1 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Manpower whether he can provide an update on whether local PMETs have enhanced career opportunities as a result of various Government interventions.
\tThe Minister for Manpower (Mr Lim Swee Say): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to display some slides during my reply, please?
Mr Speaker: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
\tMr Lim Swee Say: To enhance career opportunities for our local workforce, we have acted on four fronts: first, transforming our economy to be more innovative, productive and manpower-lean so that we can remain competitive and create enough good jobs for our people; second, strengthening lifelong learning through the SkillsFuture movement so as to enhance the employability of our local workforce throughout their working life; third, helping more local professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) under the Adapt and Grow (A&G) initiative to adapt better to the rapid pace of technological change so that they can grow in their current careers or switch to new careers; and last but not least, raising the qualifying criteria of Employment Pass and strengthening the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) so as to improve the complementarity of local and foreign PMETs.
Outcomes have been positive. Our economy has become more manpower-lean and our workforce more productive. Manpower growth has slowed from 4% in 2014 to 2% in 2015, and to 1% last year. What is even more encouraging is that productivity growth has also improved to 1% last year, after remaining flat since 2012. With even higher productivity growth this year than last year, we are making steady progress towards our medium-term growth strategy of 1% growth in manpower and 2% growth in productivity for a 3% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per annum. From this diagram (Annex A), Members can see that we are making a transition from a \"4+0=4\" situation, which means 4% manpower growth and 0% increase in productivity, towards the growth strategy of \"1+2=3\". Over the last few years, we have been making steady progress towards that outcome.
The PMET share of the resident workforce has also improved in the last three years from 53.5% in 2014 to 56.1% in 2017. In other words, 56% of the resident workforce today is doing PMET jobs. The rate of increase is at a faster rate than the previous three years.
What is also worth noting is the share of nett PMET employment growth that went to our local PMETs. The three-year moving average has improved significantly over the last few years, from about 50% five years ago – in other words, one local PMET versus one foreign PMET – to about 75% in the past three years – or three local PMETs versus one foreign PMET (Annex B).
Likewise, real median incomes, including employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions of full-time employed residents, have risen by 4.3% per annum from 2014 to 2016, much higher than 2.4% per annum from 2011 to 2014. This faster rate of increase in our medium wage is a reflection of improvement in the quality of jobs for our resident workforce.
Moving forward, there is still much to do to create more and better job opportunities for our local workforce. Unemployment and long-term unemployment rates have risen, though marginally, in past two years. We need to, first, bring total employment growth up to about 25,000 to 40,000 a year to keep unemployment down; second, improve the quality of jobs to minimise under-employment; and third, minimise job-skills mismatches so as to prevent unemployment from becoming structural and sticky.
Our economic agencies and tripartite partners will continue to transform industries, from manufacturing to services and construction. For example, Singaporeans can look forward to good jobs that harness technology in artificial intelligence in infocomm and media, data analytics in electronics manufacturing, financial technology (FinTech) in finance and banking, and prefabrication technology in construction. More industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) will be launched progressively in the coming months. Together, we aim to achieve and sustain nett employment growth of about 25,000 to 40,000 a year. This is lower than the high job growth of 120,000 a year three to five years ago which was not sustainable, but is higher than the low job growth of less than 10,000 last year.
More importantly, through these ITMs, we aim to improve the quality of jobs pervasively across all sectors, in other words, to make every job a better job.
We will also continue to strengthen the SkillsFuture movement to equip our people with the skills needed for the future economy, in other words, to make every worker a better worker. For instance, the Ministry of Education (MOE) recently announced the SkillsFuture Series to provide working adults with industry-relevant skills in eight priority and emerging skills areas that draw reference from the ITMs.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), together with our tripartite partners, will press on with our A&G efforts to support more local PMETs of all ages from all industries to grow in their current careers or pursue new career opportunities in new and key growth sectors. We will also help speed up the transfer of advanced and emerging expertise from outside of Singapore to our local workforce through the newly launched Capability Transfer Programme.
Beyond these efforts of the Government and the tripartite partners, our local PMETs must be prepared to adapt and grow to stay relevant and seize new opportunities. Likewise, employers must also do their part to be inclusive and adopt fair and progressive hiring practices.
In this regard, I am encouraged that more local PMETs and more employers are making good use of A&G programmes. In the first half of this year, about 1,500 local PMETs have undergone skills conversion through Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs). This is more than double that in the same period last year.
Likewise, in the first six months of this year, nearly 1,500 employers participated in A&G programmes, such as the PCPs and P-MAX. This is almost the total number for the whole of last year.
As a result, the number of local jobseekers who secured jobs successfully with the help of the A&G programmes has continued to increase and remain inclusive. In the first eight months of this year, out of more than 16,000 successful job placements, more than half of them, or 58%, are PMETs. And more than half, or 53%, are more than 40 years old, and almost 30%, to be exact 29%, are more than 50 years old; and 30% were long-term unemployed before we found jobs for them. In other words, they found jobs after being unemployed for longer than six months.
This inclusive profile of job placement is, indeed, encouraging. We will keep doing more, doing better for local PMETs and our local workforce.
Mr Speaker, with the strong commitment of individuals, employers and the tripartite partners, we are confident that we can strive for healthy employment outcomes as we transform, adapt and grow together, not just as an innovative economy, but also as an inclusive workforce.
Mr Speaker: Ms Foo Mee Har.
\tMs Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for a very comprehensive set of replies. I am sure the Minister would agree with me that one of the most urgent priorities is to help displaced mid-career persons. Many of them still have mortgages to pay, children still going to school and they have 20 to 25 years more of productive working life.
The Minister did share some encouraging updates in terms of numbers. On the ground, the sense is that there are still a lot of challenges and hardship faced by many of these families. Please give us some sense of what that 1,500 successful cases represent, what is this as a percentage of the total population that the Ministry is still helping?
Specifically, as we see the Government rolling out the ITMs, I would like to ask the Minister, how is the PCP aligned to the ITMs so as to support career-switch efforts towards growth sectors, so that it is very targeted, and also, with the close involvement of prospective employers in the design and delivery of internship and training programmes?
\tMr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, firstly, I share the same concerns as Ms Foo Mee Har regarding the impact of the ongoing restructuring on our mid-career PMETs. This time round, we can see that 70% of the workers affected by redundancy are the PMETs. This is the reason why under our A&G initiative, we pay particular attention to the PMETs. Among the PMETs affected, those who are more than 40 years old, or the mid-career mature PMETs, our concern is that they may need more support to remain employable. This is the reason why we have been enhancing our support for the mature PMETs in our A&G programmes. For example, we give them a higher wage support of up to 90%, spread out over a longer duration for the PCP of up to 18 months, and so on.
I want to point out that the number of PMETs that we have helped is more than the 1,500 that went through the PCP. As I had mentioned earlier, in the first eight months of this year, we have helped 16,000 local jobseekers to secure jobs. Out of these, 58% are PMETs. So, if we take 58% of 16,000, we will come to almost 10,000 local PMETs who managed to secure jobs with the help provided for under the A&G programmes. PCP is one of them. Of the 10,000 who successfully found jobs, not every one of them needed to go through professional conversion. There is a split between missed-match and mismatch. Missed-match means they are job ready except that they need some help to secure jobs through our job-matching services. Only for those who face difficulty in the mismatch of skill, wage expectation and so on, we would help them with the Career Support Programme (CSP) and PCP.
I would say that by looking ahead into the future, we expect the proportion of PMETs who have to overcome mismatch is going to continue to grow. That is the reason why we continue to expand PCP to more and more sectors. I expect the number of PMETs participating in PCP to continue to grow.
On the question about how PCP aligns with ITM, this is a very important question. We look at the 23 ITM sectors and our assessment is that about five sectors will contribute to about 60% of the PMET job creation in the medium term. These sectors are finance and banking, infocomm and media, healthcare, wholesale trade and professional services. These five sectors combined together will account for 60% of the PMET job creation in the medium term.
MOM is, therefore, working closely with the respective economic agencies and Ministries to see how we can step up our efforts to help: firstly, more of the PMETs in these five sectors to remain employable within their companies, what we call in-company PCP, so that even though their jobs are at risk today, we can help them to update their skills and remain employable within the same company; secondly, for those who for whatever reasons are being affected by company redundancy, to help them to remain in the same industry, and so there is an intra-sector PCP; and thirdly, to help those who are affected by redundancy elsewhere to convert and come into these growing sectors through inter-sector PCP.
This focused effort has started. In the coming months, Members can expect to see many more initiatives being launched.
Mr Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.
\tMr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): I thank the Minister for sharing the very positive labour market statistics, especially in relation to the PMET employment rate. I just have a question to ask or one suggestion to make. Yes, the ITMs have raised quite a few growth sectors, in particular, the five mentioned, but I also notice that for many of these growth sectors, most of these jobs require skills that are pretty specialised and so there are quite a bit of \"barriers to entry\". Yes, initial efforts have been promising, but I hope the Ministry, together with our tripartite partners, can do even more, in particular, to plug this gap, and make it more pervasive. Also, for the employers, some mindsets have to change. We hope employers will be more open. They will not be able to get \"plug-and-play\" people, but they can be more open to hiring so that, as what the Minister shared earlier, we can not only make every job a better job and every worker a better worker, but also every employer a better employer.
\tMr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, I fully agree with the Member. In the future, under the ITM, we can expect to see more and more sectors requiring advanced and specialised skills. And yet, at the same time, we also need to inculcate in our PMETs the ability to adapt. In other words, they have to re-specialise within their job sectors and their career and, at the same time, they must be prepared to keep re-specialising repeatedly.
I also fully agree that tripartite partnership is very important in changing the mindset of the employer, changing the mindset of the worker. At the end of the day, we can only truly succeed if we are able to get every employer to come on board to make every job a better job, and if we are able to get every worker to come on board to adapt and grow so that we can make every worker a better worker. And hopefully, through our tripartite partners, we can match every better job to every better worker, and every better worker to every job, so that we do not have a problem with unemployment, under-employment and structural unemployment.
Mr Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.here1
\tMr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): With regard to the Government's four-prong strategy to improve career opportunities for PMETs, can I ask the Minister what have been the main challenges and limitations for the Government in pursuing new initiatives to improve career opportunities for PMETs, and what have been the downsides of the Ministry's efforts? What does it intend to do to urge individuals to take the Ministry's plans a bit more seriously?
\tMr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, this is also a very important question. The pace of the restructuring, obviously, is not even across all sectors, across all companies. But what has happened in the last few years, as I had mentioned earlier, is that through this four-prong approach, our economy has become more manpower-lean. As a result, more and more companies have come to the realisation that counting on manpower-driven growth, as it was the past, is no longer relevant in future. In other words, we are seeing more companies now preparing to transform instead of coming to MOM to ask us to relax on the foreign worker policy. In fact, more and more of them are now coming forward to ask us what we can do to help them to become manpower-lean.
One example is the Lean Enterprise Development (LED) scheme launched last year. The purpose of the LED scheme is to encourage more and more small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular, to become more manpower-lean and to become more resource-lean, rather than to keep asking for more foreign workers.
Last year, about 2,000 SMEs took part in this programme. By now, after about 20 months, the total number has exceeded 5,000. So, we are seeing a very healthy increase. This coming Friday, we are holding our second annual symposium on the LED scheme where the tripartite partners will be coming together to take stock of what we have achieved together in the last two years, and how we can do even more moving forward. For example, up to now, we help mainly company by company, enterprise by enterprise. We are now looking at how we can get groups of companies to come together, so that instead of just working on the development of Lean Enterprise, we can work together towards the development of Lean Industry. So, we learn together, adapt together and grow together.
Mr Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mr Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister: in the recent retrenchment by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), may I know what is the help given to those who are retrenched and have they found other jobs?
\tMr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, again, this is an important question. Retrenchment has gone up in the last two years. What the tripartite partners – the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), MOM, together with the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) – did was we formed a retrenchment response task force. What this task force does is, firstly, we monitor whether the retrenchment was done in a responsible manner. Secondly, in what way can we provide greater support to the workers, including the PMETs affected?
The support that we have provided is not just to SPH. We have extended the same level of support to all the workers affected by retrenchments since last year. And this year, more are being done.
Mr Speaker: Ms Foo Mee Har.
\tMs Foo Mee Har: Mr Speaker, just a quick clarification. In terms of the 10,000 PMETs who were successfully helped, again, I just want to have a sense of the dimension of the problem on the ground. What was the proportion helped, compared to the overall base? How many more do we need to help? We have successfully helped 10,000. How many out there do we need to find good careers for?
\tMr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, our local workforce is about 2.2 million. Of this 2.2 million, on the average, every year, about 180,000 to 200,000 would leave our resident workforce. It could be for retirement, further studies or to take a break from their job and career and so on.
At the same time, about the same number, 180,000 to 200,000 would re-enter the workforce. They are either new entrants or re-entrants. For example, people who go for further studies come back to work; people who took a break and come back to work. So, every year, if you look at the turnover of our resident workforce, it is about 180,000 to 200,000. Of the 180,000 to 200,000 who come back to the workforce, not all of them would need help from Workforce Singapore (WSG) or the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). In fact, the vast majority are able to find employment on their own.
Of those who need additional help and come to WSG or e2i, for the PMETs, our success rate is about 65%. In other words, for every three local PMETs who need job placement assistance from WSG or e2i, we are able to successfully secure jobs for two out of three. For the other one-third, even though we are not able to succeed in getting job placements for them, it does not mean that all of them would remain unemployed. Some of them will go on on their own to find their own jobs. I hope this will give the Member the big picture.
Mr Speaker: Mr Azmoon Ahmad.
\tMr Azmoon Ahmad (Nominated Member): Can the Minister help by sharing the statistics on the success rate by ethnicities of PMETs, especially for the Malay community?
\tMr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, I do not have on hand the racial breakdown, but I do ask for it from time to time. From the numbers that I have seen so far, by breakdown in terms of racial groups and gender, they are quite inclusive.
In fact, if I remember correctly – I stand to be corrected – the percentage of the minority racial groups who are successfully placed is, in fact, higher than the workforce average.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Investigation into Chemical Odour from Pasir Gudang","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"2 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of smoky chemical smells reported in parts of Singapore at end-September 2017 (a) what is the cause of the smell; (b) what are the standards and safety measures that operators of hazardous chemical installations, including the transportation of such materials, have to comply with to ensure that there are no lapses or leakages that may compromise public safety and health; and (c) whether other countries in Southeast Asia have similar standards and safety measures.
3 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources with regard to the incident of a chemical stench from Pasir Gudang in September 2017 (a) what should Singaporeans do in the event of a similar incident; (b) how can they differentiate between gases which are toxic and non-toxic; (c) how can similar incidences be prevented; and (d) how well-prepared is Singapore to deal with a chemical gas attack by terrorists.
4 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether he can provide an update on the source and causes of the chemical odour and smoke detected in various parts of Singapore on 25 September 2017; (b) whether there is a long-term impact on public safety and health; (c) whether there have been previous similar incidents; and (d) what is the Ministry doing to safeguard our interests.
5 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources with regard to the odour detected by many residents, particularly those living in the northeastern part of Singapore, on 25 September 2017 (a) whether the Ministry can provide more timely updates so that residents can take necessary precautions to protect themselves; (b) whether our current detection methods extend beyond smoke particles to dangerous chemicals; and (c) what advice can the Ministry give to Singaporeans to protect themselves in the event of dangerous chemicals in the air.
\tThe Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Mr Speaker, can I take Question Nos 2 to 5 together, please?
Mr Speaker:\tOkay. Please proceed.
\tMr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The National Environment Agency (NEA) maintains a network of real-time air quality monitoring stations across Singapore to detect air pollution. A number of these stations can measure low levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the air. VOCs are vapours which can come from both man-made and natural sources, and they can cause smells by themselves or when they react with other VOCs.
NEA supplements the air monitoring stations by deploying officers to affected areas. These officers are equipped with portable instruments which can measure the levels of chemical compounds in the air. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is also equipped with portable sensors to detect and identify toxic gases, including chemical warfare agents, in the air.
In the late afternoon of 25 September 2017, members of the public reported smells in the Punggol and Sengkang areas. Similar reports were received from the northern and central parts of Singapore later in the evening, such as Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh and Bukit Timah.
Upon receipt of the public reports, officers from NEA and SCDF were immediately deployed to check that the air at the affected locations was safe. The officers also conducted investigations at nearby housing estates, factories and construction sites. Both the air monitoring sensors and the air samples collected showed an increase in the levels of some VOCs in the evening of 25 September, which likely caused the smell experienced. The smell could also have been intensified by the light wind conditions during the period and only dissipated later that night when winds blowing from the south and southeast picked up strength. While there have been previous smell-related incidents, this episode was more widely spread across the island.
In their investigations, NEA and SCDF did not detect any build-up of harmful gases in the air or find any abnormal factory operations or incidents that could have caused the smells. Despite the increase, the levels of the VOCs detected were also well within international safety guidelines. Once this was established, the public was informed that the air was safe. At the same time, NEA informed its counterparts from the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) in Johor of the incident and sought their assistance to locate the possible source of the smell.
Following NEA's request for assistance, the DOE in Johor deployed its assets to investigate the incident. The source of the smell was finally traced to a factory in Pasir Gudang. A stop work order was issued against the operator of that facility by DOE and the operator was required to carry out a list of remedial actions. The Malaysia media reported on 6 October 2017 that the stop work order was lifted after the operator had completed the necessary remedial actions. Tracing the source of fugitive smell is not a straight-forward process and requires time and effort. After NEA reached out to DOE, the Malaysians reacted quickly to carry out site investigation, trace the source of the smell and take the necessary actions on the facility to rectify the problem. We appreciate their cooperation.
