the virtuous cycle that we must seek to achieve.
To achieve this virtuous cycle, companies play a critical role. So, I am glad that Mr Robert Yap, Chairman and CEO of YCH Group and also Chairman of Singapore National Employers Federation, has been very supportive of his company's collaboration with RP. I hope many more employers will take action to develop and use their employees' skills as part of their productivity and innovation strategy. And I thank Mr Thomas Chua for calling on industry associations to work closely with MOE and also calling on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who can come together in the industry associations to also work closely with us. We are always ready to work with them.
Another observation relates to how we direct our own learning or self-directed learning.
With SkillsFuture, various specialist and advanced diplomas and specialised, bite-sized modular courses are even more highly subsidised. In fact, there is an even wider range of courses available. Opportunities for learning will be across our IHLs – graduates of
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polytechnics, ITE or university can take relevant modules, or in WDA-certified courses or at the workplace.
With this array of courses, especially modular courses, the system is even more open and flexible. Besides the multiple pathways in our IHLs, you can now create your own learning pathways – build a portfolio of skills, just-in-time, tailored to your own needs, at your own pace. You can stack modules towards a qualification or just choose relevant modules. It empowers each of us to take charge, direct our own learning and build our own unique skills map. It empowers each of us to make the best use of the initiatives, including the SkillsFuture Credit and other learning opportunities.
Mr Ang Wei Neng highlighted the plight of middle-aged displaced workers. And this is why we have even greater subsidies for those aged above 40.
But this self-directed, independent learning must start young. Our teachers must not spoon-feed our students and give them model answers. In life, there are no model answers.
I once had a parent who wrote to me to argue for an extra mark for her child's term test in school. Rather than seek an extra mark in tests, let us nurture our children to make their mark in society.
We have to encourage our children to be independent, self-directed learners, skilful at figuring out their own way. Prof Tan Tai Yong made an important point that we must not over-protect our children so that they can develop adaptive resilience and learn to deal with uncertainties in life. But if we intervene when a child does not get an extra mark, how does he or she develop that resilience? Mr Lim Biow Chuan cautioned about the over-reliance on others to learn and how it can develop a crutch mentality. Mr Inderjit Singh made the same point and emphasised the importance of self-directed learning. Mr Singh also made suggestions on how we can create more diversity in our schools' profile, which we will study.
So, let us start early in our schools and make our children self-directed, independent learners. Let us all take a collective pause and see whether the way that we are bringing up our children in school or at home is helping them to develop that independence, that self-directed learning, the resourcefulness and initiative or whether we are spoon-feeding them and that they are going to lose that ability when the crutch is taken away, that they cannot go out and create, invent and build new things.
My next observation on learning for mastery relates to learning as a habit of mind. Structured courses are very useful, and that is why our IHLs are embarking on that and that
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is why the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) is also doing a lot more.
But no matter how many programmes we have under SkillsFuture, we cannot cover every learning possibility. It is not possible. Why? Because learning can take place in formal and informal modes – in the classroom or at the workplace, through self-reflection, team-learning or online learning, with friends or in groups. Lifelong learning is a habit of mind, rather than a mere act of attending courses.
So, it is important that even as we debate about SkillsFuture accreditation and the quality of courses and so on, we must not forget that it is not about attending courses per se. We need to seize learning opportunities everywhere, from anyone, throughout life and even on our own, like the way that Mr John Chang did at the Police Academy many years ago.
Finally, learning for mastery is not just about learning what is known. A lot of our learning is about learning how others have done it and how we might learn the basics from there. But it is also about exploring the unknown and inventing new possibilities by putting all of our knowledge to creative use, like what Prof Chong is doing to help parents have healthier babies.
So, let us nurture many more who seek mastery relentlessly in their field, who are inventive and resourceful and who can make breakthroughs for Singapore. I have made several observations about learning for mastery and learning throughout life and that it is not just about learning what is known; it is not just about attending courses; it is not just about relying on others but, rather, to be self-directed, independent learners.
Let me now move on to a third major shift. The third major shift that we need to make together is to go beyond learning for work to learning for life. Developing deep skills to succeed at work is important. But life is more than just work. Developing a lively interest in the world around us, in nature and culture, in sports and adventure, in having zest for life and a concern for others are what makes life purposeful and fulfilling. Earlier, Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin, Dr Benedict Tan and Ms Rita Soh all touched on this.
So, let me share another inspiring story, this time on Edward Chia. Edward is a 31-year-old entrepreneur who started his own business when he was 18 years old. His Timbre group of restaurants is well-known for good dining and live music. Timbre restaurants have a social mission. Combining food with music, his restaurants champion Singaporean musicians and give them a platform. His staff would applaud the performing bands and urge his diners to do the same. Edward shares that, and I quote, \"Everything we do still counts back towards our social mission of supporting Singapore's music scene. At a very simple level, I had an idea
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I wanted to do, that idea was good for society and I just wanted to get it done.\" He gained respect from his team, many of whom were older, by getting his hands dirty and doing everything he asked of his staff. He washed toilets, cleaned the office, ran the bar and helped out in the kitchen. So, I agree with Mr Baey Yam Keng that it is very important for our children to learn all these skills. You see how important it is in life. Edward acknowledges that those early years were not easy but through working with his team, he also learnt from them.
Today, he pays that learning forward. His ventures provide a platform for budding chefs and he recently partnered Singapore start-up Infinium Robotics to develop drones that can navigate their way around tables to serve food. If this sounds like a scene from Star Wars, it is. There are eight drones delivering food, but this is still an experiment and an exciting one. What it means is that the waiters can work more productively and do things that machines cannot do.
Edward, for me, embodies the spirit of learning for life, in that he is passionate and innovative in his field. He gives back to the community and creates new opportunities for others. He has a deep interest in music and he wants to give Singaporean talent a platform. So, he runs enterprises with a mission. From musicians, now he is going on to helping budding chefs. So, I hope that we will have a more lively scene in the future.
I spoke to many Singaporeans during Our Singapore Conversation. Many shared their aspirations to live a life of purpose and spirit. They wanted to build a successful and cohesive society, a society where Singaporeans lead fulfilling lives, each in his own way.
Many have also expressed support for our student-centric, values-driven education. They believe we can develop each individual fully, and develop our sense of community, and our sense of personal and collective responsibility.
So, I am glad that our students experience the arts, music, sports, outdoor activities and overseas trips. In fact, I should add that there are very few school systems in the world – none that I know of – which send one-third of their students on overseas trips in order to give them the exposure. There is much we should be thankful for. They interact with peers around the world. And, by the way, these are not just students in our top schools. These are students in every school. They lead and participate in a wide range of CCAs. These experiences broaden their worldview and grow them as rugged individuals, physically active and healthy, appreciative of the finer things in life.
Like Edward Chia, we hope that they also develop a strong sense of purpose and a desire to help each other and give back to society.
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Ms Irene Ng earlier on spoke about the Edusave Character Awards. Let me emphasise that, for me, it is a very important signalling of a shift in our education in that we must place emphasis on character and values. It is a catalyst for change. But for the same reason, we should not overdo it and that is why the numbers are kept very small. But we will study her suggestion on how we can make it more meaningful. I am glad that many parents and many students have also spoken to me, and the school principals have noted the progress since we introduced this. And we are actually going beyond all these awards. What is a small part is really the signalling. The real change is in our schools' programmes – in the Character and Citizenship Education programme that has been revamped. And, more recently, in our Learning for Life programmes that reinforce these life skills.
In East View Secondary School, students work with community partners on food donation drives and reach out to promote health and IT skills to the neighbourhood residents. One student said, \"The joy on people's faces has driven me to do more.\"
Over at Mayflower Secondary School, a project called \"Spirit of Generosity\" has students doing 50,000 acts of kindness to friends, family and the community to celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday. This has brought the school and its surrounding community together through the spirit of giving. Teachers and students alike love how this has made the school a more caring community. Indeed, in giving, we receive as much, if not more.
All across our schools, when students put values into action, character and citizenship education comes alive.
These efforts are all very commendable. We want to encourage our students in our schools, polytechnics and ITE to do more. SG50 giving will provide funds to enable students to support meaningful causes in the community.
I thank Ms Kuik Shao-Yin for her suggestion on how this programme can work in partnership with VWOs to make it more impactful. Indeed, students will identify Institutions of a Public Character or IPCs that they would like to work with and donate funds to them and they will then partner these IPCs to make a real difference, however small, in their community.
Holistic education covers moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic dimensions. So, I hope our students grow up to appreciate and contribute to the rich multi-dimensional aspects of life and grow richer in spirit and purpose.
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This is how we build a vibrant, creative and caring society. This is what it means to go beyond learning for work to learning for life – for a rich, purposeful and meaningful life.
Madam, allow me to say a few words in Mandarin to summarise what I have just said.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Pioneer Generation educators laid the foundation for Singapore's education system and prosperity of our country. They had the courage to chart new territories, were unafraid of difficulties and were resourceful in nurturing young generations of Singaporeans.
Ultimately, the aim of education is not just to learn to read and write, and to obtain good grades and paper qualifications. More importantly, it is to learn how to get along with others and have meaningful relationships.
Education has a deeper and broader meaning. Education is about educating the individual, which encompasses the moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic dimensions. Before the teaching of knowledge, one has to educate the individual; and before educating the individual, one has to nurture the mind. We need to cultivate the right spirit before nurturing the mind.
With rapid economic and social development, we must keep abreast of the times, be flexible and constantly improve ourselves. We must pursue mastery and learn everywhere, learn throughout life and learn for life. We must build upon the foundation laid by the Pioneer Generation and continue to work hard, upholding their pioneering spirit.
In every domain, at any time and any place, we must strive to learn to live a fulfilling life. Let us shift our mindsets, continue the pioneering spirit and create a brighter future together.
Firstly, we should go beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery. Secondly, we should go beyond learning in school to learning throughout life. Thirdly, we should go beyond learning for work to learning for life.
(In English): The three shifts that I have outlined – Learning for mastery, Learning throughout life, Learning for life – are important for every Singaporean. We want every Singaporean to have access to learning opportunities, whatever their starting point, just as Mr Zainudin Nordin earlier spoke about the importance of social mobility.
Many parents told me that they appreciate the structured supportive environment that student care centres provide for students after school. And, in fact, this is the reason why I
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have been expanding the\tstudent care centres in our schools over the years, a point which Ms Lee Li Lian and Mr Ang Wei Neng also mentioned. So, I appreciate that this is well received. MOE will continue to work with MSF to improve quality and accessibility. We have 100 school-based student care centres at the beginning of this year. I am happy to announce that we will set up another 20 school-based student care centres this year and another 20 next year. I would also like to thank Dr Intan for her suggestions on how we can overcome the constraints of high-quality manpower by getting older students to help out. Our main constraint is really the quality and number of staff.
We help students who need additional support to build a good foundation in literacy and numeracy through a comprehensive suite of levelling-up programmes from the kindergarten level right to secondary school. Educators with specialised training work in small groups with these students to motivate and teach them better. And the results have been very heartening. Let me share just two stories.
Siti, a Primary 6 student in Qihua Primary School last year, has dyslexia and was frequently absent from school. But her teachers, allied educators and counsellors all pitched in with such determined and tireless wrap-around support that she went from skipping school to discovering a new interest in mathematics and eventually emerging as Qihua's top scorer in Foundation subjects! Inspired by her teachers, she now aspires to be a teacher so that she can do for others what her teachers did for her.
Joshua could barely speak a word of English when he entered Da Qiao Primary at Primary 1. In one year, Joshua has graduated from the Learning Support Programme and gained confidence. Joshua's mother, Mrs Lim, worked with the school and used word cards the school prepared to practise together with Joshua at home.
Specialised programmes in our schools like Crest, Spectra, NorthLight and Assumption Pathway keep students engaged and help them build confidence.
Hairi picked up smoking, drinking and even joined a gang when he was a primary school student. He disliked school but loved football. His teachers at Crest Secondary recognised that and engaged him through football. And in Hairi's words, it was a \"game-changer\". So, Hairi started to enjoy school and blossomed as a peer leader. He quit smoking. Hairi's parents, having seen his change, have also enrolled his brother Hilmi in Crest.
For students in Special Education or SPED Schools, we have invested, as Deputy Prime Minister Tharman mentioned, 50% more in real terms to support them over the last few years. Our School-based Dyslexia Remediation programme has been a success. Dr Intan mentioned about the AEDs earlier. As Minister of State Sim Ann shared earlier, we expanded
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the programme to 60 more primary schools this year. Two-thirds of our primary schools now offer it, up from one-third just last year. By next year, 2016, all primary schools will have dyslexia remediation so that students with dyslexia will get help early in their primary school. Minister of State Sim Ann will touch on other efforts to support students across the spectrum of SEN later.
Let me touch on financial support. Education is already heavily subsidised but we will provide further support. Let me reiterate that this is not because more students are poor but because the Government is providing greater support. I will summarise some of the announcements made by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman and provide additional details.
We will top up Edusave accounts or Post-Secondary Education Accounts of Singapore Citizen students aged seven to 20 – reaching more than half a million Singaporeans. We will waive fees for PSLE, GCE \"N\", \"O\" and \"A\" levels for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded schools starting this year. We will waive vocational examination fees for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded SPED schools and specialised schools – including ITE Skills Certificate and WSQ modules. We will provide subsidies comparable to the current GCE \"A\" level fees for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded schools who sit the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma examination. We will waive examination fees for Singapore Citizen students enrolled full-time in ITEs and polytechnics, starting from Academic Year 2015. Our focus on national, mainstream schools is important because it provides an important bonding experience. And where private schools are relevant, the specific relevant agencies will deal with these.
The MOE Financial Assistance Scheme or FAS has been enhanced over the years. In 2012, we raised the income ceiling and also introduced a per capita income criterion to allow more students to benefit. From 1 April this year, we will provide transport subsidies under MOE's FAS. This will provide further support for lower-income families. Those travelling by public transport will receive $120 in transport credits annually. For primary school students taking the school bus, MOE's FAS will cover 50% of the regular school bus fare. In addition, we will double the sum of annual grants for school-based financial assistance from $5 million to $11 million per year for the next three years. This will give schools more resources to provide further targeted assistance to students from less advantaged backgrounds. We will also raise the income criteria of Edusave Merit Bursary from $5,000 to $6,000 to benefit more students.
No child should be left behind, whatever their starting point. We are doing more to support students with a weaker start, be it learning needs, special needs or financial needs. Spending in these areas, across all levels – from schools to IHLs – has more than doubled from $200 million to $500 million, as compared to five years ago.
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But to uplift our students, not just academically but also in social-emotional growth, we need both resources and \"heartware\". I echo Mr Sam Tan's point that we must focus on \"heartware\". \"Heartware\" comes from supportive parents, persevering students, dedicated educators and supportive community. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi will speak more on how we will engage parents and the community in bringing out the best in our children, including character-building.
I very much appreciate the many educators and volunteers who worked doggedly in our schools, self-help groups and other VWOs. They put in much time and heart into doing this important work, quietly, unstintingly. I have the greatest admiration for them.
I find it most encouraging that students who received help are giving back at this very young age. For example, Jia Qi from Teck Whye Secondary was supported by FAS, and he discovered and developed his passion in mathematics through Teck Whye's Math enrichment programmes and personal motivation workshops. So, Jia Qi gives back enthusiastically by coaching his friends in mathematics through the school's peer tutoring programme and derives great satisfaction from his friends' improvement.
Umaira was supported by the Independent School Bursary to attend Raffles Girls' School (RGS). Grateful for the opportunity, she now wants to spread the message that students of diverse backgrounds are welcome in RGS through a Malay language and culture competition for primary schools this year.
We must not shy away from excellence but we must make sure that those who are excellent in whatever they do have a heart to give back to society.
Let me now make some concluding remarks.
I began by speaking about how our Pioneer Generation made hard choices at critical points of nation-building. They faced many crossroads – each right decision helped us progress.
Today, we face a new crossroads – do we focus narrowly on grades and examinations, or do we focus on what is truly important by building strong values and deep skills throughout our lives? Do we fixate on narrow measurements of our value, or do we actually be people of value, with values?
Madam, to me, the path is clear. It is to do everything we can to be people of deep skills and strong values.
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We take the pioneering path, to nurture Singaporeans who are inventive, resilient and caring. We have some idea of the qualities of this pioneering path. It will have learning on the job, learning just in time, learning in the right place at the right time, learning without boundaries – without the boundaries of institutional walls, age, place or time.
I am happy to hear many Members speak in support of the spirit of this because we must take this pioneering path together, as a whole society. We are not the only ones at a crossroads. Others, too, are asking – what is the future of education? I have been reading their projections, but as I read through what they wrote, I realised that much of what they envision in the future, we are doing now.
And what is special about our mission is that we are not thinking about the future of education in just one school or one university. We are thinking about the future of education for our whole nation.
We are pioneering a path that will shape our whole society, one that will require collective effort from everyone in society. Millions of individual actions and choices by Singaporeans will move our nation towards a brighter future.
Our students in schools today are between five and 25 years old. In 50 years, they will be 55 to 75 years old. They will be the Pioneer Generation at SG100. Will we be stuck with the \"study book\" culture that brought us this far in our first 50 years? Or will we, and this younger generation, live again the pioneering spirit and transform how we work and learn?
I am confident that we can succeed, as there are already many new pioneers in our midst. Each of the examples I raised in my speech are pioneers. But we need many more pioneers, in every school, in every field, in every job.
Singaporeans who take ownership of learning throughout life, like John, Prof Chong, Ravinder, Cheria and Siti – who are passionate and innovative and make a difference to the lives of others, like Edward, Umaira and Jia Qi.
Teachers and schools who focus on holistic education, build in students a strong foundation and make learning real and relevant, like those in Hillgrove and Damai Secondary, SUTD, TP, ITE, RP and so on. Parents who build on every child's strength and interest beyond academics, like Fiona and Ravinder. Employers who truly value our people and help our people acquire relevant skills, like YCH and Rolls-Royce. A society that respects every job and
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encourages everyone to achieve mastery in their own fields, in their own way.
These are fundamental changes that will take time. But we need to take the first step now and take it together. The journey of transformation will not be easy. But every decision, every action, by everyone, counts.
Learn for mastery. Learn throughout life. Learn for life. This must be our compass as we chart our way forward.
Madam, in this SG50 year, let us appreciate and build on our pioneers' precious legacy. Let us reflect on where we are today and where we want to go. Let us inspire all Singaporeans to take this pioneering path and live the pioneering spirit, together, and create an even better 50 years ahead of us. [Applause.]
The Senior Minister of State for Education and Law (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mdm Chairperson, the Minister has given an overview of the future of education and what the Ministry of Education (MOE) is doing. I will speak on two specific areas: preschool and tertiary education.
Ms Irene Ng and Mr Zainudin Nordin touched on social and emotional resources of our young and supporting low-income students. We aim to give our children a good start in life. Research shows that children who have a good early childhood education tend to do well later in life. A good educational foundation early in life is, therefore, extremely important.
We are doing this in two ways. First, by promoting consistency of standards in content and teaching across the sector. Secondly, through MOE Kindergartens or MKs. To-date, we have 10 MKs which provide quality preschool education that is affordable to Singaporeans. Five more will open next year. The MKs aim to pilot teaching and learning resources and establish good practices for sharing with the preschool sector.
Giving every child a good start does not mean that the child in preschool must be able to do the Primary 1 syllabus while still in preschool! There is still a preconception that a child is doing well only if the child is doing something beyond that child's level. That should not be the case at the preschool stage; the child should learn in a way that is appropriate to his age and stage of development. What is important is: what they learn, that is, the content; and how they learn, the pedagogy.
For content, MOE has developed the Nurturing Early Learners Curriculum, a toolkit of kindergarten curriculum resources. This contains guidelines for a holistic preschool education, including learning areas, such as numeracy, motor skills development, language
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and literacy and social and emotional development.
In terms of how they learn, MOE has two core pedagogies: to engage children in learning through, firstly, purposeful play, and, secondly, quality interactions between teachers and children.
The MKs of today are not the kindergartens that we remember. Children no longer learn through spelling lists and rote memory. Today, we encourage children to learn, explore and ask questions about their world through play. The teachers plan learning activities that are fun and enjoyable for the children and help them achieve intended learning outcomes holistically.
Mr Hri Kumar talked about communication skills. We are helping our children to build a strong foundation through bilingualism. Research increasingly shows the importance of learning languages at a young age. Children who are exposed to two languages from young are more likely to be able to acquire both languages at a higher level of proficiency than their peers who start later.
Researchers compared a group of children who learnt a second language earlier and used it longer with another group who learnt a second language later. They found that the group of early bilinguals were more fluent and proficient than their peers. The early bilinguals also had greater self-regulation skills and ability to focus on a given task.
