Mr Speaker: Order. On behalf of hon Members, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the delegation from the ASEAN Parliamentary Friendship Group of the German Federal Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany and representatives from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, whom I met earlier this morning and who are now present in our Gallery. Welcome. [Applause.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"State-sponsored Cyber Attacks on Singapore Government Systems","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"1 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Communications and Information given the recent security breaches of several foreign government computer systems (a) whether the Ministry has detected similar attacks on our Government computer systems over the past three years; and (b) how does the Ministry respond to cyber acts by state-sponsored actors.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Minister for Communications and Information): Sir, there were recent reports that a Chinese cybersecurity firm, I-Soon, had allegedly compromised nearly 20 foreign governments. Singapore was not listed as an affected country.
The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and Government Technology Agency (GovTech) work with our security agencies to monitor threats and respond to any cyber attack on our critical computer systems. Given their sensitive nature, we are unable to publicly discuss such operations and responses.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Yip.
\tMr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. I have a very short supplementary question. In light of this incident, how are our civil servants trained to be more aware of such cyber attacks by state-sponsored actors?
\tDr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, I thank Mr Yip for his question. When it comes to the safeguards for the cybersecurity of our Critical Information Infrastructure, there are various layers and various issues that we have to think about. It is not just about the training of our civil servants. That is certainly an important component of it, but we have a multi-layer defence in-depth approach in securing our Government's infocomm technology (ICT) systems. There are preventive, proactive, detective and reactive measures that we put in place to defend against cyber threats.
One example of a preventive measure would be the Secure Internet Surfing, blocking Government workstations from malicious content. An example of a proactive measure is putting Government digital services through security testing to discover and remediate any potential vulnerabilities that may be there. For the systems that are online, our Security Operation Centre monitors the devices and networks 24/7 to detect attacks. Should suspicious or malicious activities or payloads be detected, our Incident Response Teams are prepared to contain quickly any attack, investigate the incident, carry out the necessary remediation and follow-up actions for recovery.
Other than depending on a central system to defend everywhere – that is not going to be sufficient – we also conduct regular cybersecurity awareness training for our public officers, raising their cybersecurity posture in terms of their behaviour and how they interact with systems. It is this layered, defence-in-depth landscape that will protect our systems from cyber threats.
\tMr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.
\tDr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. I have got two supplementary questions. The first is, can the Senior Minister of State reassure us that the Government is looking at the broader potential attack surface for cyber attacks, including beyond the gov.sg domain? This is because power and utilities companies, even if not under gov.sg, may supply a critical server and thereby be a potential attack surface by troublemakers.
My second question is, can the Senior Minister of State assure us that there is ongoing attention to looking for potential convergence points of risk, your acupressure points or your shatter points, whereby those points of failure can have disproportionate risk? Is there ongoing attention to such convergences of risk as well?
\tDr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, the answer to both questions is yes. That sense of looking at the systems, systems of systems and the interactions between the various components of the systems is indeed the very framework that CSA takes and the Cybersecurity Act is applied to, and it is how we then derive the designation of Critical Information Infrastructure and Significant Information Infrastructure. These considerations are not only for the gov.sg domains.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proportion of Resale HDB Flats Transacted with Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) and Quantum of COVs","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"2 Mr Xie Yao Quan asked the Minister for National Development (a) what proportion of resale HDB flat buyers paid Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) since 14 February 2023, when enhancements to the CPF Housing Grant were announced; (b) what is the mean and median COVs since 14 February 2023; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider making the CPF Housing Grant conditional on COVs to keep COVs prudent and sustainable.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for National Development): On 14 Februay 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Housing Grant would be increased to provide more support for First-Timer Singaporeans seeking a resale flat. Eligible First-Timer families buying a 2-room to 4-room resale flat can receive $80,000 in CPF Housing Grant, up from $50,000 previously, while those buying a 5-room or larger resale flat can receive $50,000 in CPF Housing Grant, up from $40,000 previously. Eligible First-Timer singles buying a 2-room to 4-room resale flat can similarly receive an increased CPF Housing Grant of $40,000, up from $25,000 previously; while those buying a 5-room resale flat can receive $25,000, up from $20,000 previously.
Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat transactions are conducted on a \"willing buyer-willing seller\" basis, with prices negotiated and mutually agreed upon between flat sellers and buyers. Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) arises when the resale price is higher than the market valuation of the flat.
After the CPF Housing Grant was enhanced in February 2023, about 18% resale flat buyers paid COV. This is a noticeable reduction from about 29% in 2022 and 36% in 2021. The majority of resale flat buyers did not have to pay any COV and the median COV across all buyers has remained at $0.
The CPF Housing Grant is targeted at first-timer buyers who meet income criteria and other eligibility conditions, limiting its impact on the overall resale market. COV restrictions would be challenging to enforce, as buyers and sellers could collude to circumvent the restrictions. The Government will continue to keep a close watch on the affordability of flats on the resale market.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Xie.
\tMr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong): Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I am glad to hear that the COV situation has calmed down in the last three years. I think it is especially important for COV to remain low and stable, especially for first-timers who are buying resale flats. So, in this respect, I just want to ask the Senior Minister of State whether the Ministry will be minded to consider a tiered system of haircuts to the CPF Housing Grant, pegged to different amounts of COV, to promote prudence in the determination of COV between buyer and seller.
\tMr Tan Kiat How: Sir, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Basically, he is asking, can we give less CPF Housing Grant if less COV is paid and perhaps even consider vice versa.
As I shared earlier in my main reply, the COV is determined between a willing buyer and a willing seller, and arises when the transacted price is above the valuation. Because it is a willing buyer-willing seller agreement, there is a high chance of it being hard to enforce because the buyer and seller could collude to circumvent the restrictions. That is the first point.
The second point is, as I said, it is a willing buyer-willing seller agreement. Between the two, there are many considerations at play. Potentially, it could be the attributes of the flat, the location possibly. I have residents telling me, first-timer residents telling me they chose certain locations because of certain needs, for example, caregiving needs to family members living in the same block or nearby.
I think it is sensible to not over-complicate the scheme and overly intervene in such decisions.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Help for Graduates to Find Employment amidst Tightening Labour Market","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"3 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how are our tripartite partners working with local universities to ensure graduates find relevant or full-time employment amidst a tightening labour market; and (b) how can the Ministry improve the job matching rate for graduates.
\tThe Minister for Manpower (Dr Tan See Leng): Mr Speaker, Sir, the tripartite partners, comprising the Government, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), have put in place a number of initiatives to support graduate employment.
The Government works closely with the autonomous universities (AUs) to ensure that the supply of graduates takes into account industry demand and that graduates are equipped with industry-relevant skills. AUs conduct regular reviews of course curricula, incorporating feedback from economic agencies and industry. AUs have also worked with employers to provide meaningful internships for students as important components for many of their courses. The internships allow students to connect what they learn in the classroom with the workplace and allow companies to access a pipeline of talent better aligned to industry needs.
There is also the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning (NACE) which helps employers build workplace learning capabilities and raise the quality of internships that they provide to students.
The AUs also provide career-related information to students and graduates through career talks, fairs and online resources. Students and graduates can consult career coaches for more personalised career and upgrading advice.
In addition to the services provided by AUs, graduates can approach Workforce Singapore (WSG) and NTUC's e2i for career advisory and one-on-one coaching at their centres. Graduates can also access WSG's MyCareersFuture (MCF) portal to search and apply for jobs. They can make use of features such as CareersFinder on MCF to help them better plan for their careers. These support graduates to take charge of their career health by making more informed career decisions and longer-term plans.
NTUC and SNEF's efforts complement what the Government is doing. NTUC's Youth Taskforce identified that some of the top resources to help youths work towards their desired future jobs were quality internships and career mentorships. Therefore, NTUC and SNEF piloted the Career Starter Lab in 2023, to facilitate career trials, structured workplace attachments and mentorships for youths. NTUC also set up mentorSHIP to increase access to career mentoring for youths. These initiatives help youths gain more clarity about job fit, pick up relevant skills and find jobs that match their competencies and aspirations.
Overall, a tight labour market should benefit graduates in their job search, meaning less difficulties in seeking out full-time employment with a good job fit. While the recent results from the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey show a slight decrease in employment rates for graduates, it still remains higher than the pre-COVID levels in 2019. Furthermore, graduates also saw an increase in starting salaries compared to the year before.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Yip.
\tMr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for his response. Is the Ministry considering exploring innovative partnerships with non-traditional stakeholders like tech companies or startup incubators to create new job opportunities for graduates?
Second, how is the Ministry leveraging technology and data analytics to improve job matching for graduates and connect them with relevant opportunities across different sectors?
\tDr Tan See Leng: I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. To his first question about exploring innovative partnerships with tech companies and also startup incubators, the answer is yes. However, we need to be mindful of the stage of working with these startup incubators, as well as tech companies. Graduates that come out immediately from AUs may want to look for a longer-term job and certain type of career profile.
What we have done is, through the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-UP) programme, we are working with many of the deep tech startups, the startup incubators, and we second data scientists to help them in moving up the value chain in terms of some of the specialised skill sets that they may require. For the broader groups of young graduates from our AUs, depending on the area of training and area of specialisation, we are prepared to consider partnerships, as long as there is also a clear career path for these young graduates.
It is not as straightforward as applying this model universally across all the different sectors of the graduating cohorts, but we certainly explore and further curate some of these programmes, leveraging on the insights and the learning from the T-UP programme that we started a couple of years ago.
On the second point, in terms of the leveraging on technology. Indeed, for careers health and also CareersFinder, which were hallmark initiatives that I had announced at last year's Committee of Supply, we do use a fair bit of data analytics, first to suss out the CVs, the training of our graduates and then, for them to continue to upgrade their own career health by taking an active interest in making sure that their training, the skills adjacencies are up to mark, and also to nudge them and encourage them to upgrade their training, along the entire pathway of their career, so that it allows for better job matching. This provides a better career trajectory and a more productive runway for them.
On the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence, we are already leveraging on these technologies. Hopefully, that is the reassurance that I can give to the Member.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Engaging Social Media Influencers for Government Campaigns","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"4 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the Ministry has a budget for engaging social media influencers; (b) if so, how much is the budget; (c) what are the contents that influencers are engaged to publicise; and (d) how will the success of influencer campaigns be measured.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for Communications and Information): Sir, the Ministry does not have a budget specifically for engaging social media influencers.
Social media influencers are just one of the channels used to communicate to Singaporeans. Influencers may be engaged if they can complement our broader communications efforts. We evaluate the effectiveness of our public communications campaigns, but we do not solely track how influencers fare.
Mr Speaker: Mr Giam.
\tMr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for confirming that the Government does engage social media influencers. I have some supplementary questions. First, will the influencers engaged by the Government be required to declare, openly and clearly, within their posts, which agency is sponsoring their posts?
And secondly, will this requirement be extended to social media influencers sponsored by election candidates or their political parties? Specifically, will this fall under the definition of \"published by\" or \"on the candidate's behalf\"?
\tMr Tan Kiat How: Sir, for the first question that Mr Giam had about whether the social media influencer needs to put up that he is sponsored by someone, can I refer him to my reply to his former colleague, Mr Leon Perera, at the Committee of Supply last year, as well as to his Workers' Party's colleague, Ms He Ting Ru? The answers are in the Hansard.
He was specifically referring to paid partnerships. I told the House that the influencer that he mentioned has also put the \"sponsorship\" or \"paid by\" logo. So, that has been answered.
The second question is about whether it applies to election campaigning. I think this is slightly different from the question that he has filed under the Ministry of Communications and Information. My proposal is for Mr Giam to file it with the right Ministry.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Fines and Actions against Errant Contractors for Noise-related Infractions Related to North-South Corridor Construction Project","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"5 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment for the North-South Corridor construction project along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 (a) how many errant contractors were fined in 2023 for noise related infractions; (b) what are the penalties for recalcitrant offenders; and (c) what measures is the Ministry taking to minimise noise related issues from the project.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (Mr Baey Yam Keng) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): In 2023, the National Environment Agency (NEA) took one enforcement action against the contractor of the North-South Corridor (NSC) construction site, located along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, for noise related infractions.
Contractors are permitted to carry out safety critical work at night and/or on weekends, as such works need to be conducted continuously for safety reasons. However, these contractors must still implement all practicable noise mitigation measures to minimise noise.
For this construction project, NEA required the contractor to conduct a noise impact assessment and implement a noise management plan to mitigate noise.
To minimise inconveniences to stakeholders, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and its contractors deploy noise barriers, noise enclosures and fit mufflers on machinery to reduce noise levels. LTA also conducts localised stakeholder engagement and works with grassroots leaders, to inform and update the public on project-specific information.
Mr Speaker: Mr Yip Hon Weng.
\tMr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his response. Besides fines, are there other measures, such as project suspension or blacklisting, taken against repeat offenders causing noise infractions? I ask this Parliamentary Question, because many of my residents in Yio Chu Kang are affected by the noise pollution from the NSC construction.
Has the Ministry conducted any studies to assess the potential health impact of noise pollution on residents, particularly vulnerable populations, like elderly or children? And has the Ministry also explored alternative construction methods or technologies that could help minimise some of this noise pollution from the project?
\tMr Baey Yam Keng: Sir, NEA has strict regulations on noise from construction sites and other areas that affect the comfort and well-being of residents and other stakeholders around the construction site.
So, besides fines, if there are contractors who are caught for repeated exceedances of noise limits, NEA will issue a notice to restrict the working hours for the activity, to prevent the contractors from re-offending.
And for violations of the no-work rule, that means there are periods where no work or no noisy work should be conducted and if there are violations, NEA will require the owner or the occupier of the construction sites that have violated this no-work rule, to install an electronic video surveillance at their construction site. And NEA will have access to the surveillance system to monitor the activities at these sites and take necessary strict enforcement for further violation.
I would like to mention that these particular works at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 is a very special one. It is part of the NSC, which the Member would be familiar with that it is a major land transport construction project, spanning 21.5 kilometres. It is special, not just because of the scale, but because of its proximity to many residential areas, as well as the very challenging soil conditions that the contractors must work within. Therefore, the authorities have been taking many measures on the contractors, NEA has been monitoring very closely the disturbances and the inconveniences impacting the residents around the area. We will take all necessary measures and impose on the contractors to put in necessary measures to mitigate the noise.
But really, this is a difficult balance because we need to allow the contractors to be able to have expedited progress in its works; otherwise, the project will be prolonged and extended, and that will even cause residents an extended period of inconveniences. So, I do thank the residents of the area, and all areas affected by the works, for their understanding and patience as we work towards its completion.
The works around Avenue 6 is a road tunnel and that is expected to be completed in 2029. But the level of work will be in different phases and not all works will be as noisy as it is. And we also appreciate the Member, Mr Yip Hon Weng, for always speaking up for his residents. He has had held many meetings with authorities, like LTA, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and NEA, to look at ways to minimise the inconveniences. So, we thank him and thank his residents for their understanding.
When the works are completed, residents can look forward that the street level of Avenue 6 can be repurposed, to give priority to different purposes, like walking, cycling, public transport and community spaces. We look forward to working with residents to look at how we can repurpose the new space that has been created from the NSC.
Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time. Introduction of Government Bill.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Mental Capacity Act 2008\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Eric Chua) on behalf of the Minister for Social and Family Development; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
Mr Speaker: Order. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Orders of the Day.
[(proc text) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [ 6th Allotted Day]. (proc text)]
[Mr Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Head O (cont) – (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resumption of debate on Question [6 March 2024], (proc text)]
[(proc text) \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head O of the Estimates be reduced by $100.\" – [Dr Tan Wu Meng]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)]
The Second Minister for Health (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Chairman, I thank Members for their questions and suggestions. I will start on how we can build a Singapore where our families and seniors can flourish. Strong families are the building blocks for an ecosystem of care within our communities. They help to ensure the health of their children and are pivotal to supporting our seniors to age well.
Ageing well starts from home and families should always be the first bastion of care. Studies show that most seniors prefer to age in the community, close to their families and friends. Likewise, many families have a desire to care for their loved ones at home.
To support these aspirations, the Government will dedicate at least S$3.5 billion over the next decade, to support the implementation of Age Well SG, of which S$1.9 billion will be dedicated to the Ministry of Health's (MOH's) initiatives.
Age Well SG is led by MOH, the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Ministry of Transport (MOT), with other partner agencies like the People's Association (PA), the Ministry of Social and family Development (MSF) and other volunteer organisations, to enable seniors to lead vibrant and fulfilling lives in the community with their families.
The whole village will work together to realise the Age Well SG plans.
First, we will invest in Active Ageing Centres (AACs), which will be a key enabler for seniors to Age Well within the community. Ultimately, we want seniors to be engaged and connected with their friends and families, which is key to keeping healthy. We would like to make it easier for seniors and families to access available care services and resources in the community.
The AACs are expanding the quality and range of their programmes and adapting their offerings to suit the preferences of seniors living in the vicinity. To make it easier for seniors to join in, most AACs also extend these programmes at community spaces, like PA's Residents' Network.
I am told that seniors can participate in classes and activities, and there are also programmes which have been proven to help seniors to age well physically and cognitively. Take learning as an example. The National Silver Academy (NSA) offers a diverse range of courses at about 60 AACs, ranging from topics like health and wellness, financial literacy, to information technology and science. There are also courses for seniors to pick up practical skills, like taking professional photos or floral arrangements. Most of these courses held at the AACs are affordable and around three-quarters of them are eligible for SkillsFuture credits.
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about our plans for the roll-out of AACs, our outreach efforts, especially for those who might be socially isolated and how our initiatives can help to foster inter-generational bonding. I will address these points below.
We are scaling up our network of AACs. Since the implementation of the AAC service, we have grown to 157 AAC centres and have seen a steady increase in seniors engaged yearly – from 17,000 in 2021 to more than 49,000 seniors in 2022. We will do more and expand the network of AACs to 220 by the end of 2025. This means that by 2025, eight in 10 seniors will have access to AAC activities near their homes. AACs serve all seniors regardless of housing type. Therefore, if you have seniors among your loved ones, especially those living on their own, please encourage them to join a nearby AAC.
Secondly, under Age Well, we envision all seniors to be supported within the community, regardless of whether they live alone or with family. This is where the community is key. We have started this community effort. Together with volunteer ambassadors, the Silver Generation Office has engaged more than 330,000 seniors in the past fours years through house visits, including those who live alone or may have no family. They help to connect the seniors to community events or activities organised by AACs, such as communal dining.
As such, in addition to participating in activities at the AACs, we also hope for our seniors to join in our efforts in reaching out to other seniors in the community, together with their family and friends.
Let me share about Mdm Yuling Siah. For about eight years now, Mdm Siah has been actively reaching out to fellow seniors in the community through home visits and telephone engagements. Mdm Siah says that she finds it especially meaningful when she has good conversations with the people she reaches out to, who have now become her friends. And Mdm Siah is 72 years old!
Her spirit has caught on and now her daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law, have also joined in. We are happy that Mdm Siah is finding such meaning in her senior years and their volunteering has fostered and strengthened inter-generational bonds across the family.
Ultimately, we want our communities to be places where seniors gather with friends, keep active and stay healthy, starting with AACs.
Thirdly, we will enable seniors to be active and move around their neighbourhoods with ease. We will enhance our infrastructure. MND and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will be making our flats, neighbourhoods and streets more senior-friendly through EASE 2.0, the upgrading of selected older precincts and MOT's Friendly Streets initiative. I am sure Members have seen how Silver Zones and the lifts at Pedestrian Overhead Bridges bring much joy to our seniors.
We will also make enhancements to the home environment. Dr Tan Wu Meng and Mr Yip Hon Weng would be happy to note that we will also introduce in-flat fall detectors to provide a peace of mind for families with seniors.
While we want seniors to be able to age in the community, with their families and friends, we recognise that families caring for seniors with care needs may face additional stresses. Therefore, we will do more to support these families in caring for their loved ones.
We have increased access to home medical care and improved affordability.
Today, the Government provides up to 80% means-tested subsidies to patients for home care services such as Home Medical, Home Nursing and Home Therapy. Since October 2023, MediSave500/700 and Flexi-MediSave schemes have been extended to homebound patients receiving home medical care from MOH-funded providers.
Dr Tan Wu Meng and Ms Mariam Jaafar asked about allaying costs beyond medical expenses. MOH's primary focus is to ensure healthcare services are affordable for all. Our mainstream financing Subsidies, MediShield Life, MediSave, MediFund (S+3Ms) framework, is thus focused on covering acute care, primary care, as well as long-term care services.
Nevertheless, we recognise that there are ancillary costs associated with caregiving and that health and social care are closely related. Hence, MOH has targeted grant schemes to better support families to defray other caregiving expenses, especially for the lower-income. This includes the Medical Escort and Transport (MET) services to help frail seniors attend medical appointments or travel to Senior Care Centres, the Home Caregiving Grant and Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund. We will continue to monitor and review. We try to help, but there is a limit to how much we can cover. Expanding scope of our financing will further push up national healthcare expenditure and ultimately result in a greater burden on people. To better support families and caregivers within the community, we will improve existing services and pilot new care models, as Dr Tan Wu Meng, Mr Yip Hong Weng and Mr Henry Kwek have suggested.
We are studying more options for home care, via an ongoing pilot. Under \"HPC+\", seniors are assisted in their daily activities, and this also includes housekeeping services.
As of January 2024, there are 328 clients enrolled under the HPC+ pilot. We will evaluate the pilot by end-2024, before determining whether to expand it nationwide.
We thank Mr Henry Kwek for his query on the stay-in shared caregiving sandbox which was launched to mitigate the impact of shrinking family sizes on family caregiving. Under this sandbox, a shared caregiver assists a group of seniors living in public or private estates with their activities of daily living. This sandbox will be in place for at least a year until the first quarter of 2025.
MOH will review its outcomes and take Mr Henry Kwek's feedback into consideration when determining next steps, which we will announce when finalised.
MOH will also introduce standardised care assessments and progressively appoint bundled-services providers, so that seniors can enjoy more seamless care delivery. This reduces the need for multiple assessments and unnecessary referrals by different care providers.
For seniors who require further care in Nursing Homes, the median wait time for nursing home placement is around one month. In the interim, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) works closely with the seniors and their caregivers to make alternative interim care arrangements as needed. These efforts will go some way to support families and caregivers. We want to make it easier for them to manage the cognitive and physical load of providing care for their loved ones at home. This includes senior caregivers who may be caring for senior family members.
In addition, we will provide caregivers with resources so that they can be supported in caring for their loved ones. Since November 2023, caregivers have also been able to use their SkillsFuture credits for eligible caregiver training courses. This year, we will be enhancing the Caregivers Training Grant from the current $200 per year to up to $400 per year per care recipient, to subsidise the cost of caregiving training conducted by approved training providers.
With these schemes, caregivers can receive more affordable and accessible caregiver training to help them care for their loved ones in the community.
I would like to assure Ms Carrie Tan that support for caregivers can be found in the community. Today, caregivers can access the AIC hotline and online resources available on AIC's website, as well as a Care Services Recommender on the Support-Go-Where portal.
We will also progressively level up all AACs as community touchpoints to provide information and referral services. For example, families and caregivers can visit an AAC to discuss how they can obtain the appropriate care for their seniors. There are also nine AIC links located in public hospitals to provide caregivers who are planning for the discharge of their loved ones from the hospital.
AIC also runs CREST and COMIT teams that provides support for seniors and caregivers with mental health needs. For socio-emotional support, caregivers can also tap on the Caregiver Support Networks (CSNs) and WIN Caregivers Network by PA.
Chairman, we have an ambitious vision to be a society where we age well. We are rolling out plans in the community that enable seniors to live active lives. We are investing in infrastructure across neighbourhoods. We are supporting families in caring for their loved ones. But, ultimately, it is about the heart ware, each of us looking out for one another, helping our seniors lead vibrant and fulfilling lives in the community.
Even as we are investing in more support for our seniors, we are also enhancing support for our young families to have healthy and happy lives.
In 2021, we set up the task force on Child and Maternal Health and Well-being, or CAMH in short. Comprising an interdisciplinary team of policy-makers and practitioners from across the health, social and education domains, the task force came together to explore how children and their families can attain good health and well-being.
I thank the task force members for their hard work over the past three years. They engaged parents and caregivers, brainstormed with partners and developed sound recommendations. Relying on evidence-based research, such as the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes, or GUSTO, study, we were able to formulate ways to improve the health of our children and families.
I am glad to announce that the task force has completed the development of the CAMH Strategy and Action Plan. Recommendations under the Strategy have been translated into 48 initiatives under the Action Plan. Currently, 28 out of the 48 initiatives have been or are being implemented, while the remainder are under review in preparation for launch. A detailed report will be shared later this year.
Let me now speak on two recommendations that exemplify our commitment to strengthen support for children and their families.
One of these recommendations is to enhance support for couples from pre-conception and pregnancy, through to parenthood. Many parents-to-be recognise that antenatal care is important as they prepare for the birth of their child. However, not all parents have access to resources and support.
Therefore, we have looked into increasing access to antenatal care. I am pleased to share that we will be piloting antenatal education classes for parents within the community. Those who attend these classes will have convenient access to subsidised antenatal support close to their homes.
Couples can look forward to learning about nutrition and exercises during pregnancy and after delivery and be equipped to care for their newborn. The classes will be conducted via a hybrid model, incorporating online lectures and videos, so that parents can easily access these useful resources virtually.
It is important that we support and celebrate active fathering too. In collaboration with the Families for Life Council and Centre for Fathering, we are strengthening the participation of fathers in parents' support groups in schools. This will provide more avenues for fathers to share and learn valuable parenting insights and tips.
We will continue to support fathers who may require more support in their parenthood journey.
At the Committee of Supply (COS) debate last year, I shared how the National University Hospital (NUH) expanded the Women's Emotional Health Service Plus (WEHS+) pilot, extending mental health support services to fathers in need. This support is important at the antenatal and postnatal stages as they take on the new role of a father. This pilot has also since extended support for mothers up to six years postnatal, up from the previous one year.
We want couples to feel supported and assured during their parenthood journey, even and especially when they meet challenges.
Let me share how Ms S and her husband benefited from the programme. As Ms S experienced postnatal depression and anxiety, the team followed up with regular check-ins and emotional support to ensure she was coping well. The team also ensured that her husband received timely assistance and treatment. Both are faring better now and the good news is that Ms S is expecting another baby. I am glad that this programme has given them the confidence and reassurance that they are well-supported in their journey.
Over time, Ms S and her husband will be able to transit to Family Nexus, which supports families with children aged zero to six, enabling them to access cross-domain services at a one-stop community touchpoint near their homes.
Last year, I announced the launch of the Family Nexus pilot at Our Tampines Hub. I am delighted to update that the Family Nexus pilot has been rolled out to three more sites in Singapore, at Choa Chu Kang, Punggol and Sembawang polyclinics, to extend support to more families.
Helping our children pick up good habits for good health during their formative years paves the way for better long-term health. Therefore, we want to empower parents with more resources and information to nurture healthy habits in their children. This, too, is one of the task force's recommendations.
During our engagements, many parents shared that they were on the lookout for accessible and reliable information to support them in nurturing their children. We shared about Parent Hub in 2022, a one-stop resource portal to provide timely information on pregnancy and parenting to families. Since its launch, Parent Hub has garnered over three million views, with over 100,000 page views monthly. We will continue to expand on these resources, such as by making new interactive evidence-based resources on nurturing healthy eating in childhood and other relevant topics available on the portal.
To better support individuals in nurturing healthy eating habits in children from young, I am happy to share that KK Women's and Children's Hospital and the College of Paediatrics and Child Health Singapore, launched the Singapore Guidelines for Feeding and Eating in Infants and Young Children last month. These guidelines support those involved in the care of children aged zero to two in nurturing healthy eating habits, providing goals and milestones in the transition from infant feeding to eating as a young child. I urge parents, caregivers and healthcare professionals to refer to these guidelines to promote a positive environment for the adoption of healthier eating habits in our young children, which would be beneficial to them in years to come.
We will make resources available beyond the early years. Students will be able to access online interactive resources through MOE's Student Learning Space this year. These resources will help students learn more about healthier eating habits and ways to have a balanced meal. These efforts are aligned with the GUSTO research study which shows that children's eating behaviours, such as portion size, food choice and nutrition, are key risk factors for childhood obesity. Allow me to summarise in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The MOH has developed plans for strategies and action for the health and well-being of seniors, as well as children and mothers.
We have completed the development of CAMH, which focuses on various stages from prenatal to adolescence, developing initiatives to support children and families in areas, such as prenatal care, parental support and healthy eating habits.
These initiatives will empower and support our families in caring for our seniors and children.
(In English): In closing, families are fundamental to enabling our seniors to age well and to fostering a nurturing environment for our children to grow, learn and thrive. We will continue to strengthen support for families. Together, we can build a society where every family is empowered to grow and age well and enjoy a life of health and well-being.
The Chairman: Minister Ong.
The Minister for Health (Mr Ong Ye Kung): Thank you, Chairman. I will devote a large part of my speech to address two pressing issues for healthcare: one is the hospital capacity crunch; the other is healthcare cost. Then, I will talk about the major transformation that we are bringing about in our healthcare system which will further address these two concerns.
Mr Pritam Singh, Mr Ang Wei Neng and Assoc Prof Jamus Lim raised the issue of capacity and waiting times at polyclinics and hospitals. Post-COVID-19, indeed, this is the experience of many countries around the world. Waiting times have gone up all around the world.
In Singapore, what is driving up hospital bed occupancy is the increased number of seniors with complex conditions post-COVID-19, and we saw a surge in the numbers. I have reported to the House earlier that average stay in hospital went up from about six days to seven days pre- and post-COVID-19, and that alone represents a 15% increase in patient load. This is happening against the backdrop of a rapidly ageing population, which compounds the problem and makes it a long-term challenge.
Mr Singh suggested that we provide dynamic waiting times of emergency departments (EDs) across hospitals publicly, in real time. It is possible, but we have been reluctant to do so, I think for a good reason. Ambulances today already have a process in place to ferry patients needing urgent care to the nearest appropriate hospital for priority treatment. However, at the EDs, 40% of cases are not life-threatening or urgent, but they ended up there anyway. So, our worry is that giving dynamic information may perversely drive more non-urgent cases to hospitals and worsen the overall situation.
I know it is very uncomfortable, very unsettling for a patient who is quite unwell to have to wait many hours for a bed. But please be assured that hospitals will triage patients quickly upon arrival and start treatment for urgent cases, even if the patient is waiting for a bed.
Mr Ang Wei Neng raised the issue of Changi General Hospital which was also reported in a Straits Times article. Changi is an old structure. It only has four ambulance bays. [Please refer to \"Clarification by Minister for Health\", Official Report, 6 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 131, Correction By Written Statement section.] So, the queue will build up quite fast.
But actually, that is not the limiting factor. We can always triage in the ambulances. It is a small problem. What we need to watch out for are Intensive Care Unit (ICU) occupancy, resuscitation occupancy. If those are full, we divert the ambulances. Ambulance bays are full, we can handle. On the surface, it looks bad; but actually, operationally, it is not a huge problem to overcome.
Assoc Prof Jamus Lim suggested using more Urgent Care Centres (UCCs). UCCs have been useful and effective. We have also been using the General Practitioner (GP) First scheme, especially around Changi area, and that is also useful, and we will continue to deploy all possible methods to alleviate patient loads at the EDs.
To tackle the challenge more fundamentally, we need to expand capacity and catch up with the time lost, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We opened about 640 new acute and community hospital beds since June last year. They make up the over 11,000 public hospital beds that we have today. That is the stock we have – 11,000. We intend to add another 4,000 beds by 2030. And we should see new capacity coming on stream every year, from now to 2030.
Starting this year, and next, in 2024 and 2025, Woodlands Health will commission up to 700 beds. In 2026, Sengkang General Hospital and Outram Community Hospital are expected to expand by about 350 beds by converting non-clinical areas into hospital wards. Then in 2027, the Elective Care Centre at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is expected to open; that has 300 beds. In 2028 and 2029, the redeveloped Alexandra Hospital is expected to open progressively. Then in 2029 and 2030, the new Eastern General Hospital Campus is expected to open progressively. Then we move into the early 2030s, that is when we hope to see the completion of a new regional public hospital that we have started work on.
We have just completed one in the North, Woodlands Health. We are building another one in the East. We are expanding SGH in the central region. So, the next new public hospital should be in the West. We are planning to site it in Tengah Town, which is an emerging population centre. It will best complement current hospitals in the West. The new hospital in Tengah will be run by the National University Health System cluster. Mr Ang Wei Neng is nodding his head.
Notwithstanding this plan to expand capacity, we should not be trapped in the mindset of \"building hospitals\" when thinking about capacity. There is potential to better anchor care outside of hospitals, in the community.
Not all patients require high acuity care and constant monitoring in a hospital throughout their treatment course. Many need convalescent care and rehabilitation, with the assurance that medical help is readily available nearby. That is why we have built more community hospitals for sub-acute and rehabilitation patients, and Transitional Care Facilities for patients who are waiting for longer-term care arrangements.
With our efforts, the number of long-staying patients have come down and these are patients defined as medically stable for discharge but they have been staying in the hospitals while waiting for longer-term care and they have been staying for longer than 21 days. This is what we refer to as long-staying patients. Two years ago, it was about 300 such patients at any one time in our hospital system. Now, it is under 200 patients at any one time and there is still room for improvement.
To facilitate appropriate transfers from acute hospitals to community settings, we will also be making a few policy changes, as follows.
One, more funding for community hospitals. Acute hospitals have experienced friction in transferring suitable patients to community hospitals. Why? For example, certain diagnostic services, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and certain more expensive drugs, are not subsidised in community hospitals today. This is based on the consideration that these are recovering patients and they may not need these interventions. Unfortunately, this means operational delays in transferring patients to community hospitals. There are patients who are medically ready to be transferred, but they are just waiting for a follow-up scan. They should be transferred without delay and do the scan at the community hospitals.
Others worry that after transfer, what if, unexpectedly, I need a scan for some reason. Hence, they insist on staying in the acute hospital, just in case. To remove this friction, from the last quarter of this year, we will allow more diagnostic services like CT and MRI scans and relevant drugs to be subsidised at community hospitals.
More broadly, we will also align the community hospital subsidy framework to the acute hospital subsidy framework. It used to be different. That way, patients receive the same subsidy rate, which is 50% to 80% throughout their inpatient stay, regardless of settings. With this enhancement, most community hospital patients will see smaller hospital bills.
The second change is to make Mobile Inpatient Care at Home (MIC@Home) a mainstream service. What is MIC@Home? This is a pilot project where we set up virtual hospital beds at the homes of patients, and have doctors and nurses visit them, as if they are in the hospital. Dr Tan Wu Meng, Mr Pritam Singh, Ms Ng Ling Ling and Ms Mariam Jaafar have asked or talked about such a scheme.
At the end of last year, more than 2,000 patients have benefited from the scheme. This translates to around 9,000 hospital bed days saved. Having done this for several months, we are convinced that the scheme works well for the patients and has great potential to relieve stress at hospitals.
Hence, from April this year, MIC@Home will become a mainstream model of care in our public healthcare institutions. As a result, patients can be assured that they will not pay any more for MIC@Home than they do for acute inpatient care in a public hospital. All our hospitals intend to price MIC@Home similar to, or lower than, a normal hospital ward. Patients will be supported by subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave, no different from a physical inpatient stay.
In response to Assoc Prof Jamus Lim's suggestion, I do not think we therefore need to give an incentive for transition to home care now. It will be better to develop MIC@Home into a well-accepted mainstream mode for acute inpatient care. We will also further expand the capacity of MIC@Home, as a first step, from 100 in 2023, to 300 in 2024, with the potential to scale up further.
The third change is to encourage telehealth. Sir, 40% of attendances in a typical polyclinic are for chronic care management. Last year, we extended subsidies and allowed the use of MediSave for the use of telehealth, for chronic care. By the second half of this year, we will also expand MediSave coverage to telehealth consults for preventive care services, such as follow-up reviews after regular health screening. This represents another 10% of polyclinic attendances.
With this change, telehealth is treated almost the same way as physical consultations in terms of financial support. The only difference is telehealth for common illnesses, that is, when patients experience symptoms, like cough, cold and fever. Patients still cannot use MediSave for such consults for common illnesses. Also for a good reason. We are holding this back as many people have been using such teleconsults as an easy way to get medical certificates (MCs). So, there will need to be greater discipline in issuing MCs before we consider this final move.
Another key aspect to expanding capacity is to enhance manpower. Mr Ang Wei Neng and Dr Tan Wu Meng asked if we need to produce more doctors to meet demand. Yes, we have been and will continue to do so. In fact, intakes into our local medical schools have increased by about 30% over the past 10 years, to about 500 now. If you consider each cohort, it is now slightly over 30,000. About half of them, 15,000 or so, 15,000 to 17,000 go to university; and out of that group, 500 are training to be doctors. [Please refer to \"Clarification by Minister for Health\", Official Report, 6 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 131, Correction By Written Statement section.]
Still, more are training to be Allied Health Professionals and nurses. So, we are taking quite a lot of talent. We are also offering awards and grants to actively attract Singaporeans who graduated from overseas medical schools back into the local public healthcare system.
Where does Singapore stand, in terms of our doctor to population ratio? Ours, in terms of practising doctors, is about 2.6. Let us put that number into some perspective. Compared to developing countries, we are ahead, we are higher. Compared to developed economies in Asia, we are similar. Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are all around 2.6. Japan is also 2.6 and despite having actually aged much earlier than us, with about 30% of their population 65 and older.
Then, if you compare to developed Anglo-Saxon countries – the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Canada – we are just slightly behind.
It is really when we compare to European countries – continental European countries, Australia – that we are a notch behind. Why is that so? I think there are various reasons. It could be a legacy of the welfare state. It could be the fact that European countries do not really have a tradition of planning for manpower.
We can explore if further increases are needed, but we have to recognise that talent is in short supply across all sectors. And healthcare, we should attract our fair share, but not disproportionate share of talent. Beyond this fair share, countries can also end up chasing its own tail.
Why is that so? For one, it is not a simple numbers game. The right mix of doctors is just as important as the sheer number of doctors. If, somehow, doctors get registered but do not practise, it does not help. If doctors are practising, but they go into areas like aesthetics, it also does not help very much.
In Singapore, graduates from medical schools are already finding it more competitive to get residency positions to be trained as specialists, because there is not much of a shortage in many of these specialist areas. On the other hand, we are facing shortages in areas like family medicine, internal medicine, geriatric medicine and rehabilitation medicine.
This is because as Singapore becomes a super-aged society, we have more patients with complex and multiple medical conditions, needing doctors with these more broad-based skillsets. Hence, MOH has been increasing the number of training positions in these specialist areas.
We have also seen in many countries, how supply of doctors creates its own demand. As more doctors compete for business, there will be a tendency to prescribe more tests, scans, medications and procedures. Patients are not likely to say no because your health is at stake, and especially if healthcare is free or insurance covers all the costs.
Hence, while Mr Ang Wei Neng provided numbers to show that Singapore's doctor-to-population ratio is lower than some Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, this did not translate to poorer health outcomes, less accessibility or affordability in Singapore. For example, we know that the US healthcare system is not the most accessible unless you have the right insurance.
The UK's higher doctor-to-population ratio than us, has eight million patients on their waiting lists and is suffering from a chronic capacity crunch. Germany, also much higher than us in terms of the ratio, is facing a major challenge meeting the healthcare needs of their seniors across their länders or their states. Conversely, Singapore, we are delivering quite good healthcare outcomes.
A commonly accepted broad measure is the expected health span and lifespan of our people. In Singapore, a person is expected to live up to 74 years old in good health, one of the highest in the world; compared to 66 in the US; 70 in the UK; 71 to 72 in Germany, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia and so forth.
Singapore achieved this by spending about 5% of our gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare, compared to 10% to 13% in most developed countries; 17% in the US. In short, we have better outcomes with less spending and lower hospital beds and doctors-to-population ratios than many OECD countries, because it is not just a numbers game.
The quality and the mix of doctors, the geographical spread of the country, how the whole system is run, the behaviour of patients – all makes a big difference. We have a lot of room for improvement, but there is no reason to feel bad about ourselves or to envy others. We are, in fact, in a good place as we continue to learn from others and strive for improvements.
Chairman, let me now address the next concern, which is rising healthcare costs. Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Ms Ng Ling Ling asked, what is driving up healthcare costs? In this section, I will talk about the likely reasons for rising healthcare costs, explain the realities of healthcare financing and then what we are doing to try to moderate costs.
A major factor for rising healthcare costs is that we are getting older, and as we get older, we are more likely to fall seriously ill. Over the last five years, the number of Singaporean seniors increased by almost 20%, from 560,000 to 690,000 now. We are on the verge of becoming a super-aged society. These are not macro numbers, it directly affects individuals and families. So, when in a family, one member grows older and falls seriously ill, the entire family feels the burden of healthcare costs and also the caregiving burden.
The second reason, advancement in medical technology. Technological advancement can make a car or a smartphone cheaper and better. But in healthcare, it is often not the case. New treatments may work better, but always cost more. For example, advancement in orthopaedic surgeries have made knee replacements much easier to do. In my constituencies, I met many seniors who have gone through knee replacements. Sometimes, they have gone through both and when I meet them – I have gone through one – we end up comparing our battle scars.
In the past, people with degenerating blood vessels in their eyes due to old age, they will lose their central vision. Now, the condition can be treated and controlled through repeated intravitral injections. These advancements allow a person who cannot walk, to walk again; allow a person who would have been blind, to see again.