Industrial premises in Singapore must comply with strict regulations and guidelines on the storage and transportation of hazardous materials. For example, the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) imposes requirements on the storage, use and transport of hazardous substances. These include putting emergency plans in place and preparing adequate emergency response equipment. These control measures are similar to those adopted in other jurisdictions, with each country adapting them to local requirements.
Let me now address incidents involving terrorist attacks using chemical gases. Our agencies are prepared for such a scenario. The SCDF regularly conducts exercises simulating chemical agent attacks where responders are tested for their proficiency in detection, monitoring and mitigation operations. In incidents involving toxic gases, the response of the public is equally important. Those in the affected area may feel unwell or experience symptoms, such as giddiness and shortness of breath. SCDF’s advice is that they should quickly leave the affected area and, where possible, help evacuate others, before seeking medical attention. For those who are unable to leave the affected area, they should go to the nearest indoor area and adopt In-Place Protection Procedures (IPP) by shutting the doors, windows and ventilation systems, like fans and air conditioners, and sealing the gaps with masking tape to minimise the infiltration of hazardous vapours.
SCDF will also send out alerts to notify the public to take the necessary precautionary measures. This alert will be sent out through all the public warning platforms, including social media, the SGSecure app and all the free-to-air frequency modulation (FM) radio and television channels. The \"Important Message\" signal of the Public Warning System may also be activated.
To learn more about how to respond in the event of an incident involving toxic gases, the public is encouraged to participate in the SCDF’s Community Emergency Preparedness Programme (CEPP). CEPP trains about 40,000 participants each year, and IPP is one of the advanced programme modules. Members of the public can learn to prepare an IPP kit, as well as how they can apply IPP against a chemical gas attack. More information on IPP can be found in the Civil Defence Emergency Handbook, which can be downloaded from the SCDF website.
These are among the measures that NEA and SCDF have put in place to safeguard the health and safety of Singaporeans.
Mr Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon):\t Mr Speaker, I have one supplementary question. Just now, the Minister mentioned that the test showed that the air was safe. I would like to ask whether the test was conducted as a result of feedback from residents or do we have a station that constantly monitors the volatile organic chemicals and particulate matter (PM) 2.5. In the northern part of Singapore like Yishun, we will be affected first if there is anything that comes from Malaysia.
\tMr Masagos Zulkifli B M M:\tI thank the Member for the supplementary question. Yes, air is constantly monitored and tests are conducted for hazardous levels of VOCs to ensure that we are breathing air that will not be deleterious to our long-term health. Certainly, we have enough of these and if we find that we need to build more of such monitoring stations on the advice of consultants or otherwise, we will do so.
Mr Speaker: Ms Sun Xueling.
\tMs Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol):\tI thank the Minister for his reply. I understand that it takes time to trace the source of the noxious smell in the air, but I think our residents will appreciate a timely update on what chemicals are in the air, to aid their own assessment of what they can do to protect themselves. That is my first point. And my question is whether there is any research done on long-term exposure to low levels of VOCs in the air. I asked this because residents in Punggol and Sengkang obviously live closer to Pasir Gudang, and there are a lot of feedback or persistent concerns about such chemicals in the air. Even though at any one point in time, such VOC levels may be low and not cause immediate alarm, long-term exposure to VOCs may cause and endanger health.
\tMr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The safety threshold of most VOCs is available only for occupational exposure, that means, when you are working in a situation where there are a lot of these VOCs, and you will be exposed to at least around eight hours of hazardous levels. Those studies are available. Studies which are connected with low constant exposure to these VOCs are not yet available or have not been done, so we cannot rely on such reports to produce any guidelines for our authorities to implement.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Reforms at Family Justice Courts","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"6 Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Law (a) whether he can provide an update on the implementation of the Family Justice Committee's reforms; (b) whether there has been an assessment of the outcomes of the cases at the Family Justice Courts after the introduction of the various reforms; (c) whether further enhancements can be made to the Court processes to encourage families to heal and reconcile; and (d) how can the family law practitioners be part of this change.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Law (Ms Indranee Rajah) (for the Minister for Law): Our family justice system aims to resolve family disputes through mediation as far as possible and with litigation only as the last resort.
Many cases that go through the family justice system are divorce proceedings and ancillary issues, such as the division of matrimonial assets and issues relating to the custody, care and control of the children. The Court process in dealing with these issues should be affordable and should not make it more painful for the families involved. In particular, we should see to the interests of the children and protect them during the proceedings to the extent possible.
With these aims in mind, the Committee for Family Justice was convened in 2013, which made recommendations to introduce less adversarial and more child-centric approaches in family proceedings and to also improve community support outside of the Court system.
The work of the Committee led to the enactment of the Family Justice Act and the establishment of the Family Justice Courts on 1 October 2014. Pursuant to the Committee's recommendations, the following reforms were implemented in the Family Justice Courts.
First, a judge-led approach. This was adopted and places the judge in the centre of the Court process and allows the judge to guide and direct the proceedings. This reduces acrimony between parties and is an improvement over the previous purely adversarial approach towards resolving family disputes.
Second, case management policies and processes have been enhanced in the Family Justice Courts. The docketing system ensures that a single judge manages the case early in the proceedings to its conclusion. This helps to ensure that the judicial officer adjudicating the dispute is familiar with, and sensitive to, the issues and parties involved.
The simplified uncontested divorce track was also implemented to allow parties to apply for the case to be scheduled for an uncontested hearing if there has been agreement on both sides. Cases under the simplified uncontested divorce track are resolved faster. Previously, the median time taken for such cases to obtain Interim Judgment was 53 days. This was shortened to about 20 days under the simplified uncontested divorce track.
Third, child representatives are now appointed by the Court if it is in the best interests of the child to do so. This usually occurs in high conflict matters where parties cannot agree on the care arrangements of the child. There are currently 26 trained child representatives, and there have since been 40 cases where child representatives were appointed. These child representatives represent the voice of the child in family disputes and present an objective assessment of the care arrangements which would be in the best interests of the child.
Fourth, aside from the Court-based initiatives, the Committee also recognised that families should be provided with better assistance and support to resolve their disputes out-of-Court, wherever possible. In this regard, the Committee proposed the establishment of Divorce Support Specialist Agencies to provide specialised services and programmes for divorcing and divorced families. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has since established four Divorce Support Specialist Agencies to provide the support and care to such families.
The Family Justice Courts have been established for three years now. Early indications have been positive. The average time taken for divorce cases to be granted Interim Judgment has been reduced from 68.6 days in 2012 to 53.1 days in 2016. Similarly, the average time taken for Final Judgment to be granted has also been reduced from 155.3 days in 2012 to 114.6 days in 2016. We intend to work with the Family Justice Courts to conduct a joint survey of Court users to better understand the Court users' experience of the reforms in the family justice system.
Despite these improvements, certain cases still require an extended time to resolve and with acute acrimony between the parties. In this regard, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw), MSF and the Family Justice Courts have decided to convene a new committee to further enhance the family justice system.
Family lawyers play an important and integral role in these reforms, including how they advise and counsel clients, the manner in which they conduct the cases in Court and their knowledge and familiarity with the social support systems that have been set up to assist families. This was recognised by the Committee for Family Justice which proposed a new Family Law Practitioner accreditation scheme for lawyers who have undergone specialist training. Work is underway to design a specialist family law and multidiscipline training for family lawyers and I look forward to the implementation of this recommendation. We will continue to partner and support our family lawyers to facilitate the effective practice of family law today.
We will continue to make reforms and improve our family justice system to better support and preserve families going through a dispute, through a less adversarial, more efficient and more child-centric approach to family litigation, as well as a robust network of community support.
Mr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.
\tDr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her answer and explanations. I have two supplementary questions. Firstly, how can the Ministry improve public understanding of the importance of attending Court and having representations made, including in family justice cases? I say this because I have met residents in Clementi, some of whom did not attend these hearings and were subsequently distressed when the outcome went against them.
Secondly, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State if she could elaborate further on how individual lawyers can play a role in helping to build a better and stronger family justice system.
\tMs Indranee Rajah: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his questions. It is a very pertinent point – attendance in Court. The Court is an important institution and people must understand that Court hearings are to be respected. The Courts and the justice that they dispense underpin our entire societal system, not least in family law cases. So, I would urge anybody who receives a Court summons, whether it be family law or anything else, to give it due attention, due weight and to respect the Court as an institution. Where the document calls for attendance before the Court, it is very important that that person must turn up.
There are sometimes when a person is unable to turn up for various reasons. In this scenario, there are a few options. First, if the person is represented, usually a lawyer will take care of that, and the lawyer can appear on your behalf and you do not have to be there, unless there are certain very specific things, such as your having to give evidence because the trial is ongoing. In that case, clearly, the lawyer cannot be giving evidence on your behalf. You have to be there. But if for some reason you are ill, unwell, have some other really pressing commitment which the Court agrees takes precedence, you can ask the Court for adjournment and the lawyer will do that for you.
But there are many parties who are not represented. For those who are not represented, if for some reason they truly cannot turn up to ask for an adjournment or postponement, they can, at the very minimum, write to the Court in advance of the hearing, and the Court will usually take into account whether or not the reasons for the request for the postponement are good reasons, and they will accommodate if the reasons are valid.
If not, they can also approach their Member of Parliament at the Meet-the-People sessions to write to MinLaw, which will then forward the letter to the Court. At the end of the day, the important thing to remember is that Court proceedings are important and people must appear.
For those who meet the means test, there is also legal aid representation. They can also go to the Law Society Pro Bono Office and there are the legal clinics which are conducted by the Community Development Councils. There is also the Community Justice Centre at the State Courts. So, there is a variety of options. For those who need legal assistance, I would urge them to seek out these options.
On the second question on what role can lawyers play, that is a very good question. That is the reason why we are looking at the Family Law Accreditation Scheme. Family law proceedings are not like other proceedings. It is not like commercial litigation, for example, where what is at stake is really money, by and large. So, even if it is a question of an extra hundred thousand dollars, an extra million dollars, it is still money. But in family proceedings, it is a lot to do with emotions. Very often, it has to do with the impact on the child.
In commercial proceedings, how do you measure win and lose? You measure by how much money you get, the amount of damages. But how do you measure win and lose in litigation proceedings for family cases? Who really wins? Who really loses? You often find that for the parties, winning actually means hurting the other side, taking the other side's assets as much as you can, or preventing the other side from having access to the child. That is how winning and losing are very often measured in family cases.
That should not be the case. The measure for winning and losing in family cases should really be how are you able to disentangle your lives after having been together for a long time, with the least pain possible, and in a way that allows you to move on, emotionally as well as in terms of other arrangements. That should be one measure. The other measure should be how do you do it in a way that least adversely impacts a child?
Once these become your measures, you can begin to see how the training and the skillsets for the lawyers have to be very different. Because in commercial litigation, it is about how you can score the legal points and how you can get the extra money. But here, as a lawyer, you have to counsel your client. If your client is determined to get at the other side by withholding access to the child, that is not in the child's best interest. And the lawyer has to be trained to deal with that.
When I was in practice, I had a case where whenever the children had telephone access to the father, the mother would not allow the children to take the call from the telephone in the living room. She would banish them to the balcony in the kitchen where all the washing and the drying and the clothes were. In their minds, every time they take a call from their father, they have to go out into the balcony and sit out there, like it is not a normal family activity. The children would feel a bit like it was punishment whenever they took a call from their father.
These are things where the lawyer should be able to advise the client and, where necessary, advise them where to go for counselling. If your client is somebody who has been accused of domestic violence, does that person have something wrong with him or her where he or she feels a need to take out his or her anger and frustration on the spouse? That person possibly needs counselling as well. And the lawyer needs to be able to deal with that.
So, it is for this reason that we consider it very important that lawyers have specialist training to deal with family justice. Increasingly, these are not just purely domestic issues. There are more and more marriages which are cross-border these days, so you will then have to deal with issues that will require knowledge of the international conventions that deal with children and cross-border marriages. So, there is also an international aspect.
In short, family law is not just a poor cousin to commercial law. Not by any means. It is a very important area of the law and the lawyers who practice it should become specialist lawyers in their own right.
Mr Speaker:\tMr Seah Kian Peng, next question.
\tMr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade):\tMr Speaker, Sir, could I ask a supplementary question to this question?
Mr Speaker:\tPlease proceed.
\tMr Seah Kian Peng: Thank you. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State in particular about the maintenance orders that are meted out by the family Courts. Does the Ministry keep track of whether these are adhered to and, if not, are there ways which we could make it less painful, make it more seamless for those who are supposed to receive the payments but are not receiving them?
\tMs Indranee Rajah: We do not have the specific figures of which orders are complied with and which are not because, obviously, for the ones which are complied with, the parties will not come back to the Court. But you will know whether the rates of compliance are steady or going up or falling by the number of applications for enforcement with the Courts. We are able to track those, although I do not have the specific figures with me right now.
That said, there are instances where enforcement is difficult and frustrating, particularly when the spouse who has to pay maintenance either hides assets or it is difficult to find. This is something we are studying and looking to see how we can make more seamless.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Help Build Stronger Marriages and Families","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"7 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry will consider alternative resolution methods for family conflicts and how the fallout and repair of family relationships can be better managed for better child and family outcomes; and (b) how will the Ministry proactively and pre-emptively help couples build strong marriages and families.
\tThe Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Desmond Lee): Mr Speaker, Sir, family conflicts and disputes can have long-lasting impact and consequences on families. Children are particularly vulnerable.
Several types of family conflicts and issues go before the Courts, such as divorce, maintenance, child custody matters, family violence and youth offending. With our rapidly greying population, we also expect to see more family disputes over mental capacity deputyship and doneeship issues.
In July 2014, the Committee for Family Justice recommended a number of changes to the family justice system. The focus was on reducing acrimony in family proceedings and ensuring that the interests of children were better looked after. Senior Minister of State for Law, Ms Indranee Rajah, had, in her reply earlier, given a good summary of the recommendations made and the enhancements that followed. But amongst other things, the Committee recommended that a judge-led approach be taken when adjudicating family disputes. Their recommendations culminated in the introduction of the Family Justice Act and the establishment of the Family Justice Courts.
The Committee had also recommended a more robust and integrated network of community assistance and support, which led to the establishment of divorce support specialist agencies (DSSAs). Today, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has set up four DSSAs, which are run by voluntary welfare organisations.
In terms of reducing the adversarial nature of family disputes, the adoption of the judge-led approach and the child-centric focus in the Family Justice Courts are significant steps in the right direction. However, the fact remains that resolution of the dispute is still being sought through the Courts. Court-based litigation is inherently adversarial, costly and potentially complex. Research tells us that taking a \"family\" problem to Court can increase mistrust between the parties, reduce the likelihood of durable settlement and stoke more litigation if parental and family conflict is prolonged.
We, therefore, need to consider if there are other appropriate, multidisciplinary methods to resolve family conflict which can reduce the adversarial nature of litigation. At the same time, while mediation and counselling have been used as a core dispute resolution mechanism for some years, we want to see how it can be extended even further.
Sir, the concept of restorative justice is usually thought of in the context of criminal justice, between offender and victim. It is an approach that emphasises the need to repair the harm done and restore relationships that have been damaged. It can take place when offenders who have caused the harm reached a point when they fully, freely and genuinely admit their actions and are willing to take responsibility for them.
However, the core elements of restorative justice, principally the healing of relationships, reopening channels of communication, and empowering individuals to take active responsibility to repair the harm done, can potentially be applied to family conflicts as well. It can help to keep the focus on restoring family functionality through repairing family relationships.
Sir, the concept of therapeutic justice focuses on the impact of law and the legal system on emotional life and the psychological well-being of people. It recognises that law is a social force that can either encourage certain behaviours or lead to certain consequences. Therapeutic justice involves looking into whether the law can be made or applied in a more therapeutic way to relationships, so long as other values, such as justice and due process, can be fully respected.
Sir, a stronger emphasis on restorative and therapeutic justice in family dispute resolution should see approaches, such as counselling, mediation and conciliation, being moved to the forefront. It holds out the hope that we can foster space for family members to deliberate and explore options, while having time to manage their emotions and adjust and come to terms with new or altered personal circumstances. Families should avail themselves of the suite of help services and not rush into commencing legal proceedings. When families find a way to repair or reach a new equilibrium in their relationships, it should also translate into durable agreements and long-term settlements. Importantly, children who are often the innocent victims of family conflict can benefit from a return to functioning family relationships, even if the family structure has been altered through say, a divorce.
In this regard, as the Senior Minister of State of Law had earlier mentioned, MSF, Ministry of Law and the Family Justice Courts (FJC) will be setting up a joint committee to study how we can further enhance the family law regime and explore multidisciplinary methods of family dispute resolution and Court-based resolution. The Committee will also examine how the concepts of restorative and therapeutic justice can be applied more extensively in the context of family dispute resolution. This new Committee will start work by the end of this year and will be headed by the Permanent Secretaries of both Ministries, together with the Presiding Judge of FJC. It will comprise representatives from the social services, legal practice, judiciary, academia and the Government.
We look forward to receiving the Committee’s recommendations in due course as we work towards creating an even more holistic, restorative and therapeutic family justice ecosystem.