We have made bilingualism a key feature of our MKs so that our children will be fluent in English and Mother Tongue and will have a strong anchor on which to build their language capabilities as they grow older.
Our MKs have the Weeks of Wonder or WoW. These are term projects that facilitate language learning. Each year, children do four WoW projects, two in English and two in Mother Tongue, where they work together with their peers and teachers to investigate topics of interest in Mother Tongue. With your permission, Mdm Chairman, may I display some slides on the screens?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Ms Indranee Rajah: Here, you see the MK children visiting a flower shop. These are the ones doing Tamil Language and interviewing the Indian owner about the use of roses in the Indian culture. They also interviewed others and searched through books and the Internet. The owner showed them around his shop, demonstrated how a rose garland was made using banana strings and explained the use of roses on different occasions in the Indian culture.
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The children were so excited that they decided to set up their own florist shop! This required them to work with each other, practise their Tamil and express their creativity. The children also learnt about the value of teaching others when they went home and created rose bouquets with their families using recycled materials for their flower shop.
This WoW project illustrates the pedagogical approach of learning through play as well as innovative techniques for language learning.
But in order to provide good preschool education, we must also have good preschool teachers. MOE is working closely with the Early Childhood Development Agency or ECDA to train preschool teachers. We have developed the Nurturing Early Learners Framework which guides preschools in designing and implementing a quality kindergarten curriculum for children aged four to six.
We have also launched the Educators' Guide which helps teachers translate the Framework into quality learning experiences for children. About 6,000 preschool educators were expected to be trained by end-2014.
We need more Early Childhood professionals to meet the growing demand for services. If you are interested in teaching, if you like children and are passionate about helping them build character and a strong foundation for life, do consider a career in Early Childhood Care and Education. I would also encourage persons, including women who have left the workforce and wish to return, to consider a career in early childhood.
There are many different pathways to become an early childhood professional, with entry and training into the sector at all levels. There are early childhood courses at ITE, polytechnic and university levels, each providing a stepping stone to the next level, in combination with work experience.
For pre-service trainees, there are the ECDA Training Awards for both full-time ITE and polytechnic diplomas in Early Childhood Care and Education courses. The ITE Training Award was introduced last year. The take-up has been promising, with about 20 ITE students receiving the award to date.
Mr Ang Wei Neng and Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about support for mid-career learners. There are also pathways for mid-career professionals who want to enter the sector. Li Xian was an auditor in an accounting firm for four years. She wanted to change her job for a better work-life balance. Inspired by her older sister who is an early childhood professional, Li Xian took the Singapore Polytechnic Conversion Diploma in Early Childhood Education and completed the one-year course in September last year. She is happy with her career change
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and says that she is \"enjoying the moments of satisfaction and the priceless hugs of the children on a daily basis!\"
There are also part-time courses for those who cannot study full-time. Working professionals can take the part-time Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education at our polytechnics from October this year. These courses will give recognition for prior learning and competencies gained through work experience, which will shorten the overall course hours. ECDA is also working closely with WDA to develop structured competency-based pathways.
SkillsFuture has been a prominent feature of this Budget, and MOE is actively involved in implementing various aspects of SkillsFuture. First, enhanced education and career guidance will now be an integral part of our education system.
And for this, let me share Daniel's story. Daniel was an ITE student, completing a Higher Nitec in Mechanical Engineering when I first met him last year. Like many young people, he was not sure what his next step should be. He had taken Mechanical Engineering at ITE but it was not his first choice. He was not sure he wanted to continue in engineering. I asked him what he thought he might like to do. He said either culinary arts or sports science but, again, he was not sure. I offered to arrange internships for him so he would be in a better position to decide. He opted to try culinary arts.
I asked PS Cafe, which operates in my constituency, if they could take him on. They kindly agreed to do so. Daniel duly went for his internship which he enjoyed tremendously. The outcome, however, is interesting and this is how Daniel made his decision.
He spoke to the other chefs and they shared their experiences and advice. He also spoke to his section head of Mechanical Engineering at ITE. He knew he really enjoyed his work as a chef and had fun in the kitchen. But he also considered the cost of sacrificing and throwing away everything he had learnt in the two years. So, after much thought, he decided to continue with engineering and not to discard what he has learnt. Cooking remains a passion for him but he wants to have something which builds on his engineering background as a career. And if his passion for culinary arts is still strong, he may go back to it later in life. I suppose he can use the SkillsFuture Credits.
He has since applied for Polytechnic admission in engineering-related courses, including Engineering and Product Design. These courses would offer the prospect of interesting, practical and stable jobs and they allow him to leverage his Mechanical Engineering skills foundation yet explore new areas. However, his internship at PS.Cafe provided him with valuable experience and he now has the option of revisiting culinary arts at a later stage if
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he wants. But the most important part about this story is that the advice, guidance and the internship empowered Daniel to make an informed choice that was his own decision. This story illustrates the importance of Education and Career Guidance or ECG. And this can be delivered through structured ECG programmes, short internships or industrial visits.
Mr Ang Wei Neng noted that ECG counsellors need to be properly trained. We agree. MOE will play a coordinating role to ensure that ECG programmes are relevant to students from primary to post-secondary levels. And a Central ECG Unit is being set up within MOE to oversee planning and implementation of ECG.
We will pilot an enhanced engagement programme for Secondary 2 and 3 students to build awareness of industries and sectors and the applied learning environment in polytechnics. And, this year, we will begin with 50 schools for the Secondary 2 students, and 24 schools for the Secondary 3 students. At the polytechnics and ITE, we will introduce more systematic ECG through a common set of ECG outcomes and learning objectives.
Another aspect of SkillsFuture which MOE is closely involved in implementing is internships and industrial attachments. The benefits of internships are clear. They provide an authentic learning environment which allows the student to gain real-life practical knowledge and hands-on experience.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong spoke about the management of industrial internships. Some companies do them well, some not so well. We agree that more can be done to improve internships. It has to be done sector by sector. And the Government and the IHLs will support, but the employers must do their part.
In the early childhood sector, ECDA has provided a capability grant to centres that host enhanced internships for students from the full-time Early Childhood Care and Education courses at the IHLs. The grant will help employers defray costs of developing and running internship programmes. For instance, the cost of training, deployment of mentors as well as costs in providing stipends and teaching and learning resources for interns. ECDA is also working with IHLs to develop structured internship programmes for specific durations, which will help companies plan their internships better.
We need more companies to support enhanced internships to provide meaningful work assignments and mentoring by experienced professionals. We also need companies to provide places for on-the-job training within the SkillsFuture Earn-and-Learn Programme. Polytechnic and ITE graduates who successfully complete this skills training programme will
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receive industry-recognised qualifications, such as advanced diplomas, specialised diplomas or certificates.
Members have spoken about the need for manpower. The Earn-and-Learn Programme is, in fact, a powerful recruitment platform and pipeline of talent for local businesses, MNCs and SMEs alike. I would encourage companies to take it up.
Lifelong learning is another important aspect of SkillsFuture. Let me tell you Johnny's story.
I met Mr Johnny Ng, Managing Director of NKH Building Services, a company that does pump services and maintenance. Johnny finished his GCE \"O\" levels in 1977 and proceeded straight to National Service (NS). He found it difficult to get a job after NS. He realised he needed to upgrade himself and took part-time courses at the then-Singapore Vocational Institute (SVI) and, later, ITE. From 1988 to 1992, he took electrical studies as he was then working with his brother to install and maintain control panels.
From 1993 to 1994, he obtained his qualification as a licensed electrical worker. As business expanded, he realised he needed other skills. So, between 1992 and 1995, he took up management courses at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And at the same time, electronics was booming. He saw the opportunity but realised he did not have the skills. So, between 1995 and 1999, he took electronics courses at ITE.
Then, came the 1998 crisis which hit many businesses hard, including Johnny's. Undeterred, he modified his business plan to ride out the crisis. He changed his business focus, from installing pumps to the maintenance of pumps, a more shock-proof business model. To equip himself for this new direction, he then took courses in plumbing from 1999 to 2002 and air-conditioning from 2002 to 2005. Not content with this, from 2003 to 2004, he became a licensed plumber. And somewhere between the electronics, air-cons and the pumps, he managed to notice the pretty girl in the seat behind him at ITE and married her.
On the strength of continuing education and training from ITE and SVI courses, Johnny transformed himself over 15 years, from a GCE \"O\" level school leaver to where he is today – the owner of a million-dollar business. His company is still growing and he has not stopped learning. He continues to take other courses and he remains very grateful to ITE, not just for his success in life but also for his wife!
The MOE-funded CET courses at the polytechnics and ITE and WDA-funded WSQ courses will help people to progress through life, just like Johnny. There are also short
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courses offered by the polytechnics and ITE in a wide range of interest areas.
Our IHLs are also Centres of Innovation. Let me now tell you Derek's story.
Derek graduated from Republic Polytechnic or RP in 2008. His dream was to start a business to make fish bak kwa. After NS, he started a company in 2011 with RP and SPRING Singapore's help. But his first venture failed. However, he did not give up. He continued to pitch for investments, look for opportunities and he continued to work with his mentor from RP's Centre for Enterprise and Communication to improve his business plan.
The original product was not so good in presentation and also in terms of how it was done. Derek tapped on what he learnt during his final-year project at RP about processes to prevent the introduction of bacteria. This led Derek to vacuum-seal the fish bak kwa, to increase its shelf-life without adding preservatives. Derek relaunched Ocean King in 2013 and secured his first funding in October 2014. It comes in three flavours – King Salmon, Big-Eye Tuna and Blue Marlin. Today, Ocean King is set on making the world's finest fish bak kwa, a new take on a timeless tradition and enjoyment of bak kwa without the guilt.
Derek's polytechnic education put him in good stead to be an entrepreneur. His story also shows how our polytechnics' Centres of Innovation can help industry.
This is the new face of education – learning and collaboration do not need to stop when school ends. Education and industry are intertwined and, when done well, can spur entrepreneurship, support innovation and productivity, generate economic activity and help make dreams come true. Mdm Chairperson, if I may now say a few words in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Zainudin asked about the desired outcomes of pre-employment programmes and lifelong learning.
With SkillsFuture, our students will have many more opportunities to succeed in life. It is not possible to have guaranteed employment places waiting for everyone. But with SkillsFuture, we can greatly improve their employment prospects and opportunities to progress in their careers.
ECG will help our students to recognise their strengths and identify good job opportunities in many different sectors. Internships will also enable students to gain real life skills and get to know the industry better. If they do well in their internships, employers will want to employ them.
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The Earn-and-Learn programme will enable them to work and receive a salary, and study and obtain additional qualifications at the same time. The Continuing Education and Training or lifelong learning programmes will allow them to upgrade their skills throughout their lives. This will enable them to get better increments and promotion, and also move into supervisory, managerial or even ownership positions. The story of Mr Johnny Ng that I shared earlier shows how this can be done.
I would like to encourage our students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by SkillsFuture. With hard work and determination, everyone can succeed, no matter what your starting point.
(In English): Madam, I will now continue in English.
Prof Tan Tai Yong spoke about the need to support research in the Humanities and Social Sciences or HSS. HSS contributes to a better understanding of our society. It complements Science and Technology research. Investment in HSS research is important for Singapore's development. Concerted efforts are needed to deepen research grounded in Singapore's context.
Currently, MOE supports research funding for the social sciences through the Academic Research Fund. Many Government agencies commission HSS research in areas relevant to public policy. The Government is considering a bigger push in HSS research, guided by the consideration of serving Singapore's needs. The Government will engage the academic community further on this.
The Chairman: Order, I propose to take the break now.
[(proc text) Thereupon Mdm Speaker left the Chair of Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.15 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 3.54pm until 4.15pm.
Sitting resumed at 4.15pm
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
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Debate in the Committee of Supply resumed.
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Madam, I wish to draw the Ministry of Education's (MOE) attention to three groups of children that I think could be at risk of being left behind.
The first is children from lower income families. I am glad that financial assistance and other schemes such as after-school care have been put in place for these children.
US research had suggested that students' performance decline after long school holidays, especially for those from families with low income. As Mayor of Central District, I observed that many children from lower-income families engage in little learning or enrichment activities during their school holidays. They tend to lack adult supervision due to the work commitments of their parents and absence of caregivers. This is unlike their peers from more affluent families who can afford additional learning experiences, such as outside enrichment programmes like family vacations.
My Community Development Council (CDC) team and I had organised holiday camps for these children, trying to help them close the gap with their more affluent peers. We taught them how to write e-books, play musical instrument, new games and even make and edit movies.
However, I fear these efforts on the ground are not systemic and regular enough to make sustainable impact. I urge MOE to work with the relevant partners to ensure that students who lack adult supervision during school holidays can continue to learn and are not being left even further behind their more affluent peers.
Next, Madam, on students with special needs in both mainstream schools and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).
The Allied Educator or AED scheme. The introduction of the AED scheme in 2009 was a significant initiative for students with special needs in mainstream primary and secondary schools. The number of Allied Educators has grown from 600 in 2009 to more than 2,400 in 2014. Their role can be challenging, especially for those involved in teaching and learning and behavioural management support. I would like to seek the Ministry's update of the AED
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scheme, the achievements and challenges to date and how MOE might partner further the major disability partners to support and equip these professionals.
On Disability Support Offices. In 2013, students with special educational needs in IHLs received the great news that there will be a Disability Support Office or DSO in each publicly funded university, polytechnic, ITE college and arts institutions. This is a game changer and will give excellent support for those students, as support had been inconsistent and dependent very much on the good hearts of individual IHLs. I would like to seek an update on the status of the set-up of these DSOs.
On the Special Education Needs or SEN Fund, in the same year, MOE had also announced the setting up of a SEN Fund to help students with physical, hearing or visual impairment. This fund currently does not include the three most common forms of learning disabilities, namely, dyslexia, ADHD and autism. I seek the Ministry's favourable consideration to include these students as candidates for the use of the SEN Fund.
Students with special needs in SPED schools. Thanks to the enthusiasm of Minister of State Sim Ann and the Minister, SPED schools have continued to receive much support. There are some gaps that I would like to bring up for attention.
First, a portal for teaching materials for core common life skills. After expending a lot of time and resources in developing curriculum framework, it is time for MOE to start populating the framework.
Currently, each volunteer welfare organisation (VWO) and their respective SPED schools are developing their own resources. For greater productivity, I urge MOE to allocate resources to develop a portal – a repository of core materials in core topics such as daily living skills, literacy and numeracy. Instead of only asking the educators to populate the framework, MOE can invest in local and foreign content so that more is available quickly for both schools and families to use.
Second, SPED schools offering mainstream curriculum. Efforts have been made in this aspect but there are still disconnects. SPED teachers, for example, who are teaching the PSLE, are not granted the opportunities to be in the markers' pool for better exposure and development.
Third, on ICT. Most recently, the very useful ICT Learning Roadmap for MOE mainstream school Info Clubs were planned and budgeted, but only with mainstream schools in mind. SPED schools who wish to enrol their students were advised to engage the vendors
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separately.
Fourth, on inclusion in good national initiatives. All students, whether taking mainstream academics or not, should also be included in the other good national initiatives, such as the school-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme, applied learning programme and even the SkillsFuture Master Plan.
The Chairman: Ms Phua, please conclude. We are out of time.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: I thank and congratulate the MOE team for the diligent work that they have done and I want to tell you that you have made a difference.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, I agree with bilingualism being a cornerstone of our education system. All students in our primary and secondary schools now have to offer a Mother Tongue Language or MTL.
In a recent Parliamentary reply, MOE had said that around 3.5% of students are exempted from MTL at the PSLE yearly. I accept that there are genuine reasons for exemptions, such as those who join our education system mid-way without prior learning of the MTL or there are medical reasons that adversely affect their ability to cope with MTL.
In another reply, MOE cited that on average, over the past five years, 178 MTL exemptions were given at PSLE in the five schools with the highest exemptions. This is 35.6 students per school, which is around 15% to 17% of the PSLE cohort in an average school.
This is high compared to the national average of 3.5%. Has MOE examined the reasons why there are wide variations in MTL exemptions across schools? Has MOE or have the principals of schools with high exemptions sought to interview applicants to probe further into the reasons for seeking MTL exemptions? Seeking exemption based on medical reasons is costly. Is there a strong correlation between MTL exemptions and the socioeconomic status of parents?
I hope students will not find ways to opt out of MTL even if they find the subject difficult or parents worry that offering MTL may pull down their children's PSLE T-Score.
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Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Madam, the Private Education Act was passed in September 2009 to strengthen and level up the private education sector. As a result, the Council for Private Education or CPE was set up to raise standards in the sector through effective regulation, industry development and consumer education. A wide range of private education institutions exists in Singapore.
It is the private special education schools that I wish to draw the Ministry's attention to. Privately run special schools have been sprouting up in Singapore. Some of them are owned by local operators whilst others are foreign-owned. Children with special needs from both local and expatriate families attend these classes.
However, because this education offering is targeted at a very vulnerable segment of children and families, I believe the Ministry of Education (MOE) must exercise a stronger moral responsibility and take a more active role in overseeing these schools or centres.
The strategic thrusts of the CPE are to ensure quality assurance and effective consumer education, amongst others. These private special schools are known in the market as MOE-registered and it is highly plausible that their education programmes, facilities and even pricings are perceived to be endorsed by MOE by the parents.
I urge MOE to conduct proper due diligence and reference checks before registering these schools and perform its duty of ensuring quality assurance and effective consumer education. To protect the consumers – in this case, the children – after they have been abused or harmed might be too late in some instances.
Quality assurance cannot be just about hardware or administration, in the business of education. I would like to seek the Ministry's inputs on how it intends to protect the interests of especially the children, some of whom may not even be able to express themselves.
Ms Chia Yong Yong (Nominated Member): Madam, thank you. I thank also the MOE for its enlightened approach in including persons with disabilities (PwDs) in mainstream education. And as the hon Member Ms Denise Phua has pointed out, the setting up of the Disability Support Offices or DSOs was welcome news to the sector last year. Likewise, the launch of the Special Education Needs Fund. We also hope that Ministry would consider extending to children of other disabilities.
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Apart from funds, and apart from just skills and equipment, I would also like to ask more specifically how much budget will be allocated for capability development and training of the persons who will be staffing the DSOs? Also, in relation to that, on a broader and higher-level culture of the IHLs. We cannot have DSOs built as operating as silos. They are there to facilitate but they are not there to do all the work. So, how does Ministry envisage that steps will be taken to build a culture of inclusiveness from top down and amongst the faculty and staff of the IHLs?
Dr Benedict Tan: Madam, I would like to encourage multinational interactions among youths through sports. We can do this by bringing together students from local MOE schools and the international schools, increasing interaction and exchanges through sports and games.
Singapore at its core has always been multicultural, multi-ethnic and multilingual. And particular attention has been paid to integration and the development of the Singapore identity since Independence. Over the years, we have seen more and more international schools being set up in Singapore and expanding. We also have local schools, setting up their sister international schools. This may create a divide but it also presents opportunities.
There are many nationalities living, working and studying in Singapore. To leverage on this cultural diversity, to give greater exposure to Singaporean students and to be inclusive, I feel that our inter-school competitions or what is now known as the National School Games, should include international schools as well.
Currently, the schools from the two ecosystems – the MOE and the non-MOE schools – do not interact much. The platforms and avenues for interaction do not present themselves naturally. Sports offers such a bridge.
Granted, there will be operational challenges, such as the timing of school semesters, vacation periods, fixtures and scheduling, manpower and cost sharing issues. But I do believe that the benefits of having a vibrant, inclusive school sports ecosystem will provide many tangible and intangible benefits for the young and prepare them for increasing globalisation.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, several Members, including myself, have spoken previously about a greater level of sports engagement for our pupils and to increase the number of sports on offer by schools. Active participation in sports from young can hopefully help
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students develop a culture of active sports in the future.
I wish to suggest how we can add to schools' efforts to provide more sports engagements for students. Number one: introduce more fun competitions for sports within schools, which can be tiered so students who are at a lesser skill level can move up to a higher level when skills have improved.
Number two: introduce the concept of a minor co-curricular activity (CCA) where students who want regular exposure to various sports can sign up for as a second or even third CCA. The time commitment may not be as intense as a regular CCA, but it will allow students to try out more sports. CCA points would be correspondingly lesser.
Number three: recognise and award CCA points for the achievements of students who participate regularly and competitively with external training providers outside of school hours, even if the school does not offer the sports as a CCA. This might encourage students to pursue sports of their interest at a serious level when schools are not able to find the resources to offer that sport as a CCA.
Lastly, allow international schools to join in the local inter-school competitions to increase the level of competition, a point that was also just raised by Nominated Member Dr Benedict Tan.