The value to the patients is priceless. The cost to the patients has also gone up.
Third, healthcare costs inflation. Even for the same treatment, not talking about medical advancement; the same treatment, the cost has gone up. Inflation all around the world has gone up in recent years and that has also affected healthcare costs. A key component of healthcare delivery cost is manpower.
In Singapore, manpower is more than half of the cost to run the healthcare system. We all agree we need to compensate our healthcare workers fairly and competitively. As healthcare demands have gone up in many countries, the competition for medical manpower is now international and has become more intense. And this pushed up manpower costs and, therefore, healthcare costs.
Finally, insurance. Insurance gives us peace of mind. But when the coverage becomes too generous down to the last dollar, we start to see excessive prescriptions and tests and even unnecessary treatments. This is the classic buffet syndrome, which has driven up claims. Already paid for, might as well overeat.
It has driven up claims and, therefore, it has driven up insurance premiums. Yet, it is frustrating to see insurance companies continue to offer unsustainable terms – presumably they are competing for market share. So, how do we address rising healthcare costs? We need to first recognise two truisms in healthcare financing.
The first truism is that, ultimately, the people always pay. Let me explain with a personal example. When my wife and I moved to Switzerland for a year for me to do my Master's programme, that was in 1999, we had to make a social security payment. I cannot remember the name, but it was not cheap. A few thousand Swiss francs for the both of us. It was compulsory. If we do not pay, we could not live in Switzerland. Then, we got pregnant. My wife found a good gynaecologist. Each time we visited her, we can just go in and go out. We did not have to pay anything. Was it really free? Not really. We paid for it already, through the rather expensive social security fee.
In Britain, the National Health Service (NHS) operates by the principle of free healthcare at the point of delivery. No UK government has ever touched that principle. It continues to be free at the point of delivery.
But is it really free? Not really. The British have to pay high taxes to finance the NHS, because there is no cost at the point of healthcare delivery, the waiting times at the NHS are very long. I talked about eight million people waiting. So, British patients are also paying with their time and their patience.
There are different ways to pay for healthcare: by taxes, by compulsory social security payments, through insurance premiums or personal savings or your personal time. Ultimately, the people always pay one way or another. That is truism number one.
This leads to the second truism, which is how we pay affects how much we pay. If a government uses taxes to make healthcare \"free\" at the point of delivery, then it will likely lead to the buffet syndrome that I just mentioned. There will be over-consumption, wastage and high-cost inflation. If a government leaves the people to buy their own health insurance, people will tend to be very careful, which can moderate healthcare expenditure. But if someone did not buy insurance and is uninsured, they will be underserved.
That is why in Singapore, we weaved together a more robust way to pay for healthcare. It comprises subsidy funded by taxation; MediSave which is own personal savings; MediShield Life which is a national insurance scheme; and MediFund which is the final social safety net – what we termed S+3Ms. S+3Ms ensures universality because it provides all Singaporeans access to quality healthcare. It is also a targeted system, focusing assistance on those who need it the most.
To illustrate, subsidies of up to 80% are extended to C Class wards in public hospitals, but not A Class wards, not private hospitals. MediShield Life covers a significant part of the remaining bill after subsidy, but we ensure some co-payment by patients, mostly through MediSave, so that there is less of a buffet syndrome. MediFund comes in for the lowest income who cannot afford the co-payment.
This is a key reason why we can achieve good health outcomes with national healthcare spending of 5% of GDP, compared to jurisdictions with blanket assistance schemes. With these two truisms in mind, what can we do and what are we doing about rising healthcare costs?
First, let me start with the S, of S+3Ms. Subsidies will have a big role to play.
When I first joined the Government in 2015 and entered this House, I was the Acting Minister for Education. The Ministry of Education's (MOE's) budget was the second largest amongst Ministries, at about S$12 billion, and only behind the Ministry of Defence's (MINDEF's). MOH's was the distant third, just over S$9 billion. Today, nine years later, I am now the Minister for Health. MOH's budget has far surpassed MOE's, to almost S$19 billion and not very far behind MINDEF's.
MOH's budget is tax-funded. It is channeled to fund many aspects of the healthcare system: build new healthcare infrastructure, operate hospitals, polyclinics and nursing homes, procure medicines and equipment, developing new IT systems, hiring doctors, nurses and all our medical personnel. MOH's budget is tax-funded and constitutes healthcare subsidies, which have been rising significantly over the years.
Then, the second M – MediShield Life – will also need to work harder. To this end, we will be conducting a comprehensive review of MediShield Life. MediShield Life, as I mentioned, is a national health insurance scheme. It covers everyone for life, even those with pre-existing illnesses. It is specifically designed for the great majority of subsidised patients who are encountering a major health episode.
The last sentence needs some deciphering. It contains a couple of important phrases, which I will explain. I said it covers great majority of subsidised patients, because most Singaporeans seek subsidised care and the \"great majority of them\" need financial assistance to foot their healthcare bills.
Hence, for a C Class Ward patient, he will find that after subsidy, MediShield Life claims should substantially pay for the rest of his hospital bill. For a patient that goes to a private hospital, he will find that MediShield Life covers only a modest part of his hospital bill. That is how MediShield Life is focused on the subsidised patients, especially those that uses C Class wards.
Then \"a major health episode\", because this upholds the spirit of insurance, which is to protect us against rare occasions when we incur a big hospital bill because we fall seriously ill.
With that context, let me report the state of MediShield Life today. It was designed such that nine out of 10 subsidised bills are adequately covered. Nine out of 10. What remains are relatively small and expected co-payments, which can be paid from MediSave. However, this nine in 10 benchmark is being eroded, because the size of hospital bills is getting even bigger. Bill sizes have grown by 5% annually in public hospitals and by 7% annually in private hospitals over the last few years.
As a result, the proportion of subsidised bills adequately covered by MediShield Life has come down to around eight out of 10 and is expected to slip further. What is the practical impact? Subsidised patients are seeing hospital bills that are unexpectedly large. And after subsidy and MediShield Life, there is still a substantial out-of-pocket component left. This is when higher healthcare costs really start to bite.
MOH has, therefore, tasked our MediShield Life Council – which is from various stakeholders led by a private sector person – to comprehensively review the scheme, but we have given the Council some direction.
First, enhance MediShield Life to give Singaporeans greater assurance against large bills. This means increasing how much a patient can claim from MediShield Life – this is what we call claim limits – for both surgeries and hospital stays.
We envisage a fairly significant increase in the claim limits. For example, for an episode involving angioplasty where a stent is placed into your heart to open up a blocked artery, plus, say, a few nights in ICU, the claim limits may need to double, times two. This will reduce out-of-pocket costs significantly.
Second, enhance other outpatient coverage. We also need to raise the claim limits for treatments, such as kidney dialysis, to reduce out of pocket expenses for patients. The Council will also explore extending coverage to more types of outpatient care.
Some of the most costly outpatient treatments are for cancer. Ms Sylvia Lim asked if we could improve financial literacy for patients to better plan against such a disease. There are resources available online and we will raise the public's awareness to them. But I think the issue goes beyond financial literacy. It is actually more serious than that. We are facing an especially difficult challenge for cancer, as treatment costs were rising uncontrollably. So, I am not surprised at the survey results that you cited at all.
Hence, we recently reviewed cancer drug financing and introduced changes that will allow us to negotiate for lower prices for cancer drugs. As a result, prices for approved cancer drugs have since dropped significantly, some by up to 60%. The impact is still playing out and we will continue to monitor the situation.
Third, the Council will consider expanding MediShield Life coverage to new groundbreaking treatments, specifically Cell, Tissue and Gene Therapy Products (CTGTPs).
Medical science is advancing rapidly and CTGTPs have the potential to revolutionise healthcare and deliver effective treatment of previously incurable diseases. Some describe these as the equivalent of a moonshot for healthcare. Essentially, the treatment involved is, we extract blood from a patient, then with the blood, you teach and equip the cells in the blood to target and kill, say, cancer cells, then you put the cells back into the patient's body to do its work. It is a one-time treatment. However, while the technology is promising and advancing fast, it is nascent and very expensive. It could cost anything from a few hundred thousand dollars to a few million dollars, per treatment.
We want to start including CTGTPs under MediShield Life. But, we need to put in place safeguards to ensure that financing of CTGTPs is sustainable. For instance, we will need to extend MediShield Life coverage only to treatments that are assessed to be safe, clinically effective and cost effective. In other words, if a treatment costs a few million dollars with a small hope of curing a small group of people, it is not cost effective. This is a significant step to help all Singaporean patients, regardless of their income levels, have access to cost effective, novel, state-of-the-art therapies.
These proposed changes will better protect subsidised patients against major health episodes. MediShield Life premiums, however, will inevitably go up.
The last time we reviewed the scheme, premiums went up by 25% on average. But, rest assured that we will do the necessary to ensure that, as far as possible, premiums can be paid fully by MediSave. For example, we will consider enhancing premium subsidies, or have MediSave top-ups for specific groups. We may have to use more MediSave for small hospital bills, so that MediShield Life can better focus on big hospital bills, and in that way, we moderate premium increases. No one will lose MediShield Life coverage due to a genuine inability to afford the premiums. We will share more details when the Council completes its review in the second half of this year.
Mr Chair, while we address these immediate concerns, we should not lose sight of the longer-term, strategic direction of healthcare. That is, continue to build health and not just treat illnesses.
We have crystalised this strategy around Healthier SG. Ms Ng Ling Ling, Mr Yip Hon Weng and Dr Syed Harun asked for an update on Healthier SG. I am very glad to say that it has been progressing encouragingly.
Let me report some data. Since the programme was launched in July last year, we have invited 2.4 million Singapore residents, aged 40 and above, to participate. As of last month, 765,000 have enrolled with a family doctor of their choice. Sir, 60% are enrolled with GPs and the remaining with polyclinics. This is a good split, because a key thrust of Healthier SG is to empower our GPs to play a greater role in population health.
Over half of the enrollees have started consulting their chosen doctors to develop a personal Health Plan and they have been rewarded S$20 worth of Healthpoints. More than 124,000 enrollees have received their free vaccinations and health screenings.
Over the past year, the number of participants in exercise sessions organised by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has increased by 16%, from 133,000 to 154,000. For sessions organised by PA, participation has gone up 12%, from about 400,000 to 450,000. For SportSG's sessions, it has increased by 20%, from 117,000 to 140,000.
So, we see a discernible increase in people becoming active and individuals are also up and about on their own. The change, I think, is somewhat palpable. This is the new Active Singapore.
Ms Ng Ling Ling asked if we expect prevalence rate of chronic illnesses to come down due to Healthier SG. That is certainly our aim. With a strong start to Healthier SG, we certainly hope this will happen. But it will take time.
We have recently raised chronic drug subsidies for Healthier SG enrollees seeking care at their Healthier SG GP clinics. In the coming year, we plan to implement further improvements to the scheme.
First, expand the range of health protocols. GPs are guided by Healthier SG Protocols, to ensure that residents enjoy consistent and quality care. There are 12 protocols so far, which include screening, vaccination and management of common chronic diseases.
MOH will expand the range of protocols to cover more conditions, such as stable ischemic heart diseases and stable stroke. We will start to roll them out in early 2025. As announced earlier, we are also starting to work on including aspects of mental health into the protocols.
Second, we will improve the health plans. Currently, your enrolled doctor will co-develop a health plan with you as part of the preventive care consultation. It covers essential action items, such as regular health screening and vaccinations. But on the lifestyle, the advice is always quite generic, such as \"exercise more\", \"eat better\". In 2024, we will start to make the advice more specific. For example, it may recommend you do aerobic exercise three times a week. You can then use the Healthy 365 app to identify suitable exercise activities near your home. Key features in Healthy 365 will be made multilingual.
Third, we will continue to roll out interventions for our seniors through the Age Well SG programme, which Second Minister Masagos has elaborated.
Fourth, we will continue to fight against overconsumption of sugar and sodium. Our Nutri-Grade labelling of pre-packaged drinks have been useful in changing consumer behaviour. I will regularly and personally inspect the drinks in the Members' Room. Some of you saw me do it. [Laughter.] I am glad to report they are all graded \"A\" and \"B\", and passed the MOH Ministerial inspection.
There is one drink, however, \"zero sugar salty lychee\". So, I texted my staff to say what do we label this for? For sugar or for sodium? They told me to just drink it.
I also encountered students who are asking for less sugar in their bubble tea, so that it qualifies for Nutri-Grade \"B\". As the Minister for Education, I always tell students, do not be so grade conscious. But in this case, it is good to be grade conscious and go for \"A\" and \"B\".
We have recently extended Nutri-Grade to freshly made beverages. I met the two key coffee shop associations recently and sought their support. The association leaders are fully on board. Together they represent over half of the coffee shops in Singapore, and they intend to start serving \"siu dai\" or less sugar beverages by default. This means when you order a kopi in future, they give you \"siu dai\", even though you do not say it. If you want even less sugar, I recommend just drink \"kosong\".
Sodium is the other culprit that can lead to heart diseases and strokes, if over-consumed. It is found in salt, soya sauce, belachan and other sauces. With much effort from the HPB, over 60% of wholesalers of salt are now supplying lower-sodium salt. About 30% of the catering industry are supporting our \"Less Salt, More Taste\" movement since it was launched late last year. 20% of the food and beverage industry are also doing so.
I recently saw an encouraging programme on Channel 8. There were two lady hosts, they went on a 21-day challenge to take less salt and less soya sauce. At the end of the 21 days, their blood pressure measurements had moderated somewhat, but more importantly, their taste buds had become much more sensitive to salt. They could now taste the ingredients better, they never knew when they taste something, there are undertones of garlic, ginger, spices. They used to just taste soya sauce and belachan, and they prefer to eat less salt now. It took 21 days to change a lifelong habit.
Remember, because we eat every day, the effect of food accumulates through our lifetimes. Over our lifetimes, food can be medicine, food can also be poison. As a wise traditional chinese medicine (TCM) physician once told me, if you eat well, there is no need for medicine; if you do not eat well, medicine is of little use.
Mr Chairman, Dr Tan Wu Meng urged that healthcare needs to be delivered across time and space, which we agree. This is, in fact, a key aspect of the transformation we are striving for. Whereas sickness often needs to be treated in clinics and hospitals, health almost exclusively has to be built up in communities and in our homes. MOH has been working on this transformation and we have made a few strategic policy changes over the last couple of years.
Patient data needs to flow across care delivering settings, from hospitals to clinics, to senior care and rehabilitation centres. This piece of work is almost done. What remains is a new law, which I hope to table in this House in the later part of this year. Regulation needs to move from being premises centric to services centric. So, we do not regulate hospitals or clinics, but the services delivered, regardless of settings. That is why we revamped our legislation to enact the new Healthcare Services Act (HCSA).
Financial support needs to be settings and premises neutral. But we cannot simply apply this based on first principles, as it is bound to lead to abuse and unintended behaviour. Instead, we progressively identify the situations and circumstances where premises-neutrality should apply, and then make deliberate rule changes. We made a few changes last year on the mutual recognition of MediFund and extension of MediSave support to manage chronic illnesses via telehealth. This year, I just announced further moves on community hospitals, MIC@Home and MediSave support for telehealth.
Most importantly, we need to be decisive and deliberate in making investments in preventive care and health of our population. We often hear calls for investment in hospital capacity, in our medical manpower. This is valid. But what is more important for the long term is capacity expansion in communities and society, in its ability to prevent sickness and build health. We are doing so via Healthier SG, and we are starting to see a change. More residents are coming forward to exercise, cycle, run or brisk walk. People are watching their sugar intake.
Sodium takes a while more. Food and beverage (F&B) players are switching to lower-sodium salt. Christine Lock, who sells nasi lemak, she was the first to do so at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre. She did so voluntarily, because she had a loved one who suffered a heart attack. She said, \"I want to take care of my customers.\"
Film Director Jack Neo has started a brisk walking group for seniors, started during the pandemic. It is called \"趴趴走\". In English, it means walking around for fun. His event is every week, and it will attract almost 1,000 participants, young and old, from all over Singapore. If they descend on one of your communities, you will immediately notice. A thousand people gathering somewhere. For them, brisk walking has become a new habit, and they made new friends. Jack and his team even composed a song about \"趴趴走\" and incorporated messages of Healthier SG. They did not consult me. So, when I joined them two weeks ago, everyone sang the song. Everyone knew the song except me.
Let me also share the story of Ms Cynthia Phua. Many Members will know her, she was a former Member of Parliament. She agreed to let me share her story with you today. She enrolled into Healthier SG late last year, with a GP clinic near her home. The GP noticed that she had not done a mammogram for three years. So, repeatedly reminded her to do. Eventually she did, late last year. That was when Cynthia found out that she might have breast cancer and it was later confirmed through a biopsy. Fortunately, it was discovered early. She has since gone through an operation to remove the tumour and no further tumours were discovered in her body.
Cynthia is now resting and undergoing treatment. She is in good spirits. We wish her all the best. She wants me to tell everyone – please push for Healthier SG in your communities. You know how persistent Cynthia can be when she calls for action, because it can change lives and it can save lives.
The UK Legatum Institute ranks healthcare systems in the world in a holistic manner. They do not just take into account of your doctor to population ratio or your healthcare capacity, or what kind of state of the art equipment you use, but they also evaluate population health and preventive care systems. They ranked Singapore as having the best healthcare system in the world in 2023. This is a valuable vote of confidence in our system. It encourages us to improve and do better.
It is said that there is an unbreakable iron triangle in healthcare. The three aims in healthcare: affordability, quality and accessibility. They are also trade-offs, such that improvement in one area always comes at the expense of the other two areas.
I have outlined how, by using MIC@Home and right-siting, we can increase capacity without necessarily building more hospital beds. In other words, improve accessibility, without compromising quality of care. By weaving insurance and co-payment, we reduce out-of-pocket payment for patients, while containing excessive demand for healthcare. Hence, improving affordability, without undermining accessibility. And more importantly, by building better health through Healthier SG, we achieve all three aims at the same time and enable people to lead longer, healthier and more meaningful lives.
Healthier SG is not a Government programme or a financing scheme. It is a movement for Singaporeans, a new way of life, a new compact between people, the community and the Government. We may not have broken the iron triangle to open a straight and easy line to good health. But we have made a good start and carved our own path to achieve greater happiness and probably prosperity, depending on how you look at it, for ourselves, our families and our nation. [Applause.]
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Janil.
The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Janil Puthucheary): Mr Chair, our population is ageing rapidly. As we age, we become more susceptible to developing serious diseases. As a nation, we have become less healthy in the past decade, with a general rise in the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as hypertension.
Life expectancy in Singapore has improved over the last 10 years. Seniors are increasingly living alone, and this trend is expected to continue as our population ages and average household size decreases. For all these reasons and others, the strain on individuals and their families and the impact on our healthcare system will increase significantly in the coming years.
We need to strengthen our healthcare system to meet these challenges by proactively encouraging healthier lifestyles and preventing or delaying the onset of poor health. This involves strengthening healthcare services in the community closer to individuals' everyday environment and leveraging our extensive network of family doctors and community partners as necessary. While we continue to invest in building new healthcare infrastructure, upgrading existing ones, we are also expanding our primary and community care services.
Studies have shown that individuals with a regular family doctor experience better health outcomes, including fewer hospitalisations and emergency department visits. Beyond managing our acute and chronic illnesses, the primary care team also plays a vital role in preventing the onset of serious illnesses. An ongoing relationship with a regular doctor allows for deeper understanding and familiarity with patients' medical conditions, sensitivities to medications and foods, and their day-to-day lives of the patient. This results, ultimately, in better care.
Mr Ang Wei Neng asked about plans to build more polyclinics to cater to the increasing demands of our ageing population, particularly in the Western region. There are 25 polyclinics and over 1,000 Healthier SG GP clinics today. By 2030, we will have 32 polyclinics and we hope to have more Healthier SG GP clinics. There will be three new polyclinics in the western region: one in Tengah which will be completed by 2025, another in Yew Tee by 2027 and the third in Taman Jurong by 2028. The existing Clementi Polyclinic and Jurong Polyclinic will also be redeveloped by 2030 to increase their capacities.
I agree with Dr Tan Wu Meng on the need to ensure adequate accessibility between polyclinics and major transportation nodes. For the redeveloped Clementi Polyclinic, MOH has worked with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to ensure that sheltered pedestrian access will be provided between the building and Clementi MRT station's nearest exit, save for the junction across Clementi Ave 3, where such shelters will not be practical, because the junction is wide and there are double-decker buses passing through.
As our society ages, we need to ensure that seniors' social and health needs are adequately supported in the community. Having strong social support networks have been shown to contribute to better health outcomes. This is particularly important for seniors who live alone and are at risk of social isolation. AACs will collaborate with healthcare providers, including family doctors, as well as work with other community providers and Government agencies for active ageing programmes.
In addition to physical health, we also need to look after our mental health. At the Parliament Motion on advancing mental health last month, this House recognised the importance of mental health as a health, social and economic issue, and affirmed the importance of a robust national mental health ecosystem to enhance mental health and well-being.
Mr Keith Chua asked about key areas that the National Mental Health Office (NMHO) will be focusing on. The Office is expected to be fully established by 2025, comprising officers from MOH, MSF and MOE. It will oversee the implementation of various plans under the National Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy and shape the development of future mental health initiatives, building upon previous efforts such as the National Mental Health Blueprint and the Community Mental Health Masterplan.
Under the Office, we will scale up mental health services in the primary and community care settings and strengthen access to community-based care. Specifically, initial plans include building the competencies of professionals and frontline personnel. We will include staff in religious organisations to support persons with mental health needs, to address Dr Wan Rizal's question about involving religious organisations in community mental health support. Other plans include promoting early care access through publicising key mental health first-stop touchpoints and ensuring better care coordination among service providers through the development of a practice guide. The Office will also track indicators to monitor the progress and outcomes of these plans, as reflected in the National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy Report.
While persons with severe mental health conditions may seek psychiatric care at hospitals, those with mild to moderate mental health symptoms would benefit more from care delivered in the community, as compared to being institutionalised for treatment or being removed from their daily routines and social networks.
Dr Syed Harun asked if mental health will be a focus of Healthier SG implementation plans. Let me elaborate on how we are scaling up mental health services in the primary and community care settings.
Today, 19 out of the existing 25 polyclinics provide mental health services. In addition, over 450 GPs have been trained to support persons with mental health needs under the Mental Health General Practitioner Partnership (MHGPP). To bring mental health services closer to where individuals live, we will expand mental health support in all polyclinics and Healthier SG clinics by 2030. MOH will also be developing mental health protocols and incorporating mental health care and support, as part of the scope of practice for GPs in Healthier SG clinics.
We will also be strengthening mental health outreach and intervention in the community. Today, we have 73 Community Outreach Teams (CREST) that detect and help individuals with mental health needs. By 2030, we will expand the number of outreach teams to 90.
For those who require more intensive mental health support, they can be referred to any of our 29 Community Intervention Teams (COMIT), which will be expanded to 50 teams by 2030. These teams support GPs in the provision of psychosocial interventions for persons with mental health needs in the community. This also addresses Dr Wan Rizal's question on what is being done to enhance the accessibility and integration of mental health services within the community.
Sir, there are critical structures and policies to support the effective delivery of preventive healthcare. Our primary care teams need to be suitably sized and equipped with the right skills. They also need to be adequately supported to provide team-based and integrated care, through Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and consultations with specialists and by leveraging on technology.
Mr Yip Hon Weng highlighted the need to ensure GPs in participating Healthier SG GP clinics have the necessary resources and expertise to effectively manage chronic conditions. Ms Ng Ling Ling also asked how the Government intends to support the professional development of GPs, especially in areas that they may be increasingly involved in, such as social prescriptions to influence patients' lifestyle choices for better health outcomes and treatment of common mental health conditions. Dr Syed Harun asked about retention plans for healthcare professionals to support Healthier SG and the shift towards preventive health.
MOH is working closely with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to increase local training pipelines. We are also committed to the development of family doctors in primary and community care and have placed a stronger emphasis on family medicine training, such as encouraging more doctors to take up postgraduate Family Medicine training like the Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine (GDFM) and the Masters of Medicine in Family Medicine. Postgraduate training in Family Medicine is also strengthened to help family doctors be more equipped to manage a wider range of complex conditions across different age groups. Training is delivered through various modalities including video conferencing and webinar platforms, allowing GPs more flexibility as they keep up to date with the latest developments in family medicine.
At the same time, we are increasing the number of nurses, pharmacists and other allied health professionals in the community, and are providing interdisciplinary training to empower them to practise at the highest level of their licences. We will also expand the role of community pharmacists and other allied health professionals in primary and community care to improve care delivery in the community. We will also train more lay extenders. These are non-medically trained persons who can undertake tasks, such as arranging the initial health screening and coordinating referrals to community programmes. Healthcare professionals can then focus on clinical care.
Primary care teams will be supported with Healthier SG Care Protocols to ensure consistent, quality care for patients. These care protocols lay out clear processes, referrals and data flows to guide GPs in managing each health condition. Twelve care protocols were released during the launch of Healthier SG on the management of common chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and preventive health, such as smoking cessation and weight management. More care protocols will be developed to cover more chronic diseases in the future. We recognise that some GPs may have more experience in managing certain chronic conditions than others. Therefore, we will work closely with the College of Family Physicians Singapore (CFPS), AIC and healthcare clusters to roll out training for GPs and their care teams for each care protocol. We will also support GPs in the provision of holistic care for patients with mental health needs by strengthening the links to COMIT for non-pharmacological mental health support.
Sir, Dr Tan Wu Meng asked if MOH is reviewing the time required by GP clinics to deliver holistic care. As we mobilise family doctors to co-develop health plans with their patients, which can include adjustments to lifestyles and regular health screening, we expect that the percentage of patients requiring longer clinic consultations to increase. This has been taken into account when planning for future primary care capacity. To allow family doctors to focus on optimising clinical care, we have adopted a team-based care approach in polyclinics and private GP clinics. In polyclinics, patients with chronic conditions are assigned to multidisciplinary care teams comprising family physicians, nurse care managers and care coordinators.
In private GP clinics, PCNs anchor and strengthen team-based care for chronic diseases, by pooling resources to organise core ancillary services provided by nurses and care coordinators who work with GPs to jointly manage the patients' conditions. The number of clinics participating in a PCN has grown, from 340 clinics in 2018, to more than 1,000 clinics today.
Our clusters will also step up as regional health managers, working with family doctors and other partners to address health and social needs of residents in their region and anchor care in the community. Family doctors may work with specialists or hospital doctors in the management of patients with more complex needs, for example. Upon discharge, the hospitals would refer patients to the family doctor they are enrolled with, to ensure continuity of care between the hospital space and the primary care space.
Dr Syed Harun asked about systems integration plans to support Healthier SG. To facilitate holistic, integrated and coordinated care provided by multiple healthcare providers across hospital-based and community care settings, we need to simplify how our healthcare providers access and share data. The importance of a well-integrated and reliable IT system to connect healthcare providers has been highlighted by many GPs.
The National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) is a key tool for supporting holistic and integrated care. It serves as a centralised repository of key health information that healthcare professionals can access and can contribute to. Its capabilities will be enhanced to cater to a wider spectrum of care providers in a safe and secure manner, enabling healthcare providers in different care settings to make better decisions when caring for their patients.
The upcoming Health Information Bill will also establish the framework to govern the collection, access, use and sharing of selected health information across various settings to facilitate the continuity of care.
Specific to primary care, we have supported GP clinics and their IT vendors to upgrade their IT systems, to simplify administrative processes and to improve data flows, while ensuring data sharing is secure. For example, under Healthier SG, we have rolled out the Clinic Management System Tiering Framework for Primary Care to ensure that IT systems used by private GP clinics are integrated with national programmes, for a more seamless delivery of care.
We have also enhanced our national digital health app, HealthHub, to empower residents to manage their own health. Through HealthHub, residents can enrol for Healthier SG, view their personalised health plans, manage medical appointments and view their health screening results and vaccination records. We plan to expand the type of health records available through HealthHub in the future.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak and Ms Mariam Jaafar suggested making use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise healthcare delivery for cost effectiveness and improved patient outcomes. Our healthcare institutions use proven, cost-effective technology extensively to automate manual tasks and augment clinical decision-making. For example, the Outpatient Pharmacy Automation System helps to automate packing and dispensing of pharmacy medication.
Patients can also utilise HealthHub to arrange for medicine refills and manage their medical appointments. This all helps to reduce waiting times and enhance the patient experience. MOH is also exploring the use of AI-assisted radiology diagnosis systems for pathology detection, to automate the analysis of medical images, support clinicians to identify patients with urgent care needs and help radiologists to generate radiology reports.
Dr Wan Rizal suggested utilising AI to improve the accessibility of mental health care. Currently, Mindline employs an AI-enabled chatbot that allows people to share their emotional struggles anonymously and guides them to self-help resources such as psychotherapy exercises and counselling services where needed. While we embrace innovation and leverage technology, patient safety remains of paramount importance. MOH will continue to evaluate these new technologies for clinical and cost effectiveness and assess their safety and suitability for various uses in our healthcare system.
Ms Mariam Jaafar asked for an update on value-based care initiatives that have been piloted and whether these initiatives have been scaled up across the healthcare system. MOH has been placing increasing emphasis on value-based care efforts since 2015. These efforts aim to improve health outcomes while simultaneously managing the attendant cost increases in a sustainable way. These initiatives range from national system initiatives to programmes that target individual doctors and specific procedures.
Since the implementation of the Cancer Drug List (CDL), which focused MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plan coverage on clinically proven and cost-effective cancer drug treatments, CDL drug prices in the public sector have been brought down by an average of 30%, and over 60% for some drugs. This has also allowed us to subsidise more drugs and improve affordability. In the long run, we expect this to moderate the costs of cancer drugs. We are shifting our focus more upstream and are applying value-based care to payment models, like capitation and preventive efforts through Healthier SG.
Sir, it will be a long-term, multi-year effort to work towards a healthier population. The Government and healthcare providers will provide quality healthcare to residents, but individual responsibility is crucial. Each of us must take charge of their own health, adopt healthier behaviours, build relationships with our family doctors and proactively manage any chronic diseases. Concurrently, healthcare providers will re-orientate towards preventive care, while the Government sets up systems, programmes and incentives to support healthcare providers in delivering care to residents in the community.
In the future, through the Government's efforts in strengthening preventive care and a shift in residents' health-seeking behaviour, the aim is for all of us to visit a regular family doctor as a first point-of-contact and for ongoing support to holistically manage our own health. Consistent and evidence-based care will be delivered across the diverse primary care landscape, and all of us can take proactive steps to keep to a personalised health plan. Together, all of us, everyone, can play a part in improving our health.
The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu Mahzam.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health (Ms Rahayu Mahzam): Mr Chairman, let me begin with healthcare manpower.
Dr Syed Harun has rightly pointed out that healthcare manpower needs to keep pace with the growing demand for healthcare.
We factor in population needs into the planning of our healthcare manpower. Over the last 10 years, we grew our healthcare manpower by about 40% and increased our local healthcare student intakes at our IHLs by a similar margin, translating to a combined intake of 3,600 healthcare students in 2023. We will continue to grow our healthcare workforce sustainably, while moderating demand through innovative ways of delivering care.
To this end, we will continue to work with public healthcare institutions (PHIs) and the community care sector to attract and retain manpower across the board.
For nurses, we announced the Award for Nurses' Grace, Excellence and Loyalty (ANGEL) scheme last month. This would allow us to improve the attractiveness of the profession and retain the nurses we have.
We are engaging Allied Health Professionals to better understand their needs and to co-create the vision for their professions, with a view to come up with a National Allied Health Strategy. We are working on the PharmForce initiative to look into manpower development, shaping pharmacy practice to meet population needs, promoting wellness and building resilience of our pharmacy workforce and increasing visibility and recognition for the profession.
Operations and support staff play important roles in our public healthcare system. Our healthcare clusters have embarked on job redesign initiatives to enhance the career value proposition and better attract and retain them.
Across the board, PHIs will continue to keep salaries competitive. For example, starting salaries for nurses, allied health professionals and pharmacists were increased by up to 12% in 2023.
We have done the same for the community care sector with the recent salary guidelines to keep salaries competitive and provide greater transparency to jobseekers and workers in the sector. These guidelines will be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are up-to-date. We hope that the guidelines will help attract and retain workers across all job groups, including support staff.
We will continue to provide funding to community care organisations and PHIs to support them in keeping their salaries competitive.
I also stressed the importance of ensuring the well-being of our healthcare workers. I thank Mr Ang Wei Neng and Mr Louis Ng for their concern on workload of junior doctors and rest time for nurses.
We are working with clusters on measures to support the welfare and well-being of healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses. For doctors, this will include clearer work hour guidelines, reviews on work processes to improve efficiency and workload balancing and to enhance support for staff. As the context differs from healthcare institutions, these changes may take time to effect.
On ensuring sufficient rest for nurses, our healthcare clusters no longer actively roster nurses on the PAPA shift pattern. However, this may happen occasionally when there are operational exigencies, such as when there is unplanned absence amongst staff and the ward needs to ensure the appropriate skills mix amongst nurses on duty to ensure patient safety. When this happens, measures are in place to support affected nurses, such as by rostering them on shorter shifts that week and allowing flexibility for swaps.
In 2023, we also exceeded our national target of bringing 4,000 new nurses into our workforce and, with that, we can expect the situation on the ground to improve.
Additionally, we announced our tripartite framework on the prevention of abuse and harassment of healthcare workers and, in the coming year, we will be putting out additional publicity to raise awareness.
I will now talk about our efforts to support Singaporeans to achieve healthier lifestyles.
We have supported Singaporeans in adopting healthier diets and an active lifestyle through various initiatives over the years. For example, we have introduced easy-to-use symbols and labels to help Singaporeans identify healthier products, and ensured access to healthier and affordable ingredients through the Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme. A wide range of physical activities have also been provided island-wide.
We are starting to see positive results from these efforts. The National Nutrition Survey 2022 revealed that average daily sugar intake has decreased and more Singaporeans were meeting the recommended sugar limit. Participation rates in exercise programmes have also increased.
Despite these, we must remain vigilant about other health trends. Based on the National Nutrition Survey, Singaporeans are eating more and 90% have exceeded the recommended daily limit of two grams of sodium. The National Population Health Survey 2022 also showed that the prevalence of obesity has continued to increase, from 8.6% in 2013, to 10.5% in 2020, and 11.6% in 2022.
We can make small shifts to incorporate healthier habits in our lives. Continue to use the suite of user-friendly symbols and labels to make healthier purchases. Plan, monitor and moderate calorie intake using the Meal Log tool on the Healthy 365 app. When dining out, ask for less gravy and sauces and avoid drinking all the soup in soup-based dishes. Access a myriad of physical activities on the Healthy 365 app and participate in those of your liking.
Another health risk is smoking. Mr Gerald Giam asked about a Tobacco Cohort Ban. The idea has been raised by several Members in the past. Our focus is on protecting public health and we do not rule out any measure that would help us achieve that effectively. As Mr Giam pointed out, New Zealand had reversed their initial plans to implement a Tobacco Cohort Ban. A salient point to note here is that New Zealand allows vaping and was prepared for people to switch from smoking to vaping. Similarly, Malaysia recently reversed their decision.
That leaves the UK, and we will monitor closely how they intend to implement the ban. For a Tobacco Cohort Ban to be effective, we need to consider various implementation issues. For example, can someone older buy cigarettes for someone younger who is affected by the ban? If not, how should we go about enforcing? Does the ban apply to tourists?
Mr Giam mentioned that gains from existing measures have diminutive impact. That is not the case. We have made good progress in reducing smoking prevalence in Singapore. Our recent efforts include the Standardised Packaging measures, raising the Minimum Legal Age of smoking to 21 years old and raising tobacco taxes by 15% last year. Cessation support is also strengthened through Healthier SG. These efforts have continued to suppress smoking prevalence and we have achieved an all-time low of 9.2% in 2022. And it is still declining.
Hence, even as we study the feasibility of a Tobacco Cohort Ban, we will continue efforts to reduce smoking prevalence.
As several Members and Singaporeans have raised, the emerging and urgent issue, is vaping. There is a growing body of evidence that e-vaporisers are harmful, as they contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance, that can also harm the developing brains of youths. The cancer-causing chemicals and other toxic substances in e-vaporisers also increase the risk of heart and lung diseases.
To Mr Ang and Dr Wan Rizal's questions, vaping is a multi-faceted issue and requires coordinated whole-of-Government efforts to tackle. MOH, along with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the HPB, take a serious view on vaping. The public can access information on the prohibition of e-vaporisers and its health harms across HSA and HPB's websites. We have worked across Ministries and agencies to step up enforcement and education measures, to protect our population and prevent e-vaporisers from taking hold in Singapore.
Upstream, all sales and advertisements of e-vaporisers are prohibited under the law, in Singapore. Digital platform owners are expected to proactively moderate content by detecting and removing sales and advertisements of e-vaporisers. We will continue to work with the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to engage platform owners.
At the borders, HSA has worked with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on a series of joint operations at Changi Airport, Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints, and will continue to collaborate on a regular basis. In the community, HSA is already working with agencies, such as the National Environment Agency (NEA) and National Parks Board (NParks), which have stepped up, and will continue to step up enforcement checks at public places. In addition, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) continue to refer cases to HSA, when detected in the course of their duties.
In schools and IHLs, MOE continues to take a firm stance against vaping and strengthen detection and enforcement efforts. Schools and IHLs take disciplinary actions against students caught using or possessing e-vaporisers, including suspension, or caning for boys in schools, and refer them to HSA for penalties under the law.
We have also strengthened efforts on the education front to increase awareness about the harms and illegality of vaping. In 2023, HPB launched a vape-free campaign targeted at youths and younger adults. In schools, HPB has shared these messages with close to 90,000 students. Parents, who are important stakeholders in this effort, are also kept up to date on the harms and illegality of vaping through advisories and resources available on Parent Hub.
We will continue to support those who smoke or vape to quit. Cessation programmes are accessible across various settings, including healthcare institutions, workplaces, uniformed services, education institutions and in the community, through initiatives, such as HPB's \"I Quit\" programme and Healthier SG. In 2023, HPB supported 4,700 adults and 2,300 children and youths in their quit journey. I strongly urge all who are smoking or vaping to seek advice from a healthcare professional and quit as soon as possible. Those with family or friends who smoke or vape should also encourage them to lead a nicotine-free lifestyle.
Even while we step up enforcement and education efforts, we will be reviewing the legal penalties to ensure a strong deterrence against vaping and related offences.
Allow me to move on to talk about how we have strengthened targeted support as well.
To Dr Wan Rizal's question, we have kept up the momentum of our efforts to support ethnic minority groups to lead healthier lifestyles. I am encouraged to share that with the strong support from community leaders and organisations, over 40,000 Malay/Muslim residents and over 32,000 Indian residents participated in healthy living programmes encompassing physical activities, health talks and Saham Kesihatan programmes, as well as healthier groceries distribution during the festive periods of Ramadan, Hari Raya and Deepavali, in 2023.
With the roll-out of Healthier SG, in the Indian community, we have also partnered SINDA to set up a Health Task Force, comprising members from private and public healthcare institutions and other health-related organisations. The Health Task Force will strengthen efforts to encourage Healthier SG enrolment among the Indian community to supplement HPB's existing collaborations with the Hindu Endowment Board, Sikh Welfare Association, among other partners. Mr Chairman, please allow me to say a few words in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] In our Malay/Muslim community, we have recently introduced a focus area, which is FA5, \"A Healthy Community for All\". This effort aims to promote healthier lifestyles and empower individuals and groups to organise and scale up community-led initiatives.
One key emphasis of FA5 is encouraging enrolment in Healthier SG in the Malay/Muslim community. For those who are still contemplating whether to enrol or not, I would like to share how Healthier SG can be the next step in your preventive care journey.
Mdm Shamima has been volunteering as a health ambassador since 2011, actively promoting knowledge about health and participating in HPB roadshows. Her fervent desire to motivate others to adopt a healthier lifestyle stemmed from her own transformation through HPB's Lose To Win programme, where she managed to shed about 16 kilogrammes. She has also been actively participating in a variety of physical activities available on the Healthy 365 app, including Zumba, yoga, pilates and kickboxing. You may be wondering how would an active resident, like Mdm Shamima, benefit further from enrolling in Healthier SG?
Mdm Shamima decided to enrol in Healthier SG, in order to gain a better idea of her health, so that she can make the right decisions for herself. Through her first Health Plan consultation with her family doctor, she is now more aware about her food intake and the importance of taking her medication on time, so that she can better manage her sugar levels. Through the regular follow-up consultations scheduled, her family doctor can provide her with guidance and encouragement to lead a healthier lifestyle.
I would like to continue encouraging everyone to step up to take charge of your health, like Mdm Shamima, by enrolling in Healthier SG today.
FA5 will continue efforts to address key health issues in the Malay/Muslim community, such as screening, smoking and mental well-being, as Dr Wan Rizal mentioned. We will adopt a suitable approach for the Malay/Muslim community to achieve a more effective outcome.
(In English): Another dimension of providing targeted support is ensuring affordability, particularly for those who need it more. We thank Members for your questions on how we are doing so.