The hon Member also asked how MSF encourages strong marriages and families. We work with community partners to offer a range of marriage support and enrichment programmes for couples at different stages of their married life. In addition, the Families for Life Council organises events, such as the annual Marriage Convention and Family 365 workshops, which cover topics, such as marriage, family life and personal life.
MSF remains committed to promoting and funding such programmes. We encourage couples and families to take part in these programmes and to proactively make full use of community resources which are available to them so as to strengthen family and marital relationships all through life.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Zero Car Growth Policy on COE Prices","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"8 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport in light of the policy to cut car growth to zero by February 2018 (a) whether the Ministry has considered the impact of this policy on COE prices; (b) how will this impact transport inflation; (c) whether the public transport system and commuting infrastructure are ready to take on more passenger load; (d) whether zero growth will be imposed on non-Singapore registered cars on our roads; and (e) whether mitigating policies will be explored to mitigate the impact on segments of the population who still need cars as a mode of transportation.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, Sir, we will lower the Vehicle Growth Rate (VGR) for Certificates of Entitlement (COE) Categories A, B and D from the current 0.25% per annum to 0% with effect from February 2018. We do not expect this to affect the COE quota and, therefore, COE prices significantly, as the COE quota is largely determined by the number of vehicle deregistrations.
We have invested heavily to build up our public transport system and will continue to do so. In the last five years, we have expanded our rail network by almost 30% to 230 kilometres. By 2030, eight in 10 households will be within a 10-minute walk to a train station. We have also expanded the fleet size for the existing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines by close to 50%. Through the Bus Service Enhancement Programme and subsequently the Bus Contracting Model, we would have added 80 new bus routes and 1,000 new buses by the end of this year. There will be less need to own a car.
We manage the number of foreign-registered vehicles via the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP), which equalises the cost of owning and using a foreign-registered vehicle in Singapore, with that of owning and using a Singapore-registered vehicle.
Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.
\tMr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the Senior Minister of State for answering the question. I have one follow-up question with regard to my last question about mitigating policies in the scenario where, if COE prices actually do rise over the next few years or following the policy introduction, will the Ministry of Transport (MOT) look into considering potentially introducing COE subsidies or rebates, for example, for families or citizens with disability in the future, for example, alleviating some of cost increases as a result of the COE increase?
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank the Member for the supplementary question. Indeed, it is a pertinent question that is in the minds of many.
In land-scarce Singapore, unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of letting everyone own a car. It is also very difficult for the Government to consider alternative methods of prioritising COEs to favour a certain selected group. While our current vehicle quota system is not a perfect solution, it is still the most appropriate at this point in time to allocate a limited and non-basic resource, such as vehicle ownership.
The Government is very mindful of the aspiration and wishes of Singaporeans to enjoy a high degree of mobility. Like what I have said in my reply, we will continue to invest heavily to improve our public transport system – more rail lines and bus routes – and also trying innovative models of transportation, such as private hire car services. Hopefully, this will help reduce the need to own a car.
Mr Speaker: Dr Lim Wee Kiak.
\tDr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Mr Speaker, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State, for COE ownership, how many of the car owners now actually own more than one car? Will MOT consider leveraging an extra certain percentage if you buy a second COE under your own name?
\tDr Lam Pin Min:\tI would like to thank the Member for the supplementary question. With regard to the question on how many families own more than one car, I do not have the figures with me right now at this point in time but I think this question has been answered in a past Parliamentary Question and I would be able to provide the answer subsequently to the Member.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Car Growth Policy's Impact on E-commerce Industry and Commercial Motorcycles","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"9 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Transport with the recent announcement of zero growth in cars and motorcycles by February 2018 (a) how will the Ministry ensure that this policy does not adversely impact the e-commerce industry; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider a separate COE category for commercial motorcycles.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, Sir, we will lower the Vehicle Growth Rate (VGR) from the current 0.25% per annum to 0% with effect from February 2018 for Certificates of Entitlement (COE) Categories A, B and D. However, we have maintained the existing 0.25% VGR for Category C commercial vehicles. This is to provide businesses with more time to improve the efficiency of their operations.
The current COE system sets aside Category D as a separate category for motorcycles so that motorcycle buyers need not compete with other vehicle buyers for COEs. Splitting Category D further would result in a smaller quota in each sub-category, which may lead to more volatility in prices.
Mr Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.
\tMr Desmond Choo (Tampines): I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I have a clarification to make. In terms of setting the quota and the growth rate, did the Ministry take into account the requirements needed for other segments of the economy, especially the e-commerce industry which requires a lot of motorcycles and commercial vehicles? In the years ahead where online marketing and e-commerce become more prevalent, this requirement might increase. Would the Ministry then consider a review at a subsequent date?
\tDr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank the Member for the supplementary question. Yes, indeed, we do take into consideration some of these e-commerce businesses that are occurring in Singapore. However, as the Member may know, today, 12% of Singapore's total land is already taken up by roads. In view of our land constraints and competing needs, there is limited scope for further expansion of the road network. As I have mentioned in my reply, we are maintaining the existing 0.25% vehicle growth rate for Category C commercial vehicles to provide businesses with more time to improve the efficiency of their operations.
I am also glad to inform the Member that an interagency Urban Logistics Task Force comprising various agencies was convened in 2016 with the objective of facilitating the development of a more efficient urban logistics system which also reduces vehicle movements on the roads. Other ongoing work streams also include the development of a federated locker network to improve the distribution of goods from businesses to end consumers.
So, I do take the recommendation from the Member and we will review the vehicle growth rate in time.
Mr Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.
\tMr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): May I ask the Senior Minister of State: is this Committee considering accelerating the deployment of drones as one solution for urban logistics which would reduce the demands on our roads for cars but still allow e-commerce to develop? This is perhaps a very promising area to explore.
\tDr Lam Pin Min: Yes, I agree with the Member. The deployment of drones is something that is also on the top of our minds. We are always constantly looking to innovative solutions to manage such situations.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Incidence of Diabetes by Income Group ","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"10 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health (a) whether he can provide a current breakdown of the incidence of diabetes by income group; and (b) what strategies are being deployed to promote affordable healthier food products and cooked food options.
\tThe Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health (Mr Amrin Amin) (for the Minister for Health): Data on diabetes incidence by income level is not available. However, studies in other countries have shown that those in the lowest-income group tend to have higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. We expect a similar trend in Singapore.
Our priority is to help Singaporeans from all walks of life to live healthily. This means to eat healthily, exercise regularly and go for routine health screening.
Healthier eating means being more discerning about our diet, reducing our intake of sugar, salt and fats, and eating moderate meal portions. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) has rolled out various initiatives to inform the public of affordable, tasty and healthier food options. These include information on Healthy Meals, Healthy Hawker Hacks and Healthy Meals for the Entire Family.
Through HPB's Healthier Choice Symbol, Singaporeans can find a wide variety of healthier food products that suit different budget needs. Supermarkets have also made available affordable healthier options under their house brands. For example, in our local supermarkets, house brand wholemeal bread is cheaper than some brands of white bread.
As part of our ongoing efforts to reach out to lower-income households, HPB is collaborating with the Food Bank Singapore to develop a Healthier Corporate Food Bundle, which includes whole grain staple products and healthier oils. These bundles are donated by corporate donors to families in need, through the Food Bank's community partners. HPB is also working with voluntary welfare organisations, such as Free Food for All, involved in food donation drives to improve their menus with healthier food options, as well as with National Trades Union Congress SilverAce to organise regular cooking demonstrations on simple yet tasty healthier meals for their needy beneficiaries. In addition, we are looking at more ways to reach out to beneficiaries under the public assistance scheme to promote healthy living.
Healthy living is not just about healthier diet. It is also about adopting an active lifestyle and appropriate health screening. For example, HPB's National Steps Challenge has reached out to more than 500,000 Singaporeans to encourage them to remain physically active. Screen For Life subsidies have been enhanced from 1 September 2017. Eligible Singaporeans will pay no more than $5, CHAS cardholders will only pay $2, while Pioneer Generation cardholders need not pay. We will continue our efforts to ensure that all Singaporeans can choose to live healthily.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Importance of Nutrition in Managing Diabetes and Pre-diabetes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"11 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Health (a) whether there are plans to elevate the role of nutrition in managing diabetes and pre-diabetes; and (b) what is the percentage of people who have utilised the Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool since its inception and found to be at risk.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Mr Chee Hong Tat) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, Sir, nutrition has been a key component of our fight against diabetes. Good nutrition involves having a healthy and balanced diet that is lower in sugar, saturated fat and calories, and higher in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. It also includes other lifestyle changes, such as exercise and weight management.
To support Singaporeans to make better dietary choices, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has been working with industry partners to increase the availability of healthier food choices. This includes healthier food products under the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) programme, the Healthier Dining Programme and the Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme. To support the War against diabetes, the low glycemic index claim under the HCS programme was recently expanded from the cereals category to include convenience meals and the legumes, nuts and seeds categories. The aim is to encourage more food innovation to widen the HCS range.
Just recently, Parliamentary Secretary Amrin Amin and I were at Singapore Polytechnic to look at some of the new products that the industry has developed, including the use of resistant starch, beta glucan, to help lower the glycemic index of staple foods like noodles.
Besides a healthier diet, prevention and management of diabetes also involve adopting an active lifestyle, going for appropriate health screening and follow-up. The national screening programme Screen For Life run by HPB aims to improve early detection and appropriate intervention of chronic diseases, including diabetes.
While the current recommendation is for those above 40 years old to go for diabetes screening once every three years, we recognise that age is not the only risk factor for diabetes. This is why the Diabetes Risk Assessment (DRA) tool was launched on 1 September 2017 to raise awareness of the risk factors for diabetes and to encourage younger adults aged 18 to 39 to assess their current risk for undiagnosed diabetes. Similar tools have been implemented in countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Those who are assessed to be at higher risk will be advised to go for diabetes screening and follow-up consultations with doctors.
Since its launch on 1 September, about 44,000 users aged 18 to 39 have used the DRA. Around one-fifth of them, or about 8,500, were found to be at higher risk. We believe DRA is a useful tool to enhance the effectiveness of our screening efforts, but we would need to collect more data over time to analyse its impact and effectiveness.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Development of Type 2 Diabetes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"12 Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the main social determinants that are central to the development and progression of Type 2 diabetes in Singapore; (b) how does the Ministry work with other agencies to measure and mitigate the impact that the social determinants currently play in disease development; and (c) how does the Ministry work with clinicians to customise self-management recommendations to individual patients' needs.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, Sir, social determinants of health refer to non-medical factors that influence health. Examples include educational level, economic status, employment, family background and community support. Social determinants can affect health through their impact on modifiable lifestyle risk factors, early detection and intervention of diseases, accessibility and utilisation of healthcare services, as well as self-care ability.
Studies in other countries have shown that social determinants, such as lower income and educational levels, are associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes. We expect a similar trend in Singapore.
The Ministry of Health works with social Ministries, community organisations and volunteers to reach out to all Singaporeans to promote healthy living. We also ensure that healthy lifestyle and healthcare services are accessible and affordable to all Singaporeans, regardless of their social circumstances. However, we cannot emphasise enough that everyone must make an effort to choose and live a healthy lifestyle.
Recognising that the early years of a child's life are crucial to good health outcomes in his or her later life, the interagency NurtureSG Taskforce engaged community self-help groups and Family Service Centres to come up with recommendations aimed at fostering healthier habits from young. These include providing healthier food options in all schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to support our vision of \"Healthy Meals for Every Child\" and increasing opportunities for physical activity in preschools, mainstream schools and IHLs, with the aim of making healthy living more accessible for children of all social backgrounds.
We go the extra mile to promote and ensure access to a healthy lifestyle in children and youths, especially vulnerable groups. Students under the Ministry of Education's Financial Assistance Scheme have their fees waived for health check-ups at HPB's Student Health Centre and are issued vouchers for spectacle frames and free lenses should they require visual aids. Through such national efforts, we strive to create a conducive environment for healthy living for all children and youths in Singapore.
Through the efforts of HPB, healthier food choices are available in our schools and community. HPB also partners other Government agencies to organise free exercise sessions at parks, malls and other public spaces. Our public healthcare system and subsidies ensure that all Singaporeans, regardless of background, have access to affordable and quality healthcare services.
In addition, targeted initiatives have been introduced for specific population segments. HPB engages voluntary welfare organisations to improve the quality of food donations to lower-income households. To encourage earlier disease detection and intervention among the lower income, Community Health Assist Scheme card holders enjoy highly subsidised screening services for chronic diseases under the Screen for Life programme.
We recognise that social determinants, such as social isolation and poor health literacy, can affect a person's capacity and motivation to make appropriate lifestyle changes and adhere to treatment. Our healthcare providers engage stakeholders, such as patients, caregivers and community partners, to develop ways to help patients in these areas.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Fundamentals of Recent Spate of En Bloc Property Sales","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"13 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the underlying driving force for the recent spate of en bloc sales of properties; (b) whether there is a need for the Government to ramp up its land sales to meet developers' demand for land; and (c) what is the impact of the recent demand on the outlook for the property market for the next six months.
\tThe Minister for National Development (Mr Lawrence Wong): Mr Speaker, a total of around 2,700 existing private residential units has been sold en bloc this year to date, and that is up from 600 units in 2016. The recent increase in en bloc sales could be attributed to two factors.
First, more developers are keen to replenish their land banks. There has been a healthy increase in the sales of new units in the first three quarters of the year which, in turn, means that the unsold supply in the pipeline has come down. To illustrate, there are about 17,200 units as at the third quarter of 2017, and that is down from about 40,000 units in 2012. So, because the numbers of unsold units have come down, developers are keen to replenish their land banks, and that has contributed in part to more en bloc sales.
The second factor is that successful en bloc sales in 2016 may have encouraged more owners of ageing residential projects to initiate the en bloc sale process this year, so as to monetise their assets.
The en bloc sale sites sold since 2016 will be redeveloped and made available for sale in the next one to two years. The supply of these new units from en bloc sales, as well as other factors, such as population and income growth, and property market conditions, will be taken into consideration in deciding the quantum of land to be put out for Government Land Sales (GLS).
The GLS programme is updated on a half-yearly basis with sites on the Confirmed List, which means that the site will be released for sale within the next six months; as well as sites on the Reserve List which means that the sale of the site can be initiated by a developer, if they assess that there is demand. Details of the GLS programme for the first half of 2018 will be announced by the end of this year.
The Government will continue to monitor the overall trends and developments closely and take appropriate actions to maintain a stable and sustainable property market.
Mr Speaker: Dr Lim Wee Kiak.
\tDr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang):\tMr Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for the reply. I would like to ask the Minister for his assessment on whether the current en bloc fever is sustainable, would that lead up to another bubble that is forming in our property market, and will the Government be considering more measures coming in to cool this market if there is a need.
\tMr Lawrence Wong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I understand the Member's concerns. That is something that, I believe, many people have also expressed similar feedback and concerns on. I would say, firstly, that the bids that the developers have put up for the en bloc sales, and you see the high bids that have been put up, need not necessarily translate into higher sales prices down the road. That is something that people are concerned about – that the developers bid high for land and, eventually, this would translate into higher prices. That need not happen because what the developers are able to sell for their units will eventually have to depend on the demand and supply conditions of the property market at that point in time. Bear in mind that developers are also subject to Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), meaning to say that they have to build and sell their units within the five years of award of the site. That would put some pressure on them to sell at a reasonable price within the five-year timeframe, otherwise, they would be subject to ABSD.
Eventually, we have to let the developers price their housing projects on a business or commercial basis. That is how they have done it. But they understand that these are market conditions. There is an ABSD regime in place, and we will monitor carefully to see what happens in the market down the road.
The other point that I would like to add is that, as I had mentioned earlier, the en bloc sites that are taken off the market now will eventually be put back into the market in the next one to two years. That would add new supply into the market. So, while there is this bid for en bloc sales now and supply conditions may be tight, eventually, all of the en bloc units will be redeveloped and put back into the market in the next one to two years, and that will increase supply in the market. That will also put some moderating pressure on prices down the road.
Having said all that, like I have mentioned earlier, the Government continues to monitor the overall property market trends very closely. I would like to reiterate what I said just now, that we would take appropriate actions to maintain a stable and sustainable market.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"More Mother Tongue Teachers for Preschools","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"14 Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) what are the plans to ramp up the number of local Chinese language teachers for the early childhood education sector; (b) whether the Ministry will consider bursaries, scholarships and study awards to encourage students to take up careers in this sector and to specialise in the teaching of Chinese language to preschoolers; and (c) whether there will be conversion programmes and awards to encourage those strong in the Chinese language to do a mid-career switch.
15 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) whether there are plans to actively recruit more local Mother Tongue language teachers for the early childhood education sector; and (b) whether the Ministry will work with the Ministry of Manpower to develop conversion programmes and awards for mid-career Singaporeans and PRs to teach Mother Tongue languages at the preschool level.
\tThe Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Education (Schools)): Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, can I take Question Nos 14 and 15 together?
Mr Speaker:\tPlease do.
\tMs Low Yen Ling: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) have been working actively to grow the number of local preschool teachers, including mother tongue language (MTL) teachers.
Firstly, we worked with the educational institutions to expand places for training of early childhood professionals. The Early Childhood Diploma intake at the polytechnics has increased significantly by more than 70% from 380 places in 2015 to 675 in 2016. Secondly, since 2016, students who wish to become preschool MTL teachers can pursue specialised MTL tracks in Early Childhood at the polytechnics. Thirdly, we offer numerous training awards to support students in their studies, such as course fee sponsorship, allowance grants and professional development grants, for both the English programme and the specialised MTL tracks.