Dr Benedict Tan: Madam, following my speech in Parliament on 19 January this year where I identified 10 worrying trends in Singapore's sports participation, many parents and students as well as Members of this House approached me to personally provide even more evidence of such trends. In particular, they affirmed that their schools are too focused on winning medals and that there are not enough opportunities to learn sports through the local school system. They are particularly unhappy at being rejected by the school team, especially at the primary school level. And when they pursue the sport on their own outside the school, their participation is not recognised.
This all-or-none scenario, whereby you are either good enough to make the school team or you are completely shut out, exists during sports day as well. If you are not good enough to represent your house, then you cannot compete during sports day. Instead, you get \"arrowed\" to attend as a spectator. And these are not the enthusiastic fans that you see in Brazilian stadiums – both students and teachers tell me that they are mostly reluctant participants. With such negative experiences, is it a wonder why many of our young develop
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an aversion to sports and physical activity?
Instead of having only a small proportion of the school population competing in track and field events during sports day while the majority sits and watches, why not engage the
whole population by transforming sports day into a sports festival? During the sports festival, we can give students opportunities to try their hand at the various sports and games. If a child takes a liking to a particular sport during such a try-out, the school can link up with external providers such as ActiveSG and various community centre groups to deepen his or her interest in the sport. And this out-of-school activity should be recognised as a CCA, even if it is at a recreational level as suggested by the Member before me.
Yes, MOE has explained that the Physical Education or PE curriculum rotates students through various sports. But we know that given the limited time for PE and the time taken up just to prepare for NAPFA, such exposure is too superficial to get the student hooked onto a lifetime of active living. Let us give our young, especially those in Primary schools, a positive sporting experience and a positive start by reviewing the format of their sports day.
Madam, let me conclude by commending the Minister and his team at MOE for their insight and pioneering work in transforming our education system.
The Minister of State for Education (Ms Sim Ann): Madam, Minister Heng spoke about the need for us to go beyond a narrow focus on grades and exams, and emphasise deep skills, holistic education, strong values and lifelong learning. We want an economy that is resilient and flexible as well as a society that is caring, harmonious and cohesive.
I will now speak on how the Ministry of Education (MOE) seeks to realise our vision in the areas of bilingualism and support for students with special education needs.
Earlier, Minister Heng and Senior Minister of State Indranee Rajah acknowledged the points made by Mr Hri Kumar on language and communication skills. Because language and communication are integral to what we are trying to achieve for our students, I think his points bear being acknowledged by the third speaker from MOE.
English, our working language, provides a common platform for Singaporeans of all races and backgrounds to interact with and understand one another. Spoken English is also a key competency for the global economy. MOE is committed to improving our students' proficiency in it. We have created more opportunities for primary school students to speak, ask questions and interact in class through the implementation of the Strategies for English
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Language Learning and Reading (STELLAR) Programme in 2010. We increased the weightage of the listening and speaking components of the GCE \"N\" and \"O\" level English Language examinations in 2013. Our pre-university students must offer Project Work, which emphasises group discussion and requires students to make an oral presentation as part of their assessment.
Our Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs) are an anchor to our Asian culture and traditional values and provide a foundation for our students to acquire cross-cultural competencies. The Member's speech highlights a key tension between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations in the learning of MTL. Extrinsic motivations like bonus points can be useful. They encourage students to persevere and stretch themselves. They also signal the importance that we place on our Mother Tongue Languages. However, over-reliance on these motivators can have drawbacks, for instance, ending up with situations where students stop putting in effort once the motivators are no longer there.
On the other hand, intrinsic motivation nurtures self-directed learners who will maintain good communication skills in their MTLs over their lifetimes. Therefore, while extrinsic motivators like bonus points do exist, our core goal is to foster intrinsic motivation.
We aim to teach the Mother Tongue Languages in fun and engaging ways that will interest our students. For instance, all our schools organise Mother Tongue Language Fortnights annually. These Fortnights are meant to provide opportunities for students to learn and use their MTLs in authentic contexts.
In addition, we recognise that we are more likely to sustain our children's interest in the MTLs by leveraging on their instinctive feel for technology. To this end, we have introduced initiatives such as the Oracy eLand in 2011 and the iMTL Portal in 2013. Both are online portals that aim to teach students how to communicate in their MTLs through multimedia, games and interactive tasks. Mdm Chairperson, I would now like to say a few words in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] This year, MOE adopted the 2015 Primary School Mother Tongue Curriculum. This curriculum places emphasis on students' oral and written interaction skills, and on learning through authentic, everyday activities in our daily life. For example, our teachers will guide students to discuss food items sold in the canteen and thereafter teach them how to use the relevant phrases and sentences. To reinforce what the students have learnt, our teachers will assign tasks for the students to complete by using the new phrases and sentences they have learned.
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Parents and teachers have given very positive feedback on this curriculum. They think that the curriculum's authentic and applied nature has captured the attention of the students. Ms Patricia Lua's child just started primary school this January. Ms Lua said that this curriculum has provided many opportunities for the children to engage in interactive dialogues and is conducive to developing the children's oral communication capability.
Although her child has only been in Primary 1 for two months, he is already starting to speak more Mandarin as compared to before he started primary school and often shares what he learns in school with his parents at home in Mandarin.
(In English): To reinforce what is taught in the classroom, we want our students to apply their MTL communication skills outside the classroom. MOE works with community partners to provide opportunities for students to do so and these activities reach out to more than 100,000 participants each year.
Our teachers work with the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee to author and publish books under the Lower Primary Storybooks Project, so as to foster the love of reading among young children. Xinmin Secondary School collaborates with the Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Language and Learning and zbCOMMA 逗号 to organise the \"CreateYour Own Newspaper\" Competition for secondary schools.
Last year, I attended Avvaiyar Vizha, an event organised by the Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee and the Tamil Language and Cultural Society to commemorate an influential female Tamil poet. I was heartened by how our schools worked together with community partners to promote greater awareness of Tamil literature and hone our students' skills in spoken Tamil.
In response to Ms Denise Phua's question about the private Special Education or SPED schools, I will first describe the overall landscape of MOE's support for students with Special Educational Needs or SEN. MOE's broad approach is to support them in education settings most appropriate for their needs. Students who have the cognitive abilities and adaptive skills to learn in mainstream settings are provided for in our mainstream schools. Students who require intensive specialised assistance in their education to optimise learning and their potential for independent living are provided for in the 20 SPED schools funded by MOE and operated by Voluntary Welfare Organisations. The vast majority of our students with SEN are catered for in these two types of settings.
A small number of private education institutions or PEIs offer full-time Special Education courses. The majority of students enrolled across these schools are non-Singaporeans. These schools do provide additional choice for some Singaporean parents too.
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While we will carefully consider the Member's proposal, these schools are currently regulated through the Private Education Act by the Council for Private Education, a statutory board under MOE. While the Council does not accredit the academic quality of programmes offered by PEIs, its regulatory framework aims to safeguard the interests of students and parents and to help them make more informed choices. The Council ensures minimum standards in corporate and academic governance, strengthens student fee protection measures and requires the PEIs to disclose key information on courses and teachers.
Whenever cases involving privately-funded SPED schools come to the Council's attention, they are looked into carefully. The Council has also taken the appropriate steps to address issues at these schools and I wish to assure Ms Phua that we do not condone abuse or criminal misconduct in any of our PEIs, including private SPED schools. If any evidence of such conduct is uncovered, the matter will be referred to the Police.
We also acknowledge the Member's concern for students who are at risk of being \"left behind\" and I wish to emphasise that MOE is committed to ensuring that all students have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Minister Heng has touched on various measures including enhanced financial assistance.
On the issue of a potential digital gap, I would like to share that our schools can loan computing devices to students from lower-income backgrounds. And on the issue of international exposure, our Trips for International Experience (TIE) initiative provide all students with the opportunity to embark on overseas learning programmes. Our schools, polytechnics and ITEs are also provided with an Opportunity Fund which can be used to subsidise computer purchases as well as overseas visits, student exchange programmes and school enrichment programmes for students from less advantaged backgrounds.
On the Member's suggestions on supporting SEN in the mainstream schools, we constantly welcome feedback from VWOs, the community and other stakeholders for strengthening our models of provision for support. Such feedback has been very useful to us in the past and we will continue to seek feedback and refine what we are currently doing.
On SEN, the Ministry is committed to uplifting the current level of support, with 10% to 20% of teachers in every mainstream school trained to have deeper knowledge and skills to support students with special needs. They work together with Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support), otherwise known as AEDs (LBS), who have been posted to all primary schools and 69 secondary schools.
I wish to thank several Members – Ms Chia Yong Yong, Ms Denise Phua and Dr Intan Azura – for expressing strong interest in our AEDs (LBS). I wish to share that MOE is
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committed to attracting, retaining and systematically training our AEDs (LBS). We have increased the numbers of AEDs (LBS) from 300 in 2010 to around 400 today. In addition, all newly recruited officers undergo a one-year full-time diploma in Special Education offered by the National Institute of Education or NIE before they are deployed. We also provide in-service professional development by sponsoring officers to attend the Advanced Diploma in Special Education and we will continue to review our AEDs (LBS) staffing to ensure adequacy of support for our students with SEN. I cannot agree more with our Members that, when doing so, we must always be careful, because it is important to recruit officers who have the right disposition, the right heart for our students with SEN and the potential to do a great job.
We have also invested more to help students with dyslexia, and this has been shared by Minister Heng just now. We introduced the school-based Dyslexia Remediation or SDR Programme in 2012 and, since then, we have been scaling it up as quickly as we can. Along the way, we have refined our instructional methods and trained more instructors. This year sees the expansion of the SDR Programme to 60 additional schools and the programme will be made available to all primary schools in 2016.
Support for children with SEN also comes in the form of allowing special arrangements for some of them sitting for national examinations and one example would be the Mother Tongue Language exemptions at PSLE that Mr Yee Jenn Jong spoke about.
We have made special accommodations for a small group of students at PSLE who have compelling reasons for finding it hard to cope with MTLs. Among these students, some may have joined or re-joined the school system mid-stream without having learnt MTLs before. Others are students with certified medical conditions or SEN, such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder or ASD and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.
Each exemption appeal citing medical grounds or SEN is carefully reviewed by an MOE panel comprising specialists who will consider submitted evidence such as medical reports, school reports, examination results and work samples. I wish to highlight that exemptions are not given lightly. If the child indeed has the condition cited in the application, exemption will be considered. And if the Member knows of instances where this is not so, he can provide us with the details and we will be sure to look into these cases.
I would now like to thank Ms Chia Yong Yong for asking about the SEN Support Offices or SSO or Disability Support Offices or DSOs in our Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs as well as capability development and manpower training to help make them more effective in supporting of students with SEN. These are the key initiatives to support our students with SEN in our IHLs. Every ITE college, polytechnic and publicly funded university now has an SSO that serves as a first-stop help point. The SSOs also administer the SEN Fund, which helps ITE
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and polytechnic students with physical or sensory impairment purchase Assistive Technology devices or support services.
More than 500 students have sought help from these offices. To enhance capability development, the SSOs in the polytechnics and ITE colleges meet every three months to share best practices. This month, Singapore Polytechnic will be hosting a workshop on Accessible Education by Brandman University's Office of Disability Services for the SSOs in all our IHLs.
Our IHLs have also been actively conducting staff training on basic SEN awareness and support on campus since 2013. The training introduces IHL staff to a wide range of SEN and teaches classroom strategies to support students in their learning.
In our polytechnics and ITEs, 1,500 staff members have been trained, including one in five of these institutions' academic staff. Over the next five years, our polytechnics and ITEs will work towards training all their academic staff in basic SEN awareness and support. Our universities also provide training opportunities for staff who interact with students with SEN. So, I think quite a lot is happening in the SSOs in our IHLs and I want to thank Ms Chia as well as Ms Phua for their strong support of this initiative.
Let me cite the example of a student who has been helped by this initiative. He is Lionel Tan, an 18 year-old Business Services student at ITE College Central with a visual impairment. Upon receiving an offer for the Nitec in Info Communication Technology or ICT course, the ITE's Learning Accessibility Office spoke to Lionel to understand his needs. Through this session, which included a tour of the ICT labs, Lionel realised that the course might not be suitable for him. The Learning Accessibility Office then worked with Lionel to identify his other interests and helped him enrol in a course suitable to his strengths and needs. The Office then helped provide Lionel with the appropriate support. A discussion between Lionel's lecturers and his former teachers at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School was arranged. The Office also purchased a text-to-speech software and a note-taking device using the SEN Fund. Lionel's lecturers have also worked with the Office to provide him with accessible learning materials.
I wish to thank Ms Phua for her proposal to allow students with other types of SEN to tap on the SEN Fund. The SEN Fund has to be viewed in the context of this broader framework of measures to support students with SEN. We aim to tailor our support measures to the specific needs of students, such as access arrangements for students with dyslexia, orientation of training facilities for students with autism spectrum disorder and
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additional assistance in classroom learning for students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. MOE and our IHLs will continue to review the range of support available from time to time and work towards strengthening it.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman and Minister Heng have spoken about how our spending on SPED schools has increased by 50% over the last five years. Please allow me to flesh out how this has translated into new and better programmes that enhance the affordability, accessibility and quality of SPED. With your permission, Mdm Chair, I wish to display an infographic on our screens.
The Chairman: Yes, please. [A slide was shown to hon Members.]
Ms Sim Ann: Regarding affordability, we know that parents of children with SEN are more likely to face additional financial outlay and that is why it is so important to help them with affordability. MOE, therefore, provides substantial financial support. We have extended various schemes to our SPED schools over the years, including the Edusave Scheme, the SPED Financial Assistance Scheme or FAS and the School Breakfast Programme.
We will continue to extend financial support to help our SPED students fulfil their aspirations. This year, we will be enhancing school-based financial assistance for the next three years to $25,000 per school on average, up from $15,000. We will also enhance the SPED FAS to include a public transport subsidy.
At the same time, we will fully subsidise the examination fees paid by Singaporean students in SPED schools taking national examinations as well as examinations leading up to national vocational certification.
To give a sense of what this entails, let me cite the example of Shaherah bte Daud, a 16-year-old student at Metta School. Shaherah aspires to be a chef and will be taking the ITE Skills Certificate in Baking Practice. Shaherah does not need to pay for the assessments for ISC Type 1 and Type 3 modules over the next two years. If she wishes to improve her mastery of baking, she will not need to pay for the assessments for the Type 2 and Type 4 modules subsequently. From now until she reaches 21 years of age, Shaherah can take these assessments and work towards obtaining her certification.
For accessibility, MOE works to make it easier for children who need special education to be placed in the right schools. To this end, we regularly upgrade school infrastructure and expand the capacity of some SPED schools to meet the rising demand for places. Today, 15 SPED schools are purpose-built and five have been refurbished.
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We also want to help parents make the important decision of placing their child in the right school. To do so, we have introduced Post-Diagnosis Educational Guidance, providing accurate information and advice, as well as emotional support, to parents whose children have been recommended for placement in a SPED school.
The key plank in our efforts to raise the quality of SPED has been the SPED Curriculum Framework, put in place in 2012. This guides SPED schools in delivering a quality and holistic education and helps SPED students achieve living, learning and working outcomes. I want to thank Ms Denise Phua for working tirelessly with us on improving the curriculum and also for her new suggestions, all of which we will study.
We have also directed additional resources to SPED schools like the Teaching and Learning Fund, the Curriculum Enhancement Fund, the High Needs Grant to fund manpower to support students who need more help, the MOE-Tote Board ICT Fund for schools to purchase infocomm technology as an aid to teaching and a Parent Support Group Fund to build and sustain home-school partnerships.
Beyond funding, MOE recognises that it is crucial for SPED schools to have skilled and dedicated teachers and staff. We support SPED teachers to upgrade their skills by developing milestone programmes like the Diploma in Special Education and awarding post-graduate scholarships to deserving teachers. We also fund SPED schools generously to conduct training workshops and send teachers for conferences and learning journeys.
One key initiative has been the Advanced Diploma in Special Education targeted at experienced teachers. We have received very positive feedback about the Advanced Diploma. Educators have found it meaningful and enriching and appreciated the research-to-practice approach taken by the course.
Given the context of SPED, we know that our parents and SPED educators are very concerned about what their children or students would do after they leave school. To help address this concern, we have been working hard on helping SPED students be future-ready.
We introduced a Vocational Education Framework in 2010 to cater to students who can go further in terms of work capability. We have also facilitated quality vocational education programmes in SPED schools serving students with mild intellectual disability leading to national certification in selected industry areas and this has enabled one in four SPED graduates to be successfully employed.
For students who can work but may not benefit from vocational certification, we have worked with MSF, SG Enable and the SPED schools to prototype a School-to-Work
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programme in five SPED schools starting in 2014. We intend to make it available to more SPED schools in phases from 2016.
These measures provide different pathways for our students to build a robust foundation of skills and prepare for the world of work. And, in this regard, I think we can think of our SPED sector as being an early adopter of the key spirit of SkillsFuture.
Madam, the Government has been doing more to ensure that we continue to be a society that gives hope and assurance to all. MOE will continue to work with MSF, NCSS, SG Enable and other partners to embrace Singaporeans with special needs as full and integral members of Singapore society.
But the Government cannot do it alone. I wish to thank the VWOs, supportive employers and businesses, our educators and everyone who have worked hard to build an inclusive society.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Hawazi Daipi): Mdm Chairperson, I do not think I can complete my speech within 12.5 minutes. May I seek your permission to extend my speaking time for about five minutes?
The Chairman: Yes. Five minutes is fine.
Mr Hawazi Daipi: Mdm Chairperson, schools, parents and the community are key partners in the collective effort to forge a future where our people are valued for what they are and beyond the credentials they possess. To develop our children holistically and equip them with the strong foundation of values, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has strengthened art, music, sports and outdoor activities as well as internationalisation efforts in schools.
In the area of sports, we agree with Dr Benedict Tan and Mr Yee Jenn Jong that all students would benefit from participating in sports and co-curricular activities (CCAs) at competitive and non-competitive levels as part of their holistic development.
I am pleased to inform Members that with the revised Physical Education (PE) programme, all our students learn fundamental movement skills and concepts, and are given broad exposure to at least six sports, as well as dance, gymnastics, athletics, swimming and outdoor education. Dr Benedict Tan had suggested that all students should play a sport during Sports Day. Sports Day is one of many opportunities for student participation. Besides Sports Day, schools provide a wide range of sporting experiences for all students throughout the year, such as inter-class and inter-house games, cross-country meets, Sports Carnival and
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the Sports Education Programme.
The CCA programme complements these experiences and more than 60 Sports CCAs are offered in our schools. About a third of all our students participate in sports CCAs, of which 60% are non-school team players. The range of CCAs offered within each school would depend on student interests and availability of facilities, financial and manpower resources. Each type of sporting experience serves a different purpose and allows for excellence and mass participation to co-exist.
Dr Tan may be pleased to know that through outdoor education in the curriculum, all primary and secondary school students learn simple navigation and outdoor living skills such as cooking and shelter building. All students would have attended at least one outdoor adventure camp by the end of Primary 6 and at least two camps by the end of Secondary 4, one of which is an outdoor adventure camp. Through sports, CCAs and outdoor education, our students experience to work in teams, develop resilience and ruggedness and discover aspects of themselves that they might not discover in the classroom.
Such out-of-classroom experiences also occur through cross-cultural experiences provided by schools through multiple platforms, such as exchange programmes, overseas learning journeys and partnering foreign communities based in Singapore. These internationalisation efforts better prepare our students for the globalised environment as they develop the 21st Century Competencies of global awareness and cross-cultural skills.
We agree with Dr Benedict Tan that sports is an effective platform that can be used to foster interaction between our youth and those of other nationalities. This is already being done through sports events, such as the Annual ASEAN School Games, National School Games, and school-based collaborations between local and international schools. For example, Jurong Secondary and North Vista Secondary meet the Singapore American School annually for friendly games in basketball; and Queensway Secondary has organised friendly games in football and basketball with the Australian International School for the past two years.
However, holistic development is not the sole responsibility of schools. Parents and the community must play their part to offer these opportunities. Community clubs, Sport Singapore, National Sports Associations and People's Association (PA) offer many such programmes and activities, and students and parents should participate in these to further develop their interests and strengths in various domains.
Let me now talk about SkillsFuture. The Minister and Senior Minister of State Indranee have spoken about SkillsFuture and the importance of helping children discover their unique
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strengths and interests, enabling them to pursue different pathways to their fullest potential.
All schools do this through their Education and Career Guidance (ECG) efforts. Let me respond to Mr Ang Wei Neng's query on the role parents can play in career counselling. It is important that parents recognise that the competencies and skills that were needed for jobs of today may not be the same ones that their children will need for the jobs of tomorrow.
Parents can partner schools in their ECG efforts. Using resources such as the MOE e-careers portal and Parents-in-Education website, parents can support our young in exploring various education pathways and making informed choices based on their interests, strengths and work values.