First, at the earlier Budget debate, Ms Jessica Tan requested clarifications on our means-testing criteria for long-term care subsidies. These subsidies are means-tested using per capita household income (PCHI) and Annual Value (AV) of residence to ensure that subsidies are targeted at those who need it more. While these are not perfect proxies, they are the best available to measure an individual's means and family support, and only a small minority of long-term care clients do not qualify for subsidies because of the AV criterion.
To ensure that those with greater needs receive continued support, the Government recently raised the PCHI and AV thresholds for all means-tested social support schemes and grants. Seniors who face difficulties paying for their long-term care expenses may apply for the discretionary financial assistance.
Second, Dr Tan Wu Meng has made two suggestions on empowering more organisations to assist with MediFund applications and taking a holistic approach to Migrant Domestic Worker Levy Concession applications. We agree with the intent to smoothen help-seeking processes for needy patients. This is why, today, Singaporeans identified by Social Service Offices to receive ComCare assistance automatically receive MediFund assistance at approved healthcare institutions. We have recently introduced guidelines to institutions to allow mutual recognition of MediFund assessments for more types of circumstances.
On the ground, institutions have also put in place patient-centric processes and leverage IT platforms to smoothen the application process. While tapping on other organisations could improve convenience of applying MediFund for some patients, it introduces an additional layer in the process and, therefore, needs to be studied further to avoid lengthening the application process inadvertently.
As for the Migrant Domestic Worker Levy Concession, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) remain a relevant basis for purposes of assessing these applications. Frail patients with multiple conditions, or those at end-of-life, tend to require some assistance with at least one ADL and would qualify for the concession. Exceptions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. We will continue to review the adequacy of financing schemes to support caregivers and their seniors.
Regarding the case raised by Dr Tan, Dr Tan would be aware of the correspondences together by the AIC and Ms See. There was a positive outcome after she was re-engaged by AIC. Unfortunately, there was an earlier miscommunication where AIC was led to believe that Ms See's cousin was the employer of the migrant domestic worker when it was, in fact, Ms See. She eventually qualified for and received the concession and Home Caregiving Grant, both backdated to when she qualified.
Third, to Mr Gerald Giam's question, we support the needs of persons with disabilities (PwDs) and persons with special needs through various financing schemes, including subsidies, national insurance schemes, MediSave, grants and safety nets, such as MediFund. We have recently enhanced some of these schemes. For example, in 2023, the payouts under the Home Caregiving Grant were increased, from $200, to up to $400 per month to further reduce caregiving costs. In general, healthcare subsidies are not based on specific conditions and are instead tiered based on income level, to target those who need more help.
Fourth, to Mr Ong Hua Han's question on the support for patients with spinal muscular atrophy, there are a few treatments available currently, including drugs and a CTGTP. We are reviewing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of these treatments and are engaging pharmaceutical companies to achieve reasonable prices. As the Minister mentioned, the MediShield Life Council is considering extending coverage to eligible CTGTPs and studying the safeguards needed to ensure that any such extension is sustainable. In the interim, those who face concerns may apply for discretionary funding support through MediFund or the Rare Disease Fund.
Lastly, a few Members have also asked about the support that is provided for those who are planning for a family. There are a few considerations that guide our approach in designing the financing schemes to better support this group of Singaporeans. These include clinical safety and effectiveness of fertility tests and treatments, ensuring affordability for those who need it and keeping our financing schemes sustainable.
We have answered Mr Louis Ng's question on support for fertility screening previously. Fertility tests are offered to couples who are medically indicated as there is currently no evidence to support the need for early fertility checks for the general population. At our public specialist outpatient clinics, these couples can enjoy subsidies of up to 70% for their fertility tests. Those who face financial difficulties can also apply for MediFund for assistance. This offers more targeted support for those with needs, while safeguarding MediSave to ensure it remains adequate for other needs and keeping Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rates reasonable for all.
Co-funding also applies to those who are undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) at public assisted reproduction centres. These public centres currently have sufficient capacity, with utilisation rates of about 61%. Currently, you can get an appointment at our public assisted reproduction centres for a first consult within a week, if you are open to seeing any of our IVF specialists.
To Mr Louis Ng's suggestion, we do not advise couples to switch providers after failed IVF cycles as it breaks the doctor-patient relationship, and may result in additional cost and time from repeated investigations and assessments. The outcomes of IVF treatments at private and public assisted reproduction centres are also comparable. Nonetheless, we recognise that some couples may prefer seeking treatment at private centres and are reviewing whether to extend co-funding to these settings.
To Ms Hazel Poa's ask for financial support for egg freezing, married women will be able to tap on co-funding and their MediSave when using their frozen eggs for assisted reproduction treatment. This is to support couples who have decided to have a child, but may face challenges in conceiving.
We recognise the desire for women to freeze their eggs when they are young. It is a pre-emptive step, perhaps not different from buying private insurance. Providing financial support for it will be quite unprecedented in healthcare policy. We think it is better to focus our resources to directly help couples who are trying to conceive and who face difficulties.
Mr Chairman, I have shared about broad efforts to support Singaporeans in adopting healthier lifestyles. I have also shared about the targeted support for the ethnic minority groups and ensuring affordability for those who need it more, so that all Singaporeans can achieve better health and access care that they need.
Our efforts can only succeed with the strong participation of Singaporeans and support from families and the community. We are heartened that many have stepped up and made choices to lead a healthier lifestyle today, such as those who have enrolled in Healthier SG, made the switch to healthier eating, participated in healthy programmes and activities. Let us choose better health for ourselves and our loved ones today.
The Chairman: We have time for clarifications. Mr Pritam Singh.
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you, Chairman. A question to the Minister on my cut. Emergencies can be defined by the patient and the medical professional differently depending on the sort of pain you are in. And to that end, the Minister shared that about 40% of cases at Accidents and Emergencies (A&Es) are not emergency cases. I would like to enquire whether that has been a stable number over the years because, if it has been, then it may be helpful to consider some sort of dynamic information to be shared with walk-in patients, because it will help them get attended to more quickly and also for the health workers and health staff in hospitals who may not be overloaded if these potential patients go to a hospital which is less crowded.
The second question pertains to my cut with regard to providing information beyond just the median vis-à-vis bed utilisation, and whether it can also be extended to bed utilisation at the 75th and 90th percentiles.
I have a final query on overstayers. Is this a significant problem in the hospitals? It would be helpful if the Minister could share some information on overstayers and whether there could be better coordination between medical social workers and the consultants and overseeing doctors, so that this problem can be abated somewhat.
The Chairman: Minister Ong.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The definition of \"urgent care\" is actually standardised and practised. We have a nomenclature P1, P2 which are considered urgent; P3 onwards not so urgent and it goes up. So, therefore, this is based on a standard definition, and so P3 and above is 40%. I do not have the number on whether it is stable. I am hoping it has come down over time. But we had a pandemic in between. So, even if it is tracked over time, it may not be representative. But we are doing what we can educating the public, having UCCs, having GPFirst programme to reduce this number.
So, our concerns still stand, that the worry is that with dynamic information, we are encouraging more P3s, non-urgent, from coming to EDs. Sometimes, when the ED has a breather, maybe we should just let the doctors and nurses have a breather. So, we remain to have a concern. But as I said, we are not rejecting the suggestion, but we always had this concern.
As for bed waiting time beyond median, whether we can indicate 75th, 90th percentile, the issue remains this: that if there is urgent care needed, it will be given almost immediately, without delay, at the ED if possible. But I take Mr Singh's point that it is not the most comfortable place. The lights are on. There is a trolley bed, but it is not a proper ward. So, we will have to prioritise. Those who need urgent care in the ward, we will give them immediately. So, it is not just a matter of waiting time. The urgency and the clinical needs of the patient play a big part as well.
On overstayers, actually I have addressed that question. We used to have about 300 overstayers at any point in time. It has come down to 200, but there is still room for improvement.
The Chairman: Dr Lim Wee Kiak.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Sir, I have two clarifications.
First is on day surgery. We know that day surgery lowers the cost, as compared to an in-hospital stay, if they undergo some form of surgery. Would MOH be willing to explore to see how to expand day surgery, to change it to an outpatient surgery model instead? Which means that they do not have that 24-hour limit that is currently in place now. If we can extend it to 36 hours or 72 hours, that will actually allow us to have a bigger range of procedures to be done as day surgery. And day surgery really cuts costs. I think that is proven for a long time already.
The second supplementary question is on healthcare cost. We are concerned with healthcare cost increases because the total household medical expenditure will go up, whether it is premium from insurance, whether it is their MediSave or whether it is out of pocket, because out of all these three, these three will continue to go up. Our current private healthcare insurance premium now in Singapore is the third highest in the world. We are just after the US and Hong Kong. I hope that we will not climb further and overtake Hong Kong.
I understand that MediShield Life premium is under review now. It will go up. I would like to ask the Minister when the review will be completed, when this increase in premium will be announced and whether this increase in premium will also lead to other private insurance premiums to go up as well. Private insurance premium has gone up by about 20% per year and this is not a sustainable rate in my opinion.
Then last of all, for MediSave, it is still our money. MediSave uses have been expanded a lot now, including hospitalisation, clinic uses now, health screening cost. Is the current MediSave amount that we have now sufficient in consideration of an ageing population, as well as increased lifespan?
The Chairman: Minister Ong.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: I fully agree with Dr Lim on the importance of day surgery. Our public health institutions have been trying to convert as many surgeries as possible to day surgery and, like the Member mentioned, outpatient surgery if possible. We will continue to do that.
I mentioned length of stay increased pre- and post-pandemic, six to seven days. Without our push to convert many surgeries to day surgeries or even shortened stays, the impact actually would have been far worse. But we managed to contain it to six to seven days. Even that, as I mentioned, is a 15% increase in workload. And we will continue to work on this front.
First, on MediSave. The uses of MediSave have expanded. Is it currently enough? We did a study recently. As of now, we think it is quite adequate. But we will continue to monitor the situation, especially if we cannot contain the rise in premiums. Then, I think the drain on MediSave will be quite significant. But it is something we will have to monitor.
Dr Lim asked a couple of questions on MediShield Life, private insurance as well as premium. Let me put it straight. What I just announced and talked about is to reduce healthcare cost. Healthcare cost is increased not just because of insurance premium. It has an impact mostly because hospital bills, especially for significant episodes, are getting larger and increasing year by year. Therefore, if we want to control healthcare costs for the families, we need to raise claims limits. That is the whole purpose of this exercise. Increase the claim limits of MediShield Life, which means it is for subsidised patients when they have a major healthcare episode. Increase the claim limits, so that healthcare cost for them is manageable. Of course, this comes with an impact on MediShield Life premiums. But as I mentioned, we will try our best to help them pay for it through their MediSave. And I mentioned a few things that we can do: increase subsidies, do top-ups for specific groups if possible, find ways so that we can all manage. And I think this is a better way to manage healthcare costs.
The Member mentioned private premiums. These are private and commercially run insurance premiums and they have been going up. I am unaware that we have the third highest premiums in the world. I think we have to be comparing apples to apples, oranges to oranges, because it depends on what kind of insurance plans are they. What do they cover? Apply to which group? I am not aware, but we can take a look. But I do have to say, as I mentioned, with some frustration in my speech just now, despite rising premiums, I still see insurance companies competing for market share, offering terms that are obviously unsustainable. And I really hope that, at some point, they will rein this in and exercise more discipline so that we also moderate private insurance premiums.
The Chairman: Mr Gerald Giam.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Thank you, Sir. My clarifications are for Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu.
I am glad to hear that the Government does not rule out a generational smoking ban. Can I ask whether the Government is actively moving forward on this plan and what is the timeline it is looking at? For the sake of the health of our future generations, I hope that we can move faster and be an early mover on this and not wait for other countries.
Secondly, on healthcare subsidies for PwDs, I note the Senior Parliamentary Secretary said that healthcare subsidies are not based on specific categories of people, but are tiered according to income.
But first, does the Senior Parliamentary Secretary agree that this is not the case for the Pioneer and Merdeka Generation who get additional subsidies regardless of their income status? So, can this be applied as well to PwDs? And second, does healthcare means-testing always take into account the many other expenses that PwDs incur for their daily living, which will lower their ability to pay for healthcare regardless of their family income?
Ms Rahayu Mahzam: I thank the Member for the questions.
Firstly, on the issue of the tobacco cohort ban, I would just like to clarify again, as I have mentioned in my speech, that it is not as though nothing is being done at this juncture or there are no improvements or efforts with regard to our efforts against tobacco. As you can see from the results and the outcomes, we are doing quite well as compared to other places. In deciding what are some of the measures and approaches that we take, we really have to look at things in totality.
We take a multi-pronged approach. We looked at taxes, we looked at standardised packaging, we increased the minimum legal age; and this has actually to a large extent, shown very good results. On the other hand, as we are assessing the tobacco cohort ban, we are looking at the outcomes in other places and it may not necessarily generate the same outcome that we want.
So, I think it will take some time for us to assess whether there are other measures that are going to change this. And on that front, there are some more salient points or more imperative issues that we need to deal with, with regard to vaping for example. So, we do need to focus our energies in dealing with some of those emergent issues.
Your second question related to the support for the PwDs, I appreciate the point and I can understand. In fact, this is something I also raised with other Ministries, in terms of support for PwDs. We do really have to look at appropriate circumstances. At the moment, a lot of the support that we have given, we have looked at enhancing as it goes along.
And I can say, as a general principle, if there are specific issues of families who need help, we have our tiered-support system where they can definitely get the help they need. Having said that, I think this is something that we will continue to look at and see, where appropriate, we can continue to enhance.
The Chairman: Mr Ang Wei Neng.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast): Thank you, Chairman. I have a clarification for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu on vaping.
Could Senior Parliamentary Secretary share, how many cases of feedback that the HSA received from the public, from the police and from the CNB respectively in 2023? And can she share, what is the size of the enforcement team at HSA and what is your assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement action by HSA? These are the questions I have asked in my cuts.
The Chairman: Minister Ong.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: I do not have the numbers with me, but you are right, vaping is a problem. And more and more people, especially the young, are vaping. Vaping companies target the young. And it is not just us, it is around the world.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu explained a holistic way of tackling the problem. How big is the HSA team? HSA is, largely, a scientific organisation. We can collaborate with the ICA to do enforcement at the border; but we rely on NEA, on NParks Board and other agencies, to help us enforce this. So, I think if our enforcement officers can multi-task and I think we can mount a fairly effective enforcement against vaping.
The Chairman: Mr Ong Hua Han.
Mr Ong Hua Han (Nominated Member): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu for addressing my cut. She mentioned CTGTP as a treatment option for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients. While I appreciate that this may be true, to my understanding, it benefits young children rather than adults. Risdiplam seems to be the way to go for adults with SMA. May I ask, in MOH's discussion with pharmaceutical companies, whether they could make subsidising risdiplam a high-priority topic? I do not mean to press MOH on this, but SMA patients are really keen on this treatment which works to preserve their quality of life.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam: With regard to the Member's question, I note his point and actually beyond just the CTGTP, we are also looking at the effectiveness of treatments that are not in that field. I take the Member's point, and I think this is something we can consider and look at, as we are engaging with the pharmaceutical companies.
The Chairman: Ms Ng Ling Ling.
Ms Ng Ling Ling: For the Second Minister for Health, Minister Masagos; and two questions for Minister Ong. I am really very glad about the expansions of AACs. I wanted to ask, in the selection for the social service agency or the operator for the new AAC, will the Ministry or AIC put more considerations on existing agencies who are already operating existing AAC in the constituency? Because many times, they have already built very good relationships with the grassroots organisations and it is very important for local collaborations as more AACs emerge in the constituency.
The two questions for Minister Ong are: firstly, on the MIC@Home going to become a mainstream care option. I think it is good news, but the move from its pilot state to mainstream is relatively faster than a lot of the healthcare pilots that we know about. I wanted to ask, how will the quality of care and patient safety be monitored and assured as this option begins to scale-up nationwide, especially if there are situations of disputes and responsibility of roles between the families and the care team?
My final question is on the MediShield Life review that is upcoming and the premium that may be adjusted. One of the objectives for Healthier SG when it was first announced, was to blunt the healthcare cost increases that we are seeing internationally as well as in Singapore. But Healthier SG is in its very early phases; and I wanted to ask, how would the Council for the review take into consideration of the cost-blunting effect of Healthier SG in the review that is coming up?
The Chairman: Second Minister Masagos.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: To the Member's query, yes, we will consider directly appointing providers who already have an established local presence. And of course, they must have a good track record in engaging or serving residents living in the area among other criteria that will be considered.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: How to ensure quality of care of MIC@Home is maintained? Do it progressively. Do not be too ambitious and jump to a level that you cannot cope, where doctors and nurses cannot cope. Which is why I explained, from 100 to 300 institutions; feel this is something they can cope and they can maintain the quality. And also select the right patients. Not all patients are suitable for MIC@Home.
As for MediShield Life review, how to take into account the blunting effect of Healthier SG, I think it is too early. Healthier SG just started July last year. We are not even one year and this is really a long-term strategy. Hopefully, towards the end of this decade, we can see a blunting or bending of the cost curve as we call it. And at that point in time, of course, we will then take that effect into account as we conduct further reviews of the MediShield Life scheme.
The Chairman: Ms Hazel Poa.
Ms Hazel Poa (Non-Constituency Member): I have two clarifications.
As the Minister has pointed out, healthcare costs have risen. So, are there plans to revise the MediSave withdrawal limits? Will the Minister consider annual adjustments pegged to healthcare inflation similar to the way the basic retirement sum is reviewed?
Secondly, on the subsidy for egg freezing, I believe Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu mentioned just now that it would be unprecedented. If I heard her correctly, I would just like to clarify that this is already being done in countries, like South Korea, Japan, Australia and France.
The Chairman: Minister Ong.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: MediShield Life limits withdrawal, I assume you meant for outpatient. For outpatient, we review it from time to time and we have been adjusting over the years. But as for MediSave limits that you can withdraw for big hospital bills, I think there needs to be corresponding adjustments. As claim limits goes up for MediShield Life, whatever that is remaining, you want to make sure that MediSave can also cover them. So, there will be a corresponding review as we increase MediShield Life limits.
The Chairman: Ms Carrie Tan. Sorry, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu, you wanted to add something?
Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Thank you, I thank the Member for the question. It is unprecedented with regard to our health policy. While we note that this is something that is being done elsewhere, we are monitoring. The effectiveness of elective egg freezing is not really something that has been proven. We are looking at the data from abroad and we see that the take-up rate from overseas is also very low.
Also, even if it is taken up, there is also evidence that suggests that the outcomes necessarily may not be very good. So, these are some of the considerations that we take into account. But when I meant unprecedented, it is unprecedented within our healthcare policy.
The Chairman: Ms Carrie Tan.
Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon): Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to address my clarification and query to Minister Ong. I think the MIC@Home seems to be very progressive and very promising. I am also glad that Second Minister Masagos announced that there will be enhancements to the caregiver training grants, as well as the SkillsFuture credits for caregivers who receive training.
I echo Ms Ng Ling Ling's query on what exactly does this MIC@Home look like from the caregiver's perspective; and whether the Government will consider that for those families where family members have to involuntarily give up employment to assume caregiving duties at home, given that it is skill-intensive and helps to supplement the formal health care system, whether care fare can be considered as an income supplement? I have met residents who say even though the family receives home caregiving grants, they do not feel like they can take that money from their elderly parents because there is a grant given to the care recipient.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: When we decide to mainstream MIC@Home, we are really approaching it from a clinical angle, which is, we think we are confident enough – by our hospitals – to set up the right equipment, train the caregivers and able to support the patient to recover at home. That is from a clinical angle.
But I think Ms Carrie Tan is coming from a different perspective, which is about home care grant and how to support a caregiver who may have to give up their employment and their job. Second Minister Masagos addressed some of these. I think it is something we have to review to see how best we can support caregivers, not just financially, but also in terms of their caregiving duties; giving them respite care services; proper training. These are all things that we will continue to review and as described by the Second Minister.
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): I would just like to pick up on the point the Minister shared about the 40% of ED cases being non-critical. Of course, to be fair, I recognise that such behaviour is not unique to Singapore. In the US, ERs are often also flooded by overuse, albeit with different reasons that have to do with the uninsured. My suggestion for expanding UCCs is, therefore, I think, both complementary but distinct to the question of capacity in general.
My first question then is, if MOH agrees that UCCs can indeed be a complementary part of the secondary-care landscape, how do we increase their take-up? What sort of incentives or educational efforts can MOH provide to non-urgent cases to choose to access UCCs instead of our EDs?
My second question relates to his point about the doctor-to-population ratio. He shared that Japan has a comparable ratio in the face of a large elderly population. But I would venture that European countries, which he mentioned, are in fact better-prepared in terms of medical staffing for their super-aged societies. On that, I wonder if MOH will consider increasing the number of medical schools that it recognises from foreign countries. After all, as he said, the competition for talent is global and so, it seems unnecessary for us to further hamstring our efforts to recruit from abroad.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: I do not think we should describe as, whether MOH agrees that UCCs are useful. We came up with UCCs. In fact, the first one that started was in Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and over the years, it greatly helped Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's ED, helped them manage their ED load and it has proven to be useful. And as I mentioned, if need be, if we need to set up more UCCs – this is a proven model – we will consider doing so.
But there are competing models. GPFirst in the east has also worked quite well. So, between the two, either or, I think we should consider them.
As for doctor-to-population ratio, I explained to some extent in my speech, the European doctor-to-population ratio is somehow just higher than the rest of the world. Even in Asia, comparing developed economies, we are more or less about the same level. I do not know what is the reason, some say it is the legacy of the welfare state, others say they did not plan for manpower. But when you look at individual European countries, it is not that pretty a picture.
The Dutch, for example, they have stopped using nursing homes because there are not enough medical personnel nor doctors to man them. So, today, if you are an old person in Holland, in Netherlands, the default care model is actually home care with a lay person, maybe a nurse, maybe an allied professional visiting you twice or three times a day. That is what they have resorted to.
Germany, the doctors there told me they are in dire straits. Across the states, the hospitals are not efficiently configured and that is what they told me and therefore they are also, despite having more doctors, not delivering the healthcare that the people need.
So, as I mentioned, it is just one number. It is not a numbers game. Where they are trained and what kind of specialty, how the entire system is run, whether the insurance system of that country or the welfare system is creating oversupply, all these play a part. So we take all these into consideration as we manage our healthcare challenge.
As to our own doctor-to-population ratio, it has been increasing. Ten years ago, it was about 2.0, today it is 2.6. So, moving forward, there is some room for three local medical schools to take in slightly more perhaps. There is possibility of having more overseas-trained Singaporean doctors returning, all these we have to consider. Our ratio has been increasing, we are ageing, most likely we will increase further. But I would just caution the European model may not be the model that we want to emulate fully.
The Chairman: Mr Yip Hon Weng.
Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you. My clarifications are for the Second Minister. I am heartened to hear that there are many initiatives to help our seniors age well in the community. I have two clarifications. First is on the National Silver Academy (NSA), which offers many useful courses for learning for seniors. However, awareness of the courses and training are still quite spotty on the ground. So, how can we improve awareness and take-up rate amongst our seniors for these courses?
Second, I am glad to note that the waiting time for nursing homes is about one month. Minister mentioned that there are interim care options for those who are on the waitlist. Can he share what are these options and how can caregivers get access to these options?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I would like to say that the courses run by the NSA is doing very well. In fact, 100,000 places were taken up in FY2020 and it has doubled in 2023. The agency, or the body, that runs and takes care of this programme is the Council for Third Age and we will work with them, as suggested by the Member, to increase even more awareness about the programmes. They will do this through the usual publicity channels like social media, roadshows, community touchpoints, partnership events. For example, even the annual National Celebration of Seniors events will be one marquee event, where they will be present and to bring up the awareness of the availability of all these programmes that our seniors can meet their aspirations and their interests.
On the waiting time for nursing home, while waiting for placement at nursing home, there are ways which we can help our patients – particularly those, for example, who are medically stable in our public hospitals. They can be referred to the transitional care facilities. There, they can work out the longer-term arrangements while waiting for a nursing home to be available if they are not. There is one touchpoint in every hospital, which is the AIC Link. In nine hospitals, they are available and I hope that residents or caregivers of these patients can go and meet up with the staff at these centres, where they can provide both plans for short-term post discharge, as well as the longer-term needs of their parents or the people they are caring for.
The Chairman: Dr Syed Harun.
Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi (Nominated Member): Thank you, Chairman. I have two clarifications, mainly towards Minister.
The first is regarding MIC@Home. Heartened to see that safety as well as outcomes are comparable as it stands today, but Minister also mentioned that in terms of pricing, it is expected to be the same or less. I am just wondering whether, at least in my mind, should it not be less pricing in absolute terms, given that the care is based now at home and auxiliary services, such as the bed, change in linen, meals, utilities would be much less. I appreciate there are other costs, but I wonder whether the Minister could clarify that.
The second is on the planned increase for COMIT as well as CREST. I would like to ask the Ministry whether they would consider increasing the number in greater proportions, given that the emphasis on mental health will be towards the community. I think a greater increase of COMIT and CREST teams would give some confidence to our GPs on the ground, in terms of dealing with mental health issues in the community.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: I will ask Senior Minister of State to comment on COMIT and CREST. As for MIC@Home, I agree with you. I think even as a policy of pricing, you want to price it at a gradient so that patients get a strong signal. MIC@Home, I pay less; plus I have S+3M, hospital bill will be less. So our public health institutions take this to heart, they understand and I think they are prepared to do so. But I wrote a careful statement that the price will be equal or less, so to give them some room.
Dr Janil Puthucheary: I thank Dr Syed Harun for his question on the CREST and COMIT teams. I agree with the sentiment that we need to make sure that our primary care practitioners and the whole community of community care practitioners is adequately supported. We have not yet achieved the increase that we are planning for, so we are increasing the teams.
What we do not really know is what the behaviour of patients and residents, people who are concerned about mental health behaviour; how that will change over the next 10 to 15 years as we are increasing our CREST and COMIT teams. We have put these plans in place. I think we need to ramp up the support available for the private and public sector practitioners in the community space, increase the number of teams, the capability of the teams that we have. But how that goes and how that matches with health-seeking behaviour, the worried well, the people who need interventions, people who have been in institutional care, who now need to come into the community; these are things that we will be monitoring and watching very closely through the NMHO and working with our partners and then assessing whether we have the right level of support. So, I agree with the sentiment, but I think it is a little bit too early to say now what we will be doing in 2030. We get going with our current plans first.
The Chairman: I do not see any more hands. Eleven Members raised their clarifications. Your clarifications were concise and so, too, were the responses. So, can I invite Dr Tan if you would like to draw your amendment?
Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Mr Chairman, I want to thank all who contributed to the COS debate, our MOH leadership and office holders and our Members of Parliament, our Members of Parliament who spoke as well. Deepest thanks to our entire healthcare family as well, our healthcare workers; our sisters and brothers, who care for patients and residents in the community; our public officers, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes looking after Singaporeans, in sickness and in health. Mr Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $17,400,129,600 for Head O ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $1,374,852,500 for Head O ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply – Head I (Ministry of Social and Family Development)","subTitle":"Building a caring and inclusive society together","sectionType":"OS","content":"The Chairman: Head I, Ministry of Social and Family Development. Mr Melvin Yong.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): Chairman, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100\".
In my Budget debate speech, I spoke about how this term of Government will see the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF's) budget increase by about 18%, from $3.9 billion in FY2020, to an estimated $4.6 billion in FY2024. Why is this significant? Singapore's economic structure is now closer to that of a mature economy. Resource constraints are starting to bite. It, therefore, speaks volumes about the caring nature of the People's Action Party (PAP) Government that, despite harder-to-achieve growth, significant additional resources have been provided consistently to MSF – to build strong families, foster a caring society and build resilience among Singaporeans.
MSF has done much with the additional resources provided. We have enhanced the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant and the Government CDA co-matching. We have expanded ComLink nationwide to cover 14,000 families with children living in rental housing to sustain social mobility. And we have expanded KidSTART, which provides support in the development of children from low-income families up to age six.
MSF, indeed, has its work cut out. In the past, Singaporeans could progress up the socio-economic ladder by working hard. Today, economic growth is modest and climbing the social mobility ladder has become more challenging.
The Forward Singapore (Forward SG) report found that rising inequality and slowing social mobility could fracture social cohesion. We must prevent this from happening. How does MSF intend to tackle social mobility challenges, so that we can continue to foster a society where no one is left behind? How will MSF improve its suite of assistance schemes, beyond adjusting for inflation, so that they remain adequate in helping lower-income families?
ComLink is a good programme, but we need to move beyond assistance to empowerment. We need to address service gaps brought about by siloed programmes and move from being programme-centric to be more client-centric. Can MSF share more information about how will the new ComLink+ better support lower-income families in their efforts towards improving their life outcomes and building a better future for themselves? How can we incentivise lower-income families to take on careers that have a long-term wage growth trajectory, rather than defaulting to gig work?
The success of ComLink can be attributed to the many men and women who work tirelessly behind the scenes to bring comfort, support and hope to those facing difficult circumstances. Our social workers are the backbone of our community, providing essential services to those who are struggling with poverty, homelessness, abuse, mental health issues and more. It takes a special kind of person to do this demanding and often emotionally draining work and I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all our social workers out there in the frontline. Thank you very much for the work that you do.
Beyond assistance programmes, we must continue to promote active volunteerism and generous giving. Members here would know of countless dedicated grassroots volunteers who work hard, delivering food and daily essentials to seniors, serving as befrienders and giving to local social assistance programmes.
As the Chinese saying goes, \"有钱出钱, 有力出力\". Loosely translated, it means that, \"we can all contribute in ways that we can, be it in terms of time, talent or treasures\". In this regard, corporate donors and patrons also play important roles in volunteerism. They provide the valuable resources, fundings that enable volunteers to deliver aid to vulnerable families. We can do more to deepen philanthropy by corporates.
According to various surveys conducted throughout the years, volunteerism rates in Singapore has gone through ups and downs. Some 20 years ago, less than 10% of Singaporeans volunteered. Volunteerism rates peaked in 2016 at 35%, before coming down to about 22% in 2023. What is the MSF's plan to encourage all segments of society to play their part in building a kinder, more generous Singapore?
The Forward SG report found that Singaporeans want a resilient and united Singapore. As we forge our shared future together, we must strengthen our social compact, so that we can ride through the inevitable challenges that will come our way, challenges that can impact, threaten our unity. Together with the 4G team, I am confident that we can continue to make Singapore our best home for our children and our children's children.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: Chairman, I have spoken in this House on numerous occasions on how families are the bedrock of our society. Families are our first lines of support, providing us love, care and refuge when we need them the most.
How does MSF intend to expand the Families for Life Movement and galvanise whole-of-society effort towards strengthening families in Singapore? In addition to providing marriage and parenting resources for families, we can do more to promote marriage and reduce divorces. What is the take-up rate for the free marital counselling offered by our Family Service Centres (FSCs)? Can we improve access to such counselling, by offering them, for example, at every community centre?
Every year, the Families for Life Council, Registry of Marriages (ROM) and Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM) jointly organise a Golden Jubilee Wedding Celebration event, for couples celebrating at least 50 years of marriage. This is a great event to celebrate marriages. Can we organise more of such events to celebrate periodic marriage milestones, such as 10 years, 20 years, 30 years?
For our most vulnerable families, FSCs play a critical role in helping them deal with social and emotional issues. The work that our social work practitioners do at the FSC often goes unseen, but they are vital, nonetheless. What are MSF's plans to enhance the FSCs, so that they can better support the vulnerable families in our community?
Ms Hazel Poa (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Chairman, restorative justice is a process of healing from the harm caused by another person's actions. This process brings together everyone who were affected to dialogue, problem solve and rebuild their lives and relationships. Based on the premise that every individual has worth and needs to be regarded with dignity, it aims to establish social equality in relationships.
When spousal violence happens, it violates the intimate relationship, resulting in harm to self and others. Counselling for spousal violence normally involves the spouses. But spousal violence does not affect the spouses alone. It also has negative impact on the well-being of the children and other family members. Therefore, there is a need to address spousal violence in the context of needs of affected parties arising from the violence and to identify the obligations required by the different stakeholders to address the issue. The restorative justice approach, therefore, involves children and other family members in the counselling process.
Restorative justice seeks to restore victims, perpetrators, and families by addressing the harm caused by violence and seeking accountability and support to foster healing.
Numerous countries have adopted restorative approaches, including Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, New Zealand, Norway, United States (US) and Japan. I understand that in Singapore this approach is also adopted with respect to juvenile offenders.
Is the restorative justice process currently adopted in counselling sessions involving cases of spousal violence? If not, would the Minister consider offering this as an option?
Ms Ng Ling Ling (Ang Mo Kio): Chairman, as we work towards fostering a family-friendly Singapore, it is important to leverage a whole-of-society approach to nurture and strengthen our family support systems. One of the key themes in the Forward SG conversation and Budget 2024 is also about doing more to help support families through every stage of life.
I know that the Family for Life movement led by MSF is yielding promising results in activating a supportive community environment for family bonding. I am also glad to know that the Family for Life at Community will be expanded to 24 towns nationwide by 2025.
A holistic approach is indeed crucial to strengthen family resilience, especially in the early marriages stage, as statistics show that Singapore has the highest proportion of divorces occurring in the first five to 10 years of marriage. At the same time, we also need to be inclusive of different family structures, such as single-parent families, blended families and families with special needs.
In this regard, I would like to ask how MSF will tailor the Family for Life initiative to also cater for the unique challenges of these different family structures.
The Chairman: Mr Keith Chua.
Mr Keith Chua (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, I am so appreciative and thankful for the many individuals who have given their best to work in the social service sector. For over 30 years, I have engaged with the many who serve with passion and dedication. In the spectrum of services, the work is often very challenging.
The needs of today as we embark on our new social compact will require additional people with commitment, care and compassion.
We also need to take care of those already serving in the social services whether in their early, mid or late career stages. Remuneration needs to keep pace with other sectors. Career progression, recognising and acknowledging talent will contribute to ensuring everyone can give their best.
May I ask the Minister how well we are doing in bringing in fresh graduates, social work professionals and also mid-career entrants into our social services? May I also ask how successful we are in retaining talent in this vital sector?
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: Chairman, I am happy to learn that children enrolled in Government-supported preschools will enjoy lower fees from 2025. Lower-income families with non-working mothers will also receive higher preschool subsidies, on par with subsidies enjoyed by working mothers.
MSF has done much to improve accessibility of preschools. In this term of Government, monthly fees for anchor operators would have come down significantly from $800 in 2019 to $640 in 2025, before Goods and Services Tax (GST). This is a welcome move for young couples, who are often financially sandwiched, as they care for their children and elderly parents.
One segment that I am particularly concerned about are children from lower-income households. According to MSF, the 2021 preschool participation rate of Singaporean children aged three to four years residing in public rental flats was about 80%, lower than the national average of about 88%. Can MSF update whether we have narrowed this gap? Beyond financial subsidies, what are MSF's plans to work with the community and social service agencies to support lower-income families in enrolling their children in preschool?
The demands on our early childhood educators continue to be challenging. Can MSF provide an update on the number of preschool teachers recruited in the past three years? Have we seen an increase, or has attrition outpaced recruitment? How does MSF intend to improve the working conditions of early childhood educators, step up recruitment and training of new educators, and reduce attrition? A quality early childhood sector must be underpinned by quality educators.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Sir, parents who are engaged in shift work often require childminding support outside of childcare centres' operating hours, which are typically from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm. Many of these parents are from the lower-income groups, for whom shift work is more common. The Forward SG report said that childminding service options will be expanded.
Could the Minister share further updates on this programme, including how many families have benefited from it so far? Can MSF look into subsidising wages for childminders in order to attract more to join the scheme? In order to scale up the service to benefit more parents, could MSF take the lead to roll out this programme nationwide? What are the current efforts in promoting this service to parents, and can it be integrated into KidSTART, ComLink and other related programmes for the low-income?
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: Chairman, I was dismayed to hear that Singapore's total fertility rate (TFR) fell to a historic low of 0.97 in 2023. We must do all we can to alleviate the anxieties and worries that couples face, when considering whether to have children.
The availability of infant care has been a perennial issue for young couples. Can MSF provide an update on the current supply of infant care in Singapore? How does MSF plan to grow affordable, safe, and reliable infant childminding services as a further option for young parents?
Infant care services at institutional Anchor and Partner Operators are currently subsidised by the Government. Can MSF consider extending similar subsidies to those providing home-based infant care to bring the costs to parents comparable to out-of-pocket expense for infant care at Anchor Operators? Can we consider allowing parents to tap on the CDA to further defray cost?
Beyond affordability, we need to ensure the quality of home-based infant care. Will MSF be mandating certain requirements for the childminders and operators, such as care ratio, mandatory training and background checks on childminders? Will there be a requirement for home-based childminders to report incidents involving infants under their care?
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) currently has a Household Services Scheme (HSS) that allows companies to recruit migrant workers for basic childminding. This scheme excludes infant care. Will MSF consider extending the HSS to include infant care so as to supplement supply?
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): There is vast literature on the importance of early childhood education. The economic case for doing so is compelling; the reason is straightforward, as Nobel Prize-winning economist Jim Heckman explained. Early childhood development entails building the necessary foundation for all subsequent human capital development. Without solid roots deeply planted, one's ability to absorb anything else that follows becomes compromised.
Hence, the returns to human capital investment tend to be highest during early childhood. These investments include engaged, supporting parents and teachers, learning cognitive and language skills, promoting social engagements and interactions, as well as improved health and nutrition.
The need to promote such investments almost certainly informed the decision to create the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in 2013.
But despite its clear importance and the fact that returns are the highest in these early stages, the costs of sending a child for early childhood education are still higher on average than sending them to higher levels, like primary and secondary school. This is well known to Singaporeans. Many parents look forward to the day when they can finally send their kids to primary school, where fees drop to just $13 a month, compared to hundreds of dollars, especially in the earliest years.
But to be clear, there are a slate of subsidies available which alter this calculus. If you are a working mother, and if you earn a lower income, the total amount of subsidies available may be sufficient to fully offset fees. If your child were to attend a typical childcare or kindergarten, there are also special dispensations for higher subsidy support, such as those under ComCare assistance, or if they are non-parent caregivers supporting the child, or if a parent becomes incarcerated.
But there are still families who fall through the cracks. If a couple decides that the mother would not work, perhaps because they wish to spend more time on homemaking, or because the economics no longer works out when they have a sufficiently large number of children, then fees can quickly become burdensome.
The statistics bear this out. In 2021, 88% of children aged three to four were not enrolled in preschool. And perhaps more worryingly, this drops to 78% among lower-income families. The gap persists for those aged five to six, where enrolment rates are 95% to 93%, respectively. Yet, it is this specific group, children from low-income households, that will benefit the most from early childhood interventions.
That is why I believe that support for early childhood education should be made much more universal. One strategy is to simply eliminate the distinction between subsidies made available to families with a working mother versus those without, for lower-income households. This distinction, which may be motivated by a desire to ensure that mothers who are able to return to work do so, ends up inadvertently disadvantaging the child which, in turn, diminishes their future prospects for breaking out of poverty.
Another approach is to provide lower-income households with vouchers that can be applied to preschools. This is not dissimilar to subsidies in practice but has one added advantage. It also sends a clear signal to underperforming preschools that they need to buck up or they will be relieved of Government financial support.
Ms Ng Ling Ling: Sir, the shortage of infant care places in the neighbourhood often poses significant stress on young parents, many of whom have to work full-time. During my Meet-the-People sessions, I often receive requests from parents to help in seeking infant care options nearest their homes. I am grateful to ECDA for their very prompt actions to help to match to vacancies as soon as possible.
In cases where the young parents cannot wait, many of them share that they have resorted to informal childminding arrangements with family members or neighbours willing to help them in the caregiving. However, these informal arrangements do not qualify them for the same subsidies as formal infant care services do. As part of the Forward SG report, I understand the Government intends to introduce affordable, safe and reliable childminding services as an additional infant care option for families.
I would like to ask MSF, how does it intend to formalise and subsidise such informal childminding arrangements and ensure that they meet quality and safety standards? How does MSF plan to pilot and scale such a programme to cover diverse family needs and geographical areas, ensuring that every family that needs such an arrangement can access the alternative infant care solutions?
Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Parents today are under tremendous stress as they juggle careers and providing quality care for their children and elderly parents, in some instances, trying to be good parents, sons and daughters. Hence, reliable, safe and affordable care services are imperative.
Specific to infant and childcare, abuse and ill-management cases reported in recent times are of great concern. These include the Kinderland cases last year, which was debated in this House; and another one, most recently involving a preschool at Seletar reported in the media just last week. These would have spooked many prospective parents and parents with young children. Hence, how is MSF going to continue to strengthen governance and at the same time, maintain quality, yet ensure costs are not passed on to parents excessively?
Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Preschool education is highly encouraged for all children as it can help them achieve important learning goals, such as building confidence, learning social skills and developing a good foundation in literacy and numeracy. A trusted preschool can also allow mothers to return to the workplace with a peace of mind. With the rising demand for preschool places over the years and the cost-of-living issues, what is MSF doing to further improve the affordability and quality of preschools for all families in Singapore? How will MSF, too, look into more financial support at preschools for families with special needs children?
The Chairman: Ms Carrie Tan.
Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon): SPARK certification was meant to raise the quality of preschools and it did help to ensure some standardisation and processes are in place. But are there now some side effects? Only 37.7% of preschools here are SPARK-certified. Some early childhood educators find being uncertified more beneficial as they have greater flexibility to do more for the children.