In addition to all that, to encourage mid-career entrants to join the sector, ECDA, Skills Future Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) provide support for mid-career entrants who enroll in English or MTL Early Childhood diplomas offered by a range of providers. The support is available in the form of course fee subsidies, in-training allowances and salary grants under the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), and other place-and-train modes.
Since 2015, all these efforts that I have mentioned have grown the pool of local teachers dedicated to MTL teaching by 35% to about 3,300 today.
In addition, we are also working to raise the profile of MTL teachers in the early childhood sector and to encourage more teachers to specialise in this field. The annual Outstanding Preschool MTL Teacher Award seeks to recognise preschool MTL teachers who have demonstrated passion, innovation and dedication. To date, 63 MTL teachers have received this Award.
Going forward, ECDA will continue to work closely with the new National Institute for Early Childhood Development and other training partners to ensure a sustainable pipeline of quality MTL preschool teachers. Together with the sector, we will also make efforts to provide adequate recognition for MTL and, in fact, all preschool teachers, so that their passion in the profession can be sustained.
Mr Speaker: Mr Ang Hin Kee.
\tMr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio):\tI would like to ask if the Ministry or agency finds challenges in attracting MTL early childhood teachers and what are the challenges faced in trying to attract and retain local teachers to enter this particular subject specialisation.
\tMs Low Yen Ling: I thank the Member Mr Ang Hin Kee for his supplementary question and his continued support on teaching of MTL. Earlier on, in my reply, I said that in the last two years, the various efforts that we have mounted have increased our pool of local MTL preschool teachers by 35% within two years to the current pool of 3,300 teachers. I also mentioned about our PCP. In the last two years, 2015 and 2016, Mr Ang would be happy to note that the PCP effort has attracted 255 mid-career switches, that is, persons switching into the MTL preschool sector.
We will continue our drive to attract suitable candidates, whether under Pre-Employment Training (PET) or Continuing Education and Training (CET), to join our MTL preschool sector and also then, as new entrants, to join us to put in the effort to nurture them with training and career prospects.
We did a survey on the number of teachers staying or in terms of attrition. We understand that some of the considerations could be that, at the stage of their development, some of these teachers have young kids at home and they need to take a short break from the preschool sector. Some of them leave due to other considerations. MOE and ECDA have developed the Early Childhood Manpower Plan to make the Early Childcare and Education (ECCE) sector a more attractive and rewarding career through a few steps. One, providing more entry pathways and opportunities for competency-based professional development; secondly, to improve the working conditions of our educators through the use of smart solutions; and thirdly, we have worked hard in the last few years to foster greater respect and recognition for our educators.
The Government is very committed to uplift the profession and also strengthen the training and career prospects for our preschool teachers, including MTL teachers.
Mr Speaker: Dr Intan Mokhtar.
\tDr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answers. We still see quite a number of foreign MTL preschool teachers in our preschool centres. The concern, really, is about their bilingual abilities, their understanding of local cultures and context, and conversational accents in teaching our children. I do appreciate the efforts that ECDA and MOE have made in trying to recruit more local teachers.
My question is whether there are plans to have conversion programmes for retired MTL teachers from the primary schools or even among our current primary school teachers to teach at the preschool level. The caveat is that, for our current primary school teachers, whether they can retain their level of pay and benefits. In other words, it is more of a secondment for them to teach at the preschool centres.
\tMs Low Yen Ling: I thank the Member Dr Intan for her question. Currently, six in 10 MTL teachers in the preschool sector are locals. I mentioned earlier that we will double our efforts to continue to attract local MTL teachers into the sector. Indeed, other than the PCP I had mentioned and the mid-career switchers, retired teachers can potentially be a good source of supply to augment our pool of local MTL teachers.
Having said that, our MTL teachers, whether in primary or secondary schools, if they intend to move into the preschool sector, they will need to top up the relevant training and skillsets. For example, if the teacher was previously teaching in primary school and teaching MTL, what the teacher would probably need to do is to undertake a bridging programme in early childhood education, a brief one, a bridging programme, so that he or she can then ease into the preschool sector to teach MTL.
If a retired teacher was previously teaching non-MTL subjects – Maths, Science or others – then, we will require the retired teacher to undertake a brief bridging programme to cover the early childhood education and also MTL, contextualised for the preschool sector.
We are committed to explore all possible avenues to continue to augment our pool of local MTL teachers.
Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.
[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":"Payment and Settlement Systems (Finality and Netting) (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems (Finality and Netting) Act (Chapter 231 of the 2003 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) (Mr Lim Hng Kiang); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Public Sector (Governance) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to provide for a consistent governance framework across public bodies in Singapore and to support a whole-of-Government approach to the delivery of services in the Singapore public sector, and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other Acts\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Teo Chee Hean); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Immigration (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Immigration Act (Chapter 133 of the 2008 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Second Minister for Home Affairs (Mrs Josephine Teo); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Supreme Court of Judicature (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Chapter 322 of the 2007 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Law (Ms Indranee Rajah) on behalf of the Minister for Law; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Moneylenders Act (Chapter 188 of the 2010 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Law (Ms Indranee Rajah) on behalf of the Minister for Law; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Charities (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Charities Act (Chapter 37 of the 2007 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Sim Ann) on behalf of the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Co-operative Societies Act (Chapter 62 of the 2009 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Sim Ann) on behalf of the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available Sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cross-Border Railways Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Second Minister for Transport (Mr Ng Chee Meng): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
Connectivity is key to Singapore's economic future. Better connectivity for people, goods, information and capital allows us to attract new ideas, talent and investments and opens up new markets for Singapore firms.
As we expand Singapore's connections to the rest of the world via our air and sea ports, it is equally important to strengthen our links closer to home. Current connectivity with our nearest neighbour, Malaysia, is good. More than S$80 billion worth of goods and 200 million people traverse between our two countries each year. The Kuala Lumpur (KL)-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and the Johor-Singapore Rapid Transit System, or RTS Link, will take this connectivity to a new level. The Prime Ministers of the two countries have called these \"game changers\". They will draw our peoples and countries closer together, with a greater stake in each other's continued growth and success.
The HSR, scheduled to be operational in 2026, will provide a 90-minute, city-to-city connection between KL and Singapore. It can be more convenient than flying and will be much faster than driving. It will be possible to go to KL for a day trip or business meeting, have our meeting there, have lunch there even, and still get home in time, in good time for dinner.
The RTS Link will be operating from 2024 and has the capacity to move up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction, about two-thirds of the peak-hour traffic between Johor and Singapore. It will, therefore, ease traffic volume along the Causeway and the Second Link, freeing up capacity for more goods to flow.
Implementation of the HSR is already well under way. Both countries signed the HSR Bilateral Agreement in 2016. Since then, officials from both countries have been working closely to develop detailed plans for the construction, operation and regulation of the HSR. The two Infrastructure Companies from both countries are preparing to call a joint tender for the HSR Assets Company, or \"AssetsCo\", by the end of the year. We have received strong indications of interest from key players from different countries and we look forward to meeting this key project milestone.
As for the RTS Link, we are completing our joint advanced engineering studies. We expect to move swiftly into implementation after the signing of the Bilateral Agreement at the end of this year.
It will be an exciting few years ahead, as we work alongside our Malaysian counterparts to gear up not just for one, but for two cross-border railway projects.
The Ministry of Transport (MOT) proposes to enact the new Cross-Border Railways (CBR) Bill to enable the construction, operation and regulation of our cross-border railway projects within Singapore borders. Malaysia will likewise consider how best to implement these terms in their domestic legislation.
The Bill will serve two key purposes. Firstly, it will support the planning and construction of our upcoming cross-border railways; and secondly, it will put in place the necessary regulatory framework to ensure safe and secure cross-border railway operations.
Let me now explain the key provisions in this Bill.
The first part of the Bill pertains to the planning and construction of cross-border railways within Singapore. Clauses 4 to 6 set out the process to develop and finalise plans and maps for the construction of cross-border railways. This ensures transparency and accountability in the planning of cross-border railways, even as we strive to meet our ambitious timelines for completion. Plans and maps clearly showing the railway area and any land affected by construction of cross-border railways must be approved by the Chief Planner and made available to the public for inspection, just as what we do today for the construction of domestic Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines. Detailed plans for both the HSR and the RTS Link are being developed and we expect to finalise them in accordance with these provisions in the coming year or so.
In line with the approach for constructing MRT and Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines under the Rapid Transit Systems Act today, clauses 7 to 16 will enable the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to access land for the purposes of constructing, operating and maintaining cross-border railways. As per current practice, notice will be given to affected landowners of any works. Should landowners suffer any damages to their land or structures on the land, they will be eligible for compensation under the Fourth Schedule of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act, similar to other Acts under LTA's purview today.
In September, LTA has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, SG HSR Pte Ltd, to be Singapore's Infrastructure Company, or InfraCo, for the HSR project. This arrangement allows us to dedicate resources to the development of the HSR, while allowing LTA to maintain its focus on domestic priorities.
Accordingly, clauses 18 to 20 allow the Minister for Transport to give effect to an arrangement where an entity other than LTA is appointed as Singapore's InfraCo to build, fund, own and maintain the cross-border railway infrastructure within Singapore. This allows SG HSR Pte Ltd to exercise the powers at clauses 7 to 14 in place of LTA, where necessary, to fulfil its responsibilities in the HSR project.
Taken together, these provisions enable LTA to coordinate the planning and construction of cross-border railways expeditiously to meet the targeted completion of the RTS Link by end-2024, and the HSR by end-2026.
The second part of the Bill sets out a framework to give effect to the regulatory approach for our cross-border railway projects, which will focus on safety and security of operations.
Commercial arrangements, such as the performance standards for the HSR and RTS Link services, will not be stipulated in legislation. Instead, they will be specified separately in contractual agreements signed between the respective commercial entities.
To facilitate such an approach, clauses 21 to 29 set out the contractual arrangements that define two key functions in cross-border railway operations. Specifically, clauses 25 and 29 require any entity performing either of these functions to obtain a licence before it can provide services for passenger train operations. First, the entity providing and maintaining railway assets for operation of cross-border passenger train services is referred to in the Bill as the \"Railway Assets Operator\". Second, the entity operating cross-border passenger train services is referred to as the \"Train Service Operator\".
LTA will regulate these functions for each cross-border railway entity through the general licensing provisions set out at clauses 30 to 44. This includes provisions that empower LTA to issue codes of practice, directions and provisional orders to ensure safe and secure cross-border railway operations. In the event of non-compliance, clause 39 empowers LTA to suspend or cancel a licence, or to impose a financial penalty of up to one million Singapore dollars or 10% of the licensee's annual revenue, whichever is higher.
To ensure the safety and security of cross-border railway operations, this Bill includes provisions to empower authorised officers to inspect, investigate and enforce regulatory requirements.
Clauses 49 to 53 set out the investigation and enforcement powers available to officers appointed by LTA as rail safety inspectors and independent safety auditors. Any person who obstructs the rail safety inspector or independent safety auditor in carrying out his or her duties shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.
Clause 58 empowers the Minister for Transport to appoint a cross-border railway security agency to coordinate security matters for cross-border railways. The cross-border railway security agency will work closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Home Team departments to issue and enforce security requirements for cross-border railways. This includes passenger checks required at the station, and standard procedures for responding to security incidents.
Given LTA's experience in ensuring the security of the public transport system in Singapore, we intend to appoint LTA as the cross-border railway security agency under this Bill. This will facilitate coordination of security measures and requirements across domestic public transport and cross-border railway operations.
To implement the regulatory framework proposed in this Bill, we will also be making related amendments to other Acts. In particular, the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act will be amended to broaden LTA's functions to cover cross-border railway construction, operation and regulation. The compensation framework in the LTA Act will also be broadened to cover compensation that affected landowners may be eligible for under this Bill.
The Railways Act and Rapid Transit Systems Act will be amended to clarify their scope. In particular, the Rapid Transit Systems Act applies only to domestic MRTs and LRTs. The Railways Act does not apply to any MRT or LRT that comes under the Rapid Transit Systems Act nor the HSR and RTS Link, which will come under the CBR Bill.
The Arms and Explosives Act will also be amended to extend powers to enforcement officers under this Bill to arrest without warrant persons committing dangerous offences, to enforce security of the cross-border railway at all times.
As a whole, the regulatory framework in the new Bill largely takes reference from our domestic railway experience but is adapted to suit the unique commercial and regulatory requirements of the HSR and RTS Link Projects.
Mr Speaker, Sir, the HSR and the RTS Link will bring exciting opportunities for Singapore and Singaporeans. There will be new business opportunities, greater access to resources and more travel options to the Malaysian hinterland. With that, Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, the CBR Bill is an important Bill in various ways. It provides legislative support for the construction, management and operation of both the proposed KL-Singapore HSR and the Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS. Both the HSR and RTS will likely enhance cross-border trade and labour movement.
I will first touch on equity control provisions. Mr Speaker, last month, I spoke at the Second Reading of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) (Amendment) Bill. In that Bill, we saw the introduction of onerous share transfer requirements. There is an obligation for a person becoming a 5% controller of a designated entity to notify the MPA. A person will also need to seek the prior approval of MPA before becoming a 25%, 50% or 75% controller or an indirect controller of a designated entity.
There is a very detailed section on what it means to be an associate or subsidiary for purposes of determining direct or indirect controller of an entity. Any person intending to dispose interest that would result in that person's shareholding falling below 75% or 50% of the total interest in a designated entity will be required to obtain prior approval from MPA.
When I asked for the rationale for the introduction of such onerous requirements, Senior Minister of State Dr Lam Pin Min said the following – and please do bear with me as I quote from him below as I think the rationale he has explained provided justification for the Government to introduce these controls – and I quote:
\"The intention of the equity control requirements is not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of the designated entities or restrict its commercial flexibility, but rather to require MPA's approval to be sought for transactions crossing stipulated significant thresholds in equity interest.
Under the Companies Act, a 5% shareholder is considered a substantial shareholder. Although a 5% shareholder typically does not have significant powers to drastically influence the direction of a company, it is still important for MPA to be informed of any new substantial shareholders of its designated public licensees.
Shareholders with 25% or 50% interest, however, wield significant voting power in a company's decisions. A shareholder who has more than 25% equity interest can veto special resolutions under the Companies Act. A shareholder with more than 50% equity interest can pass ordinary resolutions. These are the reasons why MPA should have some regulatory oversight on shareholders seeking to reach 25% and 50% of the equity interest respectively.
On the other hand, a shareholder will lose its ability to control special resolutions if its equity interest falls below 75%. It will lose its ability to control ordinary resolutions if its equity interest falls below 50%. As these are important corporate decisions that could impact the overall direction of the company, MPA should maintain oversight on whether it is in our national interest for any incumbent shareholders to relinquish such voting powers…
The acquisition controls enable MPA to have oversight of single persons becoming a new major shareholder of a designated entity. The disposal controls grant MPA oversight of existing shareholders from selling interest in a designated entity, whether to a single or multiple persons.\"
Mr Speaker, Sir, having heard the Senior Minister of State on his justifications for the equity controls provisions in the MPA Bill, I wonder whether there are any reasons why the same equity controls provisions are deemed not necessary for the CBR Bill.
The CBR Bill is an important Bill providing for the construction, maintenance, operation and regulation of cross-border railways between Singapore and Malaysia. The Bill provides that the Government may enter into a concession agreement relating to the construction, maintenance, operation and improvement of the railway infrastructure of a cross-border railway with what is called a concessionaire. The Bill further provides for the concessionaire to appoint and enter into contract with one railway assets operator and a train service operator, both of whom are supposed to be regulated under the proposed Bill.
If one regards container or port terminal operators to be important enough to be subject to approvals for equity changes under the MPA Act, then surely, for a Bill like the present one involving, say, one operator to be the railway assets operator and another one operator to be the train service operator, there is definitely a cause for the Government to impose similar equity control requirements. There will be concerns relating to customs, immigration and, of course, security as we are talking of many trains travelling between two countries on a daily basis.
There may also be issues of economic security as we would like the train system to run profitably and efficiently. As this is a cross-border railway and in this climate where terrorist threats cannot be ruled out, the operators will need to pay attention and take steps to ensure the security of the rail assets and infrastructure as well as the security of the services and the passengers, staff as well as other users of the rail assets and facilities.
We need to be assured of the shareholding of the companies who are concessionaires, licensees or operators, lest they fall into wrong hands and bring unnecessary risks and consequences.
For the same reasons as the Government has argued in the recent debate for the MPA (Amendment) Bill, surely the same equity controls provisions introduced in the MPA Act must also apply to all concessionaires, operators, subcontractors or licensees at all times or there will be some inconsistency. I look forward to the Minister’s reply on this.
Next, I will touch on the acquisition of private land. Clause 8 of the Bill empowers LTA to, for purposes of constructing the railways or building-related infrastructure, enter private land and take possession of the land, and carry out acts like removing any building or structure, digging tunnel and constructing railway facilities. These are serious interferences with the rights of an owner of a private property.
Under clause 8(3), owners must be given at least two months’ notice. Mr Speaker, two months’ notice is too short for such draconian acts of taking possession of land, removing building or building tunnels on one’s land. If the work that is going to be done under this clause compels the owners to have to stop living there or to stop their businesses on the land, the Government should give a longer notice.
When a person decides to buy a private property, it will normally take up to about 10 weeks to 12 weeks for the conveyancing process, that is, the legal process for the transfer of title, to complete. So, if a two-month notice is given under this clause, the owner of the property will probably not be able to have sufficient time to buy another property and complete the conveyancing process, not to mention to have time to look around for a suitable replacement property or time to do renovations for the new property. Whether it is a commercial property or a residential property, this is equally unfair. I hope the Government will reconsider this provision to give a longer notice period of, say, at least six months.