In Presbyterian High School in Ang Mo Kio, students go through a Celebrate Life! Seminar that helps them identify various pathways based on their interests, strengths and aspirations. The school includes parents by introducing the e-careers portal to them and encouraging them to use its tools to guide their child in setting and achieving their goals in life. Parents are also made more aware of various pathways through learning journeys to Post-Secondary Education Institutes and Institutes of Higher Learning.
At Greenview Secondary School in Pasir Ris, parents are involved in the programme named \"Work Attachment with Parents\". For three days during the June holidays, parents of Secondary 2 and 3 students volunteer to take their children to work to expose them to the work they do in various jobs such as in the wet market, prisons, aviation and paediatric oncology. The students reflected that they had greater appreciation for their parents after witnessing how hard they worked and the kind of realities they faced in the workplace. Such authentic experiences are invaluable and prepare students well for the expectations of the workplace.
By engaging in ECG efforts, parents may discover that their children want to pursue pathways that may be more unconventional. After the GCE \"O\" level examinations, Ariel De Silva qualified for the polytechnic but found that none of the courses she qualified for were of interest to her. Her mother, Mrs Sarie De Silva, recognised her strengths in creativity, language skills and storytelling, and encouraged her to pursue the early childhood education course at ITE. As a result of pursuing her passion, Ariel did well in ITE and went on to Temasek Polytechnic. She is now a qualified pre-school teacher.
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As parents, we must have faith that when our children pursue what they are strong in and passionate about, they will find success and fulfilment.
Parents can also come together through the Parent Support Group (PSG) network to support schools' ECG efforts by giving students exposure to occupations beyond what their own parents are engaged in.
In Eunos Primary School, upper primary students use the e-careers portal to learn about different occupations during ECG lessons. These come to life through a work-shadowing programme where PSG members host Primary 6 students at their workplaces to give them real-world experiences. This initiative has benefited 120 students since its implementation in 2012, and more parents from the PSG are coming forward to support this programme.
Pei Hwa Secondary School in Sengkang engages the PSG, alumni, school advisory committee or SAC and industry partners in a structured ECG programme for all students. The PSG, alumni and SAC host in-conversation sessions with students to share about their education and career choices, and the lessons learnt through their personal challenges. Secondary 3 students can opt to participate in work attachment opportunities at Resorts World Sentosa, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, and selected hotels and retail outlets. These efforts culminate in an ECG Day for Secondary 4 and 5 students where industry partners, former students or lecturers from IHLs are invited as keynote speakers and course advisors.
Thus, industry partners are very important, and perhaps no one speaks as credibly on workplace requirements and expectations than our industry leaders. We will embark on a series, \"What Bosses Want\", where industry captains shared about the skills, attitudes, and attributes valued by employers. This series aims to raise parents' awareness and appreciation of the variety of career options available, and the importance of nurturing children's strengths and interests and imbibing in them values such as initiatives, resilience, motivation and adaptability.
By working collectively to enhance our ECG efforts, we are better placed to help widen our children's opportunities for success.
Beyond involvement in ECG efforts, the PSG network helps parents support schools and each other in nurturing their children holistically. I am happy to note that almost all schools have a PSG made up of enthusiastic and supportive parents. MOE has been encouraging the development of PSGs and sees value in establishing supportive networks amongst them.
We plan to organise a series of four networking sessions for PSG leaders this year. These sessions will bring together the PSG leaders and school staff to synergise efforts for
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enhancing school-home partnerships. About 730 participants will be attending these four sessions.
I attended the first session on 28 February and was heartened to see such an engaged group of PSG leaders and staff from the East Zone, discussing the various ways parents and schools can collaborate and support each other in their clusters.
I met a number of PSG leaders who have been active in their children's schools for many years, some of whom continue to contribute even after their children had graduated. One such parent is Mr George Punnoose, current PSG Chairman at Canossa Convent Primary. He has been with the PSG for nine years, and says that he continues to be active even though his daughter has graduated because of his love for the children and the desire to bring cheer to their school life through the PSG activities.
I also met active PSG leaders who had come from other countries and had placed their children in our schools because they appreciate our education system. Their involvement in schools and PSGs enhances the cultural diversity and global awareness of the children in the school.
Generally, PSGs comprise more mothers and I was especially encouraged therefore to see so many fathers at this session on 28 February. Mr Gordon Tan, PSG Chairman in St Hilda's Secondary School, joined the PSG in 2012 because he wanted to be \"the Best Father\" for his son, especially during the formative teenage years. Through parent-child bonding activities, he got to know his son better and together, they have created many treasured memories.
Another father, Mr Muchtar Bin Abdul Karim, Chairman of PSG in Junyuan Primary School, was in the school's first graduating cohort. He enrolled his daughter in 2014 and joined the school's PSG as a way to give back to his alma mater. He believes that his presence in school helps his daughter grow in confidence and hopes that it inspires her to follow in his footsteps by giving back to the community.
The fathers I met shared that their involvement in PSG allowed them to play greater role in shaping the way their children developed. They felt that it was important for PSGs to reach out to more fathers and want to do their part to promote this.
Such engaged and supportive parents are positive role models for other parents. To further encourage these mentoring relationships, I am pleased to inform that the 9th Council of COMPASS will launch a COMPASS-PSG Mentoring Programme or Scheme. Depending on the needs of the school, the Scheme will match PSGs who would like support in developing
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further with PSG Mentors from COMPASS. Our PSG representatives on COMPASS are all experienced members of PSGs in schools and are well-placed to provide support to other PSGs.
When COMPASS member, Mr Tio Chong Heng, shared at the inaugural PSG Conference in 2014 about the fathers' group in St Hilda's Primary School, PSG representatives from several schools, namely Rulang Primary, Bukit Timah Primary, Bedok Green Primary, and Guangyang Primary, were inspired to explore how fathers could be involved in their schools. A visit to St Hilda's Primary to observe how the fathers' group conducted itself paved the way for a rock-climbing father-child bonding activity last year for Bedok Green Primary School.
Through this Scheme, we hope to encourage PSGs to strengthen their partnership with schools to benefit their children and prepare them for the world of tomorrow.
Madam, when we work together as a community to provide opportunities for our children and extend our definitions of success, we will teach our children that they are each valued for their unique strengths, talents, and interests. We will better enable our children to succeed in society in the future. Madam, if I may, let me conclude my speech in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Chair, the world that our children will live and work in when they grow up will be one that is very different from what we know of today. Lifelong learning is, therefore, very important. We need to help our children acquire the knowledge, skills, and competencies that will prepare them to face the uncertainties and complexities of the future.
Such skills include communication skills, information skills and teamwork. More importantly, we need to help them develop into people of good character, capable of making sound decisions, and facing challenges with resilience and adaptability. These are the qualities that will hold them in good stead for the future. These are also the qualities that employers look for in the worker of the future as they desire employees who show initiative, are motivated, and passionate when performing their duties.
Therefore, it is critical that parents and schools work together to help children develop these qualities and discover what they are motivated by and passionate about. This can be done through Education and Career Guidance or ECG for their children. While MOE will provide secondary schools, junior colleges, centralised institutes, polytechnics and the Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs) with ECG counsellors, parents must do their part to really get to know their children. This means spending quality time with them to help them
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explore different opportunities and possibilities for themselves.
I encourage all parents to support the schools' efforts in the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) by using resources such as the ECG portal and the Parents-in-Education website to explore different career pathways for their children in the future. These resources provide parents with tips on how they can guide and assist their children in making mature decisions about their future. There is also information on the various educational pathways, and guiding questions and self-profiling tools to help students make informed choices based on their interests, strengths and values.
When our children discover what motivates them, and where their strengths and interests lie, parents and schools can work together to give them opportunities to pursue these. Sometimes, it requires parents to step out of their comfort zone so as to encourage their children to try something new. Only through such explorations will children be able to discover new aspects of themselves.
The parents of Adly Azizi Adly Azamin are examples of how giving your child the space to explore something new can turn into a positive light for the future. When Adly Azizi first picked up dance as his CCA in Montfort Junior School, he had no formal training in dance but, through the CCA, he discovered his talent and developed a deep passion for it. Despite having limited dance experience, Adly auditioned for admission into School of the Arts (SOTA) with the support of his family. Today, Adly is a driven and enthusiastic 15-year-old pursuing his dance journey in SOTA's Faculty of Dance.
Parents and schools must work together to help our children learn about the different pathways that are available to them, and give them the space to pursue what they are good at and interested in, to the highest level they are capable of. We should encourage them to pursue options that will bring them joy and fulfilment, and value them for whatever paths that they choose to take. In this way, opportunities for our child to succeed will be widened. Mdm Chair, thank you.
The Chairman: We have a little bit of time for clarification. Mr Zainal Sapari?
Mr Zainal Sapari: Mdm Chair, my clarification in Malay please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Minister for Education, in his speech, said that no children will be left behind whatever their starting point. Can the Minister share the Government's position on the suggestions by several Members of Parliament for the
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waiver of examination fees to be given to every Singaporean student, even though they are in private schools like the full-time madrasahs, and whether this suggestion will be considered by the Government in this year's Budget?
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Madam, all Singaporeans taking the national examinations as private candidates, including madrasah students, currently already receive a subsidy on their examination fees. And, indeed, our education system is inclusive. And as I have said, and I stand by what I have said – no child will be left behind. All parents can choose to enrol their children in mainstream schools to receive a heavily subsidised education, which now includes full waiver of national examination fees.
So, our policy remains that we want all our Singaporean children to enrol in our mainstream schools, to go through a common educational experience, and grow up together. Therefore, it is not about the equalisation of all conditions between mainstream schools and private schools. If private schools are necessary for specific reasons, the agency coordinating it will look at their needs in that very specific context.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Thank you, Mdm Chairman. Let me thank the Minister for sharing MOE's key area of focus. I hope the concerns and suggestions that we have raised will be brought back to the Ministry of Education (MOE) for consideration, because many of us spoke on many topics like outdoor activities and arts. Minister spoke about going beyond grades. The reality is that in many schools, the emphasis on good grades is still very strong, which explains why there is such a strong tuition culture. We may talk about looking beyond grades but the schools do look at grades.
The other point that I wanted to ask the Minister is that I had, in my speech, asked about bringing forward the enhanced subsidy for mid-career persons instead of beyond 40 to five years after work. I know the Minister for Finance had already spoken about it. I hope the Minister would bring it back, discuss with MOF to see whether we can consider bringing forward the enhanced subsidies for mid-career Singaporeans.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Well, Mdm Chair, certainly we would look at all the suggestions that have been raised. In this short speech, it is not possible for me to cover every idea that has been suggested, so I thank all Members for your suggestions.
On the question of beyond grades, indeed, it is not just a change. As I had said in my speech, we need to take this transformation together, as parents, as educators, as school leaders, as employers, as a society at large. So, this is a major transformational effort that will require every one of us to really pitch in. And as I said, every decision, every action,
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everyone counts.
In terms of the enhanced mid-career subsidy, we will certainly discuss this with MOF. But let me say that many of our courses are already indeed highly subsidised. And, as I said, our focus should not just be about the subsidies and the particular courses. When we talk about lifelong learning, at the end of the day, it is the utilisation of those skills and learning can take place in many different contexts. The example of the US versus Japan gives us a very vivid lesson that we got to focus on how to make it work and the technical details can then follow from there.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Thank you, Madam. Madam, I would like to seek two clarifications; one is to seek Minister's thoughts on the integrated 10-year through-train schools. I want to clarify that I do not mean compromising any form of rigour in academics. I really think the rigour of academics and character building must remain so. I just want to seek again the Minister's thoughts on this, since I have been asking several times.
The second clarification is for Minister of State Sim Ann. For the special needs students, if a special solution can be found to ensure that the SPED schools are not left out of all the good things that are happening at the national level, for example, the very good school-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme that is currently ongoing. I thought that was very good. There is a number of special needs students who also have co-morbidities. They have different conditions at the same time, including dyslexia. So, I would like to seek your opinion on that as well.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Mdm Chair, I think Ms Denise Phua exemplifies learning for mastery and lifelong learning. One important quality is really about perseverance, and really pushing and pushing. We all recall that Ms Phua had filed the Adjournment Motion some months back. So, let me say at the outset, that in the spirit of what I said, I welcome any form of innovation and that we have to keep an open mind to possibilities. We have to explore new and better ways of doing things, and therefore, we will look at this with serious consideration.
Earlier on, Mr Inderjit Singh mentioned about the scarcity mentality. If we think that there is one pathway to success, whether in school or at work, what would we as parents, students, or individuals do? Well, we will do everything we can to get onto that pathway. In fact, we see that in many different systems.
In some systems, they have been busy with changing all these and the end result is many of them lament that the education system has lost its rigour and students are very ill-prepared for, not to mention the future but even the present. In other systems, it is driven
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by so much pressure that they have decided that they will abolish the PSLE, the GCE \"O\" levels, and they have a through-train system, not just for 10 years, but 12 years, all the way.
For as long as there is only one path to success, the pressure will manifest itself at some point. In the systems that I have studied, it manifests itself in two areas: one, how do I get onto that path? So, first, at the primary school level, I get into a good primary school and, therefore, I can get into a good secondary school and I can get into a good high school?
Then, the pressure goes downwards. Why not get into a good kindergarten so that I can get into a good primary school? And then it goes further down, why not a good nursery so that I can get into a good kindergarten? A friend of mine had a grandchild who was being assessed at the age of three for entry into one of these nurseries overseas. She said her grandchild had his first failure in life at the age of three because he fell asleep while being assessed. The assessment for the other kids took so long that by the time it came to his turn, it was his usual nap time.
That is one point of pressure. The other point of pressure is at the high school, because the high school determines whether you get into university, and whether you get into university determines whether you succeed in life.
I recently met a Singaporean who married a lady and, in this place, his parents-in-law asked him \"Which university do you come from?\" And after he gave the answer, he became quite an outcast in the family. So, the pressure then exerts itself at two extremes.
I am not saying that through-train is a bad idea. I am saying that what we need to do is to think about what is driving that pressure and how can we innovate within that.
About two years back, I met a very thoughtful educator in China. When we were discussing this issue, she said to me that for as long as we think we have this scarcity mentality and we think there is one path to success, then the way we look at life will be something like this: 千军万马过一条独木桥. In English, it means thousands of horses and soldiers all rushing to cross that one narrow wooden bridge. Would there not be pressure in the system? Would it lead to better education? Certainly, there will be pressure. That is one way of dealing with the problem.
The other is whether we have an abundance mentality. When we have an abundance mentality, then success is not defined by one pathway, but many pathways. Success in schools, success at work, many, many different pathways. As I said, back in 1965, when we first became independent, 读书 was an important way to get ahead because that was the
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biggest skills gap.
Today, we have enormous changes in our economy, many jobs are being created, requiring very deep skills in every area and, therefore, the pathways have multiplied. But our thinking about education and pathways have not kept up with these changes.
When we think about the future, it is very important for us not to think about that one lone single wooden bridge, but really building many bridges. Not just wooden bridges, but iron bridges, steel bridges, find different ways of crossing the river, specialised boats, motorised boats, submarines, whatever.
In that way, we can create many more pathways to success and, indeed, the SkillsFuture fellowship awards, the SkillsFuture Credit, the SkillsFuture Awards and all these modularised courses are really many different ways to empower Singaporeans to create our own pathways, to build our own skills map, so that we can stay relevant. At the same time, we need employers to come onboard to make full use of these skills and, in that way, companies can have higher productivity, higher margin, that can then translate into higher wages and create a virtual circle of many more successful pathways.
Indeed, some Singaporeans might choose to be self-employed, to be entrepreneurs and again build skills to be successful in those different areas. So, really. this is the fundamental transformation that we need to make – thinking about success beyond school, but success in many different fields and having this abundance mentality to think of new possibilities, having this inventive, resourceful mindset to think about new ways of doing things.
In that regard, let me reiterate that I am always open to good ideas, and we must always explore whether there are better ways of doing things. But I want to reiterate the point that at the end of the day, fundamentally, having looked at systems all over the world, I think what we need is that major transformation in the way we think about success, about pathways and in the way that we go out to create those pathways.
Ms Sim Ann: Madam, I wish to respond to Ms Denise Phua's clarification about sharing more programmes like Dyslexia Remediation with our SPED schools. She reminded me of the fact that our specialists have begun working with our SPED schools on reading and literacy improvements for our students as part of our SPED curriculum framework. If memory serves me right, I think that this effort actually predates our School-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme by a bit. As for her suggestion, we will study it seriously.
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: I would like to ask about the stress levels on the students. I welcome the Ministry of Education's (MOE) shift to go beyond grades. But, on the ground,
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the reality is that there is increasing pressure on the students to chase good grades, given the very competitive system and also the high expectations of parents. I am worried about those who find it hard to cope with stress and become exposed to problems like depression and low self-esteem, who may then be vulnerable to suicidal thoughts.
Can I ask the Minister how the Ministry is building up the emotional resources of students to cope with the pressures, given the rapid pace of change and also to work with parents to manage their expectations and to be open to the multiple pathways that the Minister has just talked about?
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Mdm Chair, I thank Ms Irene Ng for the question. Indeed, I share the Member's concern that we must look at the socio-emotional competencies of our students. Over the last few years in particular, we have strengthened the learning of socio-emotional competencies in our schools through a variety of programmes that is incorporated in the syllabus. At the same time, as Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi has emphasised, at the end of the day, parents play a very, very important role. The communication between parents and their children is critical.
I am very happy that many different organisations and Parent Support Groups (PSGs) have come forward to help and to work together with the schools, and to help one another in this effort. I have met some of these groups. I have been very impressed by what they do because when parents are able to share what each of them is going through, it creates a certain sense of community that we are in this together. This will be a work that will always have to go on and we have to watch the socio-emotional health of our children so that they grow up to be well-adjusted, happy individuals, and very much like what I said in my speech about learning for life and not just learning for grades.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, I have two questions for the Minister. First, I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with the Minister that learning should not be for grades but for mastery. The Minister has said that these changes he spoke about go beyond schools.
First, surely the Minister will agree that we will still need the school to implement the changes that we want and there may be some historical structures that may give a different message to what the Minister has said. For example, centralised GEP gives a certain elite status to the nine selected schools and will continue this perception in parents that these are the top and popular schools. So, should we be bold to critically examine historical systems that may have served their purposes and there may be different ways to achieve
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what it was set up for?
My second question has been asked but I will ask it in a different way to be persistent. Would the Minister agree that the integrated primary to secondary schools will actually go very well with the Minister's own message that learning is not just for grades but for curiosity and mastery? It will let parents truly buy into the Minister's message for this option and to subscribe for such schools, so that they do not need to have the children chase for top grades in PSLE to get into the good schools.
I have heard what the Minister said, but I feel that we can actually exclude the top schools from this exercise and leave the original pathways unchanged so that we do not transfer that pressure downwards, as the Minister has just said.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Mr Yee for first agreeing wholeheartedly with me about learning for mastery. He raised two questions. First, I talked about beyond school, but what are we doing in schools? Indeed, when I spoke about going beyond school, when I used the word \"beyond\", what I mean is that you need to do things in school, and you then need to go beyond that. So, it is not \"either or\". It is that you need to do both and do both well.
On the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) and how that might change perceptions and so on, the point that I have made in my speech is that we have now a variety of Applied Learning Programmes. But I want to go beyond this discussion about whether one or two GEPs are creating all this stress and problems; to go beyond that and think about how, in a very big school system like ours where we have about 180 secondary schools, we can create opportunities in every school.
I am very committed to this \"Every School A Good School\" movement. That is why I have introduced the Applied Learning Programme and the Learning for Life Programme. This is beginning to have its effects and parents are beginning to see that each of these schools offers something interesting or special that can help their children learn.
I mentioned in my speech the example of Damai Secondary School and how one parent had three of her kids in this Health Sciences programme. So, it is to have this abundance mentality to think about how we can create new possibilities, rather than to focus on one or two specific areas. That we really want to work across a very broad front to create the multiple paths of success that I spoke about.
On the Member's second question about whether in this spirit, if we have the integrated programme, would it not help so that parents do not chase the points and so on. Again, I mentioned in my reply to Ms Denise Phua that, at the end of the day – and we have just
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spoken for over four hours on how important it is for our society to make this major transformation – what is the central focus of our efforts? The central focus of our efforts over the next many years is to create this transformation in our mindsets by everyone, in order to make this very major change possible.