Increasing salaries in the sector has not been enough to solve the high turnover problem. The annual attrition rate of early childhood educators was five times higher than the general Ministry of Education (MOE) attrition rate. The problem is no longer about remuneration but whether the work is realistically feasible for each person to shoulder. Thirty years ago, Kindergarten 2 teachers could integrate Mother Tongue, English, art and music in creative manners to help children enjoy learning. Each class had 42 children and the kids grew up fine. I am one of them.
Now, despite class sizes being cut to 25 kids, teachers still struggle because of the sheer amount of documentation they need to submit. Lesson plans, curriculum, personal portfolio of each child, sometimes doubling up for the cooking or cleaning aunty if she is on medical leave. Changing diapers or clothes for kids who soil their pants, pulling kids apart when they are fighting and giving more attention to children with special needs. All these while making sure no child gets a scratch or a bruise, or bump their knees, which could then invite very anxious calls by parents for more accountability and more surveillance.
This cannot do. We must ensure that the sector is as much teacher-centric as it is child-centric for quality education to be sustainable. I suggest that we make SPARK Developmental Visits more frequent and random, than only once in three years; and assessors should visit centres more often to observe the classroom interactions rather than rely on a paper audit exercise. This will ensure that teachers' attention is on the children and not on completing paperwork meticulously. I also suggest that we partner teachers, whose main job is to teach and nurture children, with a Child Development Specialist that specialises in the documentation and observation work.
Ms Ng Ling Ling: Mr Chairman, as part of the Forward SG report, MSF put forth plans to uplift our lower-income families toward sustained progress by enhancing support through ComLink+ package, where families will be provided with dedicated family coaches, additional preschool subsidies, employment and home ownership support.
In my Jalan Kayu (JK) Constituency, we started a JK Care Network to encourage companies and community partners in our neighbourhood to join hands in broadening support for our ComLink families. However, some partners have given feedback that there is a need for continuous and one-to-one family coaching to help some parents in ComLink families to better understand opportunities and priorities that can give their younger generation a better future.
As such, I support the enhancements to provide closer family coaching in ComLink+ to facilitate ComLink families' decision-making and prioritisation of choices, thereby providing more social mobility for their children.
I would like to ask MSF the following questions. One, what will be the family coaches-to-ComLink families ratio as the enhancements are rolled out? Two, how frequently can we expect the family coaches to be interacting with the ComLink families? Three, and lastly, what measures will be put in place to assess the effectiveness of family coaching within ComLink+ and how will the assessments help shape future enhancements to the programme?
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Sir, at the Budget Statement a fortnight ago, the roll-out of a number of enhancements to ComLink, dubbed ComLink+, was announced. I welcome moves to provide additional assistance and support and empower low-income households. This can go a long way.
One feature of ComLink+ is having family coaches and voluntary befrienders working directly with beneficiaries' families, providing custom support. This is indeed a fundamental aspect in facilitating and empowering families towards achieving their goals. For households who are facing life challenges: mentorship, facilitation and, at times, handholding, are crucial. Financial and other tangible forms of assistance will not be effective without this human aspect.
In 2022, I have highlighted the importance of a good interpersonal relationship between the beneficiaries and the case worker in order to optimise the effectiveness of the assistance and support rendered. I would like to reiterate this crucial point. I recommend that MSF maintain a low beneficiaries-to-coach and befrienders ratio. This will not only ensure that beneficiaries' families get adequate support from their coach and befrienders, it can also help reduce burnout and stress on the coaches and befrienders.
I also welcome the introduction of assistance with debt repayment to licensed moneylending companies and organisations that are trackable and verifiable. Nonetheless, there are and will be cases where low-income households turn to unlicensed moneylenders. I would like to ask MSF if any assistance will be offered to low-income households in such a predicament. I suggest that MSF could also explore working together with organisations focused on debt counselling, such as Adullam Life Counselling.
Additionally, Sir, I would recommend that MSF and MOE explore integrating basic financial literacy into the curriculum for secondary school students. I have made numerous calls for the adoption of the social protection framework developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the introduction of an annual social protection report, which tracks the effectiveness and efficacy of our social policies meant to uplift society. I would like to propose piloting the ILO's social protection framework and social protection report for the ComLink+ scheme.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Sir, I commend MSF's efforts to support families living in public rental flats with young children through ComLink+. As Mayor of Central, I am privileged to serve these families with some excellent ComLink SSOs and Family Service Centre officers, especially in the Jalan Besar and Ang Mo Kio towns.
ComLink+, piloted and now to be scaled, provides for family coaches and also financial incentives for families who actively uplift themselves in these four areas: preschool education, employment, financial stability and saving for home ownership.
However, my first-hand experience with assisting challenged families reveals complexities beyond what is initially apparent. For example, it is not always easy to secure a preferred location for a family of eight living in a 2-room flat. Timely school attendance then becomes a struggle when a single bathroom must accommodate the entire family in the mornings.
For example, a sole breadwinner relying on cash-based, flexible employment as a platform worker will find difficulties in foregoing his job to pursue higher education for a better future job. In addition, despite MSF's efforts, there are still many well-meaning donors and volunteers who are unaware of or prefer to do their own thing, leading to numerous uncoordinated touch points; conflicting advice or support; service overlaps and hindering a family's ability to follow a coherent uplift plan.
I seek an update from MSF now regarding: one, the progress, including the number of families served and the impact of the ComLink+ pilot to date; two, lessons learned from the pilot, including challenges and the resources required; three, strategies to address the issue of multiple points of contact so the family coach can be more effective; and four, measures to ensure that volunteers recruited to assist ComLink families are suitable, reliable and committed and do not just walk in and out of the lives of these families.
Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong): Chairman, poverty, inequality and social mobility are related but distinct concepts.
Poverty is about whether one has enough or not. To use an analogy of an escalator: whether one is above or below a certain rung on the escalator. Inequality is about the spread: how far apart folks are at various levels on the escalator.
For mobility, there are actually two concepts – absolute and relative. Absolute mobility is about how much one progresses over time or how much better one does compared to his or her parents. It is about how much the escalator is moving people upwards. Whereas relative mobility is about how a person does relative to his or her peers, compared against how his or her parents did relative to their peers. It is about how much folks swap positions on the escalator over time. In other words, social fluidity.
I believe we must keep relative mobility strong. Keep our society fluid and avoid permanent strata. Because this gives hope and this holds our society together.
Yet, relative mobility tends to slow as we continue succeeding as absolute mobility continues benefiting everyone. Therefore, how do we keep relative mobility alive for those at the bottom, even as we keep absolute mobility going for all? This will be our defining social challenge, more than poverty and inequality.
We keep absolute mobility going, keep the escalator moving for all, with macroeconomic policies. But to keep relative mobility alive for those at the bottom and keep possible that swapping of positions on the escalator, we will need to go well beyond economics. We will need to mitigate unequal opportunities at birth; indeed, before birth and through life, dealing with the hand that folks are dealt by life. It will take all of us on the escalator to move others up the escalator. It is complex work.
This is why ComLink+ is so important. Essentially, nudging families in rental housing to send their kids to preschool, stay in good jobs and build savings, positive behaviours that help equalise opportunities for their children. And having coaches and volunteers journey with these families.
If ComCare is assistance to meet today's needs, ComLink+ is empowerment to build tomorrow. If ComCare is a safety net by the state, ComLink+ is a trampoline formed by all of us.
To keep relative mobility alive, we need ComLink+ to work. To this end, how does MSF plan to develop the manpower needed and galvanise society to come forward and contribute? And ultimately, how will MSF measure impact?
Ms Ng Ling Ling: Chairman, I appreciate the efforts of MSF in launching innovative new models like the Enabling Service Hub in August last year, which offer closer community support for persons with disabilities and their caregivers, closer to their home and bring partnership into the community to conduct more social activities and learning courses for persons with disabilities, befriending and caregiving support services, as well as outreach and reference to services that they need.
More of such hubs all around Singapore will certainly ease the access of such services for persons with disabilities and their caregivers and enable them to live and participate in the community more actively. Nonetheless, as we expand and build on such infrastructure, we must also make continuous efforts to involve the community, be it corporate, community, or grassroots partners, in different ways to provide different opportunities.
With more involvement of the community, more coordination will also be needed to optimise each partner's contribution. In this aspect, I would like to ask MSF the following two questions.
One, how will you better coordinate and spread out corporate and community partners to ensure adequate resources across various parts of Singapore? And two, how can we be more intentional in attracting young corporate executives to be on the boards of social service agencies to inject new ideas and activism to solve dynamic social issues?
Mr Keith Chua: Mr Chairman, it is encouraging that our society is increasingly engaged in support of the social service sector.
We see this in volunteering. We see this in the sharing of skills and also in the area philanthropic initiatives. We see this in individuals across all age groups, large businesses alongside the smaller and medium industries. We see this among faith-based groups, community organisations – everyone coming together.
Today, Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers can also be donated to charities.
We have been engaging Singaporeans in caring for our community from school days with the hope this will continue through adult life. As we chart our new social compact, we need to encourage active engagement across all strata of our society. May I therefore ask the Minister what more will we do to deepen this continuum of engagement? How can we best convey information on the areas with most immediate needs?
Ms Yeo Wan Ling: It takes a whole-of-community effort for spreading positivity, for doing good, for doing well. It was a welcome move in 2023 to celebrate social service partners and to remind everyone the important role corporate partners and agencies play in Singapore's new social compact.
As we celebrate the Year of Social Service Volunteers in 2024, we remind ourselves that individuals, you and I, together with our families, friends and loved ones, have much to offer to the rest of society. Can the Ministry update plans they have put in place to inspire and mobilise more individuals to step up, to lead and volunteer? How will the Ministry continue to further galvanise different parts of our society to contribute to a caring and involved social compact?
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Sir, in the Parliamentary Adjournment Motion I filed in 2020, I advocated some key changes to better the lives of persons with disabilities, or PwDs. I asked for changes to address significant gaps in provisions for living, learning and working, to alter societal perceptions of PwDs, to improve the policy-making and service structure for better collaboration amongst PwDs, their families and disability agencies and the Government, and to include the voices of PwDs.
I am grateful that many of these calls have been heeded. For instance, updates on the Enabling Masterplan 2030, or EMP 2030, are accessible now on the MSF website though they require navigating through quite a few pages before one can find them. So, I call upon MSF to proactively push out this information so that affected stakeholders are assured of progress.
I also want to propose four areas for further improvement today.
First, on reporting beyond activities. Current EMP 2030 reports are primarily activity-based. They should also link these outputs to outcomes. This approach would then offer insights into the health conditions of PwDs, for example, their readiness when they leave formal schooling, caregiver confidence in obtaining information and assistance, and the level of public awareness and acceptance of PwDs. Although challenging to connect outputs to outcomes and, like Mr Xie Yao Quan said, to have even impact, I think that is even more difficult, it is crucial for the EMP 2030 implementation team to begin this analysis to support further informed contributions by other stakeholders.
Second, on relevance of the plan. With rapid changes in society and technology, the eight-year EMP 2030 will become obsolete, outdated; not totally, but quite a bit will be outdated.
You see, the Singapore Government, for instance, has rolled out Healthier SG, Community Care Apartments, new Build-To-Order (BTO) towns, Active Ageing Centres, SkillsFuture upgrades, many, many exciting developments that I feel strongly can include the disability community. I therefore earnestly urge MSF to consciously conduct a formal yearly review, not just report, to update EMP 2030 so that it stays relevant and tap on these important, exciting developments.
Next, on unaddressed gaps. Certain critical areas not covered in EMP 2030 need attention, including inclusive insurance, criminal justice system for our special needs community, and the inclusion of mental health and neurodiversity conditions such as ADHD and dyslexia, all needed for a comprehensive support system for PwDs.
On inclusive insurance, I am deeply appreciative of the strong support from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Life Insurance Association. They have collaborated with charities such as the Autism Resource Centre to develop a guide to raise awareness of disabilities and enhance transparency of insurance risk assessment approach towards health insurance undertaking.
I thank advocates like Wesley Low, his Member of Parliament Chong Kee Hiong and others for their feedback in this space. There are still significant challenges that need further study.
For example, insurance companies often hesitate to cover individuals with disabilities who disclose their medication use, failing to recognise that those who follow their prescribed medication regimens are likely to maintain or improve their health status.
On criminal justice, I repeat my call for a review by MSF and the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) of the appropriate adult scheme to enhance police investigations. There is also a pressing need to explore a facility or programme ensuring that persons with disabilities who are incarcerated are placed in appropriate physical facilities and suitable rehab programmes.
For my last point today, on funding models for essential services. The funding model for these services, for example, day activity centres and residential homes with moderate or severe disabilities, should be re-evaluated.
We should seriously look into a hybrid funding model comprising a universal base funding and means-tested funding quantum to address the core issue of insufficient funding for these essential services. I seek MSF's considered and favourable responses to the four points I made.
The Chairman: Ms Ng Ling Ling.
Ms Ng Ling Ling: Chairman, it is encouraging to know that the Government is continuing to make significant efforts to promote inclusive employment, including the upcoming Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL) to promote more employment opportunities for PwDs and the Enhanced Enabling Employment Credit (EEC) to increase the support level employers will get when hiring PwDs. In the Enabling Master Plan 2030, efforts have also been put to track employment rate of PwDs, with an aspirational target employing of resident PwDs at 40%.
All these efforts are important and steps in the right direction to meet our inclusive employment goals as a fair and inclusive nation. Notwithstanding these commendable efforts, with the changing nature of work, it is also important to track more granular employment data so that we are aware of the effectiveness of various strategies and areas to expand resources in to keep the relevance and sustainability of PwD's employment.
In this regard, I would like to ask MSF: one, what are the jobs that our PwDs are being employed in; two, whether the number of employers has been steadily increasing over the years and which sectors are these employers from; three, if there are some dominant sectors that our PwDs are employed in, are they facing market changes that will make the job roles of our PwDs more vulnerable? Lastly, whether the income level of the PwDs will enable them to sustain independent living till retirement age like the rest of the workforce, especially when their parents are ageing and finding more difficulties in caring for them?
The Chairman: Mr Ong Hua Han, you can take your three cuts together.
Mr Ong Hua Han (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, while the Government has through Budget 2024 underscored its commitment to expand sheltered workshop spaces going forward, I would like to stress that we need to focus on empowering as many PwDs as possible to take up open employment roles. Therefore, the success of the Sheltered Workshop to Work Programme is critical.
I would like to ask MSF for more details about this programme. One, what is the number of PwDs entering the Sheltered Workshop to Work Programme annually in the last three years? Two, how many PwDs return to sheltered workshops after transitioning to open employment? And three, could MSF also share what is being done to equip PwDs with the skills and support necessary to transition into open employment settings?
Sir, I truly believe that the Government recognises the importance of the post-18 space in the lives of PwDs.
Last Friday, Minister Chan said that he wanted special education (SPED) students to have pathways integrated with their post-18 work, life and care arrangements. While we look out for PwDs in the post-18 space, we must also remember that their parents continue to play a vital role in their well-being and care.
Some PwDs depend on parental support in their adult years. Others need parental support while transitioning into independent living, and the rest need support on a long-term basis. May I ask MSF what additional measures are being considered to support parents looking after PwDs in the post-18 space in our inclusive Forward SG roadmap?
I know – and a few of us in this House know, this intimately, too – parents who give up their career or make significant sacrifices to look after their children with disabilities. They are growing older, and their own medical expenses are also rising. They continue to support their children with disabilities every day. They incur additional expenses on a daily basis.
In light of our rising cost of living, could MSF consider increasing the monthly payout for caregiving parents under the Home Caregiving Grant? There is no break from caregiving for many parents. Caregiver stress is very real. Therefore, I urge MSF to put in place robust support mechanisms to ease both their financial and emotional burden. By doing so, we can empower parents to continue providing care while safeguarding their own health and well-being.
Mr Chairman, on means testing, I raise two key suggestions today. One, that the income threshold of means-tested schemes should be recalibrated to at least align with current median household per capita income figures; and two, that our means testing framework should be improved to take into account actual costs borne by families with PwDs.
These are points I had raised before in my maiden speech in Parliament. I am concerned about the accessibility of existing support schemes, such as the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF), Enabling Transport Subsidy (ETS), or the Disabled Person Scheme (DPS).
Access to the ATF remains limited due to stringent eligibility criteria based on household income. To qualify, gross monthly per capita household income (PCHI) must strictly fall below $2,000. Similarly, access to the ETS is not available if gross monthly PCHI exceeds $2,800 for Singaporeans. As for the DPS, if the combined income of a four-member household exceeds $6,500, that works out to a PCHI of $1,625, the PwD cannot benefit from the scheme.
This is despite them being certified as permanently disabled and incapable of taking public transport. The number of DPS applications has declined from 93 in 2015 to 20 in 2023. Could this be because access to the scheme is too limited? According to SingStat, median monthly PCHI from work has risen to almost $3,300 in 2022.
Yet, the three schemes I have just listed all have means-tested income criteria inconsistent with each other and also fall below median income levels. To the end-user people in need of these schemes, it is difficult to understand why this is so.
Mr Chairman, it does not look like we are short on policies or support schemes. What we need to do is to recalibrate our means-testing criteria. If we can improve our existing support mechanisms, we will already do a lot to ensure that our policies effectively serve those in need.
Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Sir, this year, it will be 15 years since the Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) launched its trust services in October 2009 to help with the financial security of persons with special needs on a low cost basis. It has been doing very good work in plugging a gap in the local disability services landscape. To date, it has developed over 1,000 trusts and developed more than 3,000 care plans. We owe the board members of SNTC, past and present, a debt of gratitude.
The Government, particularly MSF, has played a crucial role in making trust services accessible by providing between 90% to 100% subsidies for the costs involved in the set-up, pre-activation, activation and post-activation of the trust accounts. Without the Government absorbing the costs, I believe the take-up rate amongst Singaporeans, particularly our lower-income families, would be much lower. As at 2022, 65% of trusts created were by families in Housing and Development Board flats.
It is clear however that more Singaporean households can benefit from subscribing to such services. Our rapidly ageing population and shrinking household sizes contribute two drivers to the thinning of caregiver support within families with persons with special needs.
I have three questions. First, I wish to ask what steps can be taken to increase the take-up rate of trust services amongst eligible families, especially amongst low-income families. In this context, I wish to suggest that MSF agencies, social service and grassroots organisations work together to proactively identify families that can benefit so that SNTC can educate them on the benefits of trust services.
Next, I note that SNTC evolved to provide, not just trust services, but other offerings such as subsidised insurance term plans. So, my second question is, what other plans does SNTC have to ensure the financial security of such persons?
Finally, how does SNTC plan to equip itself with sufficient resources and bandwidth to ensure that its services can be scaled up to meet the larger demand anticipated for its services?
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Families with children with development needs require additional support and resources to help them manage. How is the Government helping the parents of these children?
Parenting is a skill. While every child is different, there are general principles and broad strategies which parents can learn and adopt for their own use at home. Hence, courses and training can be helpful, all the more so for parents of children with development needs. Would the Ministry share with House what training and advisories are provided to this group of parents?
Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): Chairman, SG Enable was formed with the noble vision of being the focal agency for disability and inclusion in Singapore and it has been critical in the implementation of the Enabling Masterplans. Individuals with special needs and their families, see SG Enable as a one-stop centre, where they can seek support and resources to address the issues they may face. Over the years, various infrastructure and programmes for the special needs community had been developed under the auspices of SG Enable. This includes the job placement programme and the caregiver support programme as well as the Enabling Services Hub in Tampines and the Enabling Business Hub in Jurong. It is very heartening to see these endeavours.
The needs of the special needs community are, however, very diverse. Understandably, it would be challenging to fulfil and address all requests and issues. I can imagine there are various situations that come to the attention of SG Enable including requests for financial support for assistive devices, requests for placements in SPED schools or programmes, or requests for support with caregiving arrangements. Could I understand if there are limitations or challenges the agency faces in supporting the families especially if the resources are not available within the ecosystem? Further, has there been an assessment of the sufficiency of support provided to the special needs community and the effectiveness of the services and programmes offered by SG Enable? I believe it would be imperative to understand the gaps to be able to further enhance its services.
SG Enable has also been working with many different partners to come up with a myriad of services. What more can be done to strengthen these relationships to be able to support the work done by the agency?
I heard with interest when Member Ms Denise Phua spoke about fostering a more robust ecosystem of partnership in her speech during the Budget debate a few weeks ago. This is very much in line with the spirit of Budget 2024, to build our shared future together. She shared about a grounds-up effort in her Kampung Glam division known as Purple Hearts, a special needs family network, where volunteers reach out to the families and seek to match the needs with resources in different agencies.
I will certainly take up the offer to learn from her and see how I can replicate this in Bukit Batok East. In Bukit Batok East, we have our BBE Inclusive Family Day, where we bring together different agencies and partners to showcase their services and support to the special needs community and use that platform to edify the larger community about our friends who are differently abled. I believe strongly that it is important to nurture partnerships and understanding within our local communities in the heartlands. We should create more opportunities to build these ground networks as part of SG Enable's larger vision to support inclusiveness.
In Member Denise Phua's speech, she also made a strong call for the Government to take a better lead in bringing partners together to amongst other things, understand the gaps in the landscape and facilitate more meaningful allocation of resources and effective contribution. This resonated with me.
I would like to draw inspiration from her sharing and seek an understanding from the Ministry if there have been efforts in place to take stock of and review the existing structures and frameworks within the special needs ecosystem. As SG Enable continues in its efforts in the future, could it consider how best to leverage on partnerships and better utilise resources within the community to close the gaps?
Ms Carrie Tan: Beyond income, work raises confidence, self-esteem, provides identity, structure and purpose to one's life. It can also provide persons with special needs with a community of support at the workplace. Persons with special needs are physically and neurologically diverse. They are not a monolithic group of helpless or disabled care recipients. The framing of persons with special needs labels them as needy. The framing of neurodiversity as a problem labels people who have them as problematic. It is time to change that. Instead of being fixated on their limitations, we can shift our lenses to focus instead on their unique strengths. They are examples of successful employers who have observed their productivity to be often higher than normal employees.
UOB is one such company, reaping the inclusion reward since they started the initiative in 2013. They saw decreased turnover rate from 50% to 5%, and an improvement in productivity of 101% in their ScanHub department that utilises the methodical focus of persons with autism for repetitive tasks.
We need to adopt a strength-based approach by seeing divergence as an asset and not a problem. The culture of acceptance and awareness from co-workers, as well as the parents' or caregivers' mindsets, is essential for employment to be successful and sustained. We need to change the mindset of the whole of society and not just employers. We can just as easily see persons with special needs as specially able or specially gifted if we start focusing on their strengths.
GCHK, UK's national security and intelligence agency, promotes itself as a neurodiverse employer to attract applicants such as persons with dyslexia, whom they find to have good visual awareness and better at spotting visual patterns that other people miss. Gran Estación, a mall in Colombia, has persons with special needs making up roughly half of their 120-strong workforce. People in wheelchairs are hired as security guards as they have better visibility at pocket height and are also able to move faster on a chase than people on foot.
We can improve public awareness of what neurodiversity is and start to recognise the supernormal attributes that specially abled persons have if we only saw them as such. For example, autism, currently classified as a disability, is also known as a neurodiverse condition, amongst others such as obsessive compulsive disorder, dyslexia and ADHD. What great leaps might we make in the future if we started to approach and excavate the special gifts of these children? More than 5,500 since 2018 per year are found to have autism and this number is increasing.
If we adopt the approach much like Professor X in the Marvel series to nurture them, such as the X-Men, and hone their special abilities for good, it is the limitation of society's imagination and resourcefulness that renders them as disabled. Let us bust the stigma of neurodiversity and the myths that employing them require more supervision, are costly to hire or that they are unsuitable for skilled jobs.
I suggest that the Government invest in a \"kick-ass\" public communications campaign that takes a strengths-based and gift-based approach to the portrayal of these talents in our midst. I urge MSF to set a goal to leapfrog employment success by shifting this lens of special needs to specially abled for our friends in this community.
The Chairman: Minister Masagos Zulkifli.
The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their suggestions. As a country, we have been able to weather storms and emerge stronger because we have strong families and a strong social compact. Forward SG reaffirmed that Singaporeans continue to value the importance of the family. There was also strong consensus to be a society where all families have the opportunity to succeed.
I will touch on three key approaches to achieve this mission. First, working together to support families through every stage of life, strengthening marriages, supporting parents from their children's early years and caring for our seniors. Second, we will move beyond assistance to empowering families in need. We have started this through ComLink+ and will go further to uplift children from lower-income families. Third, the Government will come alongside the social service sector, corporates and Singaporeans to strengthen families, uplift those in need and reinforce their efforts to ensure sustained impact. We invite more to volunteer and contribute their time, their talent and their treasures. Together, we will build a caring and inclusive society and sustain social mobility in Singapore.
Let me elaborate. Today, couples are staying together longer and recent cohorts show a lower proportion of marriages dissolving before the 10th anniversary. I am heartened that more couples recognise the importance of continuing to invest in their marriage. They proactively look for marriage and parenting resources rather than seeking help only when the relationship is on the rocks.
We affirm society's commitment to families and will continue to strengthen families, our anchor in years to come. We do this by supporting families throughout their lives. As I shared in the Ministry of Health (MOH) Committee of Supply, we are enhancing support for couples in their journey through pregnancy and parenthood.
The early years of our children are critical and for new parents, possibly the most challenging time too. Over the years, parents have greater access to affordable and quality preschools. We will continue to enhance these efforts. We are also helping working parents balance work responsibilities and infant caregiving. The Government is tackling this in several ways, which Minister of State Sun Xueling will elaborate on.
We recently enhanced the Government-Paid Paternity Leave. We encourage eligible fathers to use the paternity leave and work is in progress to allow more fathers to benefit from the additional two weeks of leave. But we do not stop at the early years. We are making programmes and resources even more accessible to support the range of family relationships.
The Families for Life (FFL) movement, led by the FFL Council, brings together various partners to offer marriage and parenting programmes in the community. Currently in nine towns, I am pleased to share that this will be expanded to 18 towns by the end of this year. We have also recently partnered Anchor Operators to offer FFL parenting programmes to parents of preschoolers in their neighbourhoods. Ms Ng Ling Ling will be happy to note that the Council will roll out more parenting resources to better support families with teenagers.
We have also launched a new self-help tool, Our Marriage Journey Quiz, last month, to help couples assess their relationship well-being akin to physical health checks.
Mr Melvin Yong and Ms Ng Ling Ling referred to the collective effort by everyone in society to build a Singapore Made for Families. I agree. That is why the Council is also looking to work with employers, who play a crucial role in fostering a family-friendly environment, to offer marriage and parenting resources or talks at their workplaces. Community partners and volunteers are equally critical in supporting our mission to build strong families.
It is wonderful to see the FFL movement growing steadily. Last year, over 150 corporate and community partners, such as CapitaLand Malls and Singapore Heart Foundation, alongside 400 volunteers, came together to support the National Family Week.
We will continue to grow this movement. From this year, the FFL Council will expand the event to a month-long National Family Festival. I encourage all families to make use of the FFL resources and participate in the National Family Festival, which will start from 25 May, when the school holidays begin. We look forward, too, to collaborating with more partners to offer families an engaging experience.
With the effort of many, we build a Singapore Made for Families.
Mr Melvin Yong asked how we can foster a society where no one is left behind. Our goal is for every Singaporean family to be a strong and stable family. This includes lower-income families.
Lower-income families often face additional challenges, as Ms Denise Phua observed. Social assistance alone may not be enough. For example, families may have to stretch their limited finances to meet different needs while also balancing their work, caregiving and rest. This can lead to \"bandwidth tax\", where families are focused on the day-to-day and not be able to plan for the long-term. Beyond providing social assistance, we want to partner families as they work towards their aspirations and reinforce their strengths to build better lives for themselves and their children. In other words, we want to move beyond assistance to empowerment.
That is why we introduced ComLink+ as part of Forward SG. ComLink+ families now have a dedicated family coach who coaches, motivates and journeys with them as they work towards their longer-term goals. Ms Denise Phua will be pleased to hear that of the approximately 10,000 ComLink+ families that have agreed to work with us, 97% are receiving family coach support as at end-2023. This includes families supported by Family Service Centres (FSCs), whose case workers perform the family coach function.
As families take active steps towards their goals, they can receive financial top-ups from ComLink+ Progress Packages to multiply the impact of their efforts and help them better focus on achieving their goals. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua will elaborate.
These enhancements to ComLink+ and partnerships with FSCs show how we place family-centricity at the heart of everything we do. As Mr Melvin Yong observed, besides lower-income families, FSCs also serve other families. Like general practitioner (GP) clinics providing healthcare in the community, FSCs are community-based agencies that provide casework expertise to support families with social and emotional needs. For over 30 years, FSCs have evolved their practice to serve changing needs of clients to help them achieve the \"3S\"s – Self-reliance, Stability and Social mobility.
Today, the landscape of family services has grown and FSCs work alongside many other agencies to support families. A family with complex needs, apart from receiving support from an FSC, may also receive support from other social service agencies (SSAs) for domestic violence, family counselling or youth programmes for their children. While SSAs put in effort to coordinate with one another, the family may still find it tedious to interface with multiple partners. Another concern is that we may not always be addressing the underlying issues, as each partner is focused on tackling the issue at hand.
In the next decade, we will also face more demographic challenges. We will become a super-aged society and household structures may change.
But as our society changes, there are opportunities for us to adapt to meet the emerging needs and support families in an even more coordinated manner. Our vision is for families in need to receive support through a single primary touchpoint for family services, who can address the needs of different family members in a holistic and more coordinated manner to achieve better outcomes for the entire family.
I am pleased to announce that MSF will be establishing a review committee on the Family Services Landscape. In line with the spirit of Forward SG, we will engage and co-create the future landscape with the sector. The committee will be chaired by Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua and will comprise representatives from sector partners. We will share more details when ready.
Mr Chairman, we have been concerted in our efforts to support lower-income families towards achieving social mobility. A key aspect of our strategy to sustain social mobility in Singapore is to uplift children and for all children to have a good start in life regardless of their background.
While preschool enrolment rates of children from lower-income families have increased, these remain lower than the national average. About eight in 10 children aged three to four from lower-income families are enrolled in preschool, compared to the national average of nine in 10. This could be due to a variety of factors. Parents may have concerns about being able to afford preschool fees, be less aware of the benefits of preschool, or may have to juggle work and family commitments with fewer resources. We will be rolling out several measures to help children from lower-income families reap the benefits of our investments in the early years.
First, we will provide greater assurance to lower-income families that they can afford to send their children to preschool. All families on ComCare assistance or residing in public rental flats already automatically qualify for maximum childcare subsidies. As Deputy Prime Minister Wong announced in the Budget speech, we will extend similar support to more lower-income families. All lower-income families with a monthly household income of $6,000 and below will qualify for the maximum amount of childcare subsidies for their income tier. Up to 17,000 additional children stand to benefit when we introduce this move from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Second, we will expand proactive outreach to all lower-income families from the third quarter of 2024 to encourage them to enrol their children in preschools. Preschool outreach workers and ComLink+ family coaches will work with parents to help them understand the importance of preschool and to enrol their child in a suitable preschool. As part of the ComLink+ Packages, ComLink+ families can benefit from financial top-ups when they enrol their children early and send them to preschool regularly.
Third, we will support families in maximising the benefits of quality preschool education. We recognise that children from lower-income families may require more support even after they enrol in preschools. On average, among children who are enrolled in Anchor Operator preschools, children from lower-income families have a monthly attendance rate of about 72%, lower than the 79% attendance rate of their middle-income peers. Their families may also have less resources to support their learning at home.
From the second quarter of this year, we will provide more resources to selected Anchor Operator preschools to equip them in providing effective and timely support to the children under their care. Anchor Operators will co-fund this targeted support and use the additional resources to support the children, such as providing dedicated small group learning lessons and addressing the challenges that families face in sending their children to preschool regularly. As Minister Maliki shared, MOE will also similarly strengthen initiatives in MOE Kindergartens to support children from lower-income families.
Taken together, these measures will help address the challenges that lower-income families face and enable their children to learn, play and develop holistically alongside their peers.
Even as we step up these efforts, we cannot overlook the importance of the home environment and parents' role in shaping their children's development. This is why KidSTART, which has supported more than 8,500 children to date, focuses on equipping parents with the knowledge and skills to nurture their children. In partnership with the FFL Council, we will increase the accessibility of parenting resources for lower-income families.
In this way, the efforts of parents and preschool educators complement each other and lay a strong foundation for the children to flourish.
Our efforts to strengthen families are made possible by a strong social service ecosystem. This comprises a group of deeply committed partners, professionals and volunteers. The different groups of partners, our SSAs, academics and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and corporates, come together to support those in need.
To meet the evolving needs of our society, the social service sector needs 2,000 more professionals over the next five years. Mr Keith Chua asked about our plans to attract, recruit and retain professionals. The Government and partners, including SSAs, must work together to make the social service sector a career of choice.
One key aspect is to ensure that the salaries in the sector are commensurate with the hard work and skillsets of our professionals. Last year, we reviewed the Social Service Sector Salary Guidelines to ensure salaries are competitive with comparable roles in competing markets. MSF and National Council of Social Service (NCSS) also adjusted funding to ensure professionals supporting our funded programmes can be paid within the guidelines. Currently, around 80% of employees in the sector are paid within the salary guidelines. We expect our funded providers to adhere to and pay employees within the guidelines over the next three years. We will work closely with SSAs that require additional support, including providing targeted consultancy support.
The social service sector is a people-oriented sector. All the more, we need to care for our people, so that they can better care for our beneficiaries. Apart from a range of NCSS' resources on self-care and wellness that our professionals can access, the SkillsFuture Tripartite Taskforce also promotes emotional and mental wellness at work through the Joy@Social Services movement.
MSF and NCSS will continue creating pathways for more to enter the sector and progress in their career. For instance, we are working with IHLs to engage students. We are also attracting mid-career entrants through the Career Conversion Programmes and these professionals can benefit from the new SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme announced by Deputy Prime Minister Wong in the Budget Statement. Together with SSAs, we are improving the value proposition of roles through job redesign, strengthening their organisational capabilities and working on talent retention measures. To support the development of our professionals, we have the Skills Framework for Social Service. We are also working with relevant professional associations and providers to monitor the standards, qualification and training required for the different professions. Together, we will build a stronger social service sector.
Our ecosystem is made of another important group of people: our volunteers. Last year, we celebrated the partnerships with our social service partners. This year, we build on these partnerships and have dedicated 2024 as the Year of Celebrating Volunteers. Anyone, and everyone, can be a volunteer. Volunteers are people who give generously their time, talent and treasures to support others.
First, our volunteers give generously their time. We see these in the individuals that make up our MSFCare Network. They work with MSF in initiatives, such as ComLink+. Miss Susan Lim is one such volunteer. Since October 2022, she has been befriending Mdm Marlina and her son.
And as any parent would know, the transition into primary school is an exciting but hectic one. When Mdm Marlina had difficulty buying school materials needed for her son at Primary 1 due to her financial situation, Susan guided them through the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme application. Her son managed to start primary school with all his books and school uniform needed.
Today, Susan continues offering the family a listening ear and assisting them in meeting their needs. For instance, Susan and the family coach explained the importance of getting Mdm Marlina's son glasses as soon as possible when he was found to need them. Susan found community support to make the glasses more affordable and later accompanied them to make a pair. We thank volunteers like Susan for their dedication and partnership.
Second, our volunteers give generously, by contributing their talent and skills. For example, employees of SP Group regularly volunteer with SSAs. Some are seasoned volunteers who are familiar with the challenges faced by vulnerable families, so they contribute their insights and co-curate programmes with SSAs. Others tap on their own areas of expertise to contribute.
Ms Tay Xin Ci and her engineer colleagues run classes to teach children from vulnerable families how to build solar powered toy cars. The children learn not only about solar power but are inspired by these \"big brothers and sisters\". Xin Ci is also part of the SP Heart Workers committee, which spearheads volunteering activities for SP Group throughout the year. When individuals with different skills come forward, families benefit from the opportunities and range of support offered.
Third, many give generously their treasures. They contribute their resources and give in different ways. One way is through donations to the Community Chest, or ComChest, which go towards supporting services for vulnerable groups. I will talk about two ComChest initiatives – SHARE and Change for Charity.
SHARE reminds us that sustained giving, even in small amounts, can add up and lead to meaningful impact over time. Many donors put in a few dollars to SHARE each month. Collectively, these individual donations amass an average of $16 million per year. Through SHARE, we also see how acts of caring often start from young. This year is the 40th Anniversary of our iconic mascot, Sharity, who will continue engaging students in schools to inculcate the values of caring and sharing.
Mr Gerald Rodrigues is part of the pioneer batch of donors on SHARE and a former Police officer. His interactions with lower-income families ignited a desire to help those with less, as he empathised with the hardships they faced. Gerald started donating through his monthly payroll. It has been 39 years. And he continues to donate regularly through SHARE. Donors like Gerald inspire us to care for others. To encourage more to give, the Government will continue to match new and incremental donations to SHARE. We will do so for another two years till Financial Year 2025.
More recently, we introduced Change for Charity to amplify giving through a whole-of-society effort. City Developments Limited (CDL) is one of the businesses that has implemented Change for Charity. At Millennium Hotels and Resorts, a subsidiary group of CDL with six hotels in Singapore, they make it convenient for customers to donate.
Mr Andy Tan led his team in brainstorming ideas to weave giving mechanisms in their business model and pushing for the implementation. They place donation boxes at the check-in counters and food and beverage (F&B) outlets, to make giving more accessible to their customers. Customers can also donate when they are paying their bills or by redeeming membership reward points. With the customers' spending and contributions as the starting point, the amount is multiplied as the hotel donates a dollar for every dinner buffet cover. The Government further multiplies the contributions by matching 50 cents to every dollar donated by customers, and another 50 cents to every dollar if businesses match their customer's donation. We will extend this matching till Financial Year 2027.
Through this, we hope to create a multiplier effect that amplifies giving in our society. Mr Chairman, we are strengthening touchpoints with Singaporeans at every stage of their lives to encourage them to contribute to the society – their time, talent, their treasure. To the questions raised by Ms Yeo Wan Ling, Mr Keith Chua and Ms Ng Ling Ling – this is how we will galvanise the community, from young to old, from one generation to the next. We will continue to work with our partners, from corporates to SSAs, to rally more to contribute. Corporates have shown growing interest in being more strategic in their corporate social responsibility effort. We are making progress in developing the Sustainable Philanthropy Framework to guide them in benchmarking and articulating their social impact. NCSS has been engaging leaders across diverse sectors to better shape the framework.
This month, we will be extending our reach by holding consultations with the wider business community. We are also enhancing the capabilities of volunteer managers in SSAs. Volunteer managers can access resources from the NCSS Volunteer Resource Hub to guide them in tapping the creativity and expertise of volunteers to address social issues and to better attract and retain them. Together, we create opportunities for more to give and build a society that cares for one another. Chairman, allow me to continue in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Chairman, families are the foundation of our society. The Government will continue strengthening our support to enable families to grow and thrive through every stage of life. In line with Forward SG plans, the Government will strengthen support for lower-income families by focusing on social empowerment through the ComLink+.
Volunteers play a pivotal role in uplifting families in need. I am heartened by their contribution. For instance, under Project DIAN@M³, volunteers have assisted 250 Malay ComLink+ families. They build trust with these families. These volunteers also check in with them regularly and address immediate concerns by connecting them to available support schemes.
Moving forward, volunteers will continue to work closely with ComLink+ officers to provide more comprehensive support for ComLink+ families. I am confident that with the help of volunteers, we will work towards helping these families to achieve stability, self-reliance and social mobility.
(In English): Chairperson, carrying forth the spirit of Forward SG, let us work together to build a caring and inclusive society, a brighter and better Singapore for all families.
The Chairman: Minister of State Sun Xueling.
The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Ms Sun Xueling): Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their views.
The Government is committed to providing every child with a good start in life. Preschools play an important role in supporting our children's development while meeting parents' caregiving needs. This is an important part of our vision in realising a Singapore Made for Families.
Ms Yeo Wan Ling and Assoc Prof Jamus Lim asked how we will make preschools accessible and affordable for families. The Government provides funding to Anchor and Partner Operators to ensure that they keep within fee caps, while investing in quality improvements. The Government also provides all parents with basic subsidies, as well as additional subsidies for eligible families. Currently, lower-income families can pay as low as $3 per month for childcare in an Anchor Operator preschool. This comprehensive approach to preschool affordability, where we keep fees charged for Government-supported preschools low and provide childcare subsidies to parents, is more effective than giving vouchers.
We will further enhance preschool affordability in the coming years. As announced by Deputy Prime Minister Wong in his Budget speech, we will further reduce childcare fee caps at Anchor and Partner Operators by $40 in 2025. After subsidies, a middle-income working household with monthly income of $8,000, will pay $208 for full-day childcare at an Anchor Operator preschool from 2025, around 18% less from what they pay today.
We will make a final reduction in 2026. This will help us to achieve our 2019 National Day Rally commitment where families enrolled in Anchor Operators pay similar expenses to that of primary school and after-school student care, before means-tested subsidies. We are also on track to increasing the number of Government-supported preschool places so that 80% of preschoolers can have a place in a Government-supported preschool by around 2025, up from over 65% today.
Mr Melvin Yong asked how we will continue to attract and retain early childhood educators to support the sector. The well-being of our educators is important to us. Our educators dedicate themselves to the nurturing of our children and play a critical role in driving the quality of care and education for our young children.