Mr Speaker, it is currently unclear whether there are any plans for both the HSR and RTS to run through privately held land in Singapore. Is the Minister able to provide any indication at this point that the new railways will definitely require acquisition of private land?
Next, I touch on the issue of the Independent Safety Auditor. Part 9 of the Bill provides for the appointment of an Independent Safety Auditor as well as rail safety inspectors. Will the Minister please clarify whether the Independent Safety Auditor and the rail safety inspectors will also be auditing or inspecting the maintenance regimes of the railway and associated infrastructures? If the Government does not currently envisage these persons to perform these respective roles in terms of maintenance regimes for trains as well as infrastructure, will the Minister clarify who will perform such roles? Should we, for example, not have a specific provision in the Bill for a maintenance auditor and inspectors, with necessary support from LTA?
In light of the ongoing fiasco regarding the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit's (SMRT’s) maintenance efforts, I would urge the Government to put in place such measures at the beginning so that the cross-border railways can start with the right operational and maintenance regimes and the right corporate culture for operations and maintenance, and avoid the pitfalls we have seen with SMRT maintenance as well as LTA’s oversight of SMRT’s maintenance. As the cross-border railways involve two governments and possibly foreign concessionaires or licensees, this may be more complicated to manage. Therefore, I hope the Government will get this right from the start so that we do not have this fiasco with poor operating conditions and maintenance down the road.
Next, I touch on the lack of provisions relating to conservation, environmental protection, public health risk, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and heritage impact assessment, as well as lack of provisions for public feedback and objections on these issues.
This Bill involves a major construction project and long-term operation of regular high-speed rail services. However, the Bill is silent on conservation or environmental protection. Construction and operation of the railway will affect the surrounding areas and have a detrimental impact on residents and businesses. There should be provisions for environmental, health and heritage impact assessments both before and during construction as well as periodically during operations to ensure that residents and businesses in the area are not adversely affected by the operations.
If there are environmental or health risks, there should be provisions for mitigation with responsibilities between operators and regulators clearly spelt out. There should also be provisions regulating noise and other forms of pollution to protect people living or working nearby.
There should be due diligence to ascertain: one, whether there are heritage sites nearby; two, if so, how they may be affected by the construction and operation of the railway; and three, what mitigation efforts should be put in place. We should have such measures in place at the onset before any problem even crops up.
Clause 5 of the Bill pertains to the preparation and publishing of railway plans and maps and the finality of such plans and maps. Far beyond what are provided in clause 5, I think we should allow: one, greater public information about planning decisions before they are made; and two, public feedback about such planning decisions. In that regard, clause 6, which provides that no person has a right of objection to the delineation of land as railway area, should be reconsidered or amended.
I would like to ask the Government how can the public give feedback or lodge any objection. Will the Government consider incorporating similar provisions on the tendering of objections and representation as well as hearings and public inquiries seen in the Planning Act and Planning (Masterplan) Rules?
Next, I touch on the possibility of double punishment. I would also like to clarify with the Minister how the Government proposes to handle the possibility of both regulators from opposite sides of the Causeway meting out penalties against the concessionaire, licensees, operators or even subcontractors for the same infringements or breaches of any regulatory requirement.
Has the Malaysian Parliament introduced an equivalent Bill and looked into this issue? Both regulators should make this clear to the concessionaire, licensees or operators at the onset.
Finally, on the progress for the projects. On the issue of meeting timelines, as the projects also substantially involve Malaysia, and quite heavily so, is the Minister able to tell this House whether he is confident that both countries will be able to abide by the projected timelines for construction and launch of the projects? Should we be concerned at all whether the outcome of the next Malaysian General Elections may have any effect on the progress of the projects? Perhaps the Minister can reassure the House.
Finally, may I also ask the Minister to assure this House that the Government will ensure that all contracts will be awarded to companies which will be able to provide sound and quality construction or engineering work that will not saddle us with future problems of poor design, workmanship, repairs and inefficiency?
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, the KL-Singapore HSR and Johor-Singapore RTS will improve connectivity for residents and strengthen bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore.
This Bill paves the way for its construction and it is heartening to see that we are moving swiftly along to the fruition of this ambitious project. I applaud the Government and all the hard work put in to ensure that this project is on track and on schedule.
I only have three quick points of clarifications to raise, based on feedback from the public, and similar to some of the points that Mr Dennis Tan had raised.
Firstly, clause 8 of the Bill gives powers to LTA to enter land which is not state land or land owned by LTA for activities, such as construction, maintenance and improvements to infrastructure. I understand that it is currently unclear if the HSR line will run under any privately-held land in Singapore. Can the Minister shed light on this issue as it is on the minds of many Singaporeans? If the Minister is unable to provide further details at this point, can he at least clarify when such details will be available and whether his Ministry will be doing some form of public consultation with regard to this before any decision is being made?
Secondly, can the Minister clarify whether the construction of the HSR line will affect any of our green areas? Will EIAs be conducted before the construction of the HSR line and will the results of such EIAs be made public and available online?
Lastly, under clause 58, a \"cross-border railway security agency\" will be designated. Can the Minister clarify why there is a need for this new agency? Can the Minister clarify if the security measures will be enhanced, compared with the existing Shuttle Tebrau operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) linking Johor Bahru and Singapore? Would it be comparable to security measures at Changi Airport? The Minister also mentioned that LTA will be the cross-border railway security agency. Will it not be better for the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to be this agency since the public transport security command (TRANSCOM) is currently under SPF?
Lastly, as its operations are cross-border, will we be working with relevant Malaysian agencies or persons to carry out its functions for this security agency? Sir, notwithstanding the above clarifications, I stand in support of this Bill.
Mr Speaker: Mr Gan Thiam Poh.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, the KL-Singapore HSR project will benefit Singaporeans and Malaysians greatly and will deepen the close relationship of both countries. I am sure residents on both sides of the Causeway are very much looking forward to the greater access and convenience it will provide as well as the additional economic benefits to both nations. We can certainly expect a boost to tourism for both Singapore and Malaysia. In the future, travellers may even use it as a link to Thailand, Laos, China and other countries in south and central Asia and Europe. In fact, recently, I learned that Laos had started building a railway project linking China to Thailand.
I would like to ask the Minister if we have any estimates for the economic benefits that HSR will bring. For example, what will be the estimated number of travellers per year; the planned economic activities and industrial developments around the railway; how many jobs will be created; and if there will be technology transfers and plans for the training of staff? It is also important to quantify the expected impact on air travel and coach services once HSR starts its operations.
The CBR Bill will set out the terms for the construction, maintenance, operations and regulation. Would the Government share what is the agreed operating model and the finalised shareholding for HSR? Will the operation model of the railway station be similar to the existing service model at Changi Airport?
I would also like to ask what will be the operator’s service recovery requirements to minimise service disruption. In the event of a potential terrorist attack, under what conditions would the Government be suspending the railway services? Would we need consensus from our Malaysian counterparts?
Next, I seek details about the funding for the railway and the stations. Will both governments issue bonds to investors to finance the entire project or raise funds through capital markets to allow Singaporeans and investors to own the equity of the operators or assets? Will there be rental and advertising revenue and which parties will be entitled to their collection?
Residents have also asked me for the indicative ticket prices. How will they be set and will they be benchmarked against comparable major cities with similar services? Will advance ticketing systems and cashless payment be introduced to allow customers to book via phone and online?
Finally, I would like to seek more information about our station’s accessibility. Will the Government be connecting the railway station to the Jurong East MRT station and bus interchange for the convenience of passengers? Will there be ample car park lots for business and day travellers who may leave their cars behind for the train ride? May I suggest we allocate ample taxi lanes, similar to what is provided at Changi Airport, for taxis to pick up travellers? I conclude with my support for the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Second Minister Ng Chee Meng.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Members for their questions and suggestions.
The HSR and RTS Link are strategic projects that will significantly enhance connectivity between Singapore and Malaysia, strengthening the linkages between our economies and our peoples. There were many good questions asked. I will try to answer each in turn.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about the economic benefits that the HSR will bring. Every day, more than 20,000 people travel between Singapore and KL. We expect a sizeable portion of these travellers to switch to HSR. The distance between KL and Singapore is about 350 kilometres, and this is widely regarded as a “sweet spot” or the ideal distance for HSR lines. Internationally, HSR lines of this distance have done very well. These include the London-Paris, Paris-Lyon and Tokyo-Osaka lines. We are confident that the HSR between Singapore and KL will be well-received.
In addition, we expect HSR to catalyse new businesses and tourism between the two cities. The HSR terminus is also the focal point, as Members may have already known, for the development of our second Central Business District (CBD) in Jurong Lake District, which can support close to 200,000 jobs.
Mr Dennis Tan and Mr Gan asked about the agreed operating model for HSR and how the Government intends to finance the project. Both countries have agreed on the commercial model for HSR. First, each country will appoint an Infrastructure Company, or InfraCo, to build, fund, own and maintain the civil infrastructure within their respective countries. Singapore has appointed SG HSR Private Limited as our InfraCo. We are assessing what the most cost-efficient and appropriate way to finance SG HSR.
Second, through an international tender, an Assets Company, or AssetsCo, will be appointed to provide and maintain the HSR trains and railway systems. Singapore and Malaysia are in the final stages of preparations and will be calling the AssetsCo tender by the end of the year. Finally, both countries will call for a tender to jointly appoint an Operating Company for International Services, or OpCo International, to operate the cross-border HSR services. Malaysia will separately appoint an OpCo Domestic to operate HSR services within Malaysia. The AssetsCo and OpCos will take care of their own financing.
On the question of equity change from Mr Dennis Tan, the InfraCos of both Singapore and Malaysia will require the entities that are jointly appointed, like AssetsCo or OpCo International that I mentioned earlier, to seek specific approval before they can make significant changes to their equity composition. This will be stipulated in the contract rather than in the legislation.
To facilitate the development of HSR and the RTS Link within Singapore, this Bill contains provisions similar to those found in existing Acts for public infrastructure. This includes the Rapid Transit Systems Act and the Street Works Act. The proposed clauses will ensure accountability and fair process in the planning and construction of cross-border railways.
Mr Louis Ng and, in some aspects, Mr Dennis Tan, have asked about the potential impact of the HSR development on landowners and our green areas, and when details would be made available to the public. Detailed engineering studies to determine the railway alignment are ongoing. We expect to finalise these plans in the coming year or so. We will strive to minimise the impact of HSR development on landowners. However, should land acquisition or temporary displacement be needed, we will give sufficient time for occupants to relocate, specifically beyond two months. We will go on a case-by-case basis. As part of the planning process, LTA will also study the environmental impact of the HSR project before finalising the design of HSR.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about the accessibility of the HSR terminus to local public transport options. The design work on the Jurong East terminus is still ongoing. However, the terminus will be close to two existing MRT lines at the Jurong East MRT Station, the North-South and East-West Lines, as well as new MRT lines, namely, the Jurong Regional Line and the Cross Island Line. It will also be next to the future integrated transport hub in Jurong East. All these will provide a wide range of local public transport options for any passengers coming to Singapore, which is also in line with our commitment to building a \"car-lite\" nation.
Last but not least, I thank Mr Gan Thiam Poh for his suggestion to allocate ample taxi lanes to facilitate onward transfers. We will take this into consideration as part of our terminus design.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh also asked if there will be advanced ticketing systems and cashless payments to allow customers to book tickets for HSR via phone or online. In October this year, LTA and MyHSR Corporation invited companies to share their experience in developing ticketing and fare collection systems. Our vision is for HSR to incorporate the latest ticketing technology and to deliver a seamless and passenger-friendly travel experience.
Mr Speaker, the second key purpose of the Bill is to establish a robust regulatory framework to govern cross-border railway operations. As I mentioned earlier in my speech, the regulatory approach largely takes reference from our domestic railway experience but is adapted to suit the unique commercial and regulatory requirements of cross-border railway projects.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about how fares will be set and whether they will be benchmarked to similar services elsewhere. He also asked about the operator’s service recovery requirements. Commercial arrangements, such as performance standards and service recovery requirements, will be specified separately in contracts signed between the respective commercial entities. This is the common approach for railway projects that span across countries. In addition, both countries have agreed that fares will be set commercially by respective train service operators and will not be regulated.
Mr Dennis Tan asked about the maintenance regime and the auditors. The rail safety auditors will also double up to audit the maintenance regime of the entities. And on double punishments that Mr Dennis Tan has asked, we will work with our Malaysian counterparts to harmonise the regulatory regime so that we would not have double punishments.
On security regulation, Mr Louis Ng asked whether Singapore will be working with relevant Malaysian agencies and whether security measures will be enhanced compared to the existing KTM Berhad Tebrau Shuttle. Both countries have agreed on a common set of security outcomes to ensure that the cross-border railway operations are safe and secure. Detailed operating arrangements are being worked out by the agencies.
Both countries have agreed that HSR and the RTS Link will offer co-located Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities. For example, passengers travelling from Malaysia into Singapore via the HSR or RTS Link will be able to clear the immigration and security checks of both countries’ authorities before they board the train. Upon arrival into Singapore, passengers need not clear immigration and security checks a second time and can transfer seamlessly to local transport options.
Mr Louis Ng asked about the rationale for appointing a cross-border railway security agency in Singapore under this Bill. A single cross-border railway security agency will help in coordinating regulatory and enforcement efforts across the various security agencies in Singapore. As I have mentioned in my earlier speech, we intend to appoint LTA as the cross-border railway security agency, building on its current role in regulating and enforcing domestic public transport security.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about the situations in which the Government would consider suspending HSR operations and whether Malaysia’s concurrence would be needed. In the event of, for example, a terrorist attack or natural disaster, Singapore can suspend cross-border railway services in Singapore and take necessary follow-up measures. Singapore will inform Malaysia as well as any private entities involved about the suspension of services but is not required to seek their concurrence before doing so. This is provided for in clause 56 of the Bill.
Mr Speaker, Sir, as I said in my opening speech, connectivity is key to Singapore’s economic future. The HSR and RTS Link projects are game changers that will draw the people of Singapore and Malaysia closer together, with a greater stake in each other’s continued growth and success.
As we work with our Malaysian counterparts on the implementation of our cross-border railway projects, this Bill will provide LTA with the necessary powers to support the development of cross-border railways in Singapore. It will also enable LTA to set out a robust regulatory framework for safe and secure cross-border railway operations.
I thank the different Members for their suggestions and views. With this, Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
Mr Speaker:\tMr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong:\tI thank the Minister for his answers to the queries that I have raised. Perhaps the Minister has overlooked this issue that I have raised. I raised the issue of a lack of provisions regarding conservation and environmental protection and public health with EIA and heritage impact assessment provisions, and public feedback as well. Will the Minister comment on these?
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tMr Speaker, the provisions will be much like for our MRT and LRT domestic lines. Each line locally that we are proposing will undergo the EIA. Likewise, for the HSR and RTS Link, we will undergo the same process as per our domestic lines. When ready with the engineering studies, we will be providing the necessary information to the public. In fact, we will be looking at this as a hybrid Bill and invite public feedback for further consideration.
Mr Speaker:\tMr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang:\t Minister, I just want to ask whether the results of the EIA will be made public and available online. Two, I hope that MOT will be engaging the green groups before publishing the results, so that we can consult them on their views again before the report is finalised.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: I thank the Member for the suggestion. We will take consultations with the different groups before making a final decision.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time. (proc text)]
Mr Ng Chee Meng: Mr Speaker, as the Bill is, in our opinion, a hybrid Bill, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 68(1), the Bill will be referred to a Select Committee.
I beg to move, \"That the Select Committee on the Cross-Border Railways Bill consist of Mr Speaker as Chairman and the following Members:
(1) Miss Cheng Li Hui,
(2) Mr Low Thia Khiang,
(3) Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim,
(4) Mr Ng Chee Meng,
(5) Mr Sitoh Yih Pin,
(6) Mr Vikram Nair,
(7) Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye.\"
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That the Select Committee on the Cross-Border Railways Bill consist of Mr Speaker as Chairman and the following Members: (proc text)]
(1) Miss Cheng Li Hui,
(2) Mr Low Thia Khiang,
(3) Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim,
(4) Mr Ng Chee Meng,
(5) Mr Sitoh Yih Pin,
(6) Mr Vikram Nair,
(7) Yong Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye.\" – [Mr Ng Chee Meng.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Second Minister for Manpower (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
This Bill will amend the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Act in three areas. First, it will allow more CPF members to make CPF transfers to their parents and grandparents. Second, it will update the payout benchmark for Retirement Sum exemption. Third, it will clarify and streamline the administration of some parts of the CPF Act.
To encourage families to support one another in their retirement years, CPF members who have met their own retirement needs can transfer their CPF savings to their spouses, parents, grandparents, parents-in-law, grandparents-in-law or siblings.
The first amendment will allow more members to make CPF transfers to their parents and grandparents. With your permission, Mr Speaker, may I ask the Clerks to distribute a table on CPF transfers to Members of this House?
Mr Speaker: Please do. [Handouts were distributed to hon Members.]
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, let me just briefly orientate Members to the table. It describes how much CPF transfers givers can make through the CPF Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme. So, if Members look at the different rows, one row is for the \"Amounts that can be given to the Spouse\"; the second row has got to do with how much transfers can be given to the parents and grandparents; and the third row has got to do with transfers to parents-in-law, grandparents-in-law and siblings.