I am open to considering what might be the merits of particular ideas and particular things that we could do. But I also need to be very clear that with the resources that we have and the attention that we have, that I focus it on what will make the biggest impact. So, if we are convinced that, indeed, creating the through-train schools can make the impact, again let me repeat, I am open to considering it. But I have spent a lot of time thinking about these issues, studying systems all over the world, discussing with educators all over the world and trying to understand what is driving the behaviour of education and social systems all around the world. And I do think that this SkillsFuture initiative and this transformation that I spoke about, in terms of learning for mastery, learning throughout one's life, learning for life, is really the transformation that we need to make. And there are many things that we can do within this context.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Madam, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Just a moment ago, the Minister mentioned the Edusave Merit Bursary. I would like to seek clarification from the Minister on the Edusave Merit Bursary and other Edusave awards, whether madrasah students are eligible to receive the Edusave Merit Bursary or the other Edusave awards.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I believe Minister of State Sim Ann moved the Bill in this House on extending Edusave to all students. So, I hope that the hon Member was aware of this.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: I would just like to know whether it is including the Edusave Bursary Award or is it just the Edusave scheme itself?
Mr Heng Swee Keat: It is the Edusave amount that we credit into the account.
The Chairman: Mr Manap, do you want to clarify further?
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Yes, because my understanding is that the Edusave scheme, does it cover —
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The Chairman: I think the Minister just answered it does not cover. In my view, it covers only the amount credited into the account.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: I just want to know whether the Edusave awards, plus the bursary, as mentioned just now, will be made available to the madrasah students.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I think I have answered the hon Member's question that the Edusave amount is for the account, for the students to use for their extra-curricular activities, not for the other awards.
The Chairman: If there are no other clarifications, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, would you like to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Thank you, Mdm Chairperson. Madam, allow me the opportunity to thank the Minister, the Senior Minister of State, the Minister of State and the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for their replies to our many questions and clarifications. On behalf of the Government Parliamentary Committee or GPC, I also want to take the opportunity to put on record our deep appreciation to MOE as well as the thousands of teachers and other educators involved in preparing our children for the future. Mdm Chairperson, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn (proc text)].
[(proc text) The sum of $11,400,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates (proc text)].
[(proc text) The sum of $700,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
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In the last 50 years, Singapore has been transformed from a small and undeveloped economy into a first-world metropolis and a reputable international financial centre. In the first 40 years since Independence, our gross domestic product (GDP) rose at an average rate of about 8%. But for the last 10 years, growth averaged lower at 5.9% per annum as the economy entered into the mature phase. We can expect an even lower range of growth in the next decade.
Our past economic strategies had succeeded in developing various value-adding hubs such as manufacturing, petrochemical, finance and banking services, shipbuilding, air and sea transportation, among others, and helped create many good jobs for Singaporeans. We were also able to build our own export capabilities in the high-tech sectors, such as precision engineering, wafer fabrication, aerospace engineering and bioscience, leveraging and synergising with the industrial and research and development (R&D) capabilities of multinational corporations (MNCs) that are based here.
The strengths and advantages that Singapore has built up will continue to put us in good stead and enable us to stay in the game in the foreseeable five to 10 years. The necessary conditions, of course, are that we remain an open and business-friendly location and have sound infrastructure and a skilled workforce, as well as uphold our reputation as a trusted hub.
Beyond that, we must develop new capabilities, new markets and innovations and do things differently to bring about the next generation of business successes. Singapore is entering into a new phase of development where skills, innovation and productivity will be the key growth drivers; hence, the need and urgency to restructure our economy. If we do not restructure fast enough and the competition catches up with us and erodes our advantages, we will be faced with a stagnant economy made worse in later years by an ageing and shrinking workforce.
Any economic restructuring will inevitably be painful and come with significant risks. Do we have a choice? We need to transform our economy to be less dependent on cheaper foreign labour and to be geared towards sustainable and productivity-driven growth.
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Foreign labour gives us the additional economic bandwidth to seize economic opportunities during positive economic cycles, thereby creating better jobs and accumulating financial resources. In the situation of negative economic cycle or downturn, having a foreign workforce does help buffer the citizen workforce from rising unemployment, as were the case in the downturn of 2001 and 2009, whereby the number of work permits and employment passes were significantly reduced.
But the reality is that in the past decade or so, the number of foreign workers has grown too fast and too many. They are more visible on the ground, in the housing estates and they do add to social costs. So, understandably, it has become a source of concern for Singaporeans. The scenes of what happened in Little India on 8 December 2013 also drove home the point that there are, indeed, physical and social limits as to how many foreign workers we can accommodate on this tiny island. Besides, we cannot perpetually depend on additional foreign workers to fuel our growth as there is no guarantee that suitable low-cost foreign labour will always be available for us to bring in. The cost of labour has been creeping up in countries where we traditionally source our foreign labour. So, this is not a viable strategy for us in the long term.
By tightening foreign labour, it is hoped that it will also serve as a disincentive so that companies will invest in improving productivity. Though there are assistance schemes available to help companies, such as the PICs and the ICVs, many will see them as SME welfare, so to speak. Labour tightening is perhaps still the most painful part of the restructuring.
The key question – is the pace of restructuring too fast for businesses to cope? Should we stop or reverse some of the measures? Many have pointed to the slower pace of GDP growth in the last quarter of 2014 as yet another indication that economic restructuring is failing. In my view, it may be too simplistic to draw such conclusions purely from broad GDP data. And we all know that restructuring is a long-term process, a long-term exercise as we are not adopting a \"cold-turkey\" approach, or what the Finance Minister said yesterday, pure market forces approach.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Seah Kian Peng) in the Chair]
In my view, there is no turning back on restructuring. The old way of growth where we liberally employ foreign workers is no longer sustainable. MOM's intention to maintain the foreign labour at no more than one-third of the total workforce is perhaps a reasonable
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balance to strike.
So, what more can we do in this restructuring effort? While there is no turning back on overall direction of restructuring, we should, however, have our eyes focused on managing the potential downside risks. In the horizon, there are possible events that could pose as shocks to the economy, such as the sudden drop in the overall global demand, the sharply rising interest rates and the potential geopolitical hotspots. While I support the need to have dependency ratio ceilings for each sector to control the total number of foreign workforce, we should keep the option open for adjustments of the levies should there be adverse changes to the external environment or there might be a sharply rising business cost where we need to mitigate.
Hence, I am glad that the Finance Minister has deferred the impending final increase of the foreign workers levy. I would urge MTI to closely watch overall business costs and be proactive in managing any potential downside risks from the restructuring.
On the whole, the productivity performance is still not showing the results that we desired. Construction and F&B continue to lag behind as we expand the social sectors, such as the elderly and nursing care, childcare, community facilities, which tend to be of lower value-add but yet important in improving citizens' well-being; we can expect this to be non-accretive to our productivity indicator. Nevertheless, we should continue to nudge smaller companies to improve their productivity with a series of incentives and disincentives. We should also do more to help companies reduce business costs and enhance competitiveness. The clustering and provision of shared services is a good move and I hope that it is gaining traction among the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Beyond SMEs, the Government should also encourage and, in some cases, work directly with larger companies on specific initiatives to innovate and uplift productivity. Besides microeconomic reform measures, Government and industry groups could work together to explore ways to better synergise and to tap on under-efficient capacity and resources within the economy.
I read that in Seoul, South Korea, they have launched something called the \"Sharing City\" initiative in 2013. The Seoul metropolitan city government is not only enabling sharing businesses but it is also putting its own under-utilised assets into shared use. This initiative has the overall effect of countering rising business costs, create new jobs, instil a sense of community and also, importantly, reduce wastage. I understand the other cities like Portland, Amsterdam and Milan have either launched or are contemplating similar sharing economy platforms. The concept can be extended to crowdfunding and the sharing of human resource,
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among others, something that a digitised island state like us, will be well-placed to develop.
In this Big Data era, the Government should also share more data with businesses and the public at large so that individuals and entities can be better informed and make better decisions. All these non-traditional measures add up can make a difference to the overall activity performance. Mr Chair, I have six questions for the MTI Minister.
One, there is considerable uncertainty in the global economy, with many of the major economies revising their growth outlooks. How will this affect Singapore's economy and what is the outlook for the Singapore economy this year?
Two, what is MTI's outlook for growth in ASEAN and how will this affect Singapore in the lead-up to the ASEAN Economic Community this year?
Three, the Finance Minister mentioned about the five key growth clusters in the Budget Statement. Can the Minister elaborate further on the key growth sectors and why these sectors are being identified? Also, given the changing profile of educational qualifications, how will MTI facilitate the creation of the right sort of jobs for Singaporeans, leveraging these key growth sectors?
Four, what is MTI's strategy to raise productivity growth over the next few years? How effective have the various schemes and initiatives been in improving companies' productivity?
Five, one of the key economic strategies in this year's Budget is to encourage our companies to internationalise. How can the Government help to create good jobs for Singaporeans through internationalisation?
Six, SkillsFuture is the buzzword for Budget 2015. What is MTI doing to support SkillsFuture and help Singaporeans take on good jobs in the growth clusters, leveraging on SkillsFuture?
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): With the slower growth rates seen in the recent years and as we continue to restructure our economy, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had outlined in the Budget Statement five focus sectors that Singaporeans could excel in.
While slower growth is not necessarily in itself a concern, the focus needs to be on the quality and the sustainability of the growth. Can the Minister share what are the strategies
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MTI is driving to ensure that Singapore is able to attract the growth opportunities and investments of these identified growth industries to Singapore? More importantly, how will we adapt our growth strategy to ensure continual growth and address the competition from other markets? While Asia continues to present growth opportunities, Singapore is not a low-cost market and we are seeing increasing competition from neighbouring economies as they modernise.
What specific investments will be made to ensure that our infrastructure and talent base will be able to address the needs and participate in the opportunities that present themselves in these five sectors?
With the changing profile of educational qualifications and a growing aspiration of our workforce, what is MTI doing to facilitate the creation of quality jobs and the alignment of our talent to these jobs? Will we be able to attract and, more importantly, retain our best talents to these growth sectors? Recently, Japan announced a new growth strategy to venture overseas to tap talents from developed markets like the US and UK, and Singapore is also a target for them. So, will our growth strategies be able to enable Singapore to stay attractive to retain our already scarce talent base?
There has been much discussion in driving innovation to enable Singapore companies to be competitive. Can MTI also provide an update on the strategies to drive and accelerate innovation especially in the five growth sectors identified?
The Chairman: Mr Gan Thiam Poh. You can take your two cuts together.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Chairman, our median wages are increasing on target to reach the 30% rise between 2010 and 2020 set by the Economic Strategies Committee.
In the face of global economic uncertainty, it is important for us at this mid-point to review what the key growth sectors for Singapore are in the years ahead. These will help us plan for the training required for our workers to be ready for these sectors, which will enable them to earn better wages. Would the Ministry share with the House the sectors it has identified and its strategies to attract investments for the development of these sectors?
I would also like to reiterate my concerns over the impact of automation on jobs which I spoke at length about in my speech during the Debate on the Budget Statement. Robotic technologies are improving by leaps and bounds and are increasingly able to perform tasks
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previously thought the domain of only humans. This development will result in certain job redundancies while creating new types of jobs. Against this background and given the changing profile of education qualifications and higher job expectations, how can MTI facilitate the creation of quality jobs for Singaporeans?
As the nature of trade and trade flows change, I would like to ask the Ministry how we can keep Singapore relevant as a key hub for the international movement of goods and services?
Being a key hub is one of the main reasons for our prosperity. We are Asia's top logistics hub, with 20 of the top 25 global logistics companies operating their regional or global headquarters here. We are also one of six major cities which are hubs for all types of cross-border flows, according to the latest research by McKinsey Global Institute.
Competition among cities to become hubs is actually very keen. New ways of doing business, such as e-commerce, is changing the landscape rapidly. It is crucial that we continue to invest and innovate to stay ahead of the pack.
Mr Charles Chong (Joo Chiat): Mr Chairman, first of all allow me to declare my interest as President of the Association of Aerospace Industries in Singapore. Sir, Article 3.7 of the Korea-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2005 stipulates that each party may exempt or reduce a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that re-enters its territory after that good has been exported for repair or process, regardless of whether such a repair or process could be done in its territory.
Korea has until recently granted full exemption of customs duty to aerospace components and aircraft engines repaired or overhauled in Singapore. However, this exemption is now being gradually removed until 2018 when full customs duty is payable for goods re-entering Korea.
Sir, Article 2.6 of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement on the same subject stipulates that neither party may apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that re-enters its territory after that good has been temporarily exported from its territory to the territory of the other party for repair or alteration.
Singapore-based Aerospace Maintenance and Repair Organisations or MROs are, therefore, at a disadvantage, compared to US-based MROs which appear to enjoy
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permanent exemption of the customs duty for goods re-entering Korea. In fact, some Korean companies have already served notice on their Singapore service providers that they will be diverting their business to US-based companies when the exemption of customs duty is ended. Would MTI consider reviewing Article 3.7 of the Singapore-Korea Free Trade Agreement, with the Korean government to bring it along the lines of Article 2.6 of the US-Korea FTA?
The Chairman: Mr Vikram Nair, you can take your two cuts together.
Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang): Mr Chairman, the SkillsFuture initiative aims to promote lifelong learning of practical skills for Singaporeans. The intention of this initiative is to empower our citizens, so that they will always be able to pick up new skills to deal with the evolving circumstances we find ourselves in.
The idea is to start building useful skills from school and continue this approach to learning throughout working life. A key part of the success of this programme will require the collaboration of industry. In particular, (a) industry will have to collaborate with schools and especially tertiary institutions, both to ensure that the curriculum teaches the students the necessary skills as well as to provide meaningful internships and paid work experiences, and (b) in order for the SkillsFuture funds set aside to be used meaningfully, they have to be used for courses that will teach people skills that have value in the workplace. This, too, will require collaboration from industry to make sure that meaningful skills are taught and to avoid a proliferation of courses that may not have much practical value.
I am, therefore, interested to know how MTI will support the SkillsFuture initiative and how the collaboration with other Ministries and Government agencies will be like in making this work.
The second cut is on research and innovation. The Singapore Government has always been extremely supportive of research and development (R&D) efforts. According to the National Research Foundation, since the first National Technology Plan in 1991, Singapore's total R&D expenditure has increased more than tenfold, from $760 million in 1991 to $6.5 billion in 2010.
To further boost R&D, on 18 September 2010, the Government set aside $16.1 billion over the period from 2011 to 2015 under the RIE2015 plan. The strategies for RIE2015 were to (a) to invest in new knowledge and areas and seed intellectual capital for future
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innovations; (b) to attract and develop scientific talent; (c) make available competitive funding to spur research; (d) strengthen synergies across R&D performers in public and private sectors; (e) focus on R&D outcomes, particularly commercialisation; and (f) support scientists in taking their ideas from research to commercialisation.
I understand that the current RIE portfolio dedicates about $9.6 billion, or about 60% of its funds, to public sector R&D and $2.5 billion to private R&D – that is about 15% of its funds – with much smaller amounts to talent, white space, innovation and enterprise and infrastructure.
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While we have a clear idea of how these funds are spent, I would also be interested to know whether MTI can provide an update of whether all this expenditure has helped promote innovation and boost productivity in our companies. Also, given the largest amount of expenditure has been on public R&D, I would be interested to know whether this public research has also helped in R&D outcomes and in particular, in commercialisation of what is developed.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Nee Soon): Chairman, research and development (R&D) has always been the cornerstone of our economic strategies. We need to carry out R&D which can help to add value to whatever we are doing, create new systems and processes, improve productivity and open doors to new opportunities. In fact, since 1960, economic growth has been rising exponentially in relation to the total amount of investment in R&D.
The Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Council was allocated a huge amount of $16.1 billion national budget for research, innovation and enterprise for Year 2011 to 2015 as part of the RIE2015 plan. This was a 20% increase from the $13.6 billion allocated in 2006 to 2010. It is a clear indication of the Government's resolve to invest in R&D. Against the backdrop of a globally competitive economy and labour crunch, investing in R&D can help us to retain and even enhance our competitive edge.
R&D is certainly costly and short-term results are often intangible. Sometimes, they do not even yield any results or a breakthrough that may only happen years after the project began. We must continue to promote R&D and strengthen the resilience of its industry so that even in times of poor economic growth, companies are able to embrace research activities and continue to enhance their performance.
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I am proud to note that we have excellent R&D capabilities such as Research Centres of Excellence and the Centre for Quantum Technologies and Earth Observatory of Singapore, just to name a few. These are highly appealing to foreign investors and potential partners whom we can collaborate with for even greater achievements.
With such a good R&D climate, I trust that the RIE2015 has made a good headstart and the funds are being put to good use. Can the Minister share examples of projects which arising from the money given to RIE by the Government, companies have benefited and productivity boosted? What is the ROI for our economy? Additionally, what is being done to attract and retain talent in the R&D sector?
The Chairman: Mr Ong Teng Koon, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Ong Teng Koon (Sembawang): Chairman, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a state-of-the-art technology used for gene editing that has the potential to alter the DNA in human beings. MIT Technology Review called it the biggest biotech discovery of the century.
Imagine babies with rare genetic conditions and birth defects that are incurable, like urea cycle disorders, Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy, or adults with cancerous mutations or even HIV. This gene editing technology holds the promise, and often the only hope, for parents and patients who can only look forward to a lifetime of pain and suffering for their babies and themselves.
Harvard, MIT and a host of other universities and many pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology startups staffed with world-renowned researchers are pouring resources into this research frontier. Some have estimated a gene editing industry worth trillions in commercial impact and hundreds of thousands of high-value job creations.
This is one example of how investments in research and development (R&D) can contribute to Singapore. As we mature into a knowledge-based economy, there needs to be sustained investment in R&D and a continued supply of high-value researchers to meet the growing demand. There are many areas of R&D that needs Government support: basic research, applied research, experimental development, in fields as diverse as electronics, chemicals, biomedical sciences, precision and transport engineering, Internet technology, to name but a few.
The Government has invested $16 billion in research, innovation and enterprise in Singapore from 2011 to 2015. On top of bringing benefits to the economy, it is important for this investment to benefit Singaporeans. The public's perception is that many of the
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researchers within our universities and research institutes are foreigners. Is this perception justified or is it untrue? To this end, I would like to ask the Minister whether we now have more Singaporeans working in R&D careers and how does R&D investments create career opportunities for Singaporeans?
Secondly, making research an exciting and fulfilling career choice for Singaporeans is important for the research landscape. It is also important to fulfil the aspirations of young Singaporeans who enter the workforce to have a wider range of options in order to meet their interests. The beauty of R&D is that it has the potential to create entirely new clusters of supporting industries and many high-value jobs around it. My question is: what other career opportunities can Singaporeans look forward to in the field of R&D? What can the Government do to ensure a career in R&D offers a wide range of opportunities for Singaporeans?
The considerations for making strategic investments in R&D cannot simply be viewed from the typical commercial lenses of returns on investment and short-term commercial viability. I would argue that investment in R&D fulfils a strategic imperative and needs Government support to nurture in order to bring Singapore into the forefront of a knowledge-based economy.
My second cut. Mr Chairman, energy security is a strategic imperative and a priority for Singapore. Natural gas is currently the cleanest form of energy available. The Government has promoted the use of natural gas and more than 80% of domestic electricity generation is done using that.
Piped natural gas or PNG is currently imported into Singapore from Malaysia and Indonesia via four offshore pipelines. PNG contracts with Indonesia are slated to end in 2025. Contracts with Malaysia will end at some stage.
It therefore becomes vital that Singapore has a new source of sustainable natural gas supply that is sourced globally. It is not the price of natural gas that concerns me. Availability is the key here. We must have the ability to buy and store and use natural gas at whatever the price if we are in a situation where PNG is denied to us. I cannot imagine a modern city like Singapore being devoid of electricity. What are Singaporeans going to do in such a situation? It is too scary to even imagine.
Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG fulfils this important role of energy security. The Government, in its wisdom, has invested heavily in making sure that we have the capability to receive LNG. The Singapore LNG Terminal began operations in May 2013 with two storage
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tanks and an initial throughput capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum. A third tank and additional regasification facilities were completed in January 2014, increasing the throughput capacity of the terminal to six million tonnes per annum.
I am very relieved to note that we are well on our way to making sure Singapore will not be left in a literal state of darkness in the future. To this end, I would like to ask the progress of the Government's plans to expand the Singapore LNG infrastructure.
Mr Chairman, part of the masterplan to achieve energy security is the commercialisation of the power generation industry and the retail electricity industry, so that market-based pricing and practices can bring about greater efficiency. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has been tasked to regulate the efficient trading and pricing of wholesale electricity and to regulate the entire power sector.
Electricity trading is a relatively new market in many jurisdictions. Markets require depth and liquidity and a critical mass of participants for its efficient function. These participants must stand ready to be able to buy and sell at market prices. To do this, they must be knowledgeable in the fundamentals of the LNG and electricity markets, be able to risk manage well and be alert and nimble to the wider energy and financial markets which are volatile in nature. Can the Government assure the House that Singapore has sufficient manpower with the requisite expertise to perform such roles?