ECDA has been enhancing the career proposition of early childhood educators. We announced the Continuing Professional Development Roadmap in 2021 and the Leadership Development Framework as well as salary improvements in 2022. We will continue to monitor and review to ensure educators' salaries remain competitive.
We are also improving the working conditions and well-being of educators. From 2024, similar to Primary Schools, Teacher's Day and Children's Day will be designated as preschool holidays. The existing six days of preschool closure have also been repositioned as \"Development Days\" to give educators dedicated time to focus on their individual and team development. From 2025, childcare centres are no longer required to operate on Saturdays. With this, preschool teachers will have an additional half-day of rest every week.
To attract more Singaporeans to the sector, ECDA is relaunching the \"Shape Our Tomorrow\" campaign in 2024 to strengthen the public's understanding of the early childhood (EC) sector and recognise EC educators as a respected profession. Since its launch in 2018, the number of EC educators has increased by more than 30% to 25,000.
Ms Carrie Tan also suggested the SPARK certification process be reviewed to reduce educators' workload. SPARK is an accreditation framework to guide preschools in raising their quality, such as in the areas of teaching and learning and administration and management of centres. The number of SPARK-certified preschools has been growing over the years and stands at 1,000 preschools or 58% of the sector today.
ECDA is reviewing SPARK and plans to roll out the refreshed SPARK certification in 2025 to set the next bound of quality for our preschools. To reduce workload on educators, we are exploring various ways to keep the work required for SPARK certification manageable, such as streamlining requirements and tapping on technology to reduce the documentation and administraton work involved.
Ms Tin Pei Ling touched on child safety in preschools. Preschools must be a safe and nurturing environment for our children. ECDA ensures that our educators have the necessary qualifications and skills to effectively and safely care for and educate children. Besides basic screening requirements and health declarations, all educators must meet the academic, professional and language requirements before they can be certified by ECDA and deployed in our preschools. As part of these requirements, educators must undergo training programmes where they learn classroom management strategies.
ECDA also regularly updates the training curriculum of the teachers. We have recently made it clearer with more specific examples on what constitutes inappropriate behaviour to guide our educators. There are also regular sector-wide briefings and circulars to update educators on the latest research and teaching pedagogies.
Where there is negligence from operators, ECDA will take them to task with regulatory fines and levers. Where individual teachers have committed offences, they will be charged by the Police and punished under the Children and Young Persons Act and/or the Penal Code. ECDA's powers are enforced through the Early Childhood Development Centres Act. ECDA will review enforcement levers and fines currently stipulated through the ECDC Act and will not hesitate to enhance the levers through legislative changes to take errant operators to task. We are working on this right now even as I speak.
We give our assurance to parents that where there is evidence that operators and/or educators have been errant, ECDA and the Police will commence investigations immediately, suspend educators who are in a position to harm children and take them to justice. Parents who suspect that their child has been subjected to child mismanagement should report to ECDA and the Police, so that investigations can be swiftly carried out, investigations are not compromised and due process can be taken.
During the Forward SG engagements, we also have heard many Singaporeans share their love and aspirations for their children. At the same time, some have also shared about the struggles and anxieties that they faced in raising their children – especially from parents of infants and parents of children with developmental needs. Many parents explained that the most challenging period was during the first 18 months, as parents are adapting to a new phase of life to care for an infant while juggling work responsibilities.
As mentioned by Minister Masagos, for children aged three and above, preschools can be the best option to meet parents' caregiving needs while supporting the child's holistic development. For children below three years, what is important is for them to build nurturing relationships with significant caregivers and for caregivers to be responsive towards their needs.
Today, most Singaporean parents prefer to play this role and care for infants themselves or rely on the help of family members. Mr Melvin Yong and Ms Ng Ling Ling have asked how we can better support parents in caring for their infants. As mentioned in the Forward SG report, the Government will consider how paid parental leave can be further increased. Currently, around one in five infants are enrolled in infant care centres. We will continue to ramp up centre-based infant care.
Currently, around one in five infants are enrolled in these infant care centres and we plan to increase centre-based infant care places by about 70%, or 9,000 more places by 2030 so that more parents can rely on this care option. To complement these efforts, the Government will work with service providers to launch a three-year pilot in the second half of 2024 to provide affordable and reliable infant childminding services. This will be yet another caregiving option for parents.
Childminders, some of us may know them as \"nannies\" are not a new concept. They were more common in Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s. Some childminders look after a few children in their own homes while others travel to a family's home to look after the child. They are less common today, as parents may be unsure of where to look for trusted childminders or they may find childminding relatively more expensive as compared to other caregiving options, such as infant care centres.
Last year, in a work visit to Denmark, France and the UK, I learnt that these countries have put in place requirements, such as background checks on the childminders and financial support to parents, such as subsidies, to make childminding more accessible to parents. Parents can then have greater flexibility to choose what is best for them in terms of their caregiving needs and preferences. For example, parents may prefer a more structured setting during working hours. They may then opt for infant care centres for their infants. Those who prefer more flexible hours or more individualised care in a home-setting may for opt for infant childminding.
We will thus launch a pilot and appoint childminding operators and work with them to expand infant childminding services in Singapore. Under the pilot, each childminder will be allowed to care for up to three infants at any one time, at their homes or at a community space. Community spaces, such as community centres, will be in areas of high infant care demand so that parents can conveniently access childminding services. Parents also have more flexibility to discuss their care preferences and requirements with the childminder.
To ensure that infant childminding services are affordable to families, ECDA will provide funding to appointed operators to keep the out-of-pocket expenses affordable for parents who use the service for their infants during typical working hours on weekdays. We aim to make parents' expenses for childminding services similar to what a middle-income family pays for infant care at their Anchor Operator. We will also extend the usage of CDA to further defray the cost of childminding under the pilot.
We understand that the safety is a key consideration for parents when deciding the care arrangements for their infants. To give parents more assurance under this pilot, ECDA will conduct background checks on operators and childminders and require operators to meet certain service requirements. These service requirements include: (a) assessing the suitability and homes of the childminders; (b) putting in place guidelines for child-safe practices and responsibilities of childminders; (c) disclosing childminders' profile to parents; (d) establishing processes for incident management; and (e) ensuring that childminders undergo required training in areas, such as basic infant care, first aid training and food safety and hygiene.
ECDA will also work with operators to co-develop industry standards. This includes laying out what constitutes a safe childminding environment and the respective responsibilities of operators and childminders. This will ensure baseline service standards across the appointed operators and help to uplift the childminding sector in general.
The pilot will allow us to assess the receptiveness of parents to infant childminding. As this is a new pilot, we have engaged parents, childminders and childminding operators to hear their views to help us refine the parameters. We will continue such engagements and announce more details in the second-half of 2024.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked how we will support parents of children with developmental needs to help their child reach their full potential.
Children with developmental challenges have diverse and unique needs and require different types of support. Some can be supported in their preschools, while others may require more specialised interventions at centres providing Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC).
International studies have also shown that parents are in the best position to embed intervention related to social and emotional skills in their children's daily lives. For parents to do this well, they will need to be equipped with the skills to provide early intervention support at home. This is why we will be introducing an EIPIC-Care pilot, a training programme for caregivers of two- to three-year-olds with developmental needs. During the six-month programme, caregivers will learn from professionals through group workshops and individual coaching sessions on how to support their child's development at home.
ECDA plans to launch the EIPIC-Care pilot in the second half of 2024. For children who require more support, we have been increasing the number of Government-funded places for children requiring medium to high levels of early intervention support. In 2023, we launched 13 EIPIC-P centres, which are operated by private providers; and two EIPIC centres, to increase our capacity by 1,200 places. This is a 26% increase from 2022.
In 2024, we will launch four more early intervention centres and increase our capacity by 1,500 places. We will continue to expand our Government-funded places to serve 80% of children requiring medium to high levels of early intervention by 2027, up from 60% in 2022. This will help to reduce overall wait times for enrolment into an early intervention centre so that children with developmental needs can receive timely support.
To provide stronger financial support for families of older children with special needs, Deputy Prime Minister Wong announced in his Budget speech that we will make Special Education (SPED) Schools and Special Student Care Centres (SSCC) more affordable for families. We will reduce the fees paid to bring the proportion of household income paid for out-of-pocket expenses closer to that of their typically developing peers. To illustrate, families with a monthly household income of $6,000 will see one-third decrease in their out-of-pocket expenses paid for SSCC, from $500 to around $340.
Ms Hazel Poa asked on the use of restorative justice in cases of spousal violence. As families navigate various milestones in their life journey, we want to build strong families and ensure parents are equipped to build safe havens for their children.
Unfortunately, some families are not safe when violence happens at home. To strengthen protection for survivors of violence, we moved the Family Violence (Amendment) Bill in Parliament last year. These provisions also strengthen powers for the Government to rehabilitate perpetrators, which is crucial to helping families reconcile once protection and safety for survivors have been achieved.
Our social service practitioners also support families at risk of harm or who are experiencing violence to address the root causes for the use of violence and work with the survivor and perpetrator to heal and restore relationships where possible. Support for these families would include counselling. Family members, including children, may attend these counselling sessions to achieve healing and restoration of family relationships where it is safe to do so.
However, we will not hesitate to take firm measures when such restoration is not possible in the immediate term. This includes exercising the full powers of the law to take the perpetrators to task and to ensure the safety and protection of the survivors. Mr Chairman, in Mandarin, please.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Families are the bedrock of our society. We want to give parents and parents-to-be greater assurance in the caregiving of their children. We want to provide every child with a good start in life. This is an important part of our vision in realising a Singapore Made For Families.
We will continue to make preschools more accessible and affordable for families. We will further reduce childcare fee caps at Anchor and Partner Operators by $40 in 2025. We will make a final reduction in 2026. We will also increase the number of Government-supported preschool places, so that 80% of preschoolers can have a place in a Government-supported preschool by 2025. We will continue to maintain this 80% from 2025 to 2030.
We have also heard from parents that the most challenging period was during their child's infancy. To better support parents in the care of infants, the Government will work with service providers to launch an infant childminding service to provide another caregiving option for parents. We will provide funding to keep the childminding service affordable for parents. To ensure that the infants are well cared for, ECDA will conduct background checks and require operators to meet service requirements to ensure safety of the infants. ECDA will also work with operators to co-develop industry standards. This includes laying out what constitutes a safe childminding environment and the respective responsibilities of operators and childminders.
Parents of children with development needs also require greater support to help their child reach their full potential. For parents to do this well, they will need to be equipped with the skills to provide early intervention support at home. This is why we will be introducing an EIPIC-Care pilot, a training programme for caregivers of two- to three-year-olds with developmental needs. For children with higher needs, we will continue to increase the number of Government-funded places for children requiring medium- to high levels of early intervention support.
(In English): As Minister Masagos shared, all of us must play our part to realise our vision of a family-friendly society and a Singapore Made for Families.
We have seen many volunteers who have worked alongside professionals to support our families in need. Ms Marsha Hernatasha and Ms Qistina Mohamed Nasir are friends who are volunteers together for KidSTART Garden Wonders. As volunteers, they welcome KidSTART families, pack and distribute goody bags and engage the children during the storytelling sessions. Ms Marsha and Ms Qistina sees volunteering as an opportunity to do something good and give back to families with young children. As we dedicate 2024 as the Year of Celebrating Volunteers, let us appreciate and recognise the contributions, effort and sacrifice of our volunteers.
We are committed in supporting our parents and parents-to-be, so that they are assured that every child can have a good start in life in Singapore and that they have fair access to opportunities to progress in life.
The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Eric Chua): Chairman, talking to Singaporeans from all walks of life, one topic that often comes up is, \"What would Singapore in the future look like?\" Will we be a more caring and inclusive society? Can Singapore be a place made for all families, one where lower-income families have a fair chance to achieve their aspirations, and one where persons with disabilities can fulfil their true potential? MSF is working hard with families and communities to make these statements a reality.
I recently met Ms Aini and Mr Wali, a young couple who welcomed their first child Laila in 2022. They are currently living in a public rental flat and they hope to purchase their first BTO flat soon. Aini is looking to return to a cabin crew job, while Wali is striving to turn his passion for stand-up paddling into a full-time business.
The couple is working hard to realise their dreams: to achieve their career goals, buy a home and provide a good future for young Laila. But they are unsure how they can get there.
This is where MSF's ComLink+ family coaches, like Mr Zeke, come in. Our family coaches journey with ComLink+ families and support their aspirations. The family coach considers the family's unique circumstances, needs and strengths and co-develops an action plan with the family to help the family achieve its goals, one step at a time.
Through discussions with Zeke, Aini and Wali agreed that an important and immediate goal for the family was to secure stable employment. This would enable them to repay their loans and save for their BTO flat. With Aini on board with the action plan, Zeke then connected her with a career coach at Workforce Singapore. Zeke also provided helpful perspectives and suggestions on balancing work with parenting responsibilities. After some consideration, Aini and Wali decided that Wali could take care of Laila when Aini needs to fly for work. With care arrangements sorted out, she can now look for a cabin crew job with peace of mind.
As the family coach, Zeke is providing Aini and Wali with the sort of structured approach Ms Ng Ling Ling talked about, to achieve stability and make better decisions for the future. The nationwide rollout of ComLink started in 2021. Ms Denise Phua would be pleased to know that our Social Service Offices (SSOs) and Family Service Centres (FSCs) now serve 10,000 families with children in public rental flats in all 21 towns.
And we are now ready to proceed with ComLink+. Mr Xie Yao Quan would also be pleased to know that with ComLink+, we will have integrated support across multiple programmes, including KidSTART, UPLIFT Community Network and Project Dian@M3. We will continue to strengthen the leadership role of the family coach to coordinate support across programmes and services, so that ComLink+ families can enjoy comprehensive, coordinated and convenient support. MSF currently has about 120 family coaches and we plan to recruit 200 more. We have also recruited and trained about 1,600 volunteer befrienders working alongside our family coaches. All in, each family coach, aided by volunteer befrienders, is expected to support between 25 and 35 families and meet with them at least one to two times a month at the beginning. [Please see clarification later in the debate.]
In a shift from social assistance to empowerment, we will provide financial top-ups through ComLink+ Progress Packages to recognise and supplement ComLink+ families' efforts in working towards stable employment, financial stability, home ownership and giving their children a good start in education.
The first ComLink+ Package for Preschool will be launched in the second half of this year and we will roll out the rest of the ComLink+ Packages subsequently.
The early years are crucial for a child's learning and development. Enrolling in preschool by age three and attending preschool regularly will give Laila a good start in life and better prepare her for Primary 1. This is why the ComLink+ Package for Preschool will recognise parents' efforts to prioritise their children' preschool education. This is how it will work: every child between ages three and six in a ComLink+ family who enrols in and attends preschool regularly, can receive up to $3,700 in their CDA. This includes a one-time CDA top-up of $500 when the child is enrolled in preschool in the year that he or she turns three, and $200 for each quarter that the child achieves at least 75% attendance in the preschool. These top-ups are funded by one of our ComLink+ anchor partners, DBS. The Government will also match these CDA top-ups as part of the Baby Bonus Scheme, so that the child can get as much as $7,400 in total in their CDA. I would like to emphasise that the parents do not need to make any monetary contribution. All they need to do is to enrol and send their child to preschool regularly.
As Laila continues her preschool education, Aini will also benefit from the preschool subsidies given to lower-income households. Mr Gerald Giam will be pleased to know that full-day childcare fees for children from all lower-income families at Anchor Operator preschools cost as low as $3 monthly.
If Laila regularly attends a Government-supported preschool until six, not only will the ComLink+ CDA top-ups fully pay for her preschool fees, there will also be ample balance remaining in her CDA that can be used for her healthcare and other primary school expenses.
Since the nationwide scale-up of ComLink, we have been encouraged by the good response from the families, many of whom have agreed to work with us. And we are now ready to embark on our next move: to provide ComLink+ support to families beyond those in public rental housing. From this month onwards, and over the next three years, we will expand ComLink+ to cover another 3,000 lower-income families who are not in public rental housing and are eligible for KidSTART or UPLIFT Community Network. These families face similar challenges as our ComLink+ families and would also benefit from family coach support and the ComLink+ Progress Packages.
ComLink+ embodies our refreshed approach to support our lower-income families, something Mr Melvin Yong touched upon.
First, our approach has to be family-centric. Our family coaches recognise each family's unique aspirations, strengths and circumstances and work with them to chart their next steps. They also take the lead to coordinate and integrate support for the families they serve, giving families more headspace to plan for their own future and achieve their goals.
Second, our shift from social assistance to social empowerment, where we help families move forward as they work towards a better future. ComLink+ aims to empower families to achieve the \"3S\"s outcomes of stability, self-reliance and, eventually, social mobility over the long term. This is distinct from social assistance that serves immediate needs but may have less direct and sustained impact on longer-term outcomes.
Third, our greatest support comes from partnerships: our volunteers and our partners. Our ComLink+ partners across the people, private and public sectors contribute what they can to support others in need.
Our anchor partners, DBS, Singapore Pools and, most recently, The Ngee Ann Kongsi, fund some of the ComLink+ Progress Packages. DBS, for instance, has made a contribution of over $30 million to the ComLink+ Packages for Preschool and Home Ownership.
Many DBS staff have also stepped forward as Befrienders, while Singapore Pools staff are also volunteering at various ComLink+ programmes. Students like Ansel Lim and Adele Koo from NUS, whom I have also met recently, are Aini's Befrienders. They play with Laila and organise outings with the families and in this Year of Celebrating Volunteers, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to our ComLink+ volunteers for devoting your time and energy to journey alongside these families.
We welcome community partners to work alongside ComLink+ to offer complementary programmes where there is a need, such as debt counselling, financial literacy, homework supervision and sports programmes. In this way, everyone contributes to uplifting our lower-income families.
Looking ahead, we hope that ComLink+ will support families' pursuit of long-term aspirations. Going forward, we will track ComLink+ families' progress towards the \"3S\"s outcomes and work with local academics to evaluate the efficacy of the ComLink+ Progress Packages.
Aini's challenges are not unique. In every society, there will be those who struggle from time to time. However, what really reflects our moral fibre as a society is how we work together to make sure that no one is permanently stranded at the bottom of the barrel. As our lower-income families work hard to build a better tomorrow for themselves, let us support and journey alongside them.
I now move on to enabling persons with disabilities. I would like to assure Ms Denise Phua and Ms Rahayu Mahzam that we are working hard and making good progress on implementing our EMP 2030. SG Enable plays a key role in galvanising an extensive range of partners towards our EMP 2030 goals. Members can refer to MSF's website for more detailed updates – as Ms Denise Phua mentioned, you might have to do a few clicks but you can find all the details there – but today, let me share some key efforts and progress.
First, we want to empower persons with disabilities to pursue their work aspirations: to get a job and to stay employed. To do this, we adopt a person-centric approach, providing a range of employment support programmes to cater to various needs and capabilities.
SG Enable piloted the Place-and-Train programme in 2021, where employers receive salary support of up to 90% while they train persons with disabilities placed with them. Through Place-and-Train, 131 employers have hired more than 330 persons with disabilities. We will extend the programme for two more years and place and train another 200 persons with disabilities by 2026.
Last December, SG Enable launched the first Enabling Business Hub at Jurong, (EBH@Jurong), partnering employers, training providers and social service agencies, to bring job opportunities in the logistics sector closer to persons with disabilities in the West. The onsite team at EBH@Jurong also provides enhanced employment support for up to 24 months at a higher intensity, to support those with higher job support needs.
For some, the road to employment is a longer journey. I recently met Lek Wei and his parents. Lek Wei is autistic and often had meltdowns. After graduation, he enrolled as a Sheltered Workshop trainee with the Knead with Love bakery at the THK Pan-Disability Centre@Eunos.
The team provided a structured environment with routines, made efforts to understand how Lek Wei received instructions and gave him time and space when he was overwhelmed. He picked up skills like weighing ingredients and rolling dough and found joy in making delicious bread for others.
Gradually, Lek Wei could regulate his emotions better and made such good progress that he secured a job trial at Boon Café@ITE College Central. During this trial period, the Sheltered Workshop and Job Coaches guided Boon Café in job redesigning. For example, Boon Café personalised Lek Wei's workstation by labelling the ingredients and colour coding the steps to his recipes. The Café employees also learned how to communicate with him. They speak to him slowly, with simple words. Through all these efforts, Lek Wei assimilated well and a few months later, Boon Café offered Lek Wei full-time employment. Lek Wei was Boon Cafe's first employee with disability and he opened the door for the hiring of three more at the cafe. I also tasted some of the pastry that he made, I must say they were \"yummilicious\".
Mr Ong Hua Han will be interested to know that our Sheltered Workshops provide a structured learning and training environment, with support from allied health professionals and training officers. As shown through Lek Wei, such environments enable those with higher needs to learn and develop at their own pace and hopefully, eventually enter open employment.
As demand for Sheltered Workshop spaces remain high, we will increase capacity by 500 spaces, from the current 1,700 to 2,200 by 2030. We will add 100 spaces to APSN's Centre for Adults this year, with the rest added progressively over the next few years. Because of the good uptake of the range of work opportunities, we raised the employment rate of resident persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 from about 28% in 2018 to 2019, to 33% in 2022 to 2023, and we will press on towards our aspirational employment target of 40% by 2030.
I am heartened, as Ms Carrie Tan and Ms Ng Ling Ling would be too, that more employers like Boon Café are hiring inclusively. These employers are accredited with the Enabling Mark. Based on the Comprehensive Labour Force Survey for 2022 and 2023, close to half of persons with disabilities were employed in community, social and personal services, manufacturing and F&B services. To expand the jobs available, SG Enable is reaching out to employers in emerging sectors, such as transport and storage, including logistics; and financial and insurance services. We call upon more employers to be inclusive hirers, so that more people like Lek Wei can pursue their work aspirations.
Beyond employers, the community plays a key role in enabling our persons with disabilities to live independently and feel valued. In the Enabling Masterplan, we committed to provide a continuum of support services that enable persons with disabilities to live in the community.
For those unable to work, our Day Activity Centres (DACs) help to equip them with essential daily and community living skills. We will add 500 DAC spaces, from the current 1,800 to 2,300 by 2030. We will add 50 spaces to the MINDS Jurong Training and Development Centre by 2025, with the rest added progressively in the next few years.
SG Enable launched the first Enabling Services Hub (ESH) in Tampines last August. The ESH complements current support services by bringing services and programmes closer to homes of persons with disabilities. Through working with community partners, we hope to create inclusive neighbourhoods and strengthen support for adults with disabilities and their caregivers, especially for those no longer actively receiving services.
Take Irfan and his mother Mdm Sheriffa whom I met recently as well, for example. Irfan was not suitable for work after graduation and was staying at home. Thankfully, Sheriffa was connected to the ESH, which engaged Irfan in various activities close to where they stayed. One activity Irfan enjoys is volunteer book-shelving at the Tampines Regional Library. He volunteers every Thursday. So every Wednesday night, he hangs up his blue volunteer t-shirt, looking forward to volunteering the very next day. Irfan also enjoys community fitness activities at Tampines West Community Club, including inclusive floorball activities. These activities have brought Irfan out of isolation and into the community.
Mdm Sheriffa works night shifts at a fast-food restaurant and takes care of Irfan in the day. Irfan's engagement in activities allows Mdm Sheriffa to run errands or to have a much-needed respite before work. Sherrifa has also made friends with fellow caregivers through ESH activities and knows she is not alone. To date, the first ESH has supported more than 140 persons with disabilities and caregivers living in Tampines and Bedok. Riding on this encouraging progress, we will launch the second and third ESH in 2025 – one in the North-East covering Punggol, Hougang, Sengkang and Serangoon; and one in the West focusing on Jurong West.
We hope that the ESHs will support more persons with disabilities like Irfan and very importantly, provide respite for caregivers like Mdm Sheriffa too. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Ong Hua Han that we need to support our caregivers, who play an indispensable role. In fact, it is also a point that I made in my speech in the debate on the Budget statement just a week ago. CaringSG will collaborate with the ESH and other communities to strengthen community and peer support.
To support persons with disabilities and their caregivers with long-term financial and care planning, more than 1,200 trust accounts have been set up with the Special Needs Trust Company, or SNTC. We share Mr Murali Pillai's hope that more families will set up trust accounts and tap on the Special Needs Saving Scheme (SNSS) to set aside Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings for long-term care. SNTC works with key partners, including SG Enable, SPED schools and social service agencies to reach out to families.
The Government is also strengthening support on caregiving costs. For those who require point-to-point transport to commute to SPED schools and community-based programmes, we will increase the Enabling Transport Subsidy (ETS) from 1 April 2024 to alleviate the cost of transport services. Currently, about 5,400 beneficiaries are receiving the ETS. With this increase, about 40% of families currently receiving the ETS can expect a reduction in their out-of-pocket transport fees by 10% or more.
Also, Deputy Prime Minister Wong announced that we will update the per capita household income threshold for means-tested subsidies so that more families can benefit from subsidies like the ETS. Valid means-test results can also be shared across schemes, so that beneficiaries need not undergo repeated means-testing within a period of time. This will help ensure that our schemes and subsidies remain accessible to those who need them.
Lastly, the EMP commits to improving accessibility and inclusiveness in our social and physical environments. We have extensively improved the accessibility of our public transport and public spaces; all public buses and train stations and almost all public sector buildings are wheelchair-accessible.
You and I can play our part through small but impactful actions, such as looking out for those who need a hand, smiling more, staring less at unusual behaviour and focusing on their abilities and not limitations; because together, we can build a caring and inclusive society. Chair, in Mandarin, please.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Many citizens share similar aspirations for Singapore to be an inclusive and caring society, where everyone is empowered to pursue their own aspirations. Today, let me share on how we are going to support lower-income families and PwDs to reach their full potential.
First, ComLink+ reflects our philosophy in empowering lower-income families by encouraging action and progress. Our family coaches journey with ComLink+ families through a family-centric approach. The family coach will consider the family's circumstances, needs and strengths to co-develop an action plan with the family to achieve its goals. ComLink+ Progress Package recognises and supplements ComLink+ families' efforts in working towards stable employment, financial stability, home ownership and giving their children a good start in education. We will launch the first ComLink+ package for preschool this year to encourage early enrolment and regular attendance.
Besides the volunteers that Minister mentioned, ComLink+ partners come from across the people, public and private sectors. Our anchor partners, DBS, Singapore Pools and the Ngee Ann Kongsi have contributed generously towards supporting ComLink+ families.
In this year of Celebrating Volunteers, I would like to thank ComLink+ befrienders for devoting your time and energy to journey with the families.
We also continue to support PwDs, by providing different employment support programmes catering to varying needs and capabilities. This includes extending the Place-and-Train Programme and increasing capacity for Sheltered Workshops.
Aside from employment, we support PwDs to live independently and better integrate into the community. We will increase the number of Day Activity Centres spaces and launch two new Enabling Services Hub in the North-East and West later this year, providing more opportunities for PwDs to engage in social activities and learn new skills.
Lower-income families and PwDs are often too saddled by today's burdens as they work towards achieving their aspirations. The Government and social service partners adopt a person-centric and/or family-centric approach by providing a range of services and programmes to accommodate their various needs, capabilities and empower them to fulfil their potential. Together, as a society, I hope that we can work together to create an inclusive and caring Singapore.
(In English): Sir, I started my speech asking whether Singapore can be a caring and inclusive place for all families, including our lower-income families and those with persons with disabilities. Aini, Lek Wei and Irfran have shown us, we can. We can, when families do their best to achieve their aspirations. We can, when our social service partners and professionals journey alongside these families. We can, when employers hire inclusively. We can, when our volunteers take time and energy to befriend our families and PwDs. And we can, when you and I look out for those amongst us in need.
This is our refreshed social compact that we set out under Forward Singapore. Together, we can create a caring and inclusive Singapore. One where everyone can progress, fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. A Singapore made for all Singapore families.
The Chairman: Ms Denise Phua.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Thank you Minister, Minister of State and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for your comprehensive and caring responses. I have two supplementary questions, mostly for Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua.
The first one has to do with ComLink+. I hear an almost picture-perfect narrative of what has happened. But I know and am sure the Senior Parliamentary Secretary also goes through quite a lot of this every day, that it is not picture-perfect and there are lots of challenges actually serving our families. And I just want to reiterate what I asked in my cut. How did the pilot go? What were the challenges? And how do we intend to solve this? And how do the rest of us, including the Government, plan to work at it together? That is my first supplementary question.
The second one has to do with the EMP for persons with disabilities. Again, I want to ask from my cut. First is that it is great and I am very thankful for the report that was made. A lot of these reports pertain to the outputs, activities, and that is a really good start as well. But we need to link it to outputs. At the same time, we also want to make sure that it is not outdated. Eight-year master plans are like really major things. Even in this time and age, a lot of things, shelf lives are very short. So, I really think that eight-year master plans in the social service sector definitely have to be updated. So, can I ask for a structured official review each year so that we can ensure that these plans are updated? Also include what I shared about the need to include hot topics like inclusive insurance, criminal justice, review and strengthen the appropriate adult scheme and also to include ADHD and dyslexia, such neurodiverse conditions into our master plan.
And also, the hot button issues, which are really the financial subsidies for essential services, such as daily activity centres for those with moderate to severe disabilities. I think we really need to consider a hybrid model of funding just like what we did many years ago, I think under Minister Vivian for MSF, where there is a universal core base and then you tap on, you add on, top up with means-tested subsidies so that at least the fundamental core expenses for such models can be covered.
Mr Eric Chua: I thank Ms Denise Phua for two very extensive clarifications. I will take the first clarification first. I am afraid I will not be able to give a very detailed reply.
I agree with the Member that in terms of implementation, in fact, oftentimes, we meet a lot of implementation roadblocks, especially where we need partners to work together, especially where we need perhaps to push for maybe some flexibility at the edges of our current day policies. But rest assured that there is a very intentional view right from the social service officers on the ground, the SSOs' general managers, as well as each of the SSO officers that are in touch with the ComLink+ families, the family coaches, right up to the senior public servants, as well as myself. We do take a very keen interest in what is going on on the ground. So, while I cannot — well, I can, but I would definitely use up all the clarification time going through all the details of the various implementation bumps that we have encountered.
But you have my commitment in this Chamber that MSF and our officers, right down the line to the SSOs on the ground, will commit to helping every single ComLink+ families that we are serving today. So, that is a very broad answer to Ms Denise Phua's first question.
To the second question, I want to thank her for being a very passionate advocate in this space. And I assure the Member that we are not simply looking at output in the EMP. Some of the indicators that we look at pertains specifically to outcomes. So, for instance, in terms of employment, getting to 40% employment, and that translates, from when we first started in 2022, when the EMP 2030 was launched, we were at about 30%, 31%. And to make that leap from 30% to 40%, that translates to about 10,000 job placements. And we are talking about going way beyond placements, because we do want persons with disabilities to keep their jobs, to sustain employment. Because employment is not simply about having a job, having somewhere to go nine to six every day. It is also about personal empowerment. It is also about self-actualisation in many instances. So, that is but one example of how outcomes are also being attended to.
Other outcomes that we look at, NCSS conducts a quality of life survey of persons with disabilities and this is called the Disability and Inclusion Panel Study. And this is conducted once every two years. This is also one of those proxy reports that we refer to, to see how the needles are shifting in this space. And I really want to behoove Ms Denise Phua that the EMP 2030 is not a dead plan. In fact, it is a very live plan. It does not mean that what we have said in 2022 is truth with a capital \"T\". We are open to evolving some of the strategies; we are open to evolving some of the methods. In fact, we have stated in the Masterplan itself that we understand that things are changing, particularly in terms of, say, assistive technology. And we acknowledge that and we welcome any suggestions along the way as we get to 2030. And if I can add, 2030 is most definitely not a full stop. To me, it is the figurative comma in our journey towards making Singapore a more inclusive society. So, I hope that is sufficient assurance for the Member.
The Chairman: Mr Melvin Yong.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: Thank you, Chairman. I have two questions. My first question is for Minister Masagos. I am very happy to hear that the National Family Week will now be extended to a month-long festival. This will certainly allow for more families to participate and also for more family-oriented programmes to be included. My question is really regarding the lower-income families. How does MSF plan to encourage, to facilitate lower-income families, in particular, families with children living in rental flats, to participate in the family month activities? Perhaps, the FFL can work with SSA, family coaches, even the People's Association, to maybe bring the ComLink+ families to participate in these activities.
My second question is for Minister of State Sun Xueling. Given the recent spate of incidents involving the preschool sector, what can MSF and ECDA do to assure parents on the safety and standards of our preschools? Were these incidents a result of insufficient resources deployed by the preschools? If so, what can ECDA do to ensure that all our preschools are adequately resourced?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Thank you, Mr Yong, for that opportunity for me to call for even more participation from all my colleagues here. And I hope that when we do the National Family Festival, it is not something that is top-down, something that FFL does or MSF does, but also for grassroots organisations, corporates to participate, whether or not they get reported in media or otherwise, because I think when this festivity goes on throughout Singapore, and then, like what Mr Yong was mentioning just now, get everyone involved, whether they are disabled or from a needy family, I think this will augur well for what Singapore is about, an inclusive and caring society. But we do have to get a ground-up initiative. We want to have ideas, what can be done.
Just to give Members an example I tried in my own Community Club where we have a simple two-hour sit-down family chillax. Just everyone can come and we just charge $5. I have a little surplus in my Community Club, I say let us spend and give families a good time. But for the families which are living in rentals, who we know are in the ComLink+ or other programmes, we get the befrienders as well as SSOs to tell us who they are, invite them and charge them maybe just $1. Because they have to show they have a ticket. And I do not think free is always good, to show that they will be committed to come. But when they came, we did not know, we did not identify so-and-so was needy, so-and-so was disabled. Everyone was just sitting around having a chill time and it was a great atmosphere. So, it does not have to be very structured. Just have a band play for them from five to seven, food truck, free flow of food, that kind of festivity I think will be very welcomed. So, I hope that corporates, whether you do it on-site or as a family day outing, extend this to other families who may be needy, as part of corporate responsibility, too.
Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member, Mr Melvin Yong, for his second question. I would like to highlight our findings from the Kinderland case. And this has also been published before. What we have found was that there was inadequate supervision by centre leaders and that there was oversight by the employees. So, this is a learning point. And we have shortened the tenure for the Kinderland centres. We are also actively monitoring, going down on-site to supervise what is happening in the preschool.
So, I do not see it as a general insufficient resourcing in the sector as a whole because MSF has very strict requirements on teacher and student ratios. And we have not observed that these were contravened. Rather, these were lapses in the centre. And I think it is a strong reminder to the industry that teachers need to be accountable for their actions. They need to know that they will be swiftly taken to task if they are found to be errant or negligent and that centre leaders have to be responsible and that they have to supervise.
The last point I would like to add is that, as I mentioned in my speech earlier, the current levers that ECDA has is limited by our current set of legislation in place. We are reviewing those legislation and we will enhance those levers. It could take the form of enhanced financial penalties so that there is a very clear signal to the industry that we do not take such abuse lightly.
The Chairman: Ms Ng Ling Ling.
Ms Ng Ling Ling: Thank you, Chairman. I have just two clarifications, one for Minister of State Sun Xueling and one for Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua. For the pilot infant childminding services, can the Minister of State share more about which part of Singapore will the pilot be implemented? What are the fees that young parents can expect? Will the subsidy be the same as the current infant care for licensed centres? Also, how will the quality and safety standards be checked, especially if they are not done on centre-based?
For Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua, the question is on the family coaches for ComLink+. I think it is an excellent idea to roll out this initiative. I would like to know more about the qualification, training and experience of the family coaches and how we are supporting them because we know that a lot of them deal with very complex issues for the families. How do we help them, especially if the caseload can be about 25 to 35 families for each family coach?
Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her questions. First and foremost, this is a pilot nationwide. So, we are not specific about where the pilot locations are. But that said, we are currently engaging operators. It depends on which operators see it as a viable business model and the operators may also have their own geographical focus areas. So, what I would like to say is that it is not intentional from MSF as to where the pilots would be. But depending on who are the operators who are interested in working with MSF on this, we could see a situation whereby we could start in certain locations first rather than others, but it is a function of which are the interested operators.
Where fees are concerned, I shared that we aim to make parents' expenses for childminding services similar to what a medium-income family pays for infant care at Anchor Operators. So, the potential out-of-pocket expenses could be about $700 thereabouts. We just want to make sure that this is affordable and is seen as a flexible childminding option for parents.
The last question that she had was with regard to standards. I shared that we would have established processes for incident management because we understand from parents, that safety is very important to them should they wish to consider this option and we will also ensure that childminders undergo basic training in areas, such as basic infant care, first aid training, food safety and hygiene.
Mr Eric Chua: I thank Ms Ng for the clarifications she is making. Indeed, we do need the right type for a family coach and basically, we look for a few things.
One, is a person somebody who really is passionate and really genuine and authentic about helping people from lower-income families.
Two, somebody who can display empathy and have good, strong communication and interpersonal skills because that will be helpful when communicating some of the action plans or things that the families need to work on.
And three, really, individuals with good analytical planning, as well as problem-solving skills. So, we are also open to having mid-career switchers join us because we do understand that mid-career switchers, they have more working and family experience and a lot of time this will come in useful. Because we are talking about life experiences that the family coach could potentially share with the families that they work with.
But in addition to the type of candidates that we are looking for our family coaches, we also provide a comprehensive suite of training. There is a structured training programme for family coaches before they are deployed and at various milestone stages and this will include frameworks that they can use to assess the family's strengths and needs for action planning and also engagement-related training. So, things like basic counselling, motivational interviewing, cultural competency as well as coaching techniques; and also working effectively with stakeholders. Because it is not about just bringing a goodie bag or a bag of different schemes to the families. It is about connecting the family to other agencies, other organisations on the ground, so there needs to be a good sense of who these partners are going to be and a good team spirit or team player-ship, if you will, in working with the partners on the ground.
So, these are all the qualities that we look at and try to nurture and imbue in our family coaches.
The Chairman: Mr Ong Hua Han.
Mr Ong Hua Han: I have a clarification for Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for those encouraging stories and an inspiring call to action in your speech.
Does MSF or SG Enable actively track and engage those who successfully graduate from the Sheltered Workshop-to-Work Programme, say after one or two years, to ensure that they do not fall back into unemployment or sheltered workshops a few years post-transition? I ask this because I do share your concern and perhaps those of other Members as well, that we might become too fixated on the EMP 2030 target of 40% employment and inadvertently neglect stability of open employment of PwDs.
Mr Eric Chua: I thank Mr Ong for his clarification. I think a quick point to note is that with the launch of the Enabling Business Hub in Jurong last year, we have facilitated an increase of job support services that is provided to PwDs from one year to two years and the intensity of job support services is actually increased, where needed. So, I do not have the numbers on hand as to how many of PwDs drop out after one year and at the different milestone times, but rest assured that the passion as well as the appetite to really look at helping a PwD, not just land the job, but to really sustain and remain in employment is there.
The Chairman: Ms Carrie Tan.
Ms Carrie Tan: Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to address my clarification to Minister of State Sun Xueling regarding the EIPIC programme. To clarify whether I heard correctly that, she mentioned there will be some training provided for parents under the EIPIC programme if they have children with advanced or high developmental needs? Could she elaborate more on what this is?
And secondly, the point on capacity building, because I understand that right now the waiting time for children with high needs to be enrolled into an EIPIC centre can be several months and it is a bit ironic because we are looking at early intervention in a very critical few years in their lives. So, will the Ministry be looking into shoring up in immediate-term manpower in this sector by, perhaps, attracting talents and well-trained professionals from abroad to shore up our local capacity and then to look into capability building in the next three to five years to quickly tap on local talents to make sure that the EIPIC provisions and services can be ramped up in an accelerated manner?
Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her questions. Firstly, yes, I had mentioned that we will be introducing an EIPIC-Care pilot and that this is a training programme for caregivers of two to three-year-olds with developmental needs. And the reason why we want to do so is that the international studies have shown that parents, they are the early educators, early role models in their children's lives and they are in the best position to embed intervention related to social, emotional skills. And this happens, this can happen at home. So, that is the intent. This will be a six-month programme and the caregivers will be learning from professionals through group workshops and individual coaching sessions on how to support their child's development at home.
On her second question, I had shared that we are launching more places when it comes to EIPIC, by increasing our capacity by 1,200 places. This was in 2023 and this was already a 26% increase from 2022. And in 2024, we will launch four more early intervention centres and increase our capacity by 1,500 places. These numbers are not small.
And if you look at it in terms of percentage, we are expanding our Government-funded places to serve the children from 60% of children who require medium to high levels of early intervention moving from 60% coverage to 80% coverage. So, just think about it in terms of percentage terms, this is already a very, very large increase.
And what that means, obviously, is that we have to bring in more professionals into the space; but we are also extremely mindful that these professionals will obviously have to be adequately-trained and they would also have to be aware of the norms that we have in our society. And very importantly, to be able to work with our parents; the parents of these children with developmental needs.
So, where there are specific specialisations, for instance, it could be speech therapy, could be play therapy. Where possible, we would look at bringing in international staff to cope with and to be helpful. But I think we would like to keep a core group of educators in Singapore and we will definitely be training more of these educators because it is important that we are able to take care of these children with developmental needs, with educators who are trained in Singapore and who are trusted by our parents here in Singapore.
The Chairman: I know Mr Giam you have raised your hands several times. I had given priority to those who had filed cuts first. You can have the floor now.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Thank you, Sir. I did file a cut on this. I am very glad to hear that MSF is planning to professionalise and subsidise childminding services.