For the purpose of our amendment Bill today, we are only looking at those transfers to parents and grandparents. So, Members should be looking at the middle row where we described what the current practice is and what the new practice will be for both members who are aged below 55, as well members who are aged 55 and above.
Currently, when a CPF member below the age of 55 has sufficient savings in his Ordinary Account (OA) and Special Account (SA) to meet the prevailing Full Retirement Sum (FRS), he can transfer part of his OA savings to his parents and grandparents.
For a member aged 55 and above to do likewise, the CPF Board will look at combined savings, not just in his OA and SA, but also include his Retirement Account (RA). In other words, we will look at all three – OA, SA and RA – and if those combined savings are sufficient to meet the FRS of his cohort, he can transfer part of his OA savings. That is the current practice.
To explain the amendment, let me first talk about the property charge. Many CPF members own property. When CPF OA savings are used to finance the property purchase, a charge is placed on the property so that if the property is subsequently sold, proceeds from the sale will be used to refund the CPF OA principal sum previously withdrawn to buy the property, plus interest the member would have earned if it had not been withdrawn. So, that is the property charge.
The property charge, therefore, helps to secure the member’s CPF savings. However, a member’s property charge is not currently taken into consideration when he applies to transfer part of his CPF savings to his loved ones. With this amendment, the property charge will be considered together with other CPF savings when assessing whether a member is eligible to make transfers to his parents and grandparents.
A member below the age of 55 will be able to transfer part of his OA savings above the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) to his parents and grandparents if he has sufficient OA and SA savings to meet the prevailing BRS, which together with a property charge, are sufficient to meet the prevailing FRS.
For a member aged 55 and above to do likewise, CPF Board will look not just at his OA and SA but include the RA as well. If he has sufficient savings to meet his cohort BRS which, together with his property charge, is sufficient to meet his cohort FRS, he can transfer part of his OA, SA and RA savings above the BRS to his parents and grandparents.
It is quite a lot to remember. That is why I have provided the chart for Members to refer to. But the upshot is this: whatever their ages, the members would be required to set aside the BRS in their CPF savings before they can make transfers to parents and grandparents. This ensures that these members have enough for their own basic retirement needs and have also added security through the property charges.
About 20% of CPF members aged 30 to 70 meet the current thresholds to make transfers to their parents and grandparents. With the amendment, 30% of CPF members will be eligible. This means about 340,000 more members.
This amendment will give members more options to strengthen their parents' and grandparents' retirement adequacy. In particular, it will help members who want to increase their parents' or grandparents' retirement savings but may not be able to do so through cash top-ups.
The second amendment updates the payout benchmark for Retirement Sum exemption. Today, in addition to his CPF savings, a member may have lifelong payouts from a private annuity or pension which is higher than the monthly CPF payout that an age peer receives under the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS).
Such members have been allowed to apply to withdraw their CPF savings, without having to set aside their cohort Retirement Sum. Those with lower private annuity or pension payouts may apply for partial exemption from setting aside their cohort Retirement Sum.
As CPF LIFE has replaced RSS as the default retirement payout scheme for members entering retirement, it is timely to update the benchmark used for Retirement Sum exemptions. Instead of the RSS payout, we will now use the monthly CPF LIFE payout that a member who has met the cohort FRS is expected to receive.
Annually, for the past few years, about 200 members have successfully applied for full or partial exemption. The effect of this amendment is that more members will qualify for full exemption.
The third and last set of amendments provide greater clarity and efficiency in the administration of some parts of the CPF Act. I will provide one example.
Today, the top-up limit for transfers from the OA to the member’s own SA is prescribed in the CPF Act. However, all the other top-up limits, such as for CPF transfers to spouses, are prescribed in the regulations instead of the main Act.
The amendment will simplify the CPF Act such that all computational details for limits on voluntary top-ups to various CPF accounts will be specified in the CPF Regulations. There is no change to the top-up limits, only where they are specified.
In conclusion, this Bill provides greater flexibility for CPF members as well as simplifies and clarifies the administration of the CPF Act. Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill. As a mandatory social security savings scheme funded by contributions from employers and employees, the CPF system is closely tied to employment. This means that there will be certain groups in our populace, such as our elderly who are likely to have little to no CPF savings, who would not be able to benefit directly from the system to meet their retirement, housing and healthcare needs.
The move to implement a lower threshold to allow members to make CPF transfers to top up their parents' and grandparents' CPF accounts provides members the option to build up their parents' or grandparents' CPF accounts for their retirement needs. This is in addition to the option of topping up the CPF accounts of their spouses for the same purpose at the same lowered threshold. While providing members with flexibility is good, I remain concerned about the trajectories of various forces which will challenge the robustness of our CPF system to meet the needs of our people's retirement.
First, as our life expectancy increases, the gap between our retirement age and life expectancy widens. Our statutory retirement age remains at 62 while our re-employment age has recently been raised to 67.
According to the 2017 World Health Statistics report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the average life expectancy in Singapore is 83.1 years. The report also found that Singapore's healthy life expectancy, that is, number of years people live in full health, is 73.9 years. Assuming that one is employed up to age 67, his retirement savings must be sufficient to last him for another 16 years, of which there would likely be increased healthcare expenses for 10 years due to ill health. This is not taking into account rising healthcare costs. Based on a report by Marsh & McLennan Companies' (MMC's) Asia Pacific Risk Center, the total healthcare costs of the elderly in Singapore are projected to rise tenfold over the next 15 years to US$49 billion annually.
Second, women are more vulnerable than men. The WHO report found that in Singapore, women could well expect to live for 86.1 years, while the average male expectancy is 80.1 years. The labour force participation rates of women, although increasing, have always been lower than their male counterparts. Based on age-gender specific resident labour force participation rates in 2016, the participation rate for females peak at 25 to 29 years at 90.6% and declines steadily thereafter to 77.2% by 45 to 49 years of age. In comparison, the participation rate for males peak at 35 to 39 years at 97.8% and holds steady at above 90% to 50 to 54 years.
According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF's) study on \"Family and Work\", women are more likely than men to remain outside the labour force for family-related responsibilities, such as housework, childcare and caregiving to families or relatives.
Third, the size of our families has been on the decline. With fewer children, the older generation will have less financial support for their retirement from the younger generation and some will have none. Our population has been ageing since 2000, with the number of residents in the older age groups increasing significantly. The median age of the resident population rose from 34 years in 2000 to 40.5 years in 2017.
On the economic front, we are also facing uncertainties as we push on with restructuring efforts to stay ahead of the game against global headwinds of market volatility and increased protectionism. In this climate, we are also likely to face challenges to traditional employment models. In view of the above trajectories, I have the following questions on the proposed amendments to the Act.
First, the Ministry said that this proposed amendment will give members who are providing for their parents and grandparents more options to strengthen their parents’ and grandparents’ retirement adequacy. I would like to request the Minister to share some of the key statistics of our elderly populace’s retirement adequacy with reference to aggregated CPF data.
Second, I would like to request the Minister to provide examples of the types of family units which will benefit most from exercising this option to top up their parents' or grandparents' CPF accounts for their retirement needs, provide specifics on the age, salary and CPF account balances of the CPF members making the top-ups.
Third, what safeguards are in place to ensure that the member who is making top-ups of his parents’ or grandparents’ CPF accounts is adequately advised of the impact of his actions on his CPF savings for his own retirement needs? What are the outreach efforts to educate the public about these top-up options? Would CPF Board be offering advisory services to members or to assist them in making informed choices on the various options available to them?
Fourth, the CPF member who wishes to top up the CPF account of his parents or grandparents needs to meet the requisite BRS in his/her OA, SA as well as RA and have sufficient property pledge or charge to make up for the requisite FRS. For a CPF member who has met the FRS with a property pledge or charge and made top-ups to his parents' CPF account, I would like to ask the Minister what would be the impact on the member, if any, in the event that he wishes to sell his property, and what is the subject matter of the property pledge or charge and his ability to use his CPF monies to purchase a new property?
Fifth, what other alternatives are there for families of lower-wage earners with insufficient amounts in their CPF accounts and who are unable to utilise this “self-help” option to make the top-ups for their parents or grandparents for their retirement needs?
Sixth, would the Minister consider allowing the balance of top-ups in the parent's or grandparent's accounts to be returned to the contributing member’s CPF account with accrued interest when the parent or grandparent whom he has contributed to passes away or that the CPF nomination still prevails?
I also have some additional questions on the provision for CPF members to apply for exemption from setting aside the Retirement Sum if they have their own private annuity which provides them with payouts for life. This option has been made available for some years. Could the Minister share the take-up rate for this option?
I would also like to ask the Minister what outreach efforts have been in place to educate CPF members and the financial institutions offering personal annuities which qualify for this exemption. In the event where the member decides to procure a personal annuity to be exempted from setting aside the Retirement Sum in his CPF account, does CPF Board offer advisory services to such members to assist them in assessing the difference between the annuities offered by the financial institutions and CPF schemes or is the advising left solely in the hands of the financial planner from the financial institution?
I would like to end off by referring to a poll commissioned by the feedback unit Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (REACH) in June 2014, which found that while eight in 10 Singaporeans have heard of the Minimum Sum and more than six in 10 have heard of CPF LIFE, awareness of policy specifics was relatively lower. As the number of options available to members increase, I urge the Minister to ensure that adequate public education and advisory services are made available to members so that they can make informed choices that would best suit their needs, especially considering the challenges that we will be facing as an ageing population.
Mr Speaker: Mr Png Eng Huat.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Mr Speaker, each time the CPF Act is tweaked, lives will be impacted, one way or another. For many Singaporeans, their dreams and plans for retirement, flat ownership, or even going on a once-in-a-lifetime haj could hinge on the policy directions set by some of these amendments.
As our social security system adapts to changing times, the facts and impact of each amendment to the Act must be made known to the affected members in a simple and easy to understand manner. This is important because, compared to the CPF of yesteryears, the scheme we have today has evolved over time to allow members options to choose the types of retirement plans or top-up schemes to support their loved ones, to name a few. Thus, CPF members today need to make informed choices. For this purpose, I have some brief clarifications to seek from the Minister on some of the key features of this CPF amendment Bill.
First, I have some questions pertaining to the proposed amendment made to section 18 of the CPF Act. This amendment is to give the Board the flexibility to determine the amount of money standing to a member’s credit in CPF that can be transferred to the RA and SA of a relevant individual.
Although this feature of the 2017 CPF amendment Bill is touted as a change to strengthen family support by allowing more CPF members to make CPF transfers to their parents and grandparents, the proposed changes to section 18 of the CPF Act seem to only bring in line the changes made previously and, that is, to allow members to transfer less to their RA if they have sufficient property charge.
Sir, as it stands today, even without the proposed changes to section 18, CPF members with sufficient property pledge or charge do not need to set aside the FRS in their CPF anymore. If they can meet the BRS, which is half of the FRS Sum, these members can withdraw their remaining CPF savings in cash when they attained the age of 55. They can then use the cash to do a top-up of the CPF accounts of their loved ones under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme. By doing so, some of these members may get to enjoy additional tax relief of up to $7,000 per calendar year, which they would not enjoy if they were to subscribe to the proposed amendment, which is to do a top-up via CPF transfer.
Members who qualify to make CPF transfer to their loved ones under the proposed amendment would most likely come from the same group who qualify to make lump-sum withdrawal from their CPF accounts in cash after setting aside their BRS and property pledge upon attaining the age of 55.
Would the Ministry highlight this tax relief option to the members so that they can make an informed choice, that is, they could be better off withdrawing the excess amount standing in their CPF accounts first, then follow up with a cash top-up to the CPF accounts of their loved ones later, so as to enjoy some tax relief in the process? Although there is a personal income tax relief cap from Year of Assessment (YA) 2018, the incentive for cash top-up of CPF accounts remains more attractive than direct CPF transfers. Would the latest amendment to section 18 become a white elephant since qualified members are better off doing the cash top-up option?
Second, I welcome the proposed amendment to section 15 to allow members who are or will be receiving a pension, annuity or other benefit approved by the Board, the flexibility to make a withdrawal from their RA subject to the payout benchmark specified by the Minister. The differentiated “payout benchmark” is something new and, as stated in the new subsection 8CA, there are different amounts of payout benchmark for different classes of members based on the life expectancy. I seek more information on how the Board is going to classify these annuitants based on life expectancy.
Finally, behind every policy change lies a number. Just like the speaker before me, every amendment proposed must surely be motivated by some trending statistics, demands from account holders, or changing social norms. Specifically, can the Minister share what CPF has found in its big data analytics to derive at the proposed changes found in this amendment Bill? Is the number of elderly Singaporeans with retirement adequacy issues rising despite having children with healthy CPF accounts? Are there many requests from Singaporeans who want to do CPF top-ups for their loved ones? Is CPF encouraging members to borrow from their future retirement needs to pay for the current needs of their loved ones today? Is there any projection done on the retirement adequacy of these members when they grow old if they were to top up the CPF accounts of their loved ones today?
Beyond providing options to the CPF system, I hope the Ministry can help CPF members make informed choices towards planning for their own retirement adequacy.
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, the focus of CPF is to provide for a steady income stream that can provide Singaporeans with basic support for their retirement expenses.
I am heartened to note that the amendments to the CPF Act will improve the retirement adequacy of older CPF members by lowering the threshold for CPF members to make transfers to their parents and grandparents.
While the amendments are very much about technical thresholds, payout benchmarks and administrative mechanisms, I would like to highlight the core value of filial piety that underlies these amendments. It strengthens the idea of the family and familial relations as a key source of financial and social support by encouraging retirement planning that is based upon the ties within the family unit. As we debate about the specifics and technicalities of legislation in Parliament, I believe it is important to highlight and reinforce the fundamental values we stand for as a community, like filial piety, and how this can be expressed through the legislation we pass.
In line with the core value of filial piety, can the Minister clarify why the amendments will not be extended to parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law? I had raised a similar point when we debated the CPF (Amendment No 2) Bill and was heartened that in the reply, the Minister clarified that the CPF Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme included parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law. Why then are we not extending this to this group of people now?
Next, to further encourage familial support within the CPF framework, will the Government consider tax reliefs for CPF transfers to parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, siblings and spouses? Tax relief is currently provided for cash top-ups, subject to conditions and caps. Similar tax-based incentive schemes for CPF transfers may encourage those who are in a stronger financial position to top up the accounts of lower-balance or non-working family members. I have to add though that I hope they do not make transfers just for the tax reliefs.
Next, this scheme is premised on older CPF members having family members who are able to top up their CPF accounts. I am concerned about older members who do not have any immediate family members or who do not have strong ties with their family members. Can the Minister share whether there are measures in place to improve retirement adequacy for this group of people who are the ones most in need of a steady income stream in their later years?
Lastly, there is a general lack of understanding of the CPF system and its policies amongst the general public. While having greater flexibility is laudable, it also introduces more complexity. Can the Minister share whether they are plans to improve our communications with regard to the CPF system, especially to our seniors?
Sir, this Bill creates space within the CPF framework for family members to support one another and I stand in support of it.
Mr Speaker: Mr Gan Thiam Poh.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill. I am in favour of the amendments to exempt CPF members who have pensions, annuities or other CPF-approved benefits which match the set benchmarks from having to top up their Retirement Sums. These individuals have all, in their own ways, prepared and stored up equivalent financial reserves for their retirement.
Next, I also support the amendments to allow more CPF members to make transfers to their parents’ and grandparents’ RAs. This will be achieved by reducing the members’ OA thresholds. Last year, CPF had made it easier for members to transfer monies from their OA to their spouses’ SA or RA. I would like to suggest that CPF consider further lowering the requirements to facilitate transfers between spouses.
Can CPF also expand the criteria to allow parents to transfer some of their CPF savings to their children or siblings who have special needs? Over the years, a number of my residents who are not doing well financially and are unable to meet the BRS have requested to make CPF withdrawals to support the needs of such family members. They are struggling and the assistance they receive is barely enough. If withdrawals cannot be made, at least the transfers would afford them some peace of mind.
Finally, I would like to ask how many applications for transfers to top up the accounts of family members have been made in each of the past 10 years. Will the Ministry share the breakdown of these data and how many applications were successful? I would also like to ask for the details of cash top-ups.
Mr Speaker: Second Minister Josephine Teo.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, let me first thank the Members for supporting this Bill and their comments on how we can improve the CPF system. Let me address the comments that Members have made on specific aspects of the Bill.
Mr Patrick Tay asked for an update on the retirement adequacy of CPF members. Retirement adequacy is improving for every successive cohort. In 2013, about six in 10 active CPF members who turned age 55 met their cohort BRS. We expect this proportion to grow to seven in 10 for the cohort turning age 55 in 2020.
Even so, there is scope to help CPF members, especially older cohorts who are already in retirement, to improve their retirement adequacy. This is why we are making it possible for more CPF members to initiate CPF transfers to their parents and grandparents.
Which are the families that are more likely to benefit from the amendments? Well, they first have to have a property charge and they also have to be able to meet either the prevailing or the cohort BRS which, therefore, means that they are more likely to be older in age. Nonetheless, as I have shared in my earlier speech, we expect that the number of eligible members will increase by 340,000. So, not a small number.
Mr Patrick Tay asked how a property sale would affect CPF members who earlier made CPF transfers to their parents after using a property pledge or charge to meet the FRS. The property pledge or charge works to help restore CPF members’ savings to their FRS if they sell their property. The property sale and the resulting CPF refund do not affect the earlier CPF transfers made by the member to his spouse, parents or grandparents. To be clear, those family members will retain the transferred CPF monies.