How about other roles that are needed for the efficient functioning for the power sector? Can the Government enlighten the House what other types of expertise are needed and if Singapore has sufficient manpower to meet this need?
Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Chairman, tourism is a major contributor to our economy. Tourist arrivals drive consumption of goods and services, which is crucial to businesses and services in our small market. Strong tourism industry also creates jobs for the service and hospitality sectors.
There has been intensifying competition for the global tourist shopping dollars. Many countries, despite being huge tourism magnets, are significantly stepping up on their efforts to target increased tourist arrivals. More notably, their target is wealthy Chinese tourists who are eager to splurge their new-found wealth on widening their horizons. In the UK, for example, Chinese netizens have been consulted to name famous landmarks and pop cultures in Chinese so that these attractions would appear more endearing to the Chinese tourists. Spain is in talks with Asian airlines to draw up more direct flights while South Korea plays up on its pop culture and medical tourism packages, successfully replacing Japan as China's top
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tourist destination in 2013. Thailand offers free visas for Chinese and Taiwanese tourists last year while in Milan and Paris, retail assistants in luxury boutiques have to learn Chinese and English to cater to an international crowd.
These countries, with their rich histories and ample variety of famous and unique landmarks and attractions, are formidable challenges for the tourism dollars.
Tourism is recognised as a vital source of revenue as well as job creation within the APEC economies, according to APEC Tourism Working Group. In 2011, tourism accounted for 8.3% of GDP and 8.4% of employment in Asia respectively.
We have many advantages that make us well-placed in receiving tourists. We offer good security and the transport system is easy to use. English and Mandarin are widely used and they happen to be the most commonly used languages in the world. I note that we are among the top Muslim travel destination for Muslim travellers to go to non-Muslim destinations for the third successive year. The Global Muslim Travel Index gave us high scores for its safe travel environment, ease of access to prayer spaces as well as the number of halal dining options.
Indeed, many of us have travelled to immerse ourselves in another country's culture, which is often different and therefore interesting to us. But are we re-inventing ourselves with new attractions and new packages? Questions were asked if the Great Singapore Sale is really that great or has online shopping taken a part of its business away? Do we need to pay more attention to other attractions? Has our F1 lost its shine as well?
Can we play up on our uniqueness as a uniquely Singapore cultural icon like the Merlion? Are we doing enough to highlight our distinctive blend of heritage and culture? What are we doing to ensure that Singapore remains as a vibrant tourist destination and retaining our competitiveness on this front?
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Mr Chairman, there is intensifying competition for the global tourist shopping dollar. How will the Ministry ensure that we remain a vibrant tourist destination and retain our competitiveness on this front?
I note with concern the decrease in tourist arrivals by 3.1% last year, the first decline since 2009. One of the reasons was our strengthening Singapore dollar which makes us actually a pricier destination. How can we overcome this hurdle by adding value so that our visitors will find their trips here worth the while?
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Fortunately, total tourism receipts had stayed constant as per capita spending has risen. This is very encouraging. Would the Ministry share how it intends to maintain this trend in tourist expenditure?
The Chairman: Minister Lim Hng Kiang.
The Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mr Chairman, I would like to thank Members for their comments and suggestions.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked for the economic outlook for Singapore in 2015. Mr Liang correctly pointed out that there is considerable uncertainty in the global economy. This is because, seven years after the Global Financial Crisis struck, the world is still affected by the aftershocks of the crisis. The recovery has been uneven and relatively weak and we can expect this sluggish global environment to persist for some time to come.
But if we step back and review how Singapore has fared over the Global Financial Crisis, in fact, we have performed relatively well. Chairman, may I have your permission to distribute some charts?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Handouts were distributed to hon Members.]
Mr Lim Hng Kiang: While the charts are being distributed, let me explain the intent of the charts. The charts will compare our performance in GDP growth, employment and median income growth. These are our KPIs showing how our overall economy is doing, whether there are enough jobs for our people and how well our workers are being paid. For comparison, I have selected two sets of countries. The first set comprises the advanced economies, that is, the US, the EU and Japan and the second set comprises key Asian economies.
So, if Members look at the first set of charts, in terms of GDP growth, Singapore has grown by 4.7% annually since 2007 [Please refer to Annex 1.] As the charts show, we outperformed both the developed economies as well as the key Asian economies.
In the next chart, on the jobs front, our unemployment rate has not exceeded 3% [Please refer to Annex 2.] This was so even at the depth of the Global Financial Crisis. Since 2008, we have created approximately 112,000 jobs every year. More importantly, over two-thirds of the jobs created in the resident workforce were professional, managerial, executive
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and technical or PMET jobs.
The final chart is the median income of employed households headed by Singaporeans [Please refer to Annex 3.] This has been on the rise, with a real annualised growth of 2.9% per year since 2007.
Mr Chairman, as our economy matures, we will need to get used to a lower but more sustainable rate of growth. In addition, our tight labour market is a continuing reality. These domestic challenges will also affect our growth trajectory. But as the numbers show, our efforts in the past few years have put us on the right track and we are making progress despite significant headwinds. Against this backdrop, we can expect Singapore's economy to grow between 2% and 4% in 2015.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa has also asked for the outlook for growth in ASEAN and how this will affect Singapore in the lead-up to the ASEAN Economic Community or AEC this year. ASEAN is expected to achieve a growth rate of 5.6% per year between 2015 and 2019. If ASEAN continues on this trajectory, ASEAN could become the fourth largest single market by 2030, after the EU, the US and China. We must, therefore, position ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities that deeper integration through the AEC will bring, and indeed, we have been actively engaging businesses to do so.
To achieve the growth of between 2% and 4%, Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Gan Thiam Poh have asked what our key growth sectors and key growth opportunities will be in the years ahead. Mr Chair, our economy is well-diversified. Previously, we highlighted the Asian growth story. The prospects of an increasingly integrated ASEAN remain positive. In our projections, manufacturing will continue to be an important part of our growth story. The manufacturing sector has achieved steady value-added growth of 4.3% per year since 2007 and this was achieved while keeping the labour force in the manufacturing sector approximately constant. In 2008, the manufacturing sector employed a total of 565,000 people. In 2014, this was 536,000. We will continue to move up the value chain into advanced technology and high-value areas, as well as to seek productivity improvements in existing sectors.
Our achievement has been underpinned by a steady pipeline of projects that we have secured across our manufacturing clusters. Three days ago, I attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the expansion of Micron Technology's NAND flash memory wafer fab. This will be Micron's largest and most advanced wafer fab location in the world. It entails an investment of US$4 billion. When fully operational, it will create about 500 highly skilled jobs. Last November, I was at the opening of Amgen Singapore's biologics manufacturing facility. This facility is Singapore's ninth world-class biologics manufacturing plant, and the first in the world to use Amgen's latest proprietary technologies and manufacturing processes on a
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commercial scale. Each biologics plant will create 100 to 200 highly skilled jobs.
Cutting-edge projects like these will keep us at the forefront of global manufacturing. Our steady pipeline of investments will keep us in the game for the next five years. To remain competitive in the longer run, we will have to adopt disruptive technologies such as 3D printing and advanced robotics, something that Mr Gan Thiam Poh also raised. This will enable us to create new business models and take advantage of new opportunities.
For example, rapid prototyping through 3D printing enables faster innovation, helping companies bring their products to market faster while using resources more efficiently, which would not be possible using traditional manufacturing techniques. 3D printing enables more cost-effective small-volume production, enabling new business models which rely on mass customisation, such as the Consumer-to-Business (C2B) model as well as the personalisation of goods like running shoes tailor-made for the individual. In addition, 3D printing could disrupt established supply chains as it erodes the competitive advantage traditionally held by mass production and enables the emergence of efficient, yet small-scale domestic production hubs. So, one can argue that 3D printing and advanced robotics have the potential to disrupt the competitive landscape. Smaller niche players can now take on the bigger players.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked how MTI will be facilitating the creation of the right sort of jobs for Singaporeans. The evolution of the manufacturing sector will create jobs which require new competencies such as data analytics, engineering and operations expertise. For instance, technicians in a wafer fab will require analytics and operations skills to monitor production output and quality and advanced robotics capabilities to troubleshoot and repair the robots which will take on the lower value tasks.
Mr Chair, we are taking steps to ensure that our SMEs can keep up with leading-edge technologies. This is one key reason why we will provide greater support for collaboration between large enterprises and SMEs through the Partnerships for Capability Transformation or PACT programme. We introduced PACT in 2010 to help SMEs build up their capabilities and track record. The scheme was expanded in 2013 to cover new industries as well as to include new forms of collaboration. It now provides support for supplier qualification, test-bedding of innovative solutions, knowledge transfer and productivity improvements.
PACT has achieved good progress and we will be extending the scheme by another three years, to March 2018. PACT will cover a broader spectrum of co-innovation to include joint product development at the proof-of-concept stage. This will provide greater support for co-innovation between SMEs and the large enterprises and help local contract manufacturers
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upgrade to supply higher-technology components.
In addition, to enable more projects to qualify for support, PACT will now be able to support SMEs even if the partner large enterprise does not receive funding, so long as the large enterprise is committed to develop the local company's capabilities.
We will also improve and enhance the Capability Development Grant or CDG. CDG is a flexible grant that can be customised for each individual SME. SMEs can choose to defray up to 70% of the project costs in 10 areas ranging from technology innovation to intellectual property and franchising. It has been well received and has supported over 1,200 projects in 2014. We will be extending the enhanced support under the CDG so that companies can continue to get 70% support till 2018. We will also simplify the application process for projects under $30,000 so that smaller companies can access this grant more easily.
To illustrate how all these programmes are coming together, we can look at the restructuring of the precision engineering sector. Taking advantage of the various Government support programmes, the precision engineering sector has been able to upgrade and now support the aerospace as well as the Medtech sector, in addition to the traditional electronics sector. Over the last five years, the output and productivity of the precision engineering sector have both grown by 9.9% per year.
Let me now turn to the growth prospects of our services sectors.
Our services exports have performed well in recent years. Since 2007, our services exports have grown by 6.9% per year. In terms of the value of our services exports, Singapore now ranks 11th in the world and fourth in Asia. Despite keen competition from the bigger economies, we have been gaining market share of global services exports. Take our trade in services with China as an example. We are in fact now China's third largest foreign trading partner for services after the US and Japan. So, for a small economy like us, we have in fact gone up the ladder and we are now China's third largest foreign trading partner for services, just after the US and Japan.
We have done well in the financial services sector, the wholesale trade sector as well as the transport services sector. We must seek new opportunities for growth in the other services clusters. Let us take the logistics sector, for example. Many companies in this sector have found ways to overcome manpower constraints and pursue higher value-added endeavours. More are also growing their commercial presence overseas.
YCH Group is one such company. A homegrown logistics company, YCH has transformed the traditional business model for logistics service suppliers, by adopting innovative end-to-
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end supply chain management solutions, by embracing e-commerce and developing its own proprietary software. Today, YCH operates in more than 100 cities worldwide and continues to expand its network of e-fulfilment services.
To help more companies like YCH, we will strengthen schemes to help companies internationalise. IE Singapore currently offers the Market Readiness Assistance or MRA and the Global Company Partnership or GCP to help local enterprises defray the costs of internationalisation. Starting this year, we will enhance these schemes by raising the grant support levels to SMEs. Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan will share more details on these enhancements.
Our other services cluster will also provide the kind of jobs that Mr Liang, Ms Tan and Mr Gan alluded to – jobs that increasingly educated and qualified Singaporeans want to do.
Take the professional services sector for example. Since 2008, employment in this sector has been growing at 5.5% per year. As of 2013, the sector provides over 220,000 jobs and Singaporeans hold more than half of the PMET positions.
This achievement is in large part because Singapore has become a choice location for regional headquarters activities. The 2014 Economist Intelligence Unit Business Environment Rankings study ranked Singapore the best place in the world to do business. Consultancy firm Roland Berger also found that European companies consider Singapore the preferred location for regional HQ activities, with Hong Kong and Shanghai being close competitors. To sharpen our competitive edge, we are working with global leading companies to develop Centres of Excellence specialising in diverse fields ranging from analytics, growth markets, consumer insights to cybersecurity. Professional services firms such as McKinsey, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have already chosen Singapore as the location for their Centres of Excellence. These Centres of Excellence will not only help create more job opportunities for Singaporeans but offer good quality jobs.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked how we can keep Singapore relevant as a key hub for the international movement of goods and services.
In addition to the schemes that I have described, we also intend to reduce trade barriers so that our companies can compete more effectively.
We already have a network of around 20 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 32 trading partners, which account for more than 70% of our trade in goods. We will expand this
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network as well as review existing FTAs to maintain their relevance to businesses.
Here, I would like to respond to Mr Charles Chong's example. Under the Korea-Singapore FTA which Mr Charles Chong talked about, we have surfaced our industry's request for continued exemption of customs duties for goods re-entering South Korea after maintenance, repair or overhaul, that is, MRO in Singapore. The Korean government recently announced that it would postpone the implementation of these customs duties till 2017. We will continue to work with Korea to resolve this issue as a part of a more comprehensive review of the Korea-Singapore FTA.
Singaporean companies can look forward to further developments on three fronts in our trade negotiations: the implementation of the AEC by the end of 2015, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP and the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. I have spoken about the opportunities presented by the AEC. The RCEP links ASEAN and the six ASEAN dialogue partners while the TPP connects half of ASEAN with the US and countries on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Both the RCEP and TPP are designed to be inclusive so that we can eventually have an FTA of the Asia Pacific.
The AEC, RCEP and TPP will enhance the economic integration of the region and is expected to boost intra-regional trade significantly. For goods, our companies will be able to have better import and export opportunities because of the significant reduction of tariffs. Our companies can also look forward to further liberalisation of the service markets in the region, which will bolster the strong growth of our services exports.
Finally, these three initiatives will also deepen the protection of investments in the region, which will not only facilitate the internationalisation of our companies but also enhance the attractiveness of Singapore as a place to do business and anchor regional and international headquarters in Singapore.
Mr Chairman, I have spoken about our growth sectors, which will create new and exciting jobs. To complete our mission, we must ensure that Singaporeans are well-equipped to take up these opportunities.
Mr Liang and Mr Vikram Nair asked what MTI will be doing to support the SkillsFuture initiative. Let me illustrate with three initiatives by the Economic Development Board (EDB) to support the SkillsFuture effort by working with industry partners to develop talent at all levels in our key growth areas.
First, to ensure that our workers have the core skills needed to support future growth, EDB will work in partnership with MOE and WDA to encourage companies to build their
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training capability and expand their training capacity. EDB will support these efforts in seven pilot sectors, namely, Logistics, Electronics, Biopharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Precision Engineering, Marine and Aerospace.
Second, our future growth clusters will require domain experts with deep specialist know-how as well as competencies such as advanced manufacturing, business analytics and systems integration. EDB will develop these capabilities in partnership with industry as well as the Institutes of Higher Learning. This will go towards creating on-the-job training programmes with leading companies, anchoring Centres of Excellence and establishing relevant executive and specialist development programmes.
And third, EDB will support our companies in developing high-potential Singaporeans through the SkillsFuture Leadership Development Initiative. This will help Singaporeans to gain the necessary competencies as well as global and regional exposure to take on leadership roles in their industries.
Mr Chairman, let me summarise the key points of my response. First, despite the major disruption and the continuing aftershocks from the Global Financial Crisis, we are making steady progress and Singaporeans enjoy close to full employment. Second, our emphasis on restructuring, innovation and productivity is gaining traction in the manufacturing and the exportable services sectors. And third, we must persevere in our efforts so that we can replicate these improvements in the other sectors, particularly the domestic-oriented sectors. In short, MTI will continue to help our companies enhance their productivity, raise their competitiveness and create good jobs for Singaporeans. At the same time, we will equip Singaporeans with the skills and expertise to take on these new jobs.
Mr Chairman, if we stay the course, I am confident that we will continue to grow and do well.
The Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr S Iswaran): Mr Chairman, may I have your permission to display some slides on the screens?
The Chairman: Go ahead. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Mr S Iswaran: Mr Chairman, I want to complement Minister Lim's overarching picture of Singapore's economic landscape by elaborating on the opportunities and initiatives specific to R&D, energy and tourism.
R&D is an important enabler that can help and enhance the competitiveness and productivity of our economy. It is in recognition of this that the Government has committed
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$16.1 billion in the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2015 masterplan. Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Mr Ong Teng Koon and Mr Vikram Nair have asked how this has helped to promote innovation and boost productivity.
Let me give Members some perspectives on this. Firstly, our companies have worked with public research institutions to create new products and services and generate new revenue streams.
An example is Fong's Engineering. It is a precision engineering firm which has collaborated with the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology or SIMTech. And they have successfully developed an endoscope. SIMTech played an important role during the clinical trial and evaluation phase and helped the company commercialise its product. This collaboration has helped Fong's Engineering to expand into the MedTech sector and doubled the company's average value-add per worker. This is an example of an SME that has benefited by going into a new sector with a new product and enhanced its top line.
Another example is SIMTech's work in the aerospace cluster with SIA Engineering Company and several local SMEs. As a result, these SMEs have diversified beyond their traditional focus in the precision engineering capabilities, to design and manufacture aerospace components and they too have consequently raised their revenues by up to about 25%. This is another example, but it is more in a clustered setting where a large local company like SIA Engineering with a group of smaller SMEs working with them to raise capabilities and develop new revenue lines.
But innovation is not just about new or breakthrough products. Companies can also benefit tremendously from innovative process improvements to their operations. That is why A*STAR has also been reaching out to companies through the Technology Adoption Programme.
This is a $51 million programme launched in 2013 to help SMEs in their efforts to transform their business model by making technology more accessible. And we have a team of experienced individuals who act as the interface between these SMEs and various sources of technology solutions, whether it is the public or private sector. In just over one year, more than 4,000 companies have been engaged under this programme, with 1,200 technology adoptions by companies achieving at least a 20% productivity improvement.
One beneficiary, and in somewhat an unlikely sector is the Singapore Toy Club, which rents out bouncy castles, toy cars and other party products for home parties and other functions. SIMTech worked with the company to deploy an RFID-based inventory management system to track and account for its equipment, reducing the man-hours
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required for this purpose by about 75%.
Large local enterprises are also partnering A*STAR and its research institutes to develop innovative technologies. Some of these are Sembawang, Keppel and Jurong Shipyards in the marine and offshore industry, Biosensors International in the MedTech sector and Singtel in the infocommunications sector. More recently, in the finance sector, DBS and the Institute for Infocomm Research launched a Joint Laboratory to develop new products and solutions which focus on areas such as data analytics and voice and video technologies. EDB and A*STAR will continue to engage more of these large local enterprises to explore other areas of collaboration.
In some instances, companies are unable to test certain technology applications in Singapore due to constraints such as our climate or limited land and air space. To help such companies, EDB will introduce a new Overseas Living Lab programme to help Singapore-based companies with innovation centres to test and commercialise their technologies in overseas markets. This will help to maximise the value of R&D that takes place here and incentivise firms to deepen their R&D activities in Singapore. EDB will pilot this programme with water and energy solution providers over the next two years. So, there is both breadth and depth in the way our R&D efforts have been engaging companies and trying to deliver value-add.
Mr Ong Teng Koon has asked for the proportion of Singaporeans in R&D jobs and their career options. In 2013, there were about 32,000 research scientist and engineer or RSE jobs. Seventy percent of these RSE jobs went to locals. Our scientific and research talent can pursue diverse opportunities and career pathways that suit their interests and strengths, whether it is in research, academia, industry or entrepreneurship.
Dr Daniel Teo graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and then pursued an undergraduate degree and PhD in engineering. After joining A*STAR, Daniel led the invention of Flexure-Based Electromagnetic Linear Actuator (FELA), which provides high precision motion and force for driving high performance machines. You may be fuddled and so am I, but in simple terms, FELA is a breakthrough for the precision engineering industry, with wide-ranging applications such as in micro- and nano-metrology systems, machining systems and biomedical instruments. FELA won an international R&D Award and has been licensed to a local manufacturer of precision components for further product development.
Some of our researchers have become entrepreneurs. Dr Rosemary Tan was a scientist at our Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. In 2003, she founded Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd, a medical device company specialising in portable diagnostic tool kits using A*STAR's licence in malaria primers. She subsequently licensed A*STAR's bird flu primers and launched the company's first products in 2005. These were DNA- and RNA-based diagnostic kits for
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dengue, avian influenza and malaria. Veredus also worked with ST Microelectronics to develop rapid diagnostic kits for influenza viruses which could produce test results within an hour using Lab-on-a-chip technology. Today, it is a company that has grown from a start-up to one that has 30 employees and $10 million in revenue. So, there is quite a range of options available to our R&D people.