So, my question for Minister of State Sun Xueling is, can I ask how this will affect existing informal childminders? I have residents who look after their neighbours' infants and kids after school and these are usually older women who are not highly educated and may not be prepared to be formally employed by childminding operators. So, they may have difficulties completing formal courses and passing written tests. So, how will these informal childminders and the parents who engage their services, be able to tap on the subsidies that MSF is offering under this programme?
Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his question. Our intent is to have more options for parents, which means that if there is an existing arrangement between a nanny or an infant childminder in the community with a parent, we are not going to go in there and change the arrangements. The informal arrangements can continue.
But because we are launching a pilot and when we launch a pilot, we do hope that the results from that pilot will guide us in being able to have it more as a permanent programme. So, we have to make sure then that the parameters are such that it is sustainable and, therefore, we will need to have certain standards in place.
So, what I would say is: in the situation that you mentioned, whatever is an informal arrangement right now – if it is something that they are happy with and there is something ongoing, it is something that they have been doing for a long time between the parent and the infant childminder, they can just go ahead with whatever it is that they have right now. But if they should want to be able to be part of this pilot so that the parent is able to make use of the subsidies that the Government is providing, then we would require the childminder to adhere to the standards that I have shared earlier. This is also so that MSF is responsible for the pilot and then we know what are the parameters that would make this work.
The Chairman: Mr Faisal Manap.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Thank you, Sir. I have one clarification for Minister Masagos.
I believe Minister Masagos mentioned earlier that the ComLink+ family coaches are actually social workers from the FSCs and I believe the Minister is aware of the already heavy workload of FSCs' social workers. So, I would like to ask whether MSF will actually be able to provide additional resources and funding to FSCs, so that FSCs are sufficiently equipped?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The families who live in rental homes who have children, part of them are already under the FSC. So, they have a relationship with the FSC social worker and this is not an additional job for them. It is to let them do their work even better because we give them more tools to incentivise their families to achieve their lifelong goals, in addition to resolving issues like divorce or family violence and so forth. So, I do not see this as an additional burden to them but actually they would very much welcome that now they have more tools to enable them to achieve the objectives that they want for these families.
The Chairman: Mr Giam.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Just to clarify with the Minister of State, can existing individual childminders join the programme or do they have to be employed by a childminding operator?
Ms Sun Xueling: We are currently engaging the operators. Based on the engagements so far, the intent is for the operators to engage the childminders and be responsible for the childminders, because it would be very difficult for MSF to be regulating each and every childminder. So, the short answer to your question is, yes.
The Chairman: Ms Carrie Tan.
Ms Carrie Tan: I would like to address this query to Minister Masagos regarding the funding model of FSCs.
Firstly, I would like to commend that I think the funding model for ComLink+ is very progressive in that it rewards and has an outcome-based model. But I would like to ask if the Ministry would consider reviewing the current funding model of FSCs to transition towards an outcomes-based funding for those FSCs that work on social mobility outcomes, rather than the current model which is based on the caseload funding?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: As I had mentioned in my speech, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua is now leading a task force to conduct an overall review of the FSC landscape and certainly, the area our Member mentioned just now will be one of the areas that he will be looking at.
The Chairman: Any other clarifications? Yes, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua.
Mr Eric Chua: I just want to make a clarification to my main speech earlier. In my excitement, I said that the family coaches would visit the families at the beginning, once or twice every month. Actually, it is once, every one to two months.
The Chairman: Any other clarifications from any Member? If not, can I invite Mr Melvin Yong, if you like, to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: Thank you, Chairman. I would like to thank Minister Masagos Zulkifli, Minister of State Sun Xueling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua and the MSF team working very hard behind the scenes now, for addressing the wide range of issues that Members raised.
Social and family issues are deeply complex. What manifests on the surface is often the result of layers upon layers of varied issues. We have learned that there can never be a silver bullet that would resolve the overlapping problems that distress family faces, but I am heartened that MSF and the social service sector are doing their best to support and to help vulnerable Singaporeans and foster a caring society. Their work is often unseen but crucial and commendable. Chairman, with that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $4,565,896,900 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $124,079,000 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
The Chairman: Order. I propose to take a break now.
[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.40 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 4.17 pm until 4.40 pm.
Sitting resumed at 4.40 pm.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply – Head X (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth)","subTitle":"Building a caring and inclusive society together","sectionType":"OS","content":"The Chairman: Head X, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir): Mr Chairman, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head X of the Estimates be reduced by $100\".
To kick off the Committee of Supply (COS) debate for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) this year, I want to take some reference from the recently concluded Forward Singapore (Forward SG) exercise. As we know, at the heart of the Forward SG exercise, is an effort to engage as many Singaporeans as we can, from all walks of life, on how we should refresh our social compact on the road ahead for Singapore. It suggests, although unsurprisingly, that the aspirations of Singaporeans as to our social compact and to our way of life, has become increasingly diverse.
I say unsurprising because diversity has actually always been the bedrock of how our social compact came to be. Our core values of building a caring and inclusive, multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious society remain sacrosanct among Singaporeans. Closely related is our desire to celebrate our diverse cultural heritage in shared community spaces, expanding opportunities for all to excel or participate in arts and sports and to allow everyone the equal opportunity to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
While it is undeniable that, as each successive new generation of Singaporeans come to the fore, we will continue to evolve as a society and refresh our social compact. These are some core values which should remain key tenets in the pillars of our social compact. We must acknowledge, however, that Singapore, as a society, is rapidly evolving.
Two examples of demographic changes. Increasing inter-ethnic and transnational marriages, may in the future, require us to rethink our racial and cultural classifications. An ageing population and a low birth rate may make us consider how we fundamentally function as a foundational unit that is entrusted with bringing up the next generation and caring for our seniors. This will decidedly have an impact on how we chart our way forward.
It is therefore apparent to me that how we manage the arts, heritage, culture, sports and community sectors within our society will have a deep impact on how our social compact will evolve moving forward. Importantly, we must include our youths in these conversations, as they are the next generation of Singaporeans who will inherit a Singapore shaped by the policies we set in the present day.
We will recollect that these are key areas under the Unite Pillar, led by MCCY Minister Edwin Tong during the Forward SG Conversations. I, therefore, invite the Minister to share with us, MCCY's plans and strategies on how they will expand opportunities in community building, as well as the arts, heritage and sports, to build a vibrant and cohesive home that empowers all Singaporeans to excel and achieve their diverse dreams and aspirations and yet, at the same time, be able to take action to build a fairer and better society together.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
The Chairman: Mr Saktiandi Supaat, please take both your cuts together.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Thank you, Mr Chairman. In Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] M3 celebrated its fifth birthday last year. When it began in 2018, the aim was to solve the Malay/Muslim community's problems by combining the expertise of MENDAKI, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) and the People's Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (MESRA) in the areas of education, religious life and community outreach respectively.
The good work done through M3 is evident. Project DIAN@M3 now supports 400 Malay families living in rental flats across at least six M3@Towns. This is up from around 250 households as at last year's COS. Volunteer ambassadors under Project DIAN play an involved role in guiding vulnerable families, including early childhood development through methods and programmes developed together with the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and KidSTART.
In March 2023, M3 has also added community health as a new focus area in addition to marriage and parenthood, vulnerable groups, youth empowerment and employment. In late September, we at M3@Toa Payoh welcomed clinical psychologist Haikal Jamil, who generously held a concurrent physical and Zoom workshop for managing stress and burnout among residents.
(In English): Mr Chairman, in English, please. My question to Minister is this: what does he see as some of the key outcomes of M3 and the role that active citizenry has played in this? How does M3 amplify the efforts, compared to if MENDAKI, MUIS and MESRA undertook their respective initiatives alone?
I ask this especially as opportunities for cross-pollination of ideas already exist. For example, the Community Leaders' Forum launched in 2003 is a platform to ensure efficient and effective management of resources by the various Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs) to avoid duplication of programmes and services. Is there an intention to bring more MMOs under the M3 umbrella as well, such as the Singapore Muslim Women's Association (PPIS) and the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP)?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Through the recent Forward SG exercise, we recognise that many in our community wish to step forward and contribute to support and uplift the lives of those around them, as part of our refreshed social compact.
M3's wide range of different focus areas, together with the momentum of its programmes and initiatives in the past five years, gives it unlimited potential to attract individuals with different skills and interests. And it is these diverse strengths we must harness to bring the Malay/Muslim community and Singapore forward, as our former President, Mdm Halimah, had stated at the Community of Success Conference last year.
What are some opportunities and key areas of need within M3, where volunteers can step forward and make a difference? Can we improve our capabilities in terms of sustainable volunteer management, and in terms of budgeting and human resources? I have three suggestions.
First, in addition to the financial advisors, lawyers and healthcare professionals who help the community in their own area, we should broaden efforts to gather more professional groups from various industries – perhaps from emerging industries – who can lend their assistance or mentorship.
Second, we should scour for more Singaporean Malay/Muslims overseas who have done very well and flown Singapore's flag high. They have unique perspectives in this age of internationalisation.
Third, we will need more online thought leaders, to participate responsibly in the increasing debates that are taking place on the Internet.
The Chairman: Dr Wan Rizal, please take both your cuts.
Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Chairman, in Malay please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs has shared his vision to create a Community of Success based on the \"3C\"s – Character, Competency and Citizenry.
This framework not only serves as a road map for the community, but it also reflects our nation's broader aspirations, as exhorted in the Forward SG exercise. Through Forward SG, we have seen how Singaporeans' aspirations are now focused on the pursuit of meaning and purpose, and looking beyond themselves and helping others. This collective aspiration represents what we wish for in our society, that is, a society where success is measured not only through an individual's achievements, but also through our contributions to the greater good.
In this context, the Citizenry element of the Community of Success framework takes on a higher significance. Therefore, can the Minister share how the Citizenry component within the Community of Success framework can contribute towards our common aspirations as Singaporeans and strengthen our social compact?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, through Healthier SG, the increased awareness on the importance of preventive health cannot be ignored any longer. Preventive health is a proactive measure that aims to improve the quality of life and reduce the burden of illness.
More people are aware that lifestyle and daily choices can influence our long-term health. Furthermore, more people are interested in enhancing their understanding and activities in terms of mental health. Many recognise that mental health is just as important as physical health.
Last year, the Minister launched the fifth focus area, or FA5, led by M3, as an initiative to increase awareness and actions towards preventive health. This is a good time to look back on the measures that were taken and the journey forward to empower individuals to take ownership of their health, with support from the community.
Sir, health and well-being are not just the responsibility or obligation of an individual. In fact, it is a shared commitment that we must make as one people. Therefore, we need to underscore the importance of creating a conducive environment that encourage, educate and enable every member of our community to lead a healthier life.
In this context, may I ask the Minister, what are the key initiatives of FA5, and how does it help to drive and advance our collective effort to improve our community's health – both physically and mentally?
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Sir, in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, I would like to ask a few questions to get some clarification and also give suggestions on these two matters, firstly, the Mosque Building and MENDAKI Fund (MBMF), and secondly, M3.
Sir, the Mosque Building Fund (MBF) was initially set up to finance the cost of building new mosques during the period when Singapore was undergoing development and urbanisation. The MBF then became the MBMF in 1984, after the establishment of MENDAKI Foundation, and the use of this fund was further expanded to include efforts and initiatives for community development. In 2009, this fund was also extended for the use of upgrading and revitalising mosques. Sir, the information I share is available on MUIS' website.
I would like to ask Minister about the use of the MBMF to fund the development of mosques. What is the allocation of funds from MBMF, in terms of percentage, against the actual cost, firstly, for the construction of new mosques like the Yusof Ishak Mosque; secondly for rebuilding mosques, like the Al-Ansar mosque; and thirdly, for mosques that undergo upgrading and repair works, like the one that Alkaff Kampung Melayu mosque is undergoing.
Sir, regarding the M3 network that was established in 2018, I would like to know whether the Minister will produce its Progress Report. If this report will be produced, when will it be done? May I suggest that this progress report be released once every five years. A complete and detailed progress report will enable, firstly, the community to have a deeper knowledge and understanding about the development and effectiveness of the programmes and initiatives that have been carried out, and secondly, so that the community can also know about the progress of M3's efforts in achieving the mission and vision that has been outlined for the Singapore Muslim community.
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Razwana Begum. Dr Syed Harun, please take your two cuts together.
Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi (Nominated Member): Thank you, Chairman. In Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] First, regarding MUIS' role in Muslim affairs, there are various complexities and diversity in today's world, especially with the rapid developments in the use of technology, such as the increasingly widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and so on. From a religious perspective, the community faces a variety of complex issues, such as the latest technologies in medicine and food, as well as in the international financial systems and structure, as presented at the Fatwa Conference organised by MUIS recently.
We can see how international issues, such as the events in Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, as well as in the Middle East, can give rise to strong and considerable tension and emotions in society. There is also an additional dimension in Singapore, where the Muslim community is a minority group within a plural society. However, there is a desire among Muslims to further enhance their contributions, not only to issues that are near and dear to the Malay/Muslim community, but also to contribute to the nation and the wider Singapore society.
There is also a desire, as well as expertise and knowledge from asatizah and members of the Muslim community to contribute their expertise and capabilities towards the religious affairs and benefit of the global Muslim community, for both the minority and majority groups.
Many turn to MUIS' leadership to provide clarifications and guidance to address challenges that Muslims face. Is MUIS' current structure adequate and can it fully support the needs of the community in the future? What are the next steps to further enhance MUIS' competencies and capabilities, in order to produce a robust institution when facing contemporary challenges in Singapore?
Can we also increase support for local madrasah education as it is a pipeline for local religious scholars, in order to produce community leaders who can provide solutions to contemporary issues in Singapore in an appropriate, wise, credible and balanced manner?
Second, Chairman, I would like to ask about the success rate of M3's initiatives to date. The implementation of M3 programmes has been encouraging, because it combines the resources across the three major community institutions, namely MUIS, MENDAKI and MESRA, in a way that multiplies their respective efforts, and this has benefitted the community.
M3 is already in its fifth year. I hope that Minister will be able to share, in particular, the result of all the good work and programmes under M3, and whether there are any early outcome measures to indicate that home ownership, health indices and accessibility to education, especially early childhood and post-secondary education – are improving within the Malay/Muslim community, and also whether there are any early outcome measures that indicate that drug abuse and crime recidivism rates are decreasing further among the communities and families engaged by M3.
My view is that M3 should also focus on such outcome measures, and it should give attention to these indicators. Certainly, it should be considered as one of the benchmarks of M3's success to ensure that the community’s progress and improvement are assessed objectively.
The Chairman: Ms Nadia Samdin, would you like to take your two cuts together?
Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio): Thank you, in Malay please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] As a small country, we are vulnerable to global and geopolitical developments. Religious and Malay/Muslim organisation leaders have been the guiding light for our community in navigating crucial challenges, whether in dealing with the global pandemic, technological developments and geopolitical issues, such as the ongoing crisis in Gaza. They also play a role in representing our community, both nationally and globally.
A minority Muslim community in a country like Singapore faces unique challenges. Asatizah and leaders of Malay/Muslim organisations play an important role in guiding the response of our community. Our actions and responses should recognise the context of Singapore's plural and multicultural society, based on religious principles.
May I ask how MUIS can continue to equip and support our asatizah, to guide our community in addressing contemporary issues?
What kind of support and resources are available to our religious and MMO leaders, in terms of training opportunities and global exposure, to broaden their experience and deepen their capabilities, to guide and unite our community?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Serving the community is a never-ending task. Leadership renewal plans are key in sustaining the impact that Malay/Muslim organisations have made over the years. In 2021, Minister Masagos launched the Tunas Bersama M3 programme to groom the next generation of Malay/Muslim leaders by equipping them with the knowledge, skills and networks to lead their community and respective organisations.
Our community leadership remains crucial, especially at a time when the challenges that our society face are increasing and becoming more complex, such as climate change, online harms, mental well-being and so on. I hope that more from our generation will step forward to lead us to face these challenges.
Can the Minister provide an update on the Tunas Bersama M3 programme? How does the Tunas programme help to develop our organisations’ leadership for the future and better meet the needs of our community?
Can Tunas be expanded to provide training and networking opportunities to other office-bearers in the MMOs, as well as the key groups serving the community?
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman (Marine Parade): Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] In the ever-evolving landscape of community support and empowerment, initiatives such as the Bersamamu programme, stand as pillars of strength in nurturing resilient and harmonious Muslim marriages. This ground-up effort, spearheaded by Naib Kadis, extends its support to couples from the pre-solemnisation phase through their initial two years of marriage. By offering personalised guidance and assistance, Bersamamu not only lays the groundwork for a strong marital bond, but also addresses the evolving needs of Muslim families.
With the recent enhancements to the programme, including the involvement of female asatizah, there arises a pertinent question - how does the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM) and MUIS plan to further elevate the competencies of our Kadis, Naib Kadis and female asatizah, to better serve the multi-faceted needs of Muslim families in Singapore?
Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) was amended last month to enable MUIS to create the Singapore Community Wakaf (WMS).
We must continue to think of ways to meet the future needs of our community and the AMLA amendments lay the foundation for WMS to serve as a community endowment fund for social and religious development.
In my speech during the AMLA amendment Bill, I shared about the importance in having the WMS as a sustainable revenue stream and how its returns can be used to prepare for medium- and longer-term needs of our community.
This includes ensuring that our madrasahs are supported with sound and sustainable funding, so that we can continue to offer quality education, provide different development pathways to enhance the skills of our religious teachers, as well as meeting the long-term needs of our mosques and madrasahs including land lease renewal.
Can the Minister share more about the plan to build the WMS corpus to ensure that we are prepared for the future needs of our community? How can we encourage more of our community members to contribute to the WMS?
The Chairman: Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim. Take both your cuts together.
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang): Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I have spoken previously about an ecosystem to develop wakaf in Singapore through a comprehensive dispute resolution framework. I am glad that this suggestion is being considered alongside more innovative plans for wakaf in Singapore.
The Mosque Wakaf Investment Plan (MoWIP), which was launched in 2022 with mosques in the West District, is an example of an innovative investment to generate good returns.
The AMLA was recently amended to enable MUIS to create the WMS. The WMS will provide a sustainable source of revenue to support the socio-religious needs of our community in the long run.
According to MUIS' Annual Report, the total wakaf assets in Singapore is close to $1 billion. The World Bank estimates that the value of wakaf assets globally has reached $100 billion.
Therefore, we should consider how to make the institution of wakaf in Singapore more attractive. Currently, the income generated from wakafs vested in MUIS are exempted from the Income Tax Act.
However, can MUIS, together with the Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, consider appropriate tax regimes that will incentivise Singaporeans to establish wakafs and attract foreign wakafs to relocate to Singapore?
In respect of the WMS, I would like to ask the Minister whether he can share the plans to build up the WMS corpus to prepare for our future needs?
Minister had also shared in his speech at last year' Hari Raya Get-Together that some in the community have pledged contributions to WMS.
Can Minister provide an update on the status of pledges received so far? And what are the plans to encourage our community to pledge and continue to contribute to the WMS?
(In English): The global halal market is projected to cross US$2.8 trillion by 2025 and Singapore is currently ranked seventh on the global Islamic economic indicator. There is thus a huge growth potential opportunity in this sector. Singapore recently signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to mutually recognise halal certificates with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan. These MOUs are significant for Singapore as it not only paves the way for Singaporeans to benefit from a wider range of halal-certified products entering our market but would also allow Singapore companies to bring their local halal-certified products overseas.
Can the Minister elaborate on the significance of these halal internationalisation efforts for our minority Muslim community's success? And what are the plans that MUIS may have with Ministry of Trade and Industry or Enterprise Singapore to get more businesses from Singapore to take full advantage of such agreements? Besides this, there is also a potential to deepen expertise and skills among our community. In November last year, at the 20th Informal Meeting of Menteri-Menteri Agama Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, dan Singapura (MABIMS) in Singapore, an MOU, was entered on the exchange of research and studies on sharia, science and technical aspects in the development of halal-related fields. Can the Minister share any plans to encourage more of our asatizahs and madrasah students to pursue such expertise in the halal industry?
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Razwana Begum. Not here. Mr Sharael Taha. Please take your three cuts together.
Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Thank you, Chairman. Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] A strong educational foundation remains a key pillar in helping both individuals and families achieve success and social mobility.
Organisations like MENDAKI play a crucial role in supporting our children and youth at different stages of their education journey, through programmes like the KelasMateMatika (KMM) and MENDAKI Tuition Scheme (MTS). Could the Minister share how programmes, like KMM and MTS, have helped our students and how the programmes have grown over the years?
Beyond programmes like KMM and MTS, how can programmes like Learning Journey by MENDAKI's Future Series Team and M3@Pasir Ris-Punggol provide avenues for youths to explore the jobs in the growth industries?
Over the past year, the learning journey programme has given our students the chance to visit more than 10 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) companies, such as Google, SIA Engineering Company, Rolls-Royce, SMRT and SAESL. How can we encourage more youths to attend such programmes, so that they can be inspired and learn more about opportunities in the growth industry?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] In his Budget speech, Deputy Prime Minister Wong shared that there will be many economic uncertainties ahead. Therefore, to ensure that our Malay/Muslim workers continue to have good jobs, we must equip our workers with the knowledge and skills to be resilient, participate in growth industries and seize opportunities in the future economy. Could Minister share whether there are plans to better support our Malay/Muslim workers to ensure that they are better prepared to thrive in the future economy?
Within our community, we have started professional networks, such as MMiT and MMs in Engineering. The volunteers from MMiTs and MMs in Engineering have supported the programmes, such as Learning Journey, Raikan Ilmu and Hashtech. In the Hashtech competition recently organised by M3@Pasir Ris-Punggol, volunteers from MMiT and MM in engineering assisted students to explore skills in AI.
Could the Minister also share how professional networks in our community can come together to share insights on the industry for students and potential mid-career switchers?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Beyond educational support, mentoring plays an important role to equip our youth with emotional support and career guidance, so that they can achieve their aspirations.
Aside from mentoring programmes in educational institutions, M3 has also started to roll out mentoring programmes in some M3@Towns. At M3@Pasir Ris, we launched a mentoring programme where young professionals provide mentoring support to at-risk youths in secondary schools. I am heartened that, through this programme, all the youth beneficiaries managed to pass their year-end examinations, and more importantly, they gain a more positive outlook about their future.
Could the Minister also share how these mentoring programmes could continue to be relevant and effective in supporting the needs and aspirations of our youths?
The Chairman: Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman, please take your three cuts together.
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman (Marine Parade): Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, the recent study conducted by Yayasan MENDAKI sheds light on critical insights regarding employment and employability within the Malay/Muslim community. With over 1,000 respondents polled, this study underscores the significance of lifelong learning and upskilling, particularly among individuals with higher household incomes and those contributing to their families financially. These findings present an opportune moment to recalibrate our approach towards lifelong learning initiatives and career development support within the community.
How does the Ministry intend to leverage these insights to facilitate targeted interventions and support mechanisms, to ensure that individuals have the requisite skills and opportunities to thrive in an increasingly dynamic economy?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, it is crucial to acknowledge the invaluable role of volunteers in driving community-centric programmes and initiatives. Volunteers, who often come from diverse backgrounds and walks of life, play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of community development efforts. However, encouraging greater participation in volunteerism, especially among beneficiaries of community support programmes, remains a pertinent challenge.
What are the Minister's plans to inspire and incentivise individuals, including past beneficiaries of community initiatives, to step forward and actively contribute to the betterment of the community?
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, the M3 framework, which is a collaborative effort between key community institutions, such as MUIS, MENDAKI and MESRA, has played a pivotal role in fostering unity and collective action within the Malay/Muslim community. Through its citizen-centric approach and emphasis on impactful community programmes, M3 has served as a catalyst for meaningful contributions from professionals, community leaders and volunteers alike.
As we reflect on the journey of M3 over the years, it becomes imperative to examine the key ways in which the framework has facilitated greater impact on the ground. Could the Minister provide insights into some notable initiatives and collaborative ventures undertaken through the M3 framework, particularly highlighting successful partnerships with community stakeholders and volunteers?
The Chairman: Minister Masagos Zulkifli.
The Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Chairman, our Malay/Muslim community has made significant strides since Independence and over the decades. This is a result of the collective and steadfast effort of everyone in the community. As our Forward SG conversations have highlighted, this sense of care and contribution by everyone, regardless of race, language or religion, is key to strengthening Singapore's social compact.
The Singapore Malay/Muslim Community's vision of a Community of Success is underpinned by \"3C\"s: Character, Competency and Citizenry. This is supported by M3, which marshals the strengths and resources of three institutions – MUIS, MENDAKI and PA MESRA – and our community assets to better serve the needs and aspirations of our community.
It has been about five years since M3 was set up. Mr Saktiandi Supaat, Dr Syed Harun and Mr Faisal Manap asked about the progress and outcomes of M3. Through a more culturally nuanced approach that complements national efforts, we have been able to provide impactful programmes in the community. For example, through the Bersamamu programme, more than 26,000 couples have been supported by the Kadi and Naib Kadi or Muslim solemnisers to build stronger marriages. To Dr Syed Harun's query, the number of new Malay drug abusers arrested has fallen from 513 in 2013, to 351 in 2023. The two-year recidivism rate for Malay offenders has also improved over the past decade from 34.7% for the 2011 release cohort, to 26% for the 2021 release cohort. The improvements have been made possible through complementary efforts by the Government and M3 community programmes like FITRAH to preventing re-offending.
While it has been five years of M3, it would be too early to celebrate its success even as there are early and good indicators of it. We are continuing to review the impact of our programmes and will provide updates in due course.
What is clear is that M3 has importantly provided the structure to nurture a culture of contribution within the community. Volunteering, including through M3, is part of our national culture that is being celebrated by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) this year. To Mr Fahmi Aliman's and Dr Wan Rizal's queries, we have mobilised volunteers across the 11 M3@Towns to deliver greater impact on the ground and support last mile delivery. With a dedicated pool of over 850 volunteers at the M3@Towns, M3 has been able to tackle some of the key issues faced by our community.
How can we take our Community of Success to greater heights? I believe this lies in a continued spirit of Citizenry, where we support one another to create a brighter future for our community and for Singapore, which my colleagues and I will speak more about today.
I will first share three strategies to fortify our Community of Success: first, encouraging a culture of giving back to build strong community institutions; second, empowering confident religious and community leaders to face contemporary challenges; and third, exemplifying citizenry on the world stage. Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] First, we must continue to ensure strong foundations for our religious institutions. In turn, our religious institutions provide the moral foundation for our community to thrive in the economy.
Dr Syed Harun asked how MUIS can continue to support our community's future needs. MUIS established the WMS to generate a sustainable funding stream to support the future religious needs of the community, for the current and future generation. These include our mosques, developing our asatizah and other community programmes.
Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Zhulkarnain asked about the plans to build the corpus or principal fund for WMS. Under the Mosque Wakaf Investment Plan, mosques invest their reserves in Shariah Compliant Investment Products to generate better returns. Thus far, 14 mosques from District West have collectively invested more than $2.7 million. MUIS will expand this initiative to all mosques in other districts, so that they can grow their funds and amplify their impact on the community.
While the spirit of gotong-royong has been part of our community's DNA, we need to be more organised and focused in multiplying efforts to encourage our community to contribute for the long term. I would like to thank Mr Zhulkarnain for his suggestion on encouraging more to create and contribute to wakaf. We will work with the relevant agencies to study these proposals. To Mr Sharael Taha's and Mr Zhulkarnain's queries, MUIS has embarked on a series of public education initiatives to equip the community with financial planning knowledge and tools to plan for their personal and family needs. They can thus plan and contribute their excess income and wealth to WMS for the greater good, and reap perpetual rewards in the afterlife. God willing.
Since last year, MUIS has received WMS pledges amounting over $3.6 million from individuals, besides the investment of mosques. I am heartened by the community's response so far and I encourage more to contribute or pledge to WMS.
Mr Faisal Manap asked about the MBMF. The MBMF provides for the development of all mosques including building upgrading and maintenance, where the allocation of funds are subject to each mosque's specific needs. For all new mosques, all land and building cost are funded by the MBMF. The MBMF also supports up to 75% of the approved cost for mosque upgrading.
I hope that contributions to WMS will help to foster a stronger culture of giving back within our community. Senior Minister of State Zaqy will elaborate on how we can empower our community through MENDAKI's initiatives, and with the success that we achieved, we can contribute more actively. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu will share ways we can leverage opportunities for contribution through M3 as a community that has become an educated and talented community.
Second, it is critical for our religious and community leaders to continue to have the knowledge, skills and experience, so that they are competent in guiding our community navigate the challenges ahead. This includes developing our madrasah students who will be our future community leaders, as Dr Syed Harun mentioned earlier. As a matter of fact, in recent years, our asatizah have guided the community through difficult issues, such as the wearing of the tudung and the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code.
Ms Nadia Samdin asked about our plans to empower our asatizah to guide the community through contemporary issues. As a minority Muslim community, we face a different set of challenges compared to Muslim majority countries. In this regard, I agree with Dr Syed Harun that MUIS and our asatizah must provide clear leadership and guidance for our minority Muslim community living in such a contemporary context.
MUIS has taken concerted efforts to grow bodies of knowledge and one recent initiative is the Fatwa in Contemporary Societies Conference held last month. Eminent religious scholars from here and around the world discussed the importance of the fatwa institution and asatizah in providing robust solutions in the face of complex contemporary challenges. Although Singapore is a small state with a minority Muslim community, internationally renowned Islamic institutions like Egypt's Darul Ifta' recognised our country's contributions in building bodies of religious knowledge. This help to facilitate minority Muslims around the world to thrive in their respective contexts.
In fact, it also nurtures active citizenry in the respective societies. This is in line with the words of wisdom by the Grand Mufti of Egypt at the Fatwa Conference that minority Muslim communities should exemplify the spirit of active citizenry.
To further drive the development of our religious leaders and contextualised bodies of knowledge, MUIS will convene the second edition of the International Conference on Communities of Success (ICCOS) this October. This Conference will focus on how citizenry and community leadership are underpinned by religious values, and add to the body of knowledge of how minority Muslim communities can thrive in plural societies.
At the same time, we must also raise the capabilities of our community leaders to offer effective support to families and the community.
Mr Fahmi Aliman asked about our efforts to strengthen the competencies of our Kadi, Naib Kadi and female asatizah on the Bersamamu programme. More than 90% of them have undergone training to better guide couples in conversations on financial preparedness for marriage. This helped them be more confident and empathetic in guiding couples. We will further develop their competencies in other areas, so that they can provide more effective support to couples.
We will be commemorating the fifth anniversary of Bersamamu later this year. The success of Bersamamu would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our volunteer Kadi, Naib Kadi and female asatizah.
(In English): Mr Chairman, as a Community of Success, we take pride not only in actively contributing to society. We also can demonstrate active citizenry on the world stage and bring distinction to our minority Muslim community and to Singapore.
Last year, Singapore signed our first MOU to mutually recognise halal certificates with Saudi Arabia. Such MOUs not only allow for halal-certified products from other countries to enter Singapore, but for Singapore companies to bring their halal-certified products overseas.
To Mr Zhulkarnain's query, MUIS works with our economic agencies to do so. MUIS will also explore opportunities for our asatizah to be involved in halal-related industries.
Mr Zhulkarnain also asked about the significance of this MOU for our minority Muslim community. The MOU with Saudi Arabia is the first MOU they have signed with a country where Muslims are not the majority. This reflects the strong trust and confidence in our halal standards. More than just expanding business prospects, the MOU has enabled Singapore's minority Muslim community to stand tall in the world.
I was glad to join some Singapore business leaders to explore opportunities in Saudi Arabia in January. One of them was Mr Jimmy Soh, Managing Director of Growers Agri which exports rice and noodles, who shared with me that the MOU was a valuable commitment in promoting Singapore brands to the world.
Beyond the MOU with Saudi Arabia, MUIS has signed similar MOUs with the UAE and Jordan; and are looking to do the same with other countries.
Beyond efforts to strengthen halal cooperation, our minority Muslim community also contributes at the global stage, with how our religious leaders and institutions are internationally recognised for their thought leadership. Our Mufti Dr Nazirudin was recently appointed to the Forum for Research and Studies on Fatwas for Muslim Minorities, a world-renowned body of Islamic scholars founded by Egypt's Darul Ifta', led by the Grand Mufti of Egypt. The Congress plans to showcase Singapore's exemplary model for Muslim minorities to a global audience. We hope that our model of thriving Muslim minorities in a modern, plural society will inspire other communities and pave the way for fostering peace and harmony globally.
Mr Chairman, as a community that has done well, it is our mutual responsibility to contribute both within our community and to wider society as well as beyond our shores. It is when every one of us does our part as active citizens that we can advance and scale greater heights and together, be a Community of Success for the future. [Applause.]
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad.
The Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): Chairman, our Malay/Muslim community has made significant progress in the last decade, especially in education. As the community's talent pool strengthens, it provides strong foundations for our community to contribute back and support one another as a Community of Success.
MENDAKI has played a key role in improving the education and professional development outcomes in our community. We do so in three ways: first, to strengthen education as a pillar for progress; two, empowering our community to thrive and contribute; and three, grooming the community leadership for the future.
Last year, MENDAKI engaged and supported close to 90,000 members of the community through its various programmes and schemes.
One of MENDAKI's key pillars is to provide support for our children and youths at all stages of their education. To achieve this, one of our main approaches is to mobilise talents and energise the community.
Mr Sharael Taha asked about the progress of MENDAKI's signature programmes, like KMM and the MTS. I am happy to share that our KMM programme for preschoolers saw a 74% increase in its enrolment between 2022 and 2023, with 1,700 children and 1,500 parents enrolled in the programme in 2023. Parental involvement has been an important part of KMM, to ensure that parents are empowered and confident to support their children's learning. KMM's scale-up was possible with the help of targeted outreach and referrals by partners, such as Family Service Centres (FSCs), social service agencies (SSAs) as well as M3@Towns. More KMM facilitators have also come on board, with their number tripling from about 50 in 2022 to more than 140 in 2023.
One KMM facilitator is Mr Irfan bin Ibrahim, a Year 3 student at the National University of Singapore (NUS), who started volunteering when he was serving his National Service in 2020. Volunteering shaped his decision to take up a degree in psychology and pursue a career in the social services sector to continue contributing to the community.
The MTS continues to be the backbone of our educational programmes and enrolment for primary and secondary school students has increased by 15% over the past five years, to over 9,000 students in 2023. Today, MTS students are supported by 100 physical and virtual centres. MENDAKI has also continually sought to improve MTS offerings – such as by expanding its subjects offered to include Biology and Additional Mathematics.
Mr Fahmi Aliman has also asked how we could encourage and inspire more people to step forward and serve, especially those who have benefited and done well.
MENDAKI has many platforms for the community to contribute their skills and passion to meet the community needs. An example is how our steadfast MTS tutors have played an integral role in how MTS has grown from strength to strength. One such tutor is Ms Anggreini Hamid, who benefited from MTS during her secondary school days. Now a schoolteacher herself, she has been contributing back as an MTS tutor for the past 18 years. She adopts innovative techniques to make her classes more engaging and effective for her students. Just a tidbit, all three of us – Minister Masagos, myself and Mdm Rahayu – have all been MTS tutors at some point of our lives too. So, we have done our volunteer duty at some point to contribute back to our community.
At the post-secondary and tertiary level, MENDAKI's initiatives, such as the Youth Mentoring Office, help students realise their potential. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu will share more on these efforts in her speech.
Beyond a strong educational foundation, our Community of Success also needs a workforce that can secure good jobs and meaningful careers. We want to empower our workers to thrive so that they can grow our community and our nation.
Mr Fahmi Aliman and Mr Sharael Taha asked about our plans to better support Malay/Muslim professionals and workers in the future economy. MENDAKI continues to help our workforce develop their careers and professional networks, complementing national efforts by our tripartite partners in Government, employers and the Labour Movement.
MENDAKI initiated the Professional Networks to support Malay/Muslim professionals in growing their networks; to contribute back to the community; to exchange ideas; and to help younger workers enter growth industries. To date, MENDAKI has formed nine Professional Networks covering various industries in the Care, Green and Digital sectors; and plan to form four more new networks in areas such as Healthcare and Media this year. We now have more than 450 Malay/Muslim professionals in these networks as at 2023 and MENDAKI will continue to encourage more professionals to join and serve as mentors. To Mr Sharael Taha's question, within both the Professional Networks and beyond, we now have about 1,000 Malay/Muslim professionals contributing across MENDAKI's initiatives – whether it is serving as KMM facilitators, MTS tutors, youth mentors or as speakers or human libraries.
Chairman, in previous Committee of Supply debates, I shared about how corporate partners have partnered MENDAKI to provide scholarships for students to enter different industries from biomedical to finance, to aviation and technology. From this year, I am happy to announce that Micron Semiconductor will come on board to provide scholarships over three years to engineering students in polytechnics, as well as internships and learning activities for secondary and tertiary students.
We appreciate how companies also provide other forms of support, such as mentoring, to our students. More than 50 MSD Pharmaceutical staff, such as data scientists, and those from the AI and Cybersecurity sectors, have signed up as mentors to 120 ITE students through the #amPowered@ITE programme.
So, as our economy and workforce evolves, MENDAKI will continue to support our Malay/Muslim workforce in navigating career transitions and seizing future opportunities. Through the M3 Focus Area 4 (FA4) on Employment and Employability, MENDAKI employs a community-based strategy by collaborating with M3 partners, including the NTUC. More than 5,000 Malay/Muslim workers have benefited, including receiving support from MENDAKI's Care Advisors on their job search and career-related needs.
For women who wish to return to the workforce after a career break, MENDAKI's Women at Work (W@W) programme equips them with the relevant skills and connecting them with job opportunities. In 2023, MENDAKI referred over 140 participants from W@W to NTUC's e2i for career coaching and job assistance, with close to 60 successfully securing job offers.
One of them is Ms Siti Raudah, who was looking for a job to support her family and her three school-going children, after her husband was retrenched. Ms Siti joined the W@W programme in September last year, where she benefited from support, such as interview techniques and access to broader social and professional networks. Earlier this year, Ms Siti found a job as an administrative executive in the oil and gas industry and shared that the programme has helped her to transit back into the workforce. Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Our third strategy is to grow and develop leaders not only for our community, but for our country as well.
Ms Nadia Samdin asked for an update on the Tunas programme. MENDAKI started the Tunas Bersama M3 programme in 2022 to nurture the next generation of leaders of Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs). This 18-month programme not only equips emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills and networks to contribute and lead their own organisations. In fact, we want to support them in taking on larger leadership roles in our wider community in the future. One of the Tunas participants is NMP Dr Syed Harun, who ranks among our young MMO leaders today. For example, participants get to develop competencies in the areas of management, administration, fund raising, communications and change management, as well as the opportunity to be mentored by experienced senior leaders.
Our first cohort of 13 Tunas participants from various MMOs will complete their programme in April. The participants were able to apply the knowledge and skills that they gained to carry out seven community projects across the M3 Focus Areas.
For example, through Project Dream On, Tunas participants worked with professionals from MENDAKI's Professional Networks. Their objective was to provide opportunities to Malay/Muslim youths, aged 15 to 17 years old, with sector-specific job shadowing opportunities. This will help the youths to gain experience and expand their horizons in terms of future job opportunities.
The youth participants shared that this experience helped them gain confidence, exposed them to a variety of experiences and expand their range of interests, and help to better shape their future field of study and career plans.
Building on the positive outcomes of this programme, we will welcome our second batch of Tunas participants in April this year. That cohort will include leaders from MENDAKI's Professional Networks.
Mr Chairman, MENDAKI will continue to support our Malay/Muslim community in reaching greater heights and empower the community to be active, contributing citizens.
However, each individual has a part to play to ensure that our community continue to progress together. I strongly encourage our Malay/Muslim workers to take up the opportunities to upskill through the initiatives that were recently announced during Budget 2024.
For instance, mid-career workers aged 40 and above who are looking at reskilling can consider the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme. This programme offers a SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $4,000 that can be used for selected courses.
Workers who wish to take on full-time diplomas at the polytechnics, ITE and arts institutions can also make use of the enhanced subsidies from the Government.
To offset income loss for workers who have to take time off work for training, the Government will also provide a monthly SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance, capped at $3,000 per month, for up to 24 months.
ITE graduates can also benefit through the ITE Progression Award of $5,000 upon enrolment to a diploma programme, and receive another $10,000 when they complete their studies.
I am confident that as a community, we can strengthen the culture of contributing. And in partnership with the Government and other community organisations, we can ensure our community achieve greater heights in education, professional development and leadership.
(In English): Our third strategy is to grow and develop leaders not only for our community, but for our country as well.
Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked for an update on the Tunas programme. MENDAKI started the Tunas Bersama M3 programme in 2022 to nurture the next generation of leaders of MMOs. This 18-month programme not only equips emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills and networks to contribute and lead their own organisations, in fact we want to support them in taking on larger leadership roles in our wider community in the future. Among them NMP Syed Harun and he is among the youngest leader. For example, participants get develop their competencies in the areas of governance, fund raising, communications, and change management, as well as the opportunity to be mentored by experienced senior leaders.
Our first cohort of 13 Tunas participants from various MMOs will complete their programme in April. Particpants were able to apply their knowledge and skills that they gain to run seven community projects across the M3 Focus Areas.