Mr Png Eng Huat had talked about the fact that if a member is aged 55 and above, he is already eligible to withdraw his CPF savings after setting aside his cohort BRS and he can use these withdrawals to give cash top-ups to his parents and grandparents and, in fact, enjoy a tax relief on it. He is right to point this out. But instead of this two-step process of a withdrawal and then a top-up, we want to be able to facilitate a transfer by allowing him to use a property charge to help meet the cohort FRS, if he wishes to transfer part of his CPF savings above the cohort BRS to his parents or grandparents. So, it is purely facilitative in nature.
But Mr Png added that, in doing so, he does not get to enjoy the potential tax relief. He is right. What CPF Board will do is, in interacting with the member, they can, indeed, point this out to the member that if they take a two-step approach, they are eligible for a tax relief. It depends on whether they have income at that point in time. To some of the members, they may no longer be earning an income and, therefore, a tax relief means nothing to them. So, it really depends.
Mr Png's question is: in making this change, will it be a white elephant? That is not the way we think about it. We are trying to be facilitative. It can also be that a member already has an existing property charge that was made years ago. So, after he turns age 55, the property charge is there and he wants to take advantage of it, we see no reason why he should be prevented from doing so.
To Mr Patrick Tay's question, making a property charge or pledge will not affect the members' ownership of the property or their right to sell in future. In addition, members can continue to use the sales proceeds refunded to their CPF for a future housing purchase in accordance with the prevailing CPF rules.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about flexibility for members to transfer CPF savings to their spouses. As discussed in this House last year, we reduced the threshold from FRS to BRS so that more members can make CPF transfers to their spouses' accounts. In fact, if my memory serves me right, about 75% of all CPF transfers made last year were made to spouses rather than to someone else. This is already a lower threshold than for CPF transfers to parents and grandparents and will remain so even after this round of amendments.
Mr Louis Ng asked whether the amendment will also apply to parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law. Today, members can already transfer CPF savings above the FRS to their parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law.
I fully agree with Mr Louis Ng that we should continue to encourage filial piety, including their parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law. However, we also need to strike a balance between protecting the member’s retirement adequacy and enabling him to support his older family members’ retirement adequacy. This is why we are making a concession to lower the threshold only for CPF transfers to parents and grandparents. Nevertheless, members who want to use the concessionary threshold for CPF transfers to their parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law can approach CPF Board and these requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh further asked about flexibilities for CPF transfers to children or siblings with special needs. Currently, CPF members can use their MediSave savings to pay for their children or siblings’ healthcare. They can also use their OA savings to provide a loan for their children’s tertiary education.
In addition, parents can make use of the Special Needs Savings Scheme to set aside CPF savings for the long-term care of their children with special needs. Under this scheme, the parents’ CPF savings can be used to provide the children with a stream of monthly payouts upon the parents’ demise.
Mr Patrick Tay asked whether the transferred CPF monies could be returned to the giver's CPF accounts upon the demise of the recipient. To safeguard the giver's retirement adequacy, all the transferred CPF monies that had not been streamed out as CPF payouts to the recipient before the recipient’s demise would be refunded to the giver’s CPF accounts. So, it depends on whether they have been streamed out and, if they have been streamed out, there is nothing to refund. But if they have not been streamed out, yes, then there is something to be refunded.
Mr Louis Ng asked whether tax relief could be given for CPF transfers between members. Currently, CPF contributions are already tax deductible and interest earned on the contributions are not taxable. Hence, CPF monies transferred from one member’s account to another have already enjoyed tax relief.
But this does not mean that there is no additional benefit to making such CPF transfers. In fact, CPF transfers often allow families to maximise the interest earned on their combined CPF savings. For example, members can enjoy higher interest by transferring monies from their OA, which earns up to 3.5%, to their loved ones’ SA or RA, which earns up to 6%. So, there is benefit in terms of the interest that can be earned even though there is no additional tax relief.
Finally, I agree with Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Louis Ng and also Mr Png Eng Huat − and I believe Mr Gan Thiam Poh might have alluded to it, too − that we must continue to help CPF members better understand the CPF system.
CPF Board has stepped up its member engagement efforts. Throughout this year, CPF Board has organised retirement planning roadshows, talks and mobile service centres across Singapore to reach out directly to members. And just this past weekend, CPF Board ran a roadshow in Sengkang.
We also recognise that even with all of these engagements and outreach, sometimes we remember best when we need to do something with the information. So, CPF Board provides a retirement planning service. When a member turns 54, CPF Board will invite them to a one-on-one, face-to-face, consultation where CPF Board staff will explain the CPF options, including the impact on reliefs, for example, as well as the decisions that they can make. So, this is face-to-face, one-on-one, and the members have the chance to ask for clarification until it is clear to them what they are getting themselves into.
Mr Speaker, I hope that I have addressed Members' questions and suggestions. There may be others that do not pertain directly to the specifics of this Bill and I ask for the Members' understanding. I think a better time to address them would have to be found. With your permission, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Josephine Teo.] (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Workplace Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Minister for Manpower, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time\".
Sir, Singapore has made steady progress in our workplace safety and health (WSH) journey. A new WSH Framework was launched in 2005 following the occurrence of several major workplace accidents, including the Nicoll Highway collapse in 2004. Under this framework, the regulatory regime was strengthened through the enactment of the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSH Act) in 2006. We stepped up efforts to work with industry and the tripartite partners to develop WSH capabilities and raise WSH awareness on the importance of safety and health. Together with our tripartite partners, we set a target to reduce our workplace fatality rate from 3.1 per 100,000 workers in 2006 to less than 1.8 per 100,000 workers by 2018.
Through the collective efforts of the industry and tripartite partners, the workplace fatality rate fell to 1.9 in 2016. Our WSH 2018 target is now within reach, but we cannot be complacent. We should strive to do even better. I have said it many times but I think it bears repeating, that is, every life lost is just one too many. We must, therefore, redouble our efforts to entrench the right WSH mindset, eradicate unsafe and unhealthy work practices and enhance WSH capabilities to create safe and healthy workplaces for all.
Our WSH journey over the last decade has taught us that all workplace injuries and ill-health are preventable with the full commitment of every stakeholder, that is, employers, workers, unions and the Government. We need a stronger emphasis on preventing harm from ever occurring. Prevention is, therefore, key to achieving safe and healthy workplaces for everyone. There are three areas where we can strengthen the culture of prevention.
First, we need to prevent the occurrence of unsafe work practices and health risks at work. Second, should an accident happen, we need to prevent its recurrence, especially for accidents that are complex, involving risks that are not well-understood and have the potential for serious harm. Third, we need to prevent workplace safety and health training courses from becoming outdated.
First, on preventing occurrence of unsafe work practices and health risks at work. When the WSH Act was enacted to replace the then-Factories Act in 2006, the penalty framework to deal with offenders was significantly enhanced. The maximum fine was raised by 2.5 times from $200,000 to $500,000 under the WSH Act. In cases where it is a repeated offence resulting in death, the maximum fine for corporate offenders can go up to $1 million.
Last year, the High Court laid out a framework to guide sentencing for WSH Act offences that took into account the level of culpability, severity and potential harm. The State Courts have since imposed higher penalties in prosecutions under the WSH Act. For example, the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) was fined $400,000 for systemic failures resulting in the deaths of two employees this year. The higher penalties under the WSH Act have played a part in underscoring the seriousness of WSH offences. However, these penalties have mostly been applied to WSH offences when serious harm has already occurred. While we can penalise the companies, it is already too late for the injured or deceased workers and their families. Prevention is still the better option to protect against unnecessary loss of lives and livelihoods.
To strengthen the culture of prevention, we need to send a stronger signal that unsafe work practices and exposure to health risks are unacceptable, even when there are no accidents. Through our inspections, we uncover a wide spectrum of WSH offences every year. For minor offences that are unlikely to cause harm, we issue warnings and require rectification of the WSH lapses. However, there have been instances where no harm has occurred, but the companies have shown disregard for basic safety and health requirements. If we had not discovered them during our inspections, it would be a matter of time before they result in serious harm.
For example, during one of our routine inspections last year, we found a worksite with multiple open sides in different locations close to where the workers were deployed, therefore, exposing workers to risk of falling from height. There were also other lapses, such as electrical hazards and tripping risks. These were serious accidents waiting to happen and were averted only by sheer luck.
Mr Speaker, Sir, we should not allow our workers' lives to be determined by luck. Currently, we issue composition fines and Stop Work Orders for such serious cases of offenders where no harm has occurred. However, we have seen a doubling of such cases, from 13 in 2013 to 26 in 2016. We need to take a tougher deterrent stance and prosecute them under the WSH Act subsidiary legislation (SL), including first-time egregious offenders.
For the SL prosecution to have effective deterrent value, the SL penalties should also be increased. Clause 7(c) of the Bill will, therefore, raise the maximum penalty under the SL by 2.5 times, from $20,000 to $50,000. This is consistent with the 2.5 times increase in the maximum penalty under the WSH Act, from $200,000 to $500,000 which was enacted in 2006. We will apply the $50,000 maximum fine to SL offences that may cause or result in death, serious injury or dangerous occurrence. They account for about 80% of all SL offences now, mostly with a maximum fine of $20,000. Some of these offences include failure to have protective structures, such as barriers at open sides or around excavations, to prevent falls, and failure to appoint authorised persons to supervise hazardous works, thereby exposing workers to danger that may result in death or serious injury.
Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to assure the House that my Ministry will remain judicious in our enforcement approach. Even as we raise the maximum fine under SL for the majority of the offences, the penalties we seek will be calibrated based on factors, such as the culpability of the offender, the severity of harm that could have resulted, and the likelihood of harm. We will only prosecute the more egregious cases where the offenders have ignored the safety and health of workers and serious harm is likely to occur.
Second, to prevent recurrence of complex accidents, where the risks are not well-understood and have the potential for serious harm and could be present in other companies, we need to ensure timely sharing of learnings from the investigation into such accidents. The learnings are needed not just to raise awareness of safety and health risks, but to provide recommendations on how to eliminate or mitigate the risks.
Currently, case facts of complex accidents are released only after the conclusion of criminal proceedings, which could take around three years from the time of accident. This is done so as not to prejudice the outcome of legal proceedings. However, the learning value to industry is delayed, and the risk of such an accident recurring persists for a longer period of time.
We believe timely and early sharing of case facts and recommendations with the industry is important to prevent recurrence. Clause 3 of the Bill will, therefore, allow the Commissioner for WSH to release a learning report before legal proceedings have concluded. Learning reports will not be released for all accidents, but only where the Commissioner for WSH considers it to be necessary in the interest of the public, particularly for those where the risks were not so well-understood and have the potential for serious harm and could be present in other companies.
The learning report is not intended to apportion blame or liability, but simply to allow other companies to learn from the accident and take immediate steps to avoid similar circumstances. To safeguard the interests of the parties involved, learning reports will be inadmissible in any civil, criminal, disciplinary, arbitral or work injury compensation proceedings.
The learning report will only contain information necessary for learning value. We do not intend to name companies or individuals, and there will be no statements of liability in the report. To further allay industry concerns over unwarranted reputational damage or unintended disclosure of intellectual property, we will establish a process to consult relevant parties on the draft report before publishing.
Allowing the release of information for the sole purpose of learning without attributing blame or liability is not new and has been adopted in other situations and countries. For example, investigation reports by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Transport (MOT) are published for the sole purpose of accident prevention, and their reports are also inadmissible in any civil or criminal proceedings.
The United States (US) Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and the United Kingdom (UK) Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) also release accident investigation reports focused solely on improving safety and not to apportion blame or liability. Accident investigation reports by CSB and RAIB may also be issued, whether or not civil or criminal proceedings are in progress. These reports and lessons learnt have enhanced the industry's understanding of specific areas of risk. Many of these safety recommendations by CSB and RAIB have been implemented by the industry, resulting in safer chemical facilities, safer transport and safer communities.
To sustain improvement in our WSH performance, a workforce competent and skilled in managing WSH is critical. Over the years, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has worked with the industry to define standards and guide the design of WSH-related courses. Annually, over 150,000 workers are trained in basic safety orientation courses offered by about 80 training providers accredited under the Approved Training Provider (ATP) scheme by MOM.
As the industries undergo transformations to create new and better jobs, we need to ensure that WSH courses remain up to date with the latest content and training methods. As part of this effort, we have been working very closely with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and the WSH training industry to align the current WSH courses to the national Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) system and transfer the accreditation of WSH training providers to SSG. So far, 23 courses have been developed under the WSQ system and offered by SSG-accredited training providers. We expect the migration of the remaining 33 courses to be completed by 2019.
Under the SSG accreditation system, training providers are not only required to ensure that their training content is relevant to the industry, but also that their teaching methods are up to date. For example, training providers are expected to leverage technologies, such as Virtual Reality, and use innovative learning approaches to enhance the quality and the effectiveness of learning. This helps to make learning more engaging and will also lead to better WSH learning outcomes.
With SSG being the single authority to accredit all WSH training providers by 2019, clauses 4 and 5 are consequential amendments to remove the requirement for the Commissioner to accredit WSH training providers.
Sir, we are also taking this opportunity to update the personal liability protection provision in the WSH Act by bringing it in line with the protection provided to inspectors or enforcement officers in other legislation. Currently, the personal liability protection for inspectors under the WSH Act is limited to equipment damages due to a prescribed examination or test, and the Commissioner's and Deputy Commissioner's duties in relation to a remedial order or stop-work order.
Clause 6 will extend the scope of personal liability protection to the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, inspectors and authorised officers for acts done in good faith and with reasonable care in carrying out their duties under the WSH Act properly and professionally. This is similar to the personal liability protection provision under other legislation, such as the Fire Safety Act and the Environmental Protection and Management Act.
Nonetheless, I would like to reassure the House that protection will only be extended to inspectors and authorised officers who have exercised reasonable care and consideration in the execution of their duties under the WSH Act. The Government and its officers remain liable for negligent acts or for acts beyond their legal powers.
In conclusion, the adage that \"Prevention is better than cure\" remains relevant in the area of WSH. These changes will further strengthen the foundation for a stronger prevention mindset and are important steps as we move towards our next target of reducing the workplace fatality rate to less than one per 100,000 workers before 2028. Countries, including Germany and the UK, which have put together greater emphasis to entrench a culture of prevention, have already achieved this lower fatality rate. There is much that we can learn from these countries.
Enacting progressive WSH legislation is necessary but insufficient. Over the next few months, we will engage our tripartite partners and industry stakeholders to co-develop the WSH 2028 national strategy for the next decade. Collectively, we will identify WSH challenges ahead, chart directions and develop key strategies to make Singapore one of the safest and healthiest workplaces in the world. This will be a very big challenge but, together with our tripartite partners and industry stakeholders, I believe we will be able to achieve it.
On this note, I humbly ask all Members of this House for their support of the Bill. Sir, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, in October 2015, an explosion at a gas manufacturing factory at Tanjong Kling claimed the life of a 30-year-old chemist. She was a new mom to a six-month-old daughter. It was her first week back at work from maternity leave. She was working in the laboratory when the explosion occurred. Tragically, the emergency response team was unable to locate her and her remains were only discovered after firefighters had put out the fire.
The incident hit close to home as the victim was one of our members in the Chemical Industries Employees' Union (CIEU). The loss goes beyond a single fatality. On that fateful day, a husband lost his wife, a child her mother, the parents their daughter. Seven other employees were also injured in the fire, suffering from lacerations, burns and smoke inhalation injuries. We would never wish this upon anyone and the lessons learnt there are just as pertinent today.
The WSH Act was enacted in 2006 for the very purpose of preventing such incidents from occurring and is structured based on three key principles. First, reducing risks at source; second, engendering industry ownership of WSH outcomes; and third, preventing workplace accidents through higher penalties for poor safety management.
In over a decade, we have made progress based on these key principles in reducing our workplace fatalities from 4.9 per 100,000 workers in 2004, to 2.8 per 100,000 workers in 2008, and further to 1.9 per 100,000 workers in 2016. In the first half of 2017, there have been 19 fatal work accidents, compared to 66 workplace accident fatalities in 2016.
By 2018, we are striving to reach our WSH2018 target of 1.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers, and our next target is to go below one fatality per 100,000 workers by 2028. The review of the Act is, therefore, timely as we seek to further enhance workplace safety at our various workplaces. I am supportive of the intent behind the proposed amendments. However, I have a few questions to seek clarification on the proposed amendments.
First, strengthening deterrence. One of the ways through which the Bill seeks to reinforce the prevention culture is by increasing the maximum fine that can be prescribed under SL from $20,000 to $50,000. The higher maximum fine is intended for offences which could result in death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence even where harm has not occurred yet.
While I agree with the intent of this amendment, I would like to seek clarity from the Minister as to what offences would the increased maximum fine apply to, and to request the Minister to share some examples of incidents where such heightened penalties are required.
Second, the Bill provides for the sharing of learning reports with findings on major incidents so that the industry can take corrective steps as soon as possible to prevent complex and major accidents from recurring. It is provided in the Bill that such a learning report would not be admissible as evidence in any civil, criminal, arbitral or disciplinary proceedings before any Court, tribunal or body or proceedings under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA). I see the value of sharing learning expeditiously to prevent recurrence of the accident. However, I have concerns if there are sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that investigations and due process will not be prejudiced. I, therefore, have five questions on this proposed amendment.
First, I would like to ask the Minister if these learning reports would be made available to the public and on what platforms would these reports be shared.