R&D also has catalysed new growth areas in our economy. In that regard, the $500 million Future of Manufacturing programme aims to encourage our manufacturing firms to embrace disruptive additive manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing and robotics.
To support this effort, A*STAR will launch the Additive Manufacturing Centre in 2015 to accelerate the adoption of AM technologies in Singapore. It will house state-of-the-art industrial grade AM equipment to extend the application-centred work with industrial partners, such as Rolls-Royce, and it should attract about $100 million of industry investments.
Also, to enhance Singapore's long-term competencies in robotics, A*STAR, EDB and the National Research Foundation will be launching the National Robotics Programme later this year. It will coordinate end-to-end development of robotics technologies and test-bedding initiatives across various industry sectors and the programme will pull together capabilities across our public research institutions, to develop robotics technologies which will have an economic impact through collaborations with companies and industrial end users.
A*STAR's efforts have also spawned the growth of a new Food and Nutrition innovation hub. Leading nutrition companies such as Nestlé, Danone and Abbott have established facilities in Biopolis to conduct research into healthier and safer products. The number of scientists and researchers employed by these companies has increased from less than 300 in 2010 to around 700 today.
Let me now turn to energy which is critical to Singapore's economic competitiveness. Almost all our energy is imported and so we are highly exposed to global price movements. Global oil prices have dropped dramatically in recent months, from a peak of US$115 per barrel in June last year to about US$60 more recently.
However, movements in the global oil market are unpredictable, given the impact of geopolitical and technological developments. For now, lower oil prices have resulted in an easing of electricity tariffs and fuel costs for businesses and consumers in Singapore. But we cannot expect lower energy prices to persist indefinitely. Indeed, it would be wrong to base
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our long-term strategies on that basis.
Hence, we must not relent in our efforts to ensure that Singapore continues to have access to secure and competitively priced energy supplies. And to achieve this, MTI will continue to promote competitive markets, enhance our energy infrastructure and nurture a strong core of energy professionals. Let me elaborate.
First, on competition in our domestic energy market. Last year, the Energy Market Authority or EMA put in place a competitive process to secure new LNG supplies for Singapore and launched a two-stage Request-for-Proposal or RFP to supply Singapore's next tranche of LNG. There has been a strong response to Stage One of the RFP. We have received nine competitive bids proposing a variety of LNG supply solutions and price indices. And they collectively proposed more than 10 new source countries from which Singapore's next tranche of LNG may be secured. So, it has gone significantly towards meeting our objective of diversifying our sources and giving us greater resilience in our energy supplies. Our agencies are evaluating the bids and will announce the outcome in due course.
We have also taken steps to increase competition in the electricity retail market. Last year the retail contestability threshold was lowered from 10,000 kWh to 4,000 kWh, allowing about 15,000 more commercial and industrial consumers to choose the electricity retailer and package that best suit their needs.
About 1,600 new customers have since applied to become contestable. These include SMEs like Pet Lovers Centre, Evergreen Group, which is a stationery operation, and even not-for-profit organisations like the Alzheimer's Disease Association. So, the benefits are cascading into a much wider range of institutions and corporations.
EMA will further lower the contestability threshold to 2,000 kWh on 1 July 2015, which will benefit another 10,000 commercial and industrial consumers. This will include coffee shops, kindergartens, music schools and religious and community establishments. EMA is also studying the approach and implementation timeline for full retail contestability in consultation with industry stakeholders.
We will also enhance our energy infrastructure to meet our future energy needs. Mr Ong Teng Koon asked about the progress of Singapore's LNG infrastructure and our plans. The commencement of our terminal's operations in May 2013 has allowed us to import LNG from literally all over the world. When additional regasification facilities are completed in 2017, the terminal's throughput capacity will be increased substantially from six million tonnes per annum or Mtpa to 11 Mtpa and that is a significant increase which will go a long way towards addressing Singapore's long-term energy needs. The completion of a fourth
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LNG storage tank by 2018 will further increase the terminal's storage capacity from 540,000 cubic metres to 800,000 cubic metres.
We plan to develop a second LNG terminal. It will enhance our energy security by giving us geographical diversity to our LNG import infrastructure and it will support new industrial sites and power plantings. EMA and the other agencies are studying potential sites in eastern Singapore.
We must also ensure that we have a strong pipeline of talent to meet our energy sector's growing needs. This was a point raised by Mr Ong Teng Koon. In particular, we want to boost efforts to build a strong Singaporean core of energy professionals. To this end, EMA has established a $20 million Energy Training Fund to support the development of new power-related training programmes and co-fund course fees for local workers in the power sector.
Mr Chairman, those who choose to join the power sector will have the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career in a sector that is really a critical part of Singapore's economy. I want to give some examples of those who have either already chosen to go into the power sector or are contemplating doing so to give an example of what is possible. Mr Tan Yi Mian, who joined YTL PowerSeraya seven years ago, has been involved in challenging assignments – from the initial operation and optimisation of the company's 10,000 cubic metre desalination plant to commissioning work on their co-generation combined cycle plant on Jurong Island. Today, he is the gas plant manager and ensures that his plant supplies power seamlessly to Singapore's electricity network grid.
It is also good to see young students who are excited about a career in the energy sector. Last year, I met Ms Noor Nashriyah Binte Jalil, a second-year student in Singapore Polytechnic pursuing a Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. She is keen to dispel the misconception that engineering is a \"man's field\" – indeed, that is a misconception – and prove that women can do just as good a job, if not better. She will have ample opportunity to do that in about a year's time when she joins the power sector. Our hope is that her enthusiasm will be infectious and more Singaporeans will choose careers in the power sector.
Mr Chairman, let me now turn to the tourism sector. Last year, we had 15.1 million visitor arrivals, which is a dip of 3% from 2013. The performance was mixed across our key source markets. Arrivals from China fell 24% following various airline incidents and due to the introduction of stricter laws that clamped down on \"zero-dollar\" tours. On the other hand, there were some bright spots with visitor arrivals from markets such as Hong Kong, South Korea and Vietnam, recording double-digit growth.
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Also, the tourists who came to Singapore stayed longer and spent more on average. So, as a result, the tourism spending held steady despite the visitor arrival decline at $23.5 billion in 2014, similar to the year before.
We expect the challenges to remain in the near term and the competition from regional destinations has also been intensifying. Further, the impact of the tight labour market has been keenly felt by our hospitality sector. On a countervailing and a positive note, outbound travel to Asia Pacific is expected to continue to grow. So, we have plusses and minuses.
For 2015, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has forecast visitor arrivals to be in the range of 15.1 million to 15.5 million, in other words, a change of between 0% and 3% compared to last year. Tourism receipts are expected to be in the range of $23.5 to $24.0 billion, again in low growth, change range of 0% to 2%.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh has asked how we intend to remain a vibrant tourist destination and retain our competitiveness. This is a key challenge and STB aims to do so by pursuing quality growth in tourism and working closely with industry to innovate and enhance our tourism hardware and software whilst improving our capabilities.
To provide more leisure options for both tourists and Singaporeans and as part of our efforts to refresh our tourism assets, STB is working with Temasek Holdings to create a world-class nature-themed attraction in Mandai. This will have recreation and education facilities and green public spaces for Singaporeans and visitors to enjoy and appreciate nature. This is a project that is going to take several years to plan and execute but we believe that ultimately we will have a very strong product that will add significantly to Singapore's tourism landscape.
In the near term, we can look forward to the opening this year of the National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris, which is a fine art museum known for its critically acclaimed exhibitions already in Paris and now at their first venture outside.
We will complement these sorts of tourism hardware developments with certain content and programming innovations, and it is to help create a vibrant calendar of events for both locals and tourists to enjoy.
We want to build on our line-up of sports and leisure events, to complement the F1 and the Women's Tennis Association Finals. As part of the SG50 celebrations, an international showcase called \"Singapore: Inside Out\" will celebrate Singapore's contemporary creative talents in the fields of architecture, design, fashion, film, F&B, music and the arts. It will be shown in Beijing, London and New York before returning to Singapore in November.
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\"Singapore: Inside Out\" will spark interest, we believe, in Singapore's creative talent and enhance our image as a vibrant global city. It will be an opportunity for Singaporeans and foreigners to appreciate the works of artists like Farizwan Fajari, better known as Speak Cryptic. This is a mock-up of the art installation he will be presenting at \"Singapore: Inside Out\", and it is called \"Kamar Kamillion\"; not \"Karma Chameleon\" but \"Kamar Kamillion\". It is a recreation of the artist's bedroom, showcasing how his identity as a Malay Singaporean has been influenced by Singapore's cultural and historical landscape as well as alternative pop culture.
Through the Kickstart Fund which STB has been implementing for some time now, STB will also extend its support for the test-bedding of innovative lifestyle events and concepts with strong tourism appeal and scalability. To date, the $5 million Kickstart Fund has supported 13 such projects. One example is Spot Art. It is a competition and exhibition for talented Southeast Asian artists under the age of 30. Last year in November, which was the second edition, it featured more than 100 works by 48 artists from 12 countries – a very good start to an interesting and novel idea.
To encourage more of such projects, STB will double the maximum level of support, from the current $75,000 to $150,000, and extend the maximum duration of support to one year.
The business travel and MICE sector is another key part of the tourism industry in Singapore and we will continue to build on our strengths in these areas. Last year, Singapore was named Asia's top convention city for the 12th consecutive year as well as the top international meeting city for the seventh consecutive year. STB will continue to seek to secure major exhibitions and conferences and encourage more meetings and incentive travel. In 2015, there will be five flagship events for large incentive groups that will attract over 30,000 business attendees.
We will continue to work with the industry stakeholders on an important aspect of enlivening our lifestyle and cultural precincts. A key focus area will be the rejuvenation of Orchard Road and the Orchard Road precinct.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak has asked how we will ensure that Singapore remains a competitive retail destination for tourists and this effort is a key part. And some things have already been done. Last year, STB worked with the retail industry to test-bed new initiatives to give Orchard Road new vibrance, and one of them is KEEPERS: Singapore Designer Collective, which is a five-month pop-up showcasing local designers. This effort helped to foster long-term business opportunities for local designers. For example, one local brand Aijek by fashion designer Danelle Woo, was picked up by TANGS after being spotted at KEEPERS. STB intends to continue having this KEEPERS facility. For those of you who have not been there,
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especially the ladies, I would urge you to go because I was told there were some very surprising finds.
To take these efforts a step forward, STB is conducting an Envisioning Orchard Road exercise that is expected to be completed by end-2015. It will study consumer insights from key source markets, engage Orchard Road stakeholders to obtain insights and understand key challenges and develop a common vision and new ideas to reinvent Orchard Road.
With our companies, we want to improve productivity and create new and good jobs in the tourism sector. So, to help increase productivity, the Hotel Productivity Centre will be launched this month. This is a dedicated, one-stop centre for innovation and productivity solutions, which will look at areas such as applied research to prototype new technologies, services and solutions that can then be shared and applied industry wide.
STB is working with the Singapore Hotel Association and the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce on a manpower study for the hotel industry. The study will provide insights in the future manpower landscape, skills gap, benchmarking against competing industries as well as recommendations to enable the hotel industry to attract its fair share of talent.
STB's capability development incentive schemes have also helped to upskill our workers, especially in the higher end or upper management in the hospitality sector. One beneficiary is Ms Jennifer Chin from Mandarin Orchard Singapore. She started as an entry-level sales executive with a higher diploma in hotel management. She has risen through the ranks to become senior director in business development. Supported by STB's Training Industry Professionals in Tourism leadership development grant, basically a training grant for professionals, she is currently in the Advanced Management Programme in Hospitality offered by NTU and in collaboration with Cornell University. This will really position her well for taking on greater responsibilities.
Another example is Mr Yew Eng Tong, who is chef de cuisine at Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora at Resorts World Sentosa. With the help of STB's Association Development Fund and commercial sponsors, the Singapore Chefs' Association has been able to send local chefs like him to prestigious overseas culinary competitions to gain experience and exposure on the international stage.
Mr Chairman, I have tried to give an overview of the various initiatives under R&D, energy and tourism, the developments we can expect to see this year and how these can be
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contributing to strengthening our economy and competitiveness of our companies. This will continue to help us on our path of promoting sustainable growth through innovation, productivity and the creation of good jobs for Singaporeans.
Mr Heng Chee How (Whampoa): Mr Chairman, productivity of the Singapore economy has been lacklustre, after a spurt following the Global Financial Crisis in 2009-2010, when excess capacity within the economy was taken up. I find that to be worrying. Why? Because countries that may be less productive and cheaper than us have been improving, so they are catching up on us. And then if you look at the more advanced economies, they may be more productive than us, more expensive than us, but they have had technological breakthroughs and they are also garnering their forces. So, in some sense, their unit cost may be coming down. To quote the often-said words from my colleague, Mr Lim Swee Say: \"The cheaper are getting better and the better are getting cheaper\".
Singapore risks getting caught between the two forces like a pair of scissors closing in on us if we are not careful. From our standpoint, should that happen, our worry is that will real wages be affected, and it could lead to stagnation and even decline, and this is definitely something that we do not want to see. Therefore, the question is what we are going to do about that.
We are glad that the Government has also seen the risk of this happening and has formed the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council, which has since been restructured into the National Productivity Council or NPC and the SkillsFuture Council. I would like to ask MTI for an update on the work of the NPC. We have heard much about what we are going to do about SkillsFuture, but I think it is important for us also to pay the attention of the NPC and how that is translating into outcomes within the different sectors of our economy. Also, what lessons can we learn from other countries as they also try to improve their processes and their productivity, especially the developed countries, and how can we learn from their example.
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, the objective of the current restructuring should not just be to improve productivity. It should be to elevate performance across all sectors, in a way which will allow Singapore to exploit future growth opportunities by relying on productivity growth and not have to restrict to factor accumulation alone.
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In the period between the last two recessions, Singapore relied mainly on manpower growth because earlier productivity drives had, I believe, stopped short of the enduring transformation required to develop productivity into a reliable growth engine. Although seizing the opportunities presented by that period of growth rewarded us with surpluses well into recent years, but it also left businesses with a lingering overhang from the foreign manpower reliance.
If Singapore does not complete the restructuring needed to elevate productivity performance before the next growth wave reaches us, then we will once again be limited to choosing factor accumulation or foregoing the growth opportunities altogether. That is why I believe we must learn from the previous productivity drives and this time around, persevere on the difficult path of deep restructuring.
What more can the Government do that it has not already done? The Government can take a more active role not simply by giving, but by asking firms about what they have received, monitoring firm performance as well as measuring the outcomes from the productivity incentives at the firm level.
The first question I have, therefore, is whether such outcomes have been measured for different types of businesses. Do we know, for example, if older businesses are more likely than newer ones to apply for the Capability Development Grant, Innovation and Capability Vouchers, and PIC? For those who do apply, do older businesses benefit more than new ones? Finally, do we know the cessation rate for businesses after they have received grants?
The results of tracking outcomes in this way can be used to provide benchmarks for what businesses can hope to achieve by tapping on the schemes. They can also be used to fine-tune the application of such schemes to improve their effectiveness. Therefore, my other question is if we do track these outcomes, whether it would be possible to exploit the information to tailor follow-on assistance to suit the needs of specific types of businesses, such as for instance micro-enterprises versus larger ones?
Ms Tin Pei Ling (Marine Parade): Chairman, the Government has been pushing to improve productivity through various incentive schemes and measures to reduce reliance on unskilled foreign manpower. Hence, I would like to ask the Minister to provide an update on whether the Government's drive on productivity has been up to his expectations, especially in sectors such as the cleaning services? As it is, we are famously or infamously now known for our large armies of cleaners as a ratio to our population.
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If it is up to expectations, could the Minister share successful examples, especially in the cleaning services sector? If not, what are the obstacles faced by such sectors and what will the MTI do to address them? Apart from introducing incentives such as the Wage Credit Scheme, corporate income tax and Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) bonus, what other practical measures are in place to ensure that sectors which have less than satisfactory productivity improvements will make the mark?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Chairman, many businesses are trying their best to get in line with the Government's productivity drive. However, many are unable to envision what Singapore's definition of success is in this productivity drive. MTI releases its productivity results regularly. However, this single measure is too broad-based and not specific enough for businesses to relate to for them to benchmark where they stand and how far they are from the Government's goals.
I propose that MTI defines a clearer vision of its productivity end-state that businesses can relate to. MTI should also work out secondary measurements that are better defined and more tangibly understood by the sectors. These could be things like target wages or value-add per skilled or unskilled workers, foreign worker or local worker, or certain targets at the sector level. For example, in F&B, it could be workers per table targets or turnaround times per table. In the construction sector, it could be value add in terms of metrics per square development, for instance.
I know MTI tracks secondary indicators, but I think these benchmarks are probably not well made known to the industry sectors for them to benchmark. Benchmarking top, median and low performers by industry will also allow businesses to look at their current performance and see how much more they need to improve. This could also hopefully enable incentives to be awarded to firms that have performed well and lead the way.
Secondly, indicators will also help sectors such as the F&B sector who often come under the spotlight. Many businesses I know put in effort, but the gains are seen in other sectors that subsequently benefit from a relaxed stance on policies. For example, the use of central kitchens as a shared service will see productivity improvements to manufacturing scores, rather than the F&B sector.
Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Chairman, the country's F&B sector suffers from negative productivity growth and is plagued by manpower shortages. Singaporeans are not keen to work in this industry, which is associated with low pay, poor career prospects and
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long working hours.
There have been many discussions about how the industry can benefit from manpower-lean restaurants and automated processes, but not enough is being done to address the motivation of employees and the transformative change they can bring to this sector. Please allow me to illustrate this with a real-life example of a \"Best Practice\".
Tender Fresh Group is an F&B group comprising 74 outlets and three restaurants. The owner, Jimmy Soh, has run the company for more than 30 years. He has a simple philosophy – employees must have a meaningful stake in their company's success and be rewarded for their contributions. He shares up to 20% of his profits with employees and an incentive payout is made monthly.
I recently spoke to Kelvin Chua, Jimmy's Chief Chef, a 33-year-old Shatec graduate who joined the company two years ago. Since then, his job scope has expanded from that of the Chief Chef to include food research and development and the opening and managing of new restaurants. Kelvin is excited that he is empowered to invent new dishes and restaurant concepts for the Group and has seen his earnings triple as he gets a share of the profits from his contributions to the group.
Chairman, every staff in Tender Fresh has a clear set of performance targets. They are rewarded for their individual performance as well as team performance. This principle applies across the group from central kitchen staff who process the chickens, delivery drivers, kitchen crew members to restaurant managers. For example, restaurant managers are offered 10% profit share incentives and they work hard to inspire their restaurant crew to provide a superior customer experience.
I would like to ask the Minister how we can get more bosses to adopt Jimmy's management ethos to spur productivity growth. How can we help businesses to appeal more to the hearts and minds of their employees and motivate them to do their best on the job? How can we help employees feel that they have a stake in the future of the employer's business and can influence the company's outcomes?
Mr Chairman, the traditional top-down approach needs to give way to one that is more of a partnership between bosses and their employees, who collaborate for business success.
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Chairman, given our small domestic market for businesses to grow, reliance on domestic business will not be sufficient to support and
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sustain growth. Hence, the focus on internationalisation for companies, especially SMEs, is required to grow.
By expanding overseas, SMEs will be able to tap resources, technologies and markets and hence grow their revenue base. In the Internationalisation Survey 2011/2012, it showed that SMEs surveyed derived 48% of their revenue overseas. Recently, IE Singapore also shared that 50% of SMEs have overseas revenue.
As the Minister has shared in his speech earlier, to support SMEs to internationalise, the grant and tax measures announced in this year's Budget, which are expected to cost about $240 million, are enhancements to the existing schemes of the Global Company Partnership or GCP and the Market Readiness Assistance or MRA. These are used to encourage Singapore companies to expand overseas while still anchoring their key business activities in Singapore. Could MTI share how effective MRA and GCP have been and how many SMEs have leveraged on them? What impact has MRA and GCP had in supporting SMEs as they internationalise?
Apart from these grants and tax incentives, can MTI also share how else it will support businesses to capture opportunities in overseas markets? What strategies for growth are SMEs adopting for internationalisation, how effective have they been to help them scale their business and how sustainable are they? Are our SMEs expanding overseas able to adapt to differing market norms and conditions and thrive in these new markets? Can MTI also share which markets our SMEs have had success in, in regard to their internationalisation? What are the factors that have been supporting the success of SMEs in these markets?
As our businesses internationalise, there will also be need for talent to support the business operations of Singapore-based companies, both for their headquarters operations here as well as overseas operations. What can the Government do to help support the creation of quality jobs for Singaporeans for these very jobs?