For example, through Project Dream On, Tunas participants worked with professionals from MENDAKI's Professional Networks. Their objective was to provide opportunities to Muslim youths aged 15 to 17 with sector-specific job shadowing. This will help the youths to gain experience and expand their horizons in terms of future job opportunities.
Youth participants shared that this experience helped them grow as individuals, expose them to a variety of experiences and expand their range of interests, and help to better shape their future field of study and career plans.
Building on the positive outcomes of this programme, we will welcome our second batch of Tunas participants in April this year, and this cohort will include leaders from MENDAKI's Professional Networks.
Mr Chairman, MENDAKI will continue to support our Malay/Muslim community in reaching greater heights and empower the community to be active, contributing citizens.
However, each individual has a part to play to ensure that our community continue to progress together. I strongly encourage our Malay/Muslim workers to take up the opportunities to upskill through the initiatives that were recently announced during Budget 2024.
For instance, mid-career workers aged 40 and above who are looking at reskilling can consider the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme. This programme offers a SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $4,000 that can be used for selected courses. Workers who wish to take on full-time diploma at the polytechnics, ITE and arts institutions can also make use of the enhanced subsides by the Government. To offset income loss for workers who have to take time off work for training, the Government will also provide a monthly SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance, capped at $3,000 per month, for up to 24 months.
ITE graduates can also benefit through the ITE Progression Award of $5,000 upon enrolment to a diploma programme and receive another $10,000 when they complete their studies.
I am confident that as a community, we can strengthen the culture of contributing, and in partnership with the Government and other community organisations, we can ensure our community achieve greater heights in education, professional development and community leadership.
The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu Mahzam.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Minister for Law (Ms Rahayu Mahzam): Mr Chairman, over the last five years, we have worked hand-in-hand with our Malay/Muslim organisations to build up the M3 network. The structures we have in place have enabled us to deal head on with various needs of our community, while complementing the Government's efforts at the national level.
A sense of Citizenry has been at the heart of what M3 has accomplished so far. Entrenched within it is the culture of giving which will continue to be integral to our Community of Success. We have established a strong foundation for contribution through M3. I will share three ways we can build on this legacy: first, equipping our youth for the future; second, empowering our community to take ownership of their health; and third, encouraging more volunteers to step forward and play a part.
Mentoring is important as it guides our youths to realise their potential. It can also be transformative when those who have benefited from the experience, pass it on, creating a virtuous cycle of giving.
To create a thriving mentoring culture in the Malay/Muslim community, we set up the Youth Mentoring Office, or YMO under MENDAKI, in 2019. Since then, YMO has trained and deployed over 1,600 mentors to support more than 5,700 mentees through various mentoring programmes under M3's Focus Area 3.
Mr Sharael Taha asked how we ensure the continued relevance of our mentoring programmes. We conducted youth mentoring programmes in four M3@Towns at Jurong, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Tampines, and Woodlands last year, and will now be refreshing our approach to bring mentoring programmes closer to more youths. By the end of this year, we will offer at least one youth mentoring programme at each of our 11 M3@Towns.
One new mentoring programme we will be introducing at our M3@Towns, as well as mosques and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) is \"Cool Yah Conversations\". It adopts the concept of flash mentoring, a first of its kind approach in our mentoring programmes. Flash mentoring takes place over a shorter period and will combine interest-based activities like sports and games with impactful mentoring interactions in areas of personal development, educational transition, and career guidance. We hope that it will resonate with youths and lower barriers for them to get involved. Through this programme, we aim to reach 1,000 youths within a year, over and above the youths who will be engaged through our existing mentoring programmes under YMO.
To Mr Sharael Taha's query, beyond mentoring programmes, MENDAKI also offers their Future Ready programmes which help youth better understand the changing work landscape and provide avenues for them to explore jobs in growth industries.
Key to the success of these programmes are our passionate and dedicated youth mentors. Most have benefited from MENDAKI's many initiatives and now find ways to give back to the community.
One of them is Arinna Fithriyya Ridzuan. In 2019, Arinna received MENDAKI's Special Achievement Award for Excellence and Anugerah Cemerlang MENDAKI. Today, she works at the National Youth Council and has been a mentor to Nur Odelia Mohamed Azme since Odelia's second year of studies at ITE College Central through the #amPowered@ITE programme. With Arinna's support, Odelia learnt to build self-confidence and take charge of her personal development. Odelia is now working with MENDAKI's Care Advisors to explore potential post-tertiary pathways.
Our youth mentors also join me and my fellow Malay/Muslim Members of Parliament including Mr Saktiandi Supaat, Ms Nadia Samdin and Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim in the YOUth@M3 Engagement sessions, and various M3@Town programmes. These include Youth Edge for vulnerable youth which Ms Mariam Jaafar advises, the Youth Network Mental Health Townhall that Dr Wan Rizal champions and learning journeys to STEM companies that Mr Sharael Taha organises.
I hope our youth mentors continue to inspire others to join our mentoring community in supporting others to realise their aspirations. Chairman, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Health is a blessing and we have a responsibility to take ownership of it. Leading healthy lifestyles also enables us to be active citizens in our community.
One good role model who takes care of his health is Mr Iylia Shukor. He actively encourages our Malay/Muslim community to adopt a healthy lifestyle by organising health programmes for them. When the fifth focus area of M3 was introduced last year, Mr Iylia tapped on the Saham Kesihatan programme to collaborate with more community partners. He has since organised monthly five kilometres brisk walking events with Kembangan Chai-Chee Community Centre, Braddell Heights Constituency Office, Wisma Geylang Serai and Kassim Mosque, as well as Qigong sessions at community centres in M3@Geylang Serai.
Dr Wan Rizal asked how M3 initiatives spur efforts to take charge of our community’s health. Volunteers like Mr Iylia show how Saham Kesihatan can empower the Malay/Muslim community to drive their own health programmes. Through Saham Kesihatan, they can receive support from M3 agencies, like PA MESRA and the Health Promotion Board, to implement programmes on health, including for mental well-being.
Last year, over 500 participants took part in Saham Kesihatan programmes. They gave feedback that they enjoyed being part of a community which fosters a strong sense of support for one another to lead healthy lifestyles. This year, we aim to double the reach to benefit 1,000 participants. To achieve this target, I invite more individuals, like Mr Iylia, to leverage on Saham Kesihatan, to bring health programmes to our Malay/Muslim community.
Besides Saham Kesihatan, M3 agencies also work with HPB and the Jaga Kesihatan Jaga Ummah, or JKJU, network, where members regularly collaborate on initiatives that encourage healthier habits. In 2023, over 40,000 residents benefitted from JKJU programmes. We can expect more JKJU programmes at the M3@Towns throughout this year.
Through JKJU and Saham Kesihatan, our Malay/Muslim community also contributes to the national Healthier SG campaign which aims to help all Singaporeans take ownership of their health. I hope we will embrace this responsibility towards our health as we strive for a meaningful future together.
In looking to the future, we also take stock of how far we have come. Dr Syed Harun asked whether M3 initiatives have led to improvements in community engagement. Since its formation five years ago, M3 has developed structures and built networks for us to help the community more effectively, including the vulnerable. With this framework in place, we need more volunteers to step up and help make M3 initiatives a success.
Our volunteers comprise professionals from different fields who have been instrumental in the delivery of programmes at our M3@Towns – from initiating new programmes and befriending vulnerable families to connecting them with social assistance programmes.
Therefore, we continue to ensure volunteers are equipped with the skills and knowledge to engage the community effectively. Last year, we enhanced our Volunteers' Capability Building Framework with the M3 Seminar Series. This year, the M3 Engagement Coordination Office, or M3 ECO, and PA MESRA will work with the National Community Leadership Institute to organise workshops for volunteers. Through such workshops, they will learn to engage residents more meaningfully during house visits. The volunteers will also be able to increase their understanding of services at the national level, and therefore, help them to support residents in building strong and resilient families.
For example, through Project DIAN, volunteers will provide holistic support for Malay/Muslim families residing in rental flats. They will also journey with these families to better understand their needs and connect them to the relevant services.
One such volunteer is Mdm Eryannie Mohamad, a Project DIAN Ambassador from M3@Geylang Serai who was motivated to encourage parents to take greater interest in early childhood development. In November 2023, Mdm Eryannie and her fellow volunteers collaborated with MSR Interior Design to refurnish and repaint a beneficiary's home to provide a more conducive environment for their children's learning and family bonding.
It is also important for M3 to work closely with MMOs to deal with issues that may require a nuanced approach. For example, the Singapore Muslim Women's Association, or PPIS, provide support for Malay/Muslim women. Indeed, MMOs play a key role at the community and national level, and we are happy to have more MMOs and partners come alongside us to support our families and community.
We thank Mr Saktiandi Supaat for his suggestions on areas where volunteers can make a difference. Allow me to share some of the volunteer opportunities within M3 that suit the interests and skillsets of those who wish to contribute.
Our tertiary students can join the #amPowered programme as mentors for MTS students, or the \"Cool Yah\" programme at the M3@Towns.
If you are a working professional, you can contribute your knowledge and experience as mentors or speakers for M3 youth mentoring programmes, or support other professionals through MENDAKI's Professional Networks.
Those who want to contribute towards supporting children or vulnerable families can sign up as facilitators for our KMM initiative or as Project DIAN Ambassadors.
Starting this year, our corporate partners are also invited to collaborate with M3 to cultivate a culture of giving in your organisations, where interested staff can serve as volunteers at our M3@Towns as part of their work hours.
I strongly urge my fellow Members to share these volunteer opportunities with your respective constituencies. M3 will also be conducting volunteer recruitment drives throughout this year, and those who are interested can sign up via the M3 website or our socials.
(In English): A culture of contribution, driven by active citizenry underpins the spirit of M3. Everyone of us has a stake in ensuring that we continue to thrive as a Community of Success. There are many ways we can contribute in our different capacities, whether through pledging to the WMS, committing our time and effort as volunteers and mentors or even as a corporate partner.
I hope that many more of us will step forward to join this noble cause to uplift our Malay/Muslim community.
The Chairman: Minister Masagos Zulkifli.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Mr Chairman, in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] My colleagues and I have spoken on citizenry and our efforts to grow a culture of contributing back to society. This will strengthen our community, so that we are more united and prepared to navigate the future. With geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties, the path ahead of us will be challenging. The issues we face will be more complex and can even be divisive, and it will also test our mettle and unity as a country.
Over the past few months, what has weighed heavily on our hearts is the situation in Gaza. It has been heart-breaking for me, and many Singaporeans, to witness the humanitarian tragedy unfolding, and the suffering of many innocent civilians. Bound by our shared humanity, we cannot help but carry with us their pain and suffering. We may be miles away from Gaza, but we still feel connected in our hearts and minds, and we constantly pray for their well-being.
From conversations on this crisis with the community, my Parliamentary colleagues and I hear the deep sense of grief, frustration and helplessness that many feel amidst the ongoing crisis. We understand and share these sentiments.
With more than 30,000 lives lost and the human toll increasing, Israel's military response has gone too far. The carnage must stop. I reiterate Singapore's calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, so that humanitarian aid can reach those who desperately need it. We are committed to supporting the civilians of Gaza, and Singapore will send a third tranche of aid via Jordan, as shared by Minister Vivian last week. To contribute to the national humanitarian effort and to further support those affected by the crisis, the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) will conduct another round of fundraising appeal for Gaza in the upcoming month of Ramadan. We hope that Singaporeans will step forward and contribute generously.
The crisis may well be prolonged, and we do not know what will unfold in the coming days. But we must continue to stand together and strengthen the unity that we share. I am heartened that even during such a trying time, our community continues to embody the spirit of citizenry, as Singaporeans providing a whole-of-society support to the Palestinians in our uniquely Singaporean way – contributing to dialogue, giving generously to humanitarian aid, praying for the victims of war, and not forgetting how we can strengthen solidarity with one another. As Muslims welcome the blessed month of Ramadan next week, let us also intensify our prayers for peace and protection – not only for the people in Gaza, but also elsewhere in the world and here at home.
(In English): Mr Chairman, in conclusion, I would like to thank Members for your support and suggestions on how we can continue to deepen our citizenry and grow a culture of contribution. By working together with our community partners, I am confident that we will strive towards a Community of Success and contribute to a bright future for Singapore. [Applause.]
The Chairman: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Mr Chairman, I would like to thank Minister and Senior Minister of State and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for her answers to my cuts and for their speeches. I have two clarifications.
One, to Minister Masagos. He mentioned in his last speech about the efforts and I think he gave a very heartfelt speech about the issues that we face in Gaza and in Palestine. He mentioned about how Rahmatan Lil Alamin will be coming on stream, especially during Ramadan. Can Minister share a bit more whether this second round, whether there will be a time limit? Because the previous one, Rahmatan Lil Alamin there was a period of time where they can collect donations, whether this time round, can Minister share so that the community and public can know a bit more about that? And how does RLAF plan to reach out to the community, especially during Ramadan and may be beyond that as well?
Second question, Mr Chairman, I think Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu and Senior Minister of State Zaqy mentioned about working with corporates. I think there is only so much that the Government can do as part of a social compact. I was wondering whether there is more that corporates can be involved, whether Malay/Muslim corporates or maybe non-Malay/Muslim corporates, how they can actually help the Malay community going forward beyond scholarships that Senior Minister of State has mentioned and beyond the specific volunteerism sort of efforts that Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu has mentioned, whether there could be — well, our efforts to actually entice a bit more of the Singapore corporates to help our community going forward?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I thank the Member for his clarification question.
The Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation, like any other organisations, when they want to raise funds – particularly for an overseas purpose – need to regularise, get its permits in place and it will take time. But it will also be time limited by the permit and that was why in the previous exercise of collecting the funds, it was time-limited. I think it is the right thing to do. At the same time, we want to ensure that there is a time where we can focus our efforts in raising these funds.
But we must also be able to move on to do other important things for our community and for everyone else. So, I hope that our community will rally. I think it will be an exercise for about a week. And we will raise this awareness about when it starts and when it will end during our Friday sermons as well as through the media.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Chairman, I will take the second question Member Saktiandi Supaat asked earlier. We are quite fortunate that we had corporates who have come forward to support us over the years, given MENDAKI's focus, especially on education. Particularly starting with scholarships and bursaries because that is, I think; while I would say lowest hanging fruit, but I think it is quite core to much of the work that we do. So, we have had SIA over the years; we have had GIC; Micron; MiRXES and others, who have come forward and given us.
But it is really about also the community coming forward because it is not just about scholarships and bursaries, but if you look at the contribution that I have shared in my speech, such as Micron providing opportunities, or internship opportunities, for many of our young students who have perhaps never seen the insides of a semiconductor and would never have considered careers in that space. These are good examples.
Mr Sharael Taha has shared how some of the youths were taken to Rolls Royce and others, so that they can look into growth industries and some also visited the Airshow recently to have a look at some of the defence technologies that are available.
So, we are using various platforms and opportunities to open minds, open conversations with many of our youths who may come from low-income families especially, who may not have had the exposures, but now given the chance to be exposed, to have internship opportunities, to be mentored.
As I shared, MSD Pharma, for example, with their data scientists, AI specialists, cybersecurity specialists to give them opportunities and mix around with professionals who they may never have met through regular channels.
I think this is one way in which we want to build social capital. So, yes, we have started with certain corporates but I would not underestimate the impact and effect. We hope that more will come forward, especially through the professional network. We started this last year, as I shared. We have about 450 professionals already onboard, many deployed to mentor. Ms Rahayu Mahzam has shared about 1,000 on her network too, with our youths. We hope that this brings about building up social capital within the Malay/Muslim community.
We want to encourage more to contribute back in small ways. It does not have to be big corporates. We have businessmen too. We have members from the Indian/Muslim community as well, who came forward to set up funds because some Indian/Muslims did not qualify for TTFS, for example. But there are efforts on the ground that came ground-up because they want to do something for the community, including those who have qualified for certain schemes.
So, we are providing a wide range of opportunities but I think it is more than just scholarships and bursaries; but providing opportunities, providing social capital, providing mentorship. I think that will make a difference.
The Chairman: Mr Sharael Taha.
Mr Sharael Taha: I would like to thank the Minister and Senior Minister of State and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu for the clarifications. Just some clarifications in Malay, Mr Chairman.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] My thanks to Senior Minister of State Zaqy for sharing that the MTS has been expanded further to include subjects, like Additional Maths, as well as Biology.
May I suggest to the Senior Minister of State that we encourage Secondary 3 and Secondary 4 students to participate in programmes, like Learning Journeys, so that they can be acquainted with the kind of jobs and skills that are required in the growth industries?
My second question: can we also provide specific programmes to encourage learning of skills in subjects, like AI and cybersecurity, so that our students and workers will have the best chance to work in the growth industries?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I thank Mr Sharael Taha for the good question. If we look at our MTS programme, we do have a fairly packed curriculum, where we see our children spending three to four hours each week in our MTS centres. In these sessions, as we can see from the curriculum, they are required to take two subjects today. Some of them attend virtual classes after their in-person sessions. So, we also need to give priority to their schooling and their tuition sessions.
However, I also recognise that among the programmes that we want them to attend, as I have mentioned to Mr Saktiandi Supaat, we also want them to be given the opportunity to have internships, join learning journeys, and at times, during the Raikan Ilmu month for example, we give them the flexibility to enjoy learning journey opportunities outside, as what has been done under FA3 with Mr Sharael Taha.
We want our youths to be given the opportunity to be mentored as well. Here, some of them are given the opportunity under the #amPowered programme, as well as the mentoring programme under Ms Rahayu Mahzam within FA3, to share experiences with our professionals.
We aim to provide these opportunities beyond our MTS youths, by extending this network to other youths in our M3 towns. We hope to use all the resources in our M3 towns, so that we can reach out to more youths who can benefit from the programmes.
I hope Mr Sharael Taha will continue to give his support, and this goes for other Members here too, so that we can provide better opportunities for our students.
The Chairman: We will take the last two clarifications. I see two hands. So, Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim and then, Ms Nadia Samdin.
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: Thank you, Chairman. I have a question on wakaf for the Minister.
In 2021, MUIS disbursed a total of about $4 million as wakaf proceeds. About 28% went to overseas beneficiaries. Maybe this is due to legacy or original terms of the wakaf, some set more than 100 years ago. In some of these cases, you may find it challenging to find the beneficiaries and locate the rightful heirs to the wakaf. So, I have two questions.
Firstly, does MUIS continually review the list of wakaf, especially for those with overseas and foreign beneficiaries, to make sure that they are up to date? Secondly, for such wakafs with no clear beneficiaries, will MUIS review or consider measures, for instance, to pass fatwas to bring more of these wakaf assets onshore and benefit our local Muslim community?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I thank the Member for asking that clarification.
Indeed, one of the motivations why we instituted the WMS is to move on away from or to provide alternatives to the traditional wakaf system, which for Singapore, although it has amounted to a billion dollars, most of them are in fixed assets. And when you have a fixed asset, the returns from fixed assets are not very high. In addition to that, the beneficiaries that were named some time 100 or some 200 years ago, either the country does not exist anymore; the village does not exist anymore; let alone the person does not exist anymore. This is not just faced by communities like ourselves, it is faced all over the world.
In the meantime, there are good discussions, conferences to evolve the concept of wakaf. In the last fatwa conference, I had a good discussion with Dr Sano, for example, who said that today, the instruments of wakaf has evolved. For example, there is something called a temporary wakaf. That means you pledge your Corpus Fund for, say, one year and that you cannot use it; but the returns will then go into the wakaf – the Corpus Fund goes back to you after that one-year contract.
So, that is an evolving and a new way of doing wakaf and whether or not we can do something about the previous and older wakaf. I think for now let us keep to the trust that has been put to our generation, to try as best as we can to execute the will or the intention of those before us who put this wakaf in our trust to benefit the people they wanted to.
The Chairman: Ms Nadia Samdin.
Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin: I thank the Minister for sharing about the upcoming RLAF Ramadan fundraising appeal. I believe the previous tranche, over $5 million was raised, it truly speaks to the generosity of Singaporeans. Just two clarifications for the Minister.
Firstly, given that the media has reported how the receipt of aid has been affected on the ground in Gaza, is the Minister able to share at all how the earlier tranche of aid was used by RLAF to reach the innocent victims of the Israel-Palestine crisis and the rebuilding in Gaza as well as the intended use of the future ones, so that Singaporeans are aware of the impact of their efforts?
Secondly, given how protracted the hostilities have been, while the heart of this is not a religious issue, how can community leaders help Singaporeans of all backgrounds process the deep sense of injustice and helplessness felt, so as to prevent unfortunate divisive postings on social media as well as impact on the ground and which affect communities, such as Singaporean Muslims and Singaporean Jews?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Thank you, Ms Nadia, for that clarification question. Firstly, every fund that RLAF would have collected would need to be channelled into bodies and use that our Government approves. So, in the previous tranche, we worked with UNRWA and, in the coming tranche, we will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify how these funds will be channelled. And I do not believe this is the last time we will be doing it. I said just now that we will have to move on to do important things that we need to do for the community. I foresee that we will probably need to raise funds again because it does not look like this conflict will be resolved fairly quickly.
On the second question, all of us need to recognise two things about Singapore. It is a small country. We may have a strong government, a strong country, but we are a small country. Therefore, when we go out and say things, our foreign policy is based on our long-term interests as a small country. So, it is to safeguard our Independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, and all for the sake of our citizens. And these things are most important, in fact, more important for a small country than a big country.
So, when we say things, I hope people understand the context upon which we say it. For example, our position on Israel has been consistent. We have said that from the start, Israel has a legitimate right to defend itself from acts of terror. But that is not just for Israel. That is for Singapore, too. In fact, every country has a right of defence against acts of terror. In the case of Israel, it was the incident on 7 October. For us, we have to guard ourselves against any incident and sending the signal that we will act as a right of self-defence.
But that is probably where our similarity to Israel ends because we know that the right to self-defence also must comply with international humanitarian law, including principles of necessity and proportionality, principles of distinction and humanity enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. And that is why we voted for two UN General Assembly resolutions which called for a humanitarian ceasefire to alleviate the suffering of the civilian victims in Gaza. And I hope, as leaders, we try to educate people who talk about this to understand the context, what the Government said and why the Government said it. I think it is important that we live as Singaporeans to know why these things have to be said the way they are.
Finally, though, most recently, we have seen Minister Vivian Balakrishnan stated in Parliament last week that the Israeli military response has gone too far. And that is, again, a consistent departure from just calling the right for self-defence with the need to balance it with the right of human dignity and human rights, too.
Secondly, Singapore is not just a small country. Singapore is a diverse country. We are diverse and if our solution to a small country is to be strong, our solution in being diverse is to be united. And that is why, even as a Minister, I may have my sentiments about the Palestinians, fellow Muslims, but I must also, as a Muslim leader and a Minister in Cabinet in a multiracial, multi-religious society country like ours, speak with one voice in Cabinet inasmuch as Singaporeans should be united and speak with one voice because we need to protect Singapore's national interests both domestically and internationally.
A united people, a united Government, that is how we become a strong government, a strong country, despite being small. But I recognise that Singapore Muslims do have connections with the Palestinians. But we also should recognise that we are in a unique position and often not the same situation as many other Muslim communities, especially when they are in the majority.
And, therefore, for us being diverse, we have to work together to preserve the peace between ourselves, never be driven, never be divided, and, as I have shared in the Committee of Supply debate, our community thus far has shown and proven themselves where citizenry is concerned. And I hope that as the situation unravels over the next few months, we continue to hold this, that we must never be divided, we must always seek to unite because we are diverse. And that is the only way Singapore can survive. [Applause.]
The Chairman: There being no further clarifications, let us move on with the debate. Next cut, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Mr Chairman, I would like to start by sharing with this House a recent experience I had. In late January this year, I was at our National Stadium to watch the Coldplay concert. Sometime during the show, the lead singer, Chris Martin, said something along the following lines; maybe not exactly in those words, but something along the following lines. He said, \"Tonight is a special night in Singapore. We have so many fans from different countries with different religions, all coming together to watch a concert in Singapore happily, peacefully and safely.\" After he said this, the Australian guy next to me instantaneously shouted, \"Lee Kuan Yew\".
And yes, Mr Chairman, this is the multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious Singapore that Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his team has created for us. And I am very confident this is also the Singapore that our People's Action Party (PAP) Government will continue to build for many more generations of Singaporeans.
Sir, over the course of the past year, after the Government took back control of the Sports Hub, the Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM), a wholly owned entity under MCCY, has been working hard to make the Sports Hub more vibrant for all Singaporeans. Besides Taylor Swift, who is currently in Singapore, there have been many popular concerts last year and this year by international and regional renowned performers, such as Black Pink, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. Sir, I am not much of a music fan, but I am told that Coldplay is currently the most popular band group in the world. And I am also reliably informed that Taylor Swift is currently the most popular solo artist in the world. Coldplay performed six shows in Singapore at the beginning of this year and Taylor Swift is due to do the same, six this week, starting I think from last Saturday.
I do not know of any other city in the world that has managed to host such most popular world-class events within two months of each other. For this, we must recognise and compliment MCCY and its many partners for having the ability, capacity and mobility to seize opportunities that come our way. Sir, to me, this is the X-factor that differentiates Team Singapore.
Apart from concerts, the Sports Hub also hosted several major international and regional sporting events, and more than 140 National School games and School Sport events. Singaporeans can also now use many facilities at the Sports Hub which are open to the public. This has made the Sports Hub more accessible to Singaporeans.
Importantly, hosting these major events make significant contributions to the Singapore economy. They give a big boost to our tourism sector, especially in areas, such as hospitality, retail, travel and dining.
Mr Chairman, I recall a Parliamentary Question in late 2022 and the then-Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat informed this House that tourists and foreigners in Singapore accounted for about half of the net goods and services tax (GST) paid by households and individuals in 2018 and 2019. Therefore, as a natural consequence, with so many more world-class major events in Singapore, I think it would also mean that more 9% GST will be collected from our tourists and this would ultimately translate to more goodies and more infrastructure and more good news for all Singaporeans.
And why has Singapore been able to host such major events successfully? Some commentators point to the possible grants given in return for exclusivity. I think it is much more than that. Singapore projects as an attractive entertainment and sports events hub because we have a strategic location, quality infrastructure, safety, efficiency and diverse cultural offerings that allow us to present a complete package in pitches to host such major events.
Moving forward, we should leverage on this important momentum and, while we continue to do so, also look towards renewing older infrastructures at the Sports Hub, such as the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which has hosted Singaporeans to many fond memories over the years. Maybe, just maybe, a new equally exciting indoor venue could be built to replace the Indoor Stadium.
At the same time, whilst many Singaporeans and tourists can enjoy the many spectacular events in Singapore, I think we can also do more by providing cheaper or maybe free tickets to our lower-income families. As an example, whenever the Suzuki Cup matches are played in Singapore, I would get a sponsor to purchase bulk tickets and these are distributed to our lower-income families in Potong Pasir. Our residents go as a family and they enjoyed the football matches.
Sir, MCCY is a very good team that always sees opportunities, never limitations, when promoting Singapore's interests. I think our greatest strength right now is our forged sense of purpose and unity to give the best life to all Singaporeans. I, therefore, invite the Minister to update us on plans for the Sports Hub and share with us the strategy that MCCY intends to employ to cement Singapore's position as an entertainment and sports hub, and also to let our lower-income families enjoy these events in Singapore.
Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi: Mr Chairman, I focus my cut on the value that sports and youths can bring to building community, promote inclusivity and strengthen social cohesion.
First, on sports. The value of sports is beyond the physical. Its value is multifaceted, encompassing also psychological, social and economic benefits, with its significance observed at all levels of society, too: at the individual, community and globally. Beyond the obvious benefits of health and exercise, sports has the power to strengthen well-being, unity in diversity and organic cultural exchange in communities. Importantly, sports has the power to galvanise and rally.
When Shanti Pereira won the Silver in 100-metre and Gold in 200-metre events at the Asian Games last year, ending Singapore's 49-year wait for a track and field medal, many Singaporeans were glued to their television screens and fixed to their seats. We were in awe of her success and achievements in 2023, and taken to her example in terms of her determination, resilience and ability to overcome adversity. When Joseph Schooling won the Olympic Gold in the 100-metre Butterfly in 2016, the sentiment of national pride was much the same. Few things rally people, community and a nation more than a celebration of a fellow countryman's great success in sports.
The barrier to entry to sporting success is relatively low in that it does not matter whether one is a populous country or a country with wide and sizeable geographical areas. For example, if we use the Olympics as a benchmark, Liechtenstein with a population of under 40,000, San Marino under 35,000, Bermuda under 65,000 have won multiple medals at the Olympics. It is, indeed, possible.
I urge the Ministry to look closely and more strongly at sports as a means to rally and bring people closer together. Those of us who have engaged in sports and continue to do so will agree that it builds character, values and a certain resilience that cannot be replicated in the classroom. Team sports further engender a spirit of responsibility, trust in others, camaraderie and a sense of team like no other.
There are three things that I hope the Ministry will focus on as part of this Budget, as far as sports is concerned.
First, we need to continue focusing and investing in sporting excellence as a country and do more for our athletes. Our athletes need our support to do well, for they spend a good portion of their hours, days and weeks, even years on end to achieve the success for the country. In fact, for a good portion of the time where their peers spend building careers and income, the prime of the young lives of these athletes are consumed in honing their sport, optimising their performance and pushing their physical bodies for peak outcomes, for which, sometimes, injuries can occur. Where there is talent in our Singaporeans and they are willing to go far with us in terms of their sporting excellence, I propose we spare no effort for them to give their best for Singapore.
Second, I hope for the Ministry to look more deeply and specifically at team sports. While we already have examples of success in individual sportsmen and sportswomen, we need to do better for team sports as well. It does take much more deliberate investment, a sustained care in the planning over years if not decades for the sport, and a wider systemic approach to develop young talent within a team sport. However, the benefit of being able to see a multiplicity of individuals in team sports, where we have a broad representation of athletes from all communities playing together for the national team, is emblematic of the kind of Singapore we hope to build. It resonates at a deeper level for us as a people and it becomes a palpable vision of the society we want for ourselves.
Third, I hope for the Ministry to narrate the value of Sports better for the ordinary Singaporean and help make it easy for people to participate in them en masse. The benefit of sports in health and mental well-being cannot be understated and should continue to be emphasised at the level of the individual. Yes. However, the societal benefit of sport can only be realised if everyone participates, enjoys and interacts with one another in play and activity. Even for relatively individual sports, it is possible, with some creativity, to encourage togetherness and cohesion in the activity. For example, even for the solitary activity of running, which some may prefer, there are running clubs where people may build friendships, find commonality and meet others through their collective joy and passion in the specific sport. Such cohesion and strong relationships make for a sustained participation in sports and more opportunity to bring people together.
My other area of emphasis in this cut is for the Ministry to continue harnessing the potential of our youths. In fact, we saw quite a relatively young audience earlier on from St Joseph's Institution and we talked about our ageing population often and, indeed, this is an important concern. However, by a similar proportion, it also means that the number of youths are in relative decline and youths are a much valued resource. I believe we can do better to engage our youths, harness their creativity and innovation, as well as curate ideas through their perspectives and share their willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and current solutions. This is an important aspect of our nation-building exercise and as the Government moves ahead in its plans for Forward SG.
In my work through the various initiatives with the National Youth Council, our youths care about what happens in Singapore, are concerned for its future and share a deep resonance in wanting to build a more caring, cohesive and inclusive society. In this light, I urge the Ministry to cast their net wider and more deliberately in engaging youths across different communities and backgrounds and bringing them together through activities that build common ground, unity and a shared identity.
Youths in themselves are heterogenous, and if we consider the wide age group defined under the banner of youths from 15 to 35, we must tailor the approach better to cater to the wide range of interests and diverse priorities at different timepoints in the lives of youths.
Even as there are opportunities for youth programmes of NYC through the Youth Action Challenge, Young ChangeMakers grants and various youth panels, I urge the Ministry to study its reach further and ensure breadth in participation at all levels of youth, as we seek to invest in the next generation of Singaporeans, empower them to take ownership in collaborative solutions for current and anticipated societal challenges, and build a collective future together for Singapore.
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman: Chairman, amidst the emergence of new and lesser-known sports disciplines where Singaporean athletes have excelled on the international stage, it becomes imperative to explore avenues for providing support and recognition to athletes in these niche sports.
As sports, such as tchoukball and powerlifting, gain prominence, albeit not featured in major games, such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, there arises a critical need to empower aspiring athletes in these disciplines. How does the Ministry intend to provide support to athletes of emerging sports, ensuring equitable opportunities for sharing excellence across all disciplines?
Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Sir, last July, the House debated a Motion on sporting success filed by the Workers' Party (WP). I would like to follow up on the issue of how we could show our recognition and gratitude to our retired national athletes.
How can we show that we have not forgotten the contributions and personal sacrifices of those who have brought us such exhilaration and joy, as well as shared anguish, competing against the best in the region and, indeed, the world? Today, I will touch on two points: (a) helping retired athletes to transit to a work career; and (b) providing healthcare support.
On helping athletes to transit to viable careers after competition, there was a Parliamentary answer given in November 2017 on how the Ministry supported the career plans of athletes who had given up their jobs to focus on certain regional competitions. I note that Sport Singapore has had its spexBusiness programme for the last 10 years. Under spexBusiness, partner corporations commit to empower athletes to take charge of their future through a dual career opportunity and prepare them for a successful transition into life after sports. What is MCCY's assessment of the scheme thus far? Are there other similar schemes?
Secondly, at last year's debate, I had suggested that the Government consider providing an additional layer of healthcare subsidies to these athletes after they have stopped representing Singapore. I had highlighted that much more is now known about the health conditions associated with sports, not just the usual knee and strain injuries we are familiar with, but also brain injuries caused by certain contact sports. As these conditions will remain with our retired athletes for the duration of their lives, I had called for some additional help for them to foot such healthcare bills. I had suggested that a task force be formed to look into the feasibility of this. Is the Government looking into this possibility?
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Chairman, to echo the point made earlier by my colleague Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman, we have seen the rise of emerging sports in Singapore where our athletes are performing well internationally in sports, such as tchoukball and powerlifting. In 2023, Singapore won the hosting rights for World Youth Tchoukball Championships and, shortly after, our women's team achieved great success on the world stage.
While tchoukball is not a major sport globally, Singapore has been proactive in promoting and supporting it alongside other sports. This continues the excellent work of athletes that are still flying our Singapore flag high and should be supported in some way by donors, supporters and the Government.
We know that Singapore has a strong sports development system to support athletes across a variety of sports. This support system often takes several forms. Singapore's sports associations and federations often provide funding, training facilities, coaching and administrative support for athletes competing in their respective sports. Singapore has national sports institutes looking into athlete development and training as well. So, we provide funding and support for sports development through organisations like Sport Singapore, and this funding may be allocated to national sports associations, sports clubs and athletes to help cover training expenses, travel costs for competitions and other related expenses.
While we are aware of these initiatives to support mainstream sports and may they long continue, can MCCY share what it is doing to support aspiring athletes in emerging sports to pursue their dream of sporting excellence?
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Sir, I have spoken extensively in this House on the topic of Singapore football. This was the focus of my speech during a Motion on sporting excellence which I filed in July 2023 alongside my colleague Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
From July 2023 until now, our national football team has won matches against Guam twice as well as Taiwan once and were defeated by Tajikistan, South Korea and Thailand respectively. We have also appointed a new coach, Tsutomu Ogura, who will replace his countryman who was sacked after a string of disappointing results. I would like to know if MCCY is privy to what targets FAS has set for Mr Ogura in the short, intermediate and long term.
Sir, the Football Association of Singapore is one of the many national sports associations (NSAs) that receive funding from the Government via Sport Singapore. In 2017, my colleague Mr Pritam Singh had asked a Parliamentary Question about how the Government exercised oversight over how monies are used by the NSAs. I would like to seek an update from MCCY on the current policies on what are the safeguards in place to prevent any misallocation or misuse of public funds from happening in our NSAs. I would also like to know what is the framework for determining how much funding each NSA gets and what benchmarks are put in place to determine whether an NSA is performing its function in a satisfactory manner. How much weight is placed on success and victories in tournaments and competitions?
To be clear, Sir, I am not saying that sporting success is the only or most important measure in determining if an NSA is performing well. Rather, I believe that it is also in the public interest that senior appointments in NSAs are also carried out in a way that ensures that the best available person for the job is hired, especially since public monies are involved.
On a related note, I would like to know how much has been spent on the Unleash the Roar project to date and what are the key milestones which have been reached.
Mr Darryl David: Chairman, as much as it pains me to say this, the fact that Singapore has not been doing well recently on the international football scene is an understatement.
FIFA first introduced a ranking system in the early 1990s and Singapore once had an all-time high ranking of 73 out of 211 countries. As of February 2024, however, Singapore is ranked 156th and we are sixth out the 10 ASEAN countries.
While Singapore has clearly had success in the past, winning the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2012, the team's performance in recent editions and in other tournaments has, indeed, been below par. There has not been much success in finding a good head coach either, with the new coach joining in January after his predecessor lasted, I believe, less than two years. Can the Government please provide an update on the Unleash the Roar initiative and how this could help lift Singapore football to a higher level?
Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong): Chairman, sports unite Singaporeans in various ways. In the area of high-performance sports, can MCCY share its plans to encourage more Singaporeans to donate to the One Team Singapore Fund? Can MCCY also share the plans to support Team Singapore athletes in preparing for the upcoming major games?
In community sports, sports in our everyday lives, can MCCY provide an update on its plan to upgrade existing sports facilities and build new ones to encourage sports participation? Lastly, in terms of making sports a part of our lifestyle, can MCCY share if there are plans to bring in more major sporting events to add vibrancy to our sports scene?
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Razwana Begum, not here. Mr Ong Hua Han.
Mr Ong Hua Han (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, we must go beyond physical accessibility to ensure that PwDs feel welcomed, supported and empowered to participate in sports activities alongside their peers. The inclusive ActiveSG gym orientation programme for PwDs is a good first step.
It would be great if MCCY can share more about plans to make recreational sports more inclusive via the Disability Sports Master Plan. To this end, could MCCY expand the range of sports programmes offered to cater to more disabilities? Based on my survey, it also seems that not many PwDs have taken part in a SportSG or Para Sport Academy programme. Beyond partnering disability organisations, I encourage MCCY to consider ramping up its efforts on increasing outreach of its programmes to motivate more PwDs to take part.
Ms See Jinli Jean (Nominated Member): Sir, in his 2024 Budget Statement, Deputy Prime Minister Wong called on Singaporeans to, \"fortify our resilient, solidarity and unity, so that we remain strong and effective against any challenges and threats.\"
Arts exercise, sports and outdoor adventure education, are essential ingredients for strengthening our nation. Recalling the pandemic, many of us felt a sense of loss when safe management measures put a pause on many arts, exercise, sports and outdoor activities. Some, like our seniors, missed the joy of learning; while others, like our youths, longed for the happiness from camaraderie of common pursuit.
The joy and happiness that enhanced our health and well-being were made possible by a community of dedicated coaches and instructors, who I shall refer to as \"coaches\". The pandemic struck hard at coaches' livelihood and self-worth. Since then, some have gotten back on track while others have chosen to leave coaching. In today's uncertain world, arts, exercise, sports and outdoor remain essential to strengthening and uniting Singaporeans across ages. We must thus support coaches to keep faith. Many coaches are freelancers.
As micro-businesses, they are expected to thrive regardless of the pressures from big service buyers and price competition and the struggles from shouldering interlocking business, personal and family responsibilities. Passion is what keeps them going. Nonetheless, coaches have shared with the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) National Instructors and Coaches Association (NICA), which I serve, that stagnant rates and rising costs are making them lose heart.
MCCY and its relevant agencies – the National Arts Council, Sports Singapore and People's Association – guide the professional development of arts, exercise, sports and outdoor Coaches. In recent years, MCCY and its agencies have dedicated much effort and resources to uplifting coaching and instructing standards. Initiatives, such as the National Registry of Exercise Professionals and Competency Framework for Arts Educators, are noteworthy.
NICA members and their fellow Coaches appreciate the Government's affirmation of their support and of their contribution and impact. Like other workers, they ask if the affirmation could translate to professional recognition and wage growth. Many coaches have told NICA that they struggle to adjust their fees to factor in the rising costs of operations, such as venue booking, and essentials ,such as meals, insurances and healthcare.
This is because corporate and Government buyers often resist adjusting budgets for services on the one hand; even though on the other hand, they feel obliged to raise wages for their own staff because of rising costs of living. Because freelance coaches are microservice providers that are up against big and dominant service buyers, they often feel compelled to meet buyers' price expectations even when rates are on the downside and unsustainable in the long run. Thus, I would like to propose three possibilities for the Minister's consideration.
First, will the Ministry and its agencies work closely with NICA to establish fair and balanced guidance on the value of coaches' services? The guidance would articulate the survey costs of coaches as freelancers delivering professional instruction to different segments of Singaporeans, especially as Healthier SG comes on stream. The guidance could consider how similar qualified professions are remunerated and suggest differentiated premiums for coaches who upskill and attain different levels of mastery. Most important, the guidance assures buyers of transparency and coaches of structured recognition for their contribution.
Second, could the Ministry offer affordable venue spaces for coaches in their capacity as micro-firms to book directly than going through dominant intermediaries? Not-for-profit entities could be tapped to manage the bookings. Doing so would allow talents in different fields to flourish and also nourish the entrepreneurial spirit in Singaporeans.