The Chairman: Mr Yee Jenn Jong, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Chairman, we have recognised the limitations of relying on multinationals to drive our economy. SMEs account for 70% of employment but contribute a much smaller percentage of GDP. I would like to call for a whole-of-Government approach to nurturing Singapore's global corporate champions, just as we had done so in our pursuit of foreign direct investment (FDI).
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This is an important national priority. We should create an inter-departmental secretariat to take ownership of the target to have 1,000 Singapore enterprises with revenues above $100 million by 2020 and even more ambitious goals.
This is similar to our approach to our National Productivity Council, which sets an overarching goal such as the 2% to 3% productivity growth target and then works with various agencies to set sector goals and monitor sectoral progress. For other urgent national priorities, we have committees such as the National Climate Change Secretariat or NCCS and the National Population and Talent Division or NPTD.
Such a secretariat could work with MFA to ensure that the wish lists of the most promising Singapore firms be fully factored into our trade diplomacy. It could work with companies to identify R&D needs and coordinate with our tertiary and research institutes to help to focus important IP developments for global competitiveness. It could work with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to address issues related to funding and perhaps revisit the idea of an EXIM Bank which some of our competitor nations have. It could also work with all agencies to help improve access to Government procurement opportunities or special innovation projects in ways that are GPA-compliant.
It could also work with economic agencies like IE Singapore, EDB and SPRING to ensure that more aggressive support is given to firms with the most potential to become our global corporate champions. It could help bring partners together to exploit opportunities as well as Government co-investment. But support has to be conditional on delivering results – exports, revenues and spin-off benefits to the Singapore economy.
In the early days of South Korea's industrialisation, then-President Park Chung Hee made aggressive government support available to the emerging chaebols, but conditional on the achievement of very aggressive export targets. Otherwise, the firms would be dropped from the programme.
Looking at other countries with a similar population size to Singapore which have nurtured global champions – like Israel, Denmark, New Zealand and Norway – as well as looking at how a few of our promising local companies have made good progress globally, I am confident that if we adopt a results-oriented approach, we can help build this third pillar to our economy.
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Next cut, encouraging internationalisation. Sir, we need to grow our promising local firms into globally competitive companies, but with their roots in Singapore.
The new programmes such as International Growth Scheme or IGS and the Double Tax Deduction or DTD for Internationalisation are welcome steps in the right direction. These schemes can benefit companies venturing abroad, especially by organic growth. However, in some situations, acquisition may be more efficient.
We can improve our ecosystem to enable our future world champs. We should encourage more companies to use Internationalisation Finance Scheme now that it can be used for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The number of companies getting IE-administered grants for cross-border M&As has been increasing but is still small at 32 last year. To encourage strong development of our brands overseas, can we have a lower tax rate for IP-related income from abroad instead of the usual 17% for corporate tax?
I would also like to ask about the new schemes. Can the Double Tax Deduction (DTD) Scheme cover manpower expenses incurred to put Singaporeans overseas, such as kids' schooling allowances and relocation costs?
For the International Growth Scheme (IGS), is there a target for the number of companies to be on it? We have targets for the other schemes, but what about IGS? How many years will be granted and what are the key conditions for renewal at expiry?
For venture debt risk-sharing, do the schemes apply for overseas M&A?
Dr Chia Shi-Lu (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Chairman, our local businesses must globalise in order to grow and remain relevant. Our homegrown companies still have a long way to go internationally, both in terms of the size of their businesses and geographical coverage.
However, we should not let our small size or population limit our capacity to build world-class companies with strong brands. We have a few non-Government-linked firms which have done us proud – Creative, OSIM and Hyflux are examples that come to mind. With the Government's support, I am sure we can achieve even more of such successes. Many small countries have succeeded in building strong global companies and brands which compete with companies in bigger countries with more experience in their sectors.
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It is time that more of our local companies expand abroad. Besides the greater potential for revenue and profit growth, they can achieve higher productivity and develop new capabilities. We have just heard several Members discuss productivity, Government data over the past five years have shown that sectors with presence overseas enjoyed annual average productivity growth of over 5% compared to below 1% for those focused on our domestic market.
IE Singapore's Year-in-Review reported that 50% of our SMEs now have overseas revenue and interestingly, even more are interested in markets beyond our shores.
I appreciate the measures announced by the Minister to support companies looking to expand abroad. These include increase IE's schemes, the enhanced Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation (DTDi) Scheme and the new tax incentive, the International Growth Scheme.
However, I would like to ask how MTI will help our businesses capture opportunities in overseas markets specifically? What are its strategies to leverage upon Singapore corporations' reputation as a trusted brand associated with reliability and high quality? Does MTI have specific plans for different sectors such as food, education, retail, environmental services, technology and info-communications? And, finally, will the Ministry care to share if there are targeted approaches to assist companies in different markets, particularly our big neighbours such as China, Indonesia and India?
Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang): MTI has been supporting internationalisation for a very long time. As early as 2002, there is an Entrepreneurship and Internationalisation Sub-Committee under MTI to provide a report on how to strengthen entrepreneurship and help our domestic businesses go beyond the Singapore market.
Internationalisation has multiple aspects. First, it can involve Singapore companies expanding the markets' goods and services. This is quite common for consumer goods companies, and you see companies like BreadTalk in other countries, and for professional service providers – law firms, accounting firms – have gone beyond our shores as well.
Second, it can involve Singapore companies making investments in projects abroad and developments abroad, either on their own, or more often, in collaboration with local counterparts in other countries. Many of our property development companies have been engaged in this.
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Third, it can involve Singapore companies moving parts of their business operations abroad. This last aspect may be a little troubling at times because many manufacturing companies, for example, have moved manufacturing operations abroad to lower cost countries.
While internationalisation can definitely be helpful to local companies and entrepreneurs, one aspect that I will be interested in is whether or not it actually helps Singaporeans to get jobs when companies internationalise. As our Singapore companies do well by moving into foreign markets, I will be interested to know whether there are any initiatives MTI has to assist Singaporeans themselves to take advantage of the new jobs that will be created and whether there are any further things that the Government can do to ensure that the benefits of internationalisation go towards Singaporeans as well, who are looking for jobs in these new ventures abroad.
The Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Lee Yi Shyan): Mr Chairman, we started our restructuring journey in early-2010 and our productivity level today is 13% higher. We must continue to press on with our efforts, so as to transform our economy and create better jobs for Singaporeans.
Mr Heng Chee How, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Assoc Prof Randolph Tan asked for an update on our productivity drive. From 2009 to 2014, productivity growth was 2.5% per year. This lies within the 2% to 3% target set by the Economic Strategies Committee or ESC. Mr Chairman, may I have your permission to show some slides?
The Chairman: Go ahead. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Mr Lee Yi Shyan: Our export-oriented sectors, as mentioned by some Members, have performed better, with annual productivity growth of more than 5%. Such sectors, for example, manufacturing, finance and insurance and wholesale trade, are characterised by businesses which compete internationally. For them, being productive is essential to compete on a global scale. In contrast, productivity in domestic-oriented sectors such as construction, retail and food services has grown by less than 1%.
However, there are bright spots in the domestic-oriented sector. Take, for example, the cleaning sector, which Ms Tin mentioned. Under the Clean Mark Accreditation Scheme, some 120 accredited cleaning companies are required to appoint productivity managers to carry out continuous productivity improvement. As a result, cleaning companies are increasingly reviewing their work processes and automating their cleaning works. These companies have achieved an average of 46% improvement in process efficiency.
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Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Heng Chee How also asked about the progress of the National Productivity Council (NPC). Since we embarked on our productivity journey in 2010, a total of $650 million has been committed to companies through the measures under the NPC. About 24,000 companies have benefited.
I will now share the NPC's approach in lifting productivity. At the broad economy level, we continue to build a conducive environment to support restructuring. This facilities innovation and internationalisation, which our companies need to carry out to transform. We also review regulations to ensure they do not impede productive practices.
In specific sectors, the NPC's 16 industry roadmaps incorporate international best practices. We continue to keep abreast of international trends and emerging technologies that can help raise productivity and adapt them to the local context where relevant.
Tripartite collaboration fosters collective responsibility and is an important feature of industrial development and skills upgrading in countries, such as Germany. The NPC has, therefore, been structured as a tripartite council, and our agencies continue to work with various partners to raise productivity.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked about the use of sector-specific productivity indicators to help companies gauge their performance. We collect such indicators to monitor sectoral performance, which complement the usual measure of value added per worker. As Mr Zaqy Mohamad had mentioned, in the construction sector for instance, we track site productivity or the amount of floor area constructed per man day. This data is published on the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) website and is available for the industry to benchmark against.
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan further asked if we could refine our assistance to companies through various schemes based on productivity outcomes. As Assoc Prof Tan has said, productivity is influenced by a combination of factors and companies ought to be given time to transform. We agree that it would be best to assess the outcomes of their efforts over a longer period.
Our Centres of Innovation (COIs) and productivity centres work closely with companies to identify their challenges and suggest follow-up actions to take. For instance, Singapore Productivity Centre (SPC) engaged local retailers and food services companies in a benchmarking exercise in 2014. Mr Zaqy Mohamad will also be pleased to know that participating companies received individual report cards showing their performance relative to the industry average and also the top 20% of companies in their sector. Companies can then use these data to analyse their performance and, with partners like SPC, implement
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improvement efforts.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked what our strategy in raising productivity is over the next few years. Simply put, there are two ways to raise productivity – one is to grow the top line through revenue expansion and market development, and second is to improve efficiency by reducing wastage and optimising processes.
To help companies raise their top line, we will continue to assist our companies in finding new revenue streams. One way to do so is by innovating and raising the value per unit of sales. Innovation creates value and sustainable value creation is key. We provide incentives to support companies at different stages of growth.
SPRING's Innovation and Capability Voucher (ICV) offers support for companies looking for basic solutions. Since 2012, SPRING has awarded around $80 million to SMEs through 16,000 Innovation and Capability Vouchers (ICVs). This is to assist them to engage consultancy services as well as implement productivity solutions.
For companies keen on more advanced innovation projects, SPRING provides the Capability Development Grant (CDG). In 2014, SPRING supported more than 1,200 projects and provided over $100 million of funding support. My colleague, Minister of State Teo Ser Luck, will elaborate on how companies can and have used the CDG.
Dr Chia Shi-Lu and Ms Jessica Tan asked how MTI could help businesses capture opportunities in overseas markets.
Allow me to give a brief update on our external economy. We have done relatively well. From 2004 to 2013, our merchandise exports grew at 8.4% per annum, slightly above the global growth rate of 8.2%. Our export of services expanded at a growth rate of 11% compared to the global growth rate of 8.3%. In terms of Direct Investment Abroad (DIA), we have surged ahead with a compound growth rate of 12%, much faster than the global growth of 4.9%.
We have assisted our companies in expanding overseas. In 2014, IE Singapore helped 28,000 companies in venturing abroad, compared to 26,000 the year before. Of these, 4,000 took up the Global Company Partnership programme (GCP) while 24,000 took up the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) programme, and 80% of these companies were SMEs.
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We have targeted assistance for our companies in different markets and sectors. In China and Indonesia, for instance, we have observed a rising middle-income group and growing consumerism. IE Singapore has thus collaborated with our businesses to drive market access for the consumer sectors. For instance, IE Singapore established the \"Singapore Food Aisles\" in supermarkets in Indonesia, so as to feature Singaporean brands and products more prominently. IE Singapore has also collaborated with the Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association (SFMA) to create a Singapore Food Product Centre in China to help our food companies navigate import regulations and source for good distributors.
Our efforts so far in helping our companies internationalise have seen good results. In 2014, as mentioned by Ms Jessica Tan, a survey suggested that about 50% of our SMEs have overseas revenue. We are also observing an upward trend of SMEs investing overseas. Singapore SMEs' stock of direct investments abroad has increased from $29 billion in 2004 to $52 billion in 2013. The top markets for our SMEs continue to be China and Southeast Asia, in particular Malaysia and Indonesia. Beyond these markets, 12% of our SMEs reported engagements in the Middle East and 5% in Africa.
Consider, for instance, this company called 5footway that own a chain of boutique hostels in Singapore. With IE Singapore's assistance, 5footway has expanded its footprint to Macau with a 25-room hostel and a boutique hotel in Hong Kong. Following the successes in Hong Kong and Macau, 5footway continues to seek further expansion and is set to launch two to three more boutique hotels in Hong Kong and Macau next year, while setting their sights on the mainland China market.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong will be pleased to note that as part of the ESC's plans, the Government aims to grow a larger base of globally competitive Singapore companies, create a vibrant corporate ecosystem in Singapore and grow the external wing of our economy. As of 2013, a total of 626 local companies have crossed $100 million in revenue. This is up from 530 in 2007 and 280 in 1998.
Going forward, we will introduce the new International Growth Scheme or IGS. Under the IGS, qualifying Singapore companies will be given a concessionary tax rate of 10% on their incremental income for a period not exceeding five years. Such companies will be expected to anchor their headquarters and key business functions in Singapore while engaging in internationalisation activities and providing opportunities for Singaporeans to gain international exposure. This includes creating good overseas jobs for Singaporeans and helping their smaller SME partners expand overseas.
Next, we will also enhance the Internationalisation Finance Scheme or IFS. IFS has helped Singapore-based companies secure mid- to long-tenure capital facilities with Participating Financial Institutions for overseas assets and acquisitions. Under IFS, the
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Government takes on up to 70% of the risk-share for approved loans. The maximum loan quantum for the IFS was doubled in last year's Budget from $15 million to $30 million.
AC Global Energy, for instance, is a local renewable energy project developer. They took up the IFS when they made the first investment into the US. Other than regulatory, tax and manpower assistance, IE Singapore also supported about S$20 million of financing for AC Global's machinery through the IFS, for use at its new biomass energy production facility based in Tennessee. This is AC Global's first foray into renewable energy and its first biofuel plant in the US and it plans to expand its business by developing more biomass-to-gasoline facilities.
This year, we will also extend the coverage of the IFS to include the financing of M&As or mergers and acquisitions. This will encourage M&A as a complementary growth strategy to help companies expand quicker overseas. We expect this to catalyse up to $100 million worth of incremental loans over the next year for companies pursuing internationalisation via M&A.
Beyond nurturing globally competitive companies, we are also encouraging SMEs to internationalise. IE Singapore will extend two existing schemes that help companies expand overseas.
First is the Market Readiness Assistance or MRA scheme. This scheme provides companies new to internationalisation with financial and advisory support in their overseas set-ups, business partner identification and market promotion. Second is the Global Company Partnership or GCP grant, which provides comprehensive and customised assistance for Singapore companies looking to expand their global presence, covering many areas such as capacity building, market access, manpower development and access to financing.
In FY2012, the support level of four activities under the MRA and GCP – namely design, branding, intellectual property and M&A – were set at up to 70% of the qualifying costs. This year, we will extend this to all activities covered under the MRA and GCP schemes. This will be provided for three more years until March 2018.
Crayon Data is a local company that has tapped on both MRA and GCP. Crayon Data is a big data analytics firm founded in 2012. Today, the company has made its way into India, the UK, the UAE and the US. In making its plans to enter its key market of the US, Crayon Data took up financial assistance from the GCP to engage in-market consultation services so as to identify project leads and tailor their market entry strategy. With this assistance, Crayon Data secured two proof-of-concept deals within a month of beginning its
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engagement. The company also used the GCP to engage a human resource (HR) consultancy to implement a HR culture – that Ms Foo talked about – that would help it attract and retain top talent. It is now tapping on IE Singapore's MRA scheme to set up its legal entity in the US.
Singaporeans will benefit from all these, as Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Vikram Nair have noted. Good jobs are created as companies expand overseas. Companies would need good people to take on a range of regional functions, such as in marketing, operations and financial control. Internationalisation helps create regional and global career pathways for Singaporeans.
We will also enhance the scope of the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation or DTDi scheme to include manpower expenses as qualifying expenditure, as Mr Yee asked about earlier. Businesses will be able to claim 200% tax deduction on expenses incurred in posting Singaporean personnel to overseas entities for up to three years of overseas operations and up to $1 million per approved entity per year. This is a fairly generous provision. This enhancement provides greater support in initial years of business overseas expansion.
Beyond growing the top line, it is also important for our companies to invest in improving efficiency. Our strategy continues to be to facilitate a conducive environment through broad-based schemes, such as the Productivity and Innovation Credit or PIC and the Innovation and Capability Voucher or ICV. Further assistance is also available at various Centres of Innovation or COIs and productivity centres where consultation and expert advice are available.
We are also working very hard to link up research organisations with SMEs. Second Minister Iswaran quoted many examples. We want to encourage more adoption and commercialisation of our R&D findings.
For instance, A*STAR's Technology Adoption Programme or TAP has developed 16 plug-and-play technology solutions, or otherwise known as ready-to-go packages, which can be applied across different industry sectors. To date, about 50 companies have adopted sensors and analytics, or what is popularly known as the Internet of Things, in sectors, such as construction, retail, healthcare and administrative and support services.
Consider this – Soundeye is a non-invasive fall detection system developed by A*STAR to pick up signs of distress when someone has fallen down. It is also capable of detecting when someone has been inactive for an extended period of time, which indicates a potential loss of consciousness. This system has been deployed in nursing homes such as Ling Kwang
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Nursing Home.
Gas and motion sensors have also been deployed in the restrooms of several places in Singapore such as East Coast Park. These sensors collect a range of data, including the number of users and air quality. Information is then analysed and transmitted to cleaners to inform them when the restrooms need to be cleaned. This allows the cleaning companies to deploy their workers more efficiently.
Ultimately, raising productivity is about people. As Ms Foo Mee Har has observed, it is right that employee engagement is an important part of raising productivity. We need to foster a positive workplace culture where workers are engaged and empowered to put in their very best. This requires quality leadership and management within our companies. My colleague Minister of State Teo will be speaking more about this later. Mr Chairman, may I now speak in Mandarin?
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] With the development and transformation of the economy, there are also changes to the nature of many businesses. We must ensure that Singaporeans have the skills for the future and the right mindset in order for them to do well in the new economy. Therefore, we need to adjust the current workforce development model to deepen personal skills and mastery. As familiarity leads to mastery, if people have exceptional mastery in their jobs, they will take pride in whatever they are doing.
As Deputy Prime Minister Tharman has mentioned, to shift towards deep skills, we need to make some cultural changes in our society. Individuals need to embrace lifelong learning and seek to constantly upgrade themselves and learn new skills. Employers need to recognise that their people are important assets and they should encourage them to pick up new skills. The Government announced a slew of SkillsFuture initiatives to help companies build strong teams and to help individuals keep up with the times and master future skills so that they can be at the forefront of the workforce.
We are in discussions with the businesses and unions to form up the Sectoral Manpower Plans or SMPs for key sectors and this is expected to be implemented by 2020. The SMPs focus on laying out action plans for developing the skills required in the various sectors and also career development pathways. These are highly targeted plans that aim to enhance the productivity and creativity of various industries.
In addition, to help companies internationalise and venture overseas, we need to ensure that companies are able to access local talents with international experience. We will extend the Young Talent Programme to include students from polytechnics and Institutes of
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Technical Education (ITEs) to provide more opportunities for overseas immersion programmes for the students to broaden their international perspectives. The Government will provide co-funding support for these students to take part in overseas internships and work-study programmes.
We understand the challenges that companies, in particular, SMEs, face when providing quality training for their workers. Therefore, we will work with the various trade associations and industry partners to select, train and deploy 200 SkillsFuture Mentors in the next two years. These mentors will possess deep industry skills and experience and will be able to help SMEs enhance their training capabilities. For example, the mentors can help supervisors and managers develop their ability to nurture and train others and they will also provide feedback to employers and trainees.
(In English): Mr Chairman, raising productivity is a long-term endeavour. It is also a complex task. Companies must simultaneously grow their top line and improve efficiency on a sustained basis. We need everyone – employers, workers, managers and customers – to be committed to change.
The best and most important drivers of productivity growth are the companies themselves. If all of our companies improve productivity, even incrementally, there could be a significant impact on the overall economy.
The adoption of various productivity schemes has risen over the years. More obviously can be done and we will encourage companies to take advantage of the support that the Government offers. We know that our companies need time to make changes and meaningful investments, so the Government is committed to continue supporting companies on their restructuring journey. Together, we can open up exciting opportunities and enable Singaporeans to enjoy the fruits of economic success.
The Chairman: Minister Lim Hng Kiang.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply Reporting Progress","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Chairman, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again on Monday, 9 March 2015.
The Chairman : I give my consent.
Resolved, \"That progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again on Monday, 9 March 2015.\" – [Mr Lim Hng Kiang].
[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2015/2016 and ask leave to sit again on Monday, 9 March 2015.
Mr Deputy Speaker: So be it.
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","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":"Resolved, \"That Parliament do now adjourn to Monday, 9 March 2015.\" – [Mr Gan Kim Yong].
Adjourned accordingly at 7.50 pm.
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