For instance, the Sports Facilities Master Plan could allow sports and exercise coaches to directly tap repurposed spaces, such as refurbished schools. These coaches could in turn cater classes for more Singaporeans at dedicated and convenient venues.
Third, might the Ministry work closely with NICA to finetune the SkillsFuture Level-Up programme to help freelance coaches make career breakthroughs? Against the backdrop of Healthier SG, NICA is putting together upskilling pathways to equip our members to coach niche segments, such as persons with disabilities and frail seniors. We are also familiarising coaches with AI and other emerging knowledge that can help to sharpen their edge. NICA welcomes more hands on deck to advance efforts.
By unlocking these three possibilities, we can support our freelance coaches for arts, exercise sports and outdoor adventure education to make a fair living, access opportunities on a level playing field; and like fellow Singaporeans, be equipped to take forward prospects on the horizon. Sir, we can and must do more to fortify our coaches and instructors. Let us empower those who help us to live life happy, healthy and well.
The Chairman: Ms Usha Chandradas, please take your four cuts together.
Ms Usha Chandradas (Nominated Member): Sir, in this year's Budget Statement, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong stated that our Government will support the Our SG Arts Plan (2023-2027) by investing $100 million over the next four years. From the estimates, I note that the amount allocated for the National Arts Council's (NAC's) development expenditure in FY2024 is only around $5.83 million.
This appears to be a relatively small amount as compared to the overall $100 million which has been committed to the rollout of the latest Arts Plan. I may be misreading the numbers and if I am, I am very happy to stand corrected, but is the Ministry able to clarify how the $100 million of allocated funds will be applied over each of the four years, including the upcoming financial year? Would the Ministry also be able to explain the rationale behind the allocation of these yearly amounts of expenditure?
Finally, what are the Ministry's plans in the coming year to harness more resources to help transform arts businesses and grow the arts ecosystem? The availability of art spaces, for example, is a perennial hot topic.
With the very recent announcement by the Ministry of National Development (MND) of the potential conversion of Gillman Barracks into public and private housing, we see the potential loss of one arts district – one that has been associated with the arts at least since 2012, when it was first launched as a contemporary art and lifestyle enclave with many tenants who are well-known art gallerists and galleries. Will the Ministry be working with MND to ensure that the unique artistic character of Gillman Barracks will be preserved or will the space be completely transformed? If it is to be the latter, will alternative spaces be then set aside for the present tenants of Gillman Barracks?
Mr Chairman, my second cut relates to the spending allocated for the building of the Cultural Concierge in FY2024. This is budgeted at around $1.5 million. I also have some questions on the expenditure, which has been planned for the Culture Sector Data Analytics Solution. This has been budgeted at around $1.7 million.
With regard to the Cultural Concierge, I would like to declare my interest here as the owner of a local digital art magazine. Is the Ministry able to clarify what the expenditure relating to the Cultural Concierge will entail? As the Ministry is aware, there are a number of independent digital content creators in the industry who all work with the aim of promoting awareness of the arts and in publicising arts events.
Some platforms are more lucrative than others, some are purely run as passion projects; but what all creators in the space have in common is their commitment and passion in promoting awareness of the arts. They have put in resources to this end and some have spent years on their work. In developing its new digital platforms, what opportunities are there for the Ministry to work with existing independent content creators in the arts space? How can the public and private sectors work together in this area to improve arts appreciation, consumption and awareness amongst general audiences?
On the spending that is planned for the Cultural Sector Data Analytics Solution, can the Ministry provide details on what the expenditure will entail and what effect it is intended to have? How will the Ministry ensure that while audience preferences are catered for in arts offerings, that there is still room for the avant-garde and works and events that push boundaries?
These two play an important long-term role in challenging and educating audiences on arts and cultural appreciation. This was a point that I made as well in my adjournment Motion last year. I hope that while our arts offerings are able to cater to popular demand, that there is still room for experimental and fringe activities. I certainly hope that the Government will continue to support these.
Mr Chairman, for my third cut, I would like to ask the Ministry if it will consider converting Singapore's Cultural Medallion Award into a cash grant or cash award with incentives, such as health benefits. This would be similar to national artistic awards given by our neighbours, such as Thailand and Malaysia. Presently, each Cultural Medallion recipient in Singapore wins an entitlement to access up to $80,000 from the Cultural Medallion Fund throughout their lifetime in order to support arts-related projects that meet certain objectives.
So, to be clear, it is not a cash award. It is an entitlement to apply for funding for certain types of projects. For example, these include projects that involve the mentoring of younger artists, the transfer of knowledge, community outreach and the development of the artist's own practice. But there is an administrative application that has to be made and the funds are granted only if the application is approved.
In response to a Parliamentary Question that I filed earlier this year, the Ministry clarified that 71% of living Cultural Medallion recipients have partially or fully used their access to this funding. Of the recipients who had passed away and were eligible for the funding, 59% had partially or fully-utilised their entitlements. Of the total $9.4 million awarded to Cultural Medallion recipients since 2001, $3.4 million – or around 36% – remains unutilised as at January 2024.
I thank the Ministry for making these statistics available. For our national athletes who win medals internationally, cash awards are granted under the Major Games Award Programme. While these award amounts vary and athletes are required to plough back a certain percentage of the awards into their respective national sports associations, it is still a cash award and one which recognises the huge costs of training at an elite level.
It also serves as a reward for our athletes who play a big role in bringing Singaporeans together whenever they win medals. Artists too, when they are at a developmental stage of their careers, incur significant costs in maintaining and growing their artistic practices. As acknowledged by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his Budget Statement, the arts play such an important role in making Singapore a distinctive home for us all. The Cultural Medallion is Singapore's highest arts accolade. It honours distinguished individuals who have enriched Singapore's arts and culture scene.
I would like to suggest that the Ministry consider offering a direct cash grant and additional supports, such as health benefits, for recipients of the Cultural Medallion. This would allow for better practical access to and actual use of the award funds. A cash award could also have a better signalling effect of accomplishment and prestige, recognising the life achievements of our country's best artists. It would also provide them with a measure of monetary support in recognition of the financial sacrifices that are often required to build a career in the arts.
Sir, my final cut has to do with the redevelopment of 45 Arminian Street. 45 Arminian Street was the previous permanent home of the substation and the closure of the substation at that location was the source of considerable debate in previous years. Is the Ministry able to provide details of the expenditure planned for the redevelopment of the building this year? Can the Ministry provide updates on how long redevelopment will take and what future plans are for tenants who will occupy the building once it is ready?
Finally, are there lessons to be learned from the experience of the substation in the building; and if so, moving forward, how will the Government's engagement with the space be different from what was previously done? For example, in his announcement on the proposed new artist space at Kampong Java, Minister Edwin Tong said that the Government was prepared to let the arts community take the lead in telling the Government what they want. He said, \"A little bit of messiness in that space is something that I think we need.\"
I fully agree with this sentiment and I know that many in the arts community do as well and I thank the Minister for this affirmation. Would the Ministry be able to provide details on how these big picture ideas will be operationalised, both in 45 Arminian Street and in the new art spaces that will be coming up in this year?
The Chairman: Mr Darryl David, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Darryl David: Mr Chairman, Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-cultural country and there are several neighbourhoods that are representative of this and take pride in their unique identities. These neighbourhoods have escaped the wrecking ball through careful planning, rebuilding and restoration and new life has indeed been injected in them.
One of these is Tiong Bahru, Singapore's oldest residential neighbourhood and is well known for its well-conserved art-deco architecture. Now the place is alive with hipster cafes, boutiques and a vibrant community for all walks of life. It evokes strong memories of our heritage.
Kampong Glam is a historic Malay/Muslim neighbourhood featuring the iconic architectural and cultural features such as the Sultan Mosque, Arab Street and the Malay Heritage Centre, a reflection of traditional Malay architecture indeed.
Chinatown is a bustling neighbourhood, rich with Chinese culture and heritage. Here we see traditional pre-war shophouses, together with street markets and cultural attractions such as the Thian Hock Keng Temple.
Of course, Little India is another showcase of Singapore's Indian heritage and culture. This is home to the beautiful and bustling temples in Little India which date back to the 19th century. Besides the temples, Little India is dotted with colourful streets and Indian eateries.
And, of course, Joo Chiat and Katong are unmistakably Peranakan neighbourhoods that are filled with colourful shophouses, wonderful cuisine and cultural landmarks such as the Katong Antique House.
Sir, the point I am making here is that cultural heritage embodies Singapore's history and legacy. And this rich history and legacy is manifested in a unique tapestry of places and is a placeholder for us to grow together even as we are anchored in this heritage and culture of the past.
As we continue to welcome people from all over the world, our cultural heritage will grow to take a confident hold of the future while harkening back to the past – our roots. Can MCCY share how we will create opportunities to enliven these and other neighbourhoods, celebrate their rich heritage and foster a stronger sense of belonging and identity?
Sir, my next cut echoes points that was made earlier by the hon Member Ms Usha Chandradas, and that is to look at the art spaces in Singapore. One of the strategies under our Arts Plan 2.0 includes widening the access of public arts in both public and private spaces so that Singaporeans from all walks of life can experience and enjoy the arts.
Initiatives over the years have included the establishment of community arts and culture clubs across different neighbourhoods in Singapore to offer a variety of arts and cultural activities for residents to participate in.
Another initiative is a strong emphasis on arts education in school, ensuring that students have exposure to various forms of arts and cultural expressions from young. Art education is premised on openness and diversity.
NAC's Art Education Unit, I believe, works closely with the arts community and various agencies, including the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the Preschool Anchor Operators (AOPs) to provide an access to a range of well-designed arts education experiences with Singapore artists and arts groups.
NAC also provides a sustainable funding infrastructure through grants and arts housing support for the arts community to achieve a vision of Singapore as home to diverse and distinctive arts that inspire our people, connect our communities and position Singapore globally. Indeed, the arts can help foster connectedness, inclusivity and collaboration, strengthening social cohesion.
In this regard, can MCCY provide an update on the efforts to ensure diverse art spaces that serve as touchpoints for both the public and artists?
Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Chairman, Singapore has a rapidly ageing population. It is important for us to age healthily to reduce the growing burden on our healthcare system. Amongst the various measures implemented by the Government, an effective one is using arts to promote and enhance health and well-being.
In September last year, the World Health Organization and the Jamil Arts and Health Lab announced a forthcoming Lancet Global Series on the health benefits of the arts. There is a growing body of evidence on how the arts can help improve health and well-being. The arts has a role to play in preventing, managing and treating physical and mental disorders.
In a 2019 publication, the medical journal The Lancet stated, \"Music can reduce heart rate and blood pressure pre-operatively and decrease anxiety, pain and analgesic use post-operatively. Singing can help patients with respiratory disease. Music and dance can help motor rehabilitation after a stroke. Singing in a choir, making art or group drumming can ease anxiety and depression.\"
Would the Minister provide an update on broad-based mental well-being support in the arts and its role in Healthier SG? Can MCCY share more about the specific art-based programmes and resources that promote health and well-being? For example, festivals, programmes and resources that arts groups can use for selected target segments such as the elderly. What are the initiatives to support and promote the wellbeing of art practitioners, including freelancers?
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman: Chairman, in our rapidly evolving societal landscape, the role of the arts in promoting citizens' health and well-being has become increasingly significant. As Singapore grapples with the challenges posed by an ageing population, there arises a pressing need for innovative interventions to enhance the quality of life and overall well-being of our citizens.
Against this backdrop, could the Ministry share insights on how the arts can serve as a powerful tool for promoting greater health and well-being among Singaporeans? Furthermore, what are the Ministry's plans to augment arts-based interventions and how will these initiatives be implemented to ensure their effectiveness in addressing the diverse needs of our community?
Mr Mark Lee (Nominated Member): Chairman, I am keen to understand the strategies MCCY has in place in utilising our heritage assets, notably museums to foster community bonding, national pride and unity under the Forward SG movement. How are these cultural assets planned to be leveraged for cultural exchange, celebrating our heritage and building a resilient national identity?
Could the Ministry provide insights on increasing museum accessibility, digital engagement and educational outreach such that the public understands their contribution towards a cohesive and future-ready Singapore?
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Mr Chairman, one of Singapore's fundamental tenets of our social compact is to strive towards being a multiracial, multi-cultural and multi-religious community, living harmoniously together. I say \"strive\", because this element of our social compact is something we need to constantly keep in our minds and work towards improving. Because no matter how well we think we are on this call, it is not something that can be taken for granted.
We need only look at the conflicts around the world to understand that racial, cultural and religious differences can often lead to unimaginable hardship and suffering for communities. The preservation of our diverse cultural heritage is an important way for us to foster a strong sense of belonging and a shared identity in Singapore.
We have neighbourhoods such as Geylang Serai, Little India and Chinatown that are culture-rich and many Singaporeans take pride in their unique identity and culture. More can be done to create opportunities to celebrate these culture-rich places. Further, we should take the opportunity to empower our youths in this endeavour. Our youths represent the next generation of Singapore.
Through the Forward SG exercise, they have expressed their desire to play an active role in shaping policies and co-creating the communities they live in. They will play a big part in determining how strong our social compact will be in the future.
I therefore invite Minister to update us on MCCY's plans to celebrate the shared heritage of our culture-rich places and how we can engage our youths in our efforts to preserve our cultural heritage.
Mr Keith Chua (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, as mentioned by the Member just before me, we have a rich heritage. Our ability to forge racial and religious mutual respect today stems from our decades of living together, working together and facing challenges together. It was not
The changing world will require us to deepen our unique heritage and stay united as one people, stemming from our different races, our different cultures and our different religious affiliations. Engaging our youths in appreciating and preserving our cultural and societal heritage needs to continue. It was encouraging to see higher visitor numbers to our museums and heritage institutions in the recent years.
May I therefore inquire what the Ministry's plans are to engage youths in our efforts to understand more and preserve our cultural and societal heritage? May I also inquire how we can engage our seniors to share their lived experiences and stories, in particular, to our younger generations?
Mr Darryl David: Mr Chairman, as a multiracial country, social harmony is key to ensuring that our community stays together as one people, one Singapore. Yet, issues exist, and we are witnessing conflicts around the world with ethnic and religious angles and undertones that could have a possible adverse effect on our society.
Several conflicts around the world have indeed taken on ethnic dimensions. The impact of the Gaza crisis has affected communities on both sides of the conflict that started on 7 October 2023. The Russian-Ukraine war is also an ethnic one, largely involving ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. The annexation of Crimea by Russia and the ongoing war in Donetsk and Luhansk since early 2022 have only heightened ethnic, linguistic and cultural divisions in the region. Sadly, neither one of these two conflicts look like they will end any time soon.
Another long-drawn conflict in Syria is a clash of ethnic groups such as the Turkmen, Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians, among others. We have also seen civil war in South Sudan between the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups. The Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria is another example of a conflict with ethnic and religious undertones.
These are just a few examples and many other regions around the world experience conflict with ethnic and religious dimensions. Understanding and resolving these conflicts often require addressing deep-seated historical grievances, promoting inclusive governance and fostering inter-ethnic dialogue and reconciliation.
Can MCCY share how we can continue to work towards facilitating social harmony and community cohesion in Singapore to ensure that our various communities are not duly affected by these global conflicts that have ethnic and religious undertones and that we can continue to live in peace and harmony?
Mr Raj Joshua Thomas (Nominated Member): Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out in his Budget speech that societies across the world are becoming increasingly divided and nations more fragile. Despite our diversity, we have managed to build and maintain a strong and united society. This can aptly be described as an unusual modus vivendi.
Amidst this, there are incidents that arise from time to time that threaten our balance and some incidents may result in a lingering sentiment, especially amongst our minority groups. Migrants may also pose challenges to our unity as they go through the process of integrating into our way of life. Maintaining our racial and religious harmony is therefore an ongoing effort.
It is not a natural balance and significant effort must continuously be expended by the Government to steward our social harmony together with other stakeholders like community groups and religious organisations. Could the Minister update on MCCY's efforts to bolster our racial and religious harmony and its priorities in the coming year?
The Chairman: Ms Hany Soh, please take your two cuts together.
Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Chairman, our youths are a key and valuable segment of our society. Their views, feedback and ideas must be heard, not least because they often inject fresh perspectives and introduce new dimensions to thought processes. Therefore, I would like to ask how has MCCY been encouraging and supporting our youths to experiment and transform their ideas into tangible actions and to fruition? How else and how better can MCCY provide their encouragement and support?
The Youth Action Challenge started in 2019 as a platform for youths to champion ground-up initiatives and to partner the Government, businesses and community to realise their ideas. As it approaches its five-year mark, are there any updates that MCCY can share on the outcomes achieved and the number of projects implemented from the Challenge thus far?
Mental well-being continues to be an important issue in the minds of Singaporeans, particularly our youths. The SG Mental Well-Being Network was set up in July 2022 to build community and peer support and raise awareness of the importance of mental health and well-being. One key initiative is the Well-Being Circles. Can MCCY provide an update on the Network's progress in meeting its objective and, specifically, the assessed effectiveness of the Well-Being Circles in supporting mental health and mental well-being? How can these initiatives rolled out by MCCY synergise with other ground-up initiatives introduced by local divisions?
Take, for example, in our Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC's Woodgrove division, we recognise that it is crucial to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and well-being and establish a strong community support network to encourage those who are in need to seek help. This year, a series of mental wellness-related workshops has been planned to take place in Woodgrove, from training our grassroots leaders with skills, such as active listening and psychological first aid to equipping families with better awareness on youths and seniors-related mental health issues. I look forward to MCCY's responses.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): Chairman, last weekend, Jurong GRC and M³@Jurong organised a flash mentoring programme for students who had just received their \"A\" level results. We collaborated with MENDAKI and SINDA which recommended some of their accomplished volunteers to be mentors. Some were students from law school or awaiting entry into Cambridge; some were young professionals but all so eager to share their insights with our youths. The programme, known as School of Day 1, was coordinated by Mohammad Matin Mohdari. Matin and the mentors worked hard to curate a meaningful session where difficult topics were broken down to actionable steps. I am certain the participants took away very useful learning points.
I am a great believer in mentoring and programmes like School of Day 1 serve to connect youths with a network of support and access to information that could help them navigate their paths ahead. I am, therefore, very supportive of Mentoring SG and its efforts in promoting a mentoring culture and making it accessible to youths through the community-driven digital platform Mentoring SG Connect. I note that there are also efforts to build the capability of mentors.
I would like to learn from the Ministry about the latest initiatives that have been done to further promote mentoring. What has been the outcome of all the efforts thus far? In particular, how successful has Mentoring SG been in providing mentoring opportunities to the youths?
I also feel that it is important to work with people and organisations in the community. Has there been meaningful collaboration with the stakeholders in the community and corporate partners in this endeavour?
Mr Keith Chua: Mr Chairman, Singapore is a generous society. A quick look at our history will show accounts of individuals from all races generously giving back over the centuries. Many familiar names can be found in hospital and healthcare facilities, educational institutions, community services. Many contributions are captured in our archives: individuals and families from all walks of life giving time, talents and treasures.
As we shape our new social compact, there are many ways we can continue to engage all of society across all ages and at all levels. The proposed collaboration with the Community Foundation of Singapore, MSF and Community Chest will provide opportunity for those who are in a position to donate materially to support those from lower-income groups. Developing the Company of Good will bring about giving from our extensive business community. May I ask about MCCY's next steps toward growing philanthropy and fostering more collaborations?
Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant (Nominated Member): Chairman, there are many ways that corporations can support the vulnerable and those in need. Offering their professional resources and expertise is one way. The ESG Coordination Office, operated by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), was set up for businesses to play a more significant role in society. Can MCCY share how it will work with the ESG Coordination Office to support businesses in integrating social impact into their business models, and what is the progress thus far?
The National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) also has its Company of Good programme to encourage businesses to do good. Can MCCY share how can the ESG Coordination Office and NVPC better synergise efforts and also share its plans to encourage the business community and working professionals to contribute more to society beyond just making corporate donations and volunteering?
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman: Chairman, since 1925, co-operative societies (co-ops) have been playing a pivotal role in Singapore, alongside the Government and the private sector. Today, there are 80 registered co-ops that provide a variety of services, including supermarket, thrift and loan, childcare and welfare services. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that the business model of co-ops serve the people's social and economic needs in bad times and not just in good times. For example, NTUC FairPrice ensured that daily essentials remained available and affordable, and the FairPrice on Wheels service was launched to bring essential groceries within walking distance of homes.
I am heartened that the Government has engaged the co-op community as part of the Forward SG dialogue. As such, how can co-ops be further supported to continue their unique role alongside other business entities in the \"Do Good\" space, thereby reinforcing Singapore's commitment to social cohesion and inclusive growth?
Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Chairman, there are many grassroots leaders in Bukit Batok East who are seniors and I am often inspired and heartened by their energy and commitment. One of them is Judy Leong, an 82-year-old lady who has been a volunteer for about 35 years. Judy lives alone as her husband had passed away some years ago and she does not have any children. But Judy's life is full, as she spends her days engaging with residents and helping out at various community events. I want to be like Judy when I am older.
We are all cognisant of the issues relating to ageing in Singapore. We know that mental and social well-being are important and that we need to actively engage seniors so they are not socially isolated. One meaningful way to do so is to encourage volunteerism.
I note that there have been efforts in place like partnerships with organisations like RSVP. In some spaces, we are also seeing an increase in the number of senior volunteers. Last year, CNA reported that Lions Befriender Service Association saw the number of their senior volunteers increased by four times from 2021 to 2022. RSVP was also reported to see a 30% increase.
While there are positive news, we should continue to build a culture such that people want to volunteer after they have retired or when they reach their silver years. We should have a deeper understanding of the current demography. For example, we are looking at younger seniors who are more educated or tech-savvy. Look at what opportunities interest them and put in place a more structured approach to create more avenues of participation. I hope to hear the Ministry's plans on encouraging senior volunteerism.
The Chairman: Mr Baey Yam Keng. If you like, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): SG Care Volunteer Centres (VCs) are now set up across all 24 towns in Singapore to support needs on the ground by matching the needs with volunteers and resources. The concept is great. As these centres are operated by organisations based in the community, they know the needs in the respective communities better, are better connected to resources and can broker supply and demand at the town level more effectively.
This initiative started in 2018 in a few towns, and it has been two years since all 24 VCs were established. Can MCCY share the impact VCs have had in building a culture of care and how this impact will be sustained? What have been the challenges and experiences gained over the years? I know there have been some changes of operators in some towns. What are the reasons for these changes and how has MCCY been managing the disruption?
The needs in each town are varied and span across a spectrum. Besides social service agencies and charities, there are Government agencies, such as Silver Generation Office, requiring volunteers, too. At the same time, while there could be some town-specific demographic characteristics that require VCs to have different focus areas and strategies, there will be some commonalities as the Singapore population is generally ageing and the importance of mental health applies across all age groups. Can MCCY share how it will strengthen the VCs' capabilities to attract, engage and sustain volunteers more effectively in meeting the diverse needs? How do the VCs cross-share and cross-learn from one another?
It is expected that many volunteers are retirees or people who do not work full time as they would have more time to spare. However, there are specific skills and networks that working professionals can bring to the table. How have the VCs been able to reach out to this group of potential volunteers?
In each town, there will also be businesses and corporates, both big and small, where their staff could be encouraged to volunteer, too. Can MCCY share its plans in encouraging corporates to join the SG Cares movement?
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong launched the Singapore Government Partnerships Office (SGPO) in January to strengthen the Government's partnerships and engagements with citizens. Can MCCY share how SGPO will drive Government-citizen partnerships?
The Partners Portal has a useful listing of all partnership receptacles, grants and volunteering networks available in the public sector. I think this is a good starting point as citizens can sometimes be confused and do not know the existing resources available. Getting help in navigating to the right agency and contacts can accelerate the process and help to put good intentions to actions quickly.
One area that this portal can help is in areas where a proposal might cut across portfolios of different Government agencies but yet become an orphan in a way that it might not feature too highly in any one agencies' agenda. Then there is also the policy of no double-dipping. A proposal may not receive funding from more than one Government grant or scheme. Can MCCY share how citizens will be supported to materialise their proposals, especially those that may fall between the cracks?
As all new initiatives will have some teething issues, I wish SGPO all the very best in its journey to forge a closer partnership between citizens and the Government.
The Chairman: We have now come to the end of the cuts for MCCY. Ms Low Yen Ling.
","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":"The Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Low Yen Ling): Mr Chairman, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow?
The Chairman: I give my consent.
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That progress be reported and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow.\" – [Ms Low Yen Ling]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister of State.
Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2024/2025 and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.
Mr Deputy Speaker: So be it. Leader of the House.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Adjournment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Resolved, \"That Parliament do now adjourn.\" – [Ms Indranee Rajah.] (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 7.29 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Owner, Employment and Investment Profile of Family Offices in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Prime Minister as of 31 December 2023 (a) what is the number of family offices in Singapore; (b) what is the breakdown in these family offices by (i) nationality (ii) gender and (iii) age; and (c) what is its breakdown in terms of employment of (i) less than 20 employees (ii) 21-50 employees (iii) 51-99 employees and (iv) more than 100 employees; and (d) whether there is any family office classification based on asset and investment type that is outside of the Singapore Standard Industry Classification code 66306.
Mr Lawrence Wong (for the Prime Minister): As of 31 December 2023, there were around 1,400 Single Family Offices (SFOs) that have been awarded tax incentives1. The majority of their workforce comprise of locals. The foreign workforce comes from a range of countries, with most from Asia. Slightly more than half of the employees are males and slightly less than half are females. In terms of age profile, about 10% are below the age of 30, about 35% are between 30 and 40 years old and about 55% are above 40 years of age. Most have fewer than 20 employees and a small number have 20 or more employees.
Besides 66306, SFOs have classified themselves under other Singapore Standard Industry Classification (SSIC) codes, such as the other codes in the 663 SSIC family, relating to fund management activities – for example, 66301 Traditional/Long-only asset/Portfolio management; and the 702 SSIC family, relating to management consultancy activities.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : These are the tax incentive schemes for funds under sections 13O and 13U of the Income Tax Act."],"footNoteQuestions":["1"],"questionNo":"1"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Road Safety Initiatives for Motorcyclists and Elderly Pedestrians","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"2 Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Home Affairs with regard to the vulnerability of motorcyclists and elderly pedestrians in traffic accidents (a) whether there are any plans to introduce new safety initiatives or enhance existing measures specifically targeting these vulnerable groups; and (b) whether the Government is exploring the use of technology or innovative solutions to improve road safety for motorcyclists and elderly pedestrians.
Mr K Shanmugam: We have a number of new initiatives to improve road safety for motorcyclists and elderly pedestrians. The Member may wish to refer to the Annual Road Traffic Situation 2023 report and replies to recent Parliamentary Questions for more information. [Please refer to \"Provision of Pedestrian Crossing or Overhead Bridge along Yuan Ching Road Where 12-year-old Girl Was Killed in Recent Accident\", Official Report, 26 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 124, Written Answers to Questions section; \"Tougher Enforcement Actions Against Speeding and Red-light Running\", Official Report, 1 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 128, Written Answers to Questions section; \"Accidents Caused by Use of Handphones while Driving\", Official Report, 4 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 129, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section; \"Effectiveness and Adequacy of Road Safety Measures Around Schools\", Official Report, 4 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 129, Written Answers to Questions section; and \"Road Safety Initiatives for Motorcyclists and Elderly Pedestrians\", Official Report, 6 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 131, Written Answers to Questions section.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singapore's Involvement in and Contributions to Artemis Accords' Space Exploration Programme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"3 Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what contributions will Singapore make to the Artemis Accords' space exploration programme and whether there are any particular (i) technologies (ii) expertise or (iii) resources that Singapore aims to provide; (b) whether there are any specific projects or missions within the Artemis programme that Singapore is interested in and is committed to contribute; and (c) how will involvement in these projects align with Singapore's capabilities and interests in space technology.
4 Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how will the Government involve local industries and research institutions in its participation in the Artemis Accords' space exploration projects; (b) whether there are any initiatives or programmes currently in place to foster collaboration between the Government, academia and private sector; and (c) what economic opportunities does the Government anticipate from Singapore's participation in the Artemis Accords and space exploration.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Singapore signed the Artemis Accords on 28 March 2022. The Accords are non-binding commitments to promote the peaceful and sustainable use of space for all humankind. As a signatory, Singapore hopes to cooperate more closely with like-minded partners to shape the international conversation on space norms and foster collaborations with companies, officials and researchers between Singapore and the United States (US), as well as other signatories to the Accords. For example, Singapore and the US convened the first bilateral Space Dialogue on 10 October 2023 to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a range of areas, such as the use of satellites for earth observation and space-related use cases in the maritime and aviation domains. We also jointly organised an industry roundtable to discuss business opportunities for our companies in these areas.
We are committed to helping our companies seize the opportunities in space. For example, the Office for Space Technology & Industry's Space Technology Development Programme brings the Government, local companies, Institutes of Higher Learning and research institutions together to build technical capabilities, translate research into commercially viable solutions and nurture competitive companies.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Decision to Allow Israeli Defence Firms to Display Arms and Equipment at Singapore Airshow 2024","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"5 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what are the considerations taken in the decision to permit Israeli defence firms to display arms and equipment at the Singapore Airshow 2024 when some of these equipment are reportedly being used by the Israeli Defence Force in the Gaza war.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Singapore Airshow is organised by Experia Events Private Limited, which has discretion in the invitation of exhibitors, as long as exhibitors are not subject to prevailing sanctions by the United Nations or the Singapore Government. This is consistent with the Government's position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, which was explained by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in his speech at the Committee of Supply session on 29 February 2024. [Please refer to \"Committee of Supply – Head N (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)\", Official Report, 29 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 127, Budget section.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Uptake for Quieter Construction Innovation Fund and Solutions Introduced","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"6 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what was the uptake of the $2 million Quieter Construction Innovation Fund that was launched by NEA on 1 April 2019 to incentivise the construction industry to adopt innovative quieter construction equipment and methods; and (b) what innovative quieter construction equipment and methods have been introduced since 2019.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: The National Environment Agency had provided funding support for quieter construction and noise control equipment since 2014, including through the Quieter Construction Innovation Fund (QCIF) from 2019 to 2021. $1.5 million in grants have been disbursed under the QCIF to support contractors and suppliers in defraying the cost of adopting quieter methods and construction equipment, such as jack-in piling machines, hydraulic crushers, quieter generators and rebar bending machines.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reasons for and Measures to Improve Low Glass Recycling Rate","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"7 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what are the reasons for the low glass recycling rate in Singapore; and (b) what measures are being taken by the Ministry to improve the glass recycling rate.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Glass waste comprises around one per cent of total waste generated in 2022, with a recycling rate of 14 per cent. The recycling rate has been low due to the high cost of glass recycling, which weakens the economic incentive for generators of glass waste.
The entry of new recycling companies in Singapore and increasing awareness on sustainability issues will help to raise the glass recycling rate. For example, Abraclean, a glass recycling company which started operations in 2022, started processing recycled glass abrasives into ship blasting materials. NEA's Recycle Right campaign also raises awareness on how glass can be recycled properly.
We are exploring the feasibility of expanding the Extended Producer Responsibility approach to manage other packaging waste types, including glass containers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Detection and Prevention of Potential Zika Transmission at Boon Lay Place","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"8 Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment with regard to the potential Zika transmission at Boon Lay Place (a) how was it detected; (b) what steps were immediately taken following the detection; (c) how is the Ministry tracking it in the area; and (d) what specific measures are being implemented to prevent the spread of the Zika virus.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: In December 2023, one Zika case was reported at Boon Lay Place. Although no further cases have been reported in the area, the National Environment Agency's (NEA)'s enhanced surveillance through monitoring mosquitoes collected from Gravitraps and wastewater testing revealed persistent Zika virus signals, which suggested possible Zika transmission.
Since November 2023, NEA has been conducting intensive vector control operations at the Boon Lay area where dengue cases were also reported. These include indoor spraying of insecticides at residential premises to kill adult mosquitoes and larviciding at common areas to destroy any mosquito breeding. Such efforts will mitigate both dengue and Zika transmission, given that they are both spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. NEA officers and grassroots leaders have also conducted outreach activities in the vicinity to raise awareness on the need to remove stagnant water to prevent mosquito breeding.
NEA will continue to monitor mosquito and wastewater samples from the area for further Zika virus signals. The Ministry of Health has also alerted doctors to be vigilant and to test for Zika among patients with clinically compatible symptoms, especially for individuals residing or working in the Boon Lay area.
Zika is generally a mild and self-limiting disease. However, in rare cases, pregnant women who are infected can give birth to babies with certain birth defects, including microcephaly. We therefore take all cases of Zika detection seriously and urge residents, especially pregnant women, to monitor their health closely and take personal precautions to prevent mosquito bites, such as by spraying insecticides in dark corners, applying insect repellent and wearing long sleeves and pants.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Work Experience of Child Protection Officers in Service","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"9 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development for each year in the past five years, how many Child Protection Officers have experience of (i) less than one year in service (ii) between one to three years (iii) between three to five years and (iv) more than five years.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The majority of Child Protective Service (CPS) staff have at least three years of relevant experience. In the past five years, about 15% of CPS staff had less than one year of relevant experience and about a quarter had one to three years' experience.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Effectiveness of National Myopia Prevention Programme's Strategies for Primary School Students","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"10 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health (a) what targets has the Ministry set for the National Myopia Prevention Programme to delay the onset, and reduce the progression, of myopia for children in Singapore; (b) if there are no targets set, whether the Ministry will consider setting targets to lower the prevalence of myopia among primary school students; and (c) how does the Ministry measure the effectiveness of the National Myopia Prevention Programme.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) screens Kindergarten 1 to Primary 4 children under the National Myopia Prevention Programme (NMPP). The programme aims to delay the onset and progression of myopia in children through annual vision screening, workshops to equip parents with strategies to develop good eye care habits in their children and partnerships with schools, ophthalmologists and eyecare providers in the community on myopia prevention initiatives.
HPB tracks the proportion of Primary 1 (P1) school children with uncorrected visual acuity of ≥ 6/12 as a measure of onset of myopia. Since the inception of NMPP in 2001, myopia prevalence rates in P1 children have decreased and stabilised at 26% in 2023, achieving HPB's target of 30% or lower.
In addition, HPB monitors myopia severity levels1 in selected primary and secondary schools as an indicator of myopia progression. The prevalence of low myopia in selected primary schools remained stable at 20% in 2023 compared to 19% in 2013. Over the same period, moderate myopia decreased from 9% to 7% and high myopia decreased from 3% to 2%. Similarly, in selected secondary schools, the prevalence of low myopia remained stable at 27% in 2023 compared to 28% in 2013. Over the same period, moderate myopia decreased from 20% to 18% and high myopia decreased from 11% to 7%.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : Low Myopia -0.5D to < -3D; Moderate Myopia -3D to < -5D; High myopia ≤ -5D"],"footNoteQuestions":["10"],"questionNo":"10"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proposal for Singapore Psychological Society to Report to Allied Health Professional Council","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"11 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health whether the Singapore Psychological Society can report to or be made accountable to the Allied Health Professional Council, to reflect the growing need for accessible and accountable mental health care services.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The real issue is whether psychologists should be regulated, given the increased importance of mental wellness as a national issue. This is currently under discussion between MOH, agencies, service providers and professional associations, such as the Singapore Psychological Society.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans for and Implementation of Best Practices for Community Gardens","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"12 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the Ministry's plans to (i) construct community gardens within housing estates and (ii) ensure equitable sharing and allocation of plots within such gardens; and (b) how does the Ministry plan to raise awareness of best practices such as cleanliness and inclusivity among users of such gardens for the benefit of the larger community.
Mr Desmond Lee: The National Parks Board (NParks) works with HDB, Town Councils (TCs), Residents' Committees and Neighbourhood Committees to encourage the setting up of community gardens within housing estates, such as under the HDB Green Towns Programme, the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme or the Estate Upgrading Programme. When identifying suitable sites, agencies consider various factors, such as technical feasibility and potential disamenities to residents. By 2030, we aim to have 3,000 community gardens islandwide.
Community garden plots within housing estates are typically managed and allocated by the Residents' Networks under the People's Association (PA) and maintained by residents.
In 2023, NParks launched a one-stop gardening portal, GardeningSG, to share best practices on garden management for residents, volunteers, and managing organisations, such as PA and TCs. NParks has also published guides on community garden design and gardening programmes to grow an inclusive gardening community, which encourages the incorporation of elderly-friendly design features like wheelchair-accessible planter beds and the organisation of events, such as harvest sharing, to involve the wider community.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Introduction of Temperature Threshold and Issuance of Stop-Work Orders When Threshold Is Crossed","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"13 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) apart from the \"Enhanced Measures to Reduce Heat Stress for Outdoor Workers\" that are introduced in October 2023, what plans are currently in place for the Ministry to issue stop-work orders once the wet bulb globe temperature crosses a certain threshold; and (b) if there are no such plans, whether the Ministry will consider implementing a threshold wet bulb globe temperature for stop-work orders.
Dr Tan See Leng: The risk of heat injuries depends on a combination of factors, such as the nature of the work task and the worker's physical fitness. Thus, it may not be practical to set a single Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) threshold to stop all types of outdoor work. Employers should instead conduct proper heat risk assessment taking into account environmental, personal and job risk factors of each workplace and implement measures to reduce heat stress risks and prevent heat-related injuries. Some of the enhanced measures to reduce heat stress for outdoor workers include providing loose-fitting and light-coloured clothing to workers, cool drinking water supply near work areas and identifying and redeploying workers vulnerable to heat stress when the weather is hot. Nonetheless, employers are required to provide a minimum rest break of 10 minutes hourly, under shade, when WBGT is 32oC or higher to protect outdoor workers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Time Taken to Verify Compensation Claims under Work Injury Compensation Act","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"14 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower since the implementation of the Work Injury Compensation Act in 2019, what is the median time taken for the validity of a compensation claim to be determined.\n\n
Dr Tan See Leng: The median time taken for designated Work Injury Compensation (WIC) insurers to process a WIC claim is about six months. The processing time varies depending on the complexity of the case.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Data on Total Workforce Size in Singapore's Financial Sector","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"15 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Manpower as of 31 December 2023 (a) what is the total workforce size in Singapore's financial sector; (b) what is the breakdown of this total by (i) nationality (ii) gender and (iii) age; and (c) what is its breakdown according to the various industry segments, such as banking, asset management, insurance companies, real estate brokers, consumer finance companies, moneylenders, real estate investment trusts and fintech firms.
Dr Tan See Leng: The data requested by the Member are provided in Table 1 below.
16 Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether there are any projections on how the Houthi attacks have a direct impact on the cost of marine insurance premiums, particularly (i) hull insurance (ii) cargo insurance and (iii) protection and indemnity insurance; and (b) whether there are any discussions or collaborations with international bodies to address security challenges and their effects on marine insurance.
Mr Chee Hong Tat: The Houthis' attacks on vessels in the Red Sea have led to increased risks for vessels plying the region and increases in marine insurance premiums. According to industry reports, war risk insurance premiums have risen from under 0.1% of the value of the insured vessel prior to the Houthis' attacks, to about 0.5% to 1.0% of the vessel's value as of February 2024.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and other agencies will continue to monitor the developments in the Red Sea region closely, including the impact on marine insurance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Clarification by Minister for Health","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WS","content":"[(proc text) The following statements were made in the speech given by the Minister for Health (Mr Ong Ye Kung) during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Health at the Sitting of 6 March 2024: (proc text)]
(a) The Minister for Health (Mr Ong Ye Kung): Mr Ang Wei Neng raised the issue of Changi General Hospital which was also reported in a Straits Times article. Changi is an old structure. It only has four ambulance bays. [Please refer to \"Committee of Supply – Head O (Ministry of Health)\", Official Report, 6 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 131, Budget section.]
(b)\tMr Ong Ye Kung: In fact, intakes into our local medical schools have increased by about 30% over the past 10 years, to about 500 now. If you consider each cohort, it is now slightly over 30,000. About half of them, 15,000 or so, 15,000 to 17,000 go to university; and out of that group, 500 are training to be doctors. [Please refer to \"Committee of Supply – Head O (Ministry of Health)\", Official Report, 6 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 131, Budget section.]
[(proc text) Written statement by Mr Ong Ye Kung circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5): (proc text)]
I wish to make the following factual corrections to the speech during the Committee of Supply debate on 6 March 2024. The statements above should respectively be read as follows:
(a)\tThe Minister for Health (Mr Ong Ye Kung): Mr Ang Wei Neng raised the issue of Changi General Hospital which was also reported in a Straits Times article. Changi is an old structure. It only has six ambulance bays.
(b)\tMr Ong Ye Kung: In fact, intakes into our local medical schools have increased by about 30% over the past 10 years, to about 500 now. If you consider each cohort, it is now slightly over 35,000. About half of them go to autonomous universities; and out of that group, 500 are training to be doctors.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null}],"writtenAnswersVOList":[],"writtenAnsNAVOList":[],"annexureList":[],"vernacularList":[{"vernacularID":5991,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20240306/vernacular-1. Mr Masagos Zulkifli Head O (MOH COS) 6 Mar 2024 - Malay.pdf","fileName":"1. Mr Masagos Zulkifli Head O (MOH COS) 6 Mar 2024 - Malay.pdf"},{"vernacularID":5992,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Ms Rahayu Mahzam","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20240306/vernacular-2. Ms Rahayu Mahzam Head O (MOH COS) 6 Mar 2024 - Malay.pdf","fileName":"2. 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