Second, what types of incidents would qualify as a complex and major accident which requires the publishing of this learning report?
Third, I would like to ask the Minister what safeguards are in place to ensure that these learning reports will not prejudice the outcomes of subsequent civil or criminal proceedings. While the reports are not admissible as evidence in legal proceedings, the reports may result in preconceived positions or biases in witnesses, and public discussion of these reports may also invariably cause impressions to be formed which may affect the outcome of the proceedings.
Fourth, I am concerned that companies, in conducting their internal review of accidents, may rely on these learning reports to take premature action to discipline or dismiss their employees before official investigations are completed. For example, in the tragic train track accident last year, which took the lives of two SMRT trainees, SMRT fired two staff following their internal review of the accident before official investigations were concluded. The union's position is that it is important to allow due process to take its course and for all facts to be revealed through official investigations before drawing any conclusions which impact the livelihood of workers involved.
Lastly, I would like to ask the Minister what safeguards are in place to ensure that these learning reports will not prejudice the outcomes of official investigations by MOM or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and other relevant agencies, and to what extent the content in these learning reports would differ from the reports from these official investigations.
The last amendment which I would like to address is the removal of the requirement for the Commissioner to accredit WSH training as MOM transfers the accreditation of training to SSG. I agree that having accreditation functions under SSG will enable SSG to have a more holistic view of adult education and training and undertake a more coordinated approach towards audits and quality assurance. However, I would like to ask the Minister whether SSG will continue to work with subject matter experts from MOM to review the curriculum of WSH training to ensure their relevance, or if the subject matter experts will be persons within SSG.
I would also like to propose that in forming the curriculum of the training, industry associations, practitioners, unions and our working people should be engaged in the process to ensure that the training delivered is relevant, practical, tailored to the needs of each industry and endorsed by the industry. At the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the WSH Secretariat works with the network of 58 affiliated unions on improving WSH conditions of workers. The secretariat also works with trade associations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reach out to workers to raise awareness of the importance of WSH. The Singapore Institute of Safety Officers (SISO) is also one of the Labour Movement's U Associate partners in developing WSH professionals in Singapore. I urge SSG and the training providers to work closely with the Labour Movement to raise the standards of WSH training and mobilise more of our working people to adopt safer practices at their workplaces.
In the same vein, training providers should leverage technology to ensure greater accessibility to training. This can be done through bite-size modular training which can be completed on the go, such as through e-learning modules, and leverage technology, such as virtual reality, to help learners pick up safety concepts in a safe yet realistic environment. For example, NTUC Learning Hub is looking into training which adopts virtual reality and augmented reality for work-at-heights courses and courses which are scenario-specific to the workers' work environment, for example, shipyards and construction sites. These scenarios can then be easily modified to test the trainees in different environments with varied levels of risk assessment. Mr Speaker, in Chinese.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] This amendment Bill has made improvements in the following three areas to ensure that workplace safety will be more enhanced.
The first is to strengthen deterrence by increasing the fines to prevent the recurrence of accidents. The employers and the workers must work together to build a safer workplace.
The second is about the learning reports. While we prepare the learning report, safeguards must be in place to ensure that it does not interfere with the investigation of the case. The report will also help us to learn lessons and nip potential accidents in the bud.
Third, professional training used to be under the purview of MOM and is now transferred to SSG. I hope that SSG will work with the industry associations, unions, employers and employees on training curriculum and standards.
Finally, I would like to urge the employers and workers to raise the awareness of WSH, change their mindset and set right the attitude to stay relevant.
(In English): At the end of the day, top-down enforcement and enhancing legislation can only go so far. Everyone along the value chain has a part to play. Leaders of organisations need to take ownership of safety as a core business value. Supervisors need to lead by example and workers on the ground cannot be complacent. We must be proactive in ensuring that our work environment is safe. The tripartite partners and industry stakeholders, including training providers, have to take concerted effort collectively to go beyond compliance to build a culture of safety which will result in a true win-win-win for all stakeholders so that every workplace is a safer workplace, every worker a safer worker and every employer, a safer employer.
Mr Speaker: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, WSH is a serious concern. When the viaduct at the Pan-Island Expressway worksite at Upper Changi Road East collapsed and killed a worker and injured 10 others in July, Singaporeans were shocked and saddened. Even though many of the workers who are most exposed to the risk of injuries at the workplace are foreign workers, Singaporeans do not discriminate but instead feel for them as fellow workers. There is a common humanity in seeing bodies broken by preventable accidents. There are no national differences in knowing families are devastated by the lives of loved ones lost.
As far as this Bill seeks to achieve the goals of the WSH 2018 Plus strategy, it is a commendable move. Since the new WSH framework was implemented in 2005, workplace injuries and fatalities have come down substantially. The rate of fatal injuries came down from 4.9 per 100,000 employed persons in 2004 to the targeted 1.8 in 2014. There is scope to go down further, as many advanced industrial countries, such as the UK, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, have lower rates, as low as 1.0. One of the four strategic outcomes for WSH 2018 is for Singapore to be renowned as a centre of excellence for WSH. We need to compete with these leaders. In this regard, I am glad that Minister of State Sam Tan had mentioned that we will be competing with these leaders. I would like to bring up three points on this Bill to make us more competitive.
Our recent progress has stagnated. The rate of fatal injuries bounced back up and hovered at 1.9 in the last two years. We seem to have hit a roadblock in improving WSH. To tackle the roadblock, WSH 2018 Plus seeks to adopt a differentiated enforcement approach to improve the WSH performance of companies with different capabilities and attitudes, and to build collective ownership of a pervasive WSH culture. This suggests that the roadblock appears to be a widespread organisational culture that goes against WSH principles. And I say this without being facetious in reference to the SMRT saga. Can the Minister confirm that this is a problem that we are now facing with regard to WSH progress?
If it is so, then the amendments in this Bill to give the Commissioner the power to prepare and publish a learning report on any accident, dangerous occurrence or occupational disease in a workplace under investigation should be supported. This is the first point I would like to bring up. We need to create a positive learning culture of respect and concern for the well-being of our workers rather than a culture of blame, scapegoating and compensation. In this light, that the learning report is inadmissible as evidence in Court proceedings and that an inspector involved in the learning report cannot be compelled to give testimony or evidence, are understandable. This will protect the objectives of the learning report.
However, the new section 27B(3) allows for the learning report to be admissible as evidence in three types of inquiry. The first is an Inquiry Committee that the Minister can appoint under the WSH Act to hold an inquiry into any accident, dangerous occurrence or occupational disease, which could lead to criminal proceedings. The second is an inquiry under the Coroners Act. The third is an inquiry by a commission of inquiry or a committee of inquiry under the Inquiries Act. This adds layers of complexity that may affect the preparation and publication of a learning report. Let me just tackle one such layer, the first one, in which the Minister can appoint an Inquiry Committee under the WSH Act.
When the Commissioner becomes aware of an accident in a workplace, he or she may direct an inspector to investigate the accident. Depending on the findings of the investigation, he may direct a learning report to be prepared. The Commissioner may also recommend to the Minister to appoint an Inquiry Committee. Can the Commissioner do both? If so, how can the inspector be expected to not compromise the objectives of the learning report, knowing that the report will be admitted as evidence for the Inquiry Committee and he can be compelled to testify before it? If the Inquiry Committee recommends criminal proceedings to be instituted by submitting a copy of the report to the Public Prosecutor, then in the subsequent criminal proceedings, can the learning report be admitted as evidence and the inspector called to testify before the Court? There is some ambiguity as to whether section 27B(1) and (2) allow for this subsequent development. Can the Minister of State please clarify?
Moving on to my second point, we need to better tackle occupational diseases and improve workplace health. Beyond the headline-grabbing accidents, MOM statistics for the recent years show that the number of confirmed occupational diseases is rising. The percentage of fatalities with workplace health as a contributory factor rose to one-third in 2014. While the occupational diseases and workplace health issues are less visible and their impact less immediate, because they have what is called a long latency period, some diseases taking many years to surface after exposure to the causes, they can have far greater life-changing impact on workers.
The WSH strategy is currently oriented towards reducing workplace fatality and injury. I believe there is a need to pay equal attention to occupational diseases and workplace health, with appropriate targets in reducing incidences of occupational diseases.
It is in this arena that I think a positive learning culture would have multiplier effects on improving workplace health. However, the learning report is not so useful in this respect. The learning report instrument is useful for workplace safety, as learning points could be quickly shared and corrections quickly made to prevent similar accidents from happening across an industrial sector. This instrument is less useful for workplace health, as the long latency period of occupational diseases could mean that thousands of workers would have been affected by the time an incidence is made known and a learning report published. There is a need for a different model here due to the different nature of occupational diseases.
The learning report model is also less useful because many of our workers exposed to occupational diseases are foreign workers and the long latency period of occupational diseases means that these workers may only develop ill-health after they have gone home or are sent back because of their ill-health. Incidences of occupational disease will go unreported in such cases.
We could learn from the UK government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the counterpart of our WSH Council (WSHC). There are two aspects we can learn from and to adapt for our efforts to tackle occupation diseases and workplace health.
Firstly, instead of a reactive approach that focuses on reporting, investigating and enforcing, the approach taken by HSE encourages proactive promotion and sharing of ideas and solutions among companies within and across industry sectors.
Secondly, on its part, HSE focuses the sharing on two key priority areas, which are respiratory diseases and occupational cancer. This is because these potentially affect many workers and were shown to have high incidence of disease.
One issue that will subvert any model is under-reporting of accidents and occupational diseases. This is my third and last point: we need to tackle the under-reporting of accidents to make the learning report instrument effective and to make ownership of a learning WSH culture possible and meaningful. Is there under-reporting of accidents and occupational diseases here in Singapore? We do not know. But there are some indications there could be. Non-government organisations, such as Transient Workers Count Too, have raised this concern. MOM statistics also indicate the possibility. For example, the number of cases of Occupational Skin Disease doubled in the first half of 2017, which MOM said was likely due to greater awareness of reporting requirements. I believe it is timely for the Government to commission a study on the scale and causes of under-reporting of accidents and occupational diseases.
In this regard, the Government’s approach to occupational diseases is more stringent and progressive, as doctors are required to report any of the occupational diseases listed in the Second Schedule of the WSH Act. This is conveniently done through MOM’s electronic notification system or the Ministry of Health's (MOH’s) Health Professional Portal. As the WSHC’s Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Occupational Diseases state on this reporting requirement, \"A robust notification system provides important data for understanding the extent and depth of the occupational safety and health status in Singapore. It helps the authorities to identify persons and industries at risk, as well as to identify new and emerging ones.\"
I think this is very well-said. Now, surely, this applies to workplace safety and the reporting of accidents, too. So, why not require doctors to report any suspected workplace accidents, especially when a worker is hospitalised for at least 24 hours or given a medical certificate for more than three days? This is required for employers, but they have no natural incentive to do this, especially when the injured workers are foreign workers who are not aware of their rights or are too afraid of having their employment terminated by their employers and forcibly repatriated. Doctors are better placed to report the injuries as suspected to be resulting from workplace accidents since they are pledged to a professional ethical code and have the knowledge to give a proper diagnosis of the injuries and opinion as to the causes of the injuries. Furthermore, the system is already in place for doctors to report occupational diseases in a convenient and accessible manner. There is very little cost to adding on the requirement for doctors to report injuries due to suspected workplace accidents.
Let me repeat the WSHC’s words, \"A robust notification system provides important data for understanding the extent and depth of the occupational safety and health status in Singapore. It helps the authorities to identify persons and industries at risk, as well as to identify new and emerging ones.\" This applies equally to workplace accidents. Required reporting is part of the learning culture that the WSH 2018 Plus framework is trying to promote. I urge the Government to consider required reporting by doctors of injuries suspected to be caused by workplace accidents. As with the learning report instrument, such reporting does not have to end in blame and liability, but in getting the whole industry sectors to take responsibility and ownership of WSH. I cannot see the logic of excluding required reporting by doctors of injuries in this new learning culture we are trying to promote.
Mr Speaker, Sir, on that note of urging, I would like to say I support the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Ms Thanaletchimi.
Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, safety and health should be more than an integral part of a company’s culture, including SMEs. It should be engrained in the DNAs of the organisation for us to achieve our vision towards zero accident. Our working people need to have a safe environment, as well as good health, to do their daily work efficiently and contribute at their optimum capacity. Safety and health can affect an individual’s and a company’s productivity and, hence, influence the economic output of the company and the country as a whole.
It is vital to strengthen industry ownership of WSH outcomes. Workplace incidents vary across industries and, hence, there should be more platforms for industries to come together at the sector level and share incidents and learning point for everyone to better understand the issues.
The Bill sets out to allow the Commissioner for WSH to make public a detailed incident learning report before any prosecution. However, we need to have a clear purpose and measurable outcomes to see if this initiative translates into intended outcomes on enhancing workplace safety. There should be clear links between such practices leading to a reduction in workplace incidents at the sectorial level. Having said that, it is essential for all stakeholders to understand that such report sharing should not be a finger-pointing exercise where stakeholders may form a preconceived notion of the cause of the incident even before the investigation is conclusive, instead of using such case sharing to learn and to avoid similar incidents from occurring.
Enhancing deterrence through more stringent WSH penalties is welcomed. However, the maximum penalty amount does not seem to be much of a deterrent, especially when there is loss of life or lives. Moreover, besides penalties, there should also be rewards to motivate organisations and individuals to practise WSH as a way of life and as a DNA of its organisation. Penalty can be in the form of added tax. Incentive can be in the form of tax rebates. Employers can then plough back this amount to institute additional safety measures or health programmes for employees, including for their mental health well-being.
Lastly, I would like to raise a dire concern of workplace abuse and harassment. Even though the Protection from Harassment Act provides an avenue for individuals to take civil or criminal action against perpetrators, there is still the hovering concern that such post-incident penalty does not reduce the number of such incidences over time and neither does it provide impetus for employers to put in place the required awareness, knowledge and training element, as well as preventive or deterrent measures, to protect employees from such abuses and harassment at the workplace.
Different employers have different levels of measures implemented, and some have none at the workplace. Besides, such incidences not only affect the physical but also the psychological and emotional state of individuals if it happens. To present greater weightage to this issue of abuse and harassment at the workplace, can there be a more defined inclusion of workplace abuse and harassment incorporated into the WSH requirement and obligation by employers so as to provide a safe work environment for the employees? Can WICA include such forms of inflicting injury caused by abuse and harassment that are proven with evidence, instead of individuals taking up a costly civil case against perpetrators? Can there also be punitive action taken against employers who do not have processes or measures in place to protect employees from such abuses or do not act on clear alarm raised with due diligence? With an increasing number of abuses and harassment over time, it is important that more needs to be done in this aspect. Call it education awareness or mindset change, but nothing beats legislation and enforcement. Mr Speaker, Sir, notwithstanding this, I support the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill. I would like to, first, declare my interest as the NTUC’s Director for WSH and a member of the WSHC.
Good working conditions are vital to helping workers feel safe, which will improve productivity and the competitiveness of our industries. Any workplace fatality is one too many, and there can never be enough emphasis on ensuring that our workers, regardless of industry, have a safe working environment. At the opening of the World Congress on Safety and Health At Work in September this year, Prime Minister Lee set a target for Singapore to reduce our workplace fatality rate to below 1.0 per 100,000 workers by 2028, down from the current 1.9 per 100,000 workers. Achieving this will take a tremendous amount of effort and teamwork from all stakeholders, and the proposed amendments in this Bill would certainly serve as a good start.
Let me begin by saying that I support the proposed increase in the maximum fine, which will go up from $20,000 to $50,000. A harsher deterrence will compel companies to sit up and take notice of the severity of a WSH offence. I hope the enhanced penalties will serve to \"incentivise\" companies to focus on preventing workplace accidents rather than taking remedial actions.
To foster an ideal WSH culture, the Ministry can consider adopting the Labour Movement’s 3Cs approach to improving the WSH awareness culture. One, focus on better coordination by convincing companies to cut internal red tape, so as to enable smooth implementation of WSH initiatives. Two, secure greater commitment across all levels in a company, from the top management to the ground supervisors, right down to general workers, to collectively commit to raising safety and health standards. Three, engage in targeted coaching by having industry-specific WSH training courses or modules as part of the WSH accreditation process.
Next, I would like to seek some clarifications on the provisions of the Bill which would allow the WSH Commissioner to make public a detailed incident learning report of any WSH incident while the incident is still under investigation. I would like to ask the Minister to clarify, using some past examples, on what are the sorts of incidents that would warrant the release of such a report. While I can understand the intention to share learning points to plug potential safety gaps in companies working in the same industry, we need to be mindful of prejudicing the investigation results and stirring public opinion needlessly when findings have yet to be finalised. Such reports can also be sensitive if a public-listed company is involved. Premature release of information before prosecution may affect the share price, the company's business and, consequently, may affect workers and cause workers to be displaced or retrenched.
Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the US had asked employers to submit detailed injury and illness logs to the agency for public posting. However, industry groups are now suing OSHA, citing that the new rule exposes a business to significant reputational harm without proving that this has effectively reduced workplace injuries and illnesses.
Mr Speaker, if the aim of the learning report is to prevent or minimise the recurrence of similar accidents, then it may be better to share the report only with the relevant stakeholders and industry players. This is similar to the aviation industry, where an advisory can be first published and shared internally within industry players, followed by a detailed incident report later on. I am, therefore, assured to hear from the Minister of State that the Ministry will be judicious in the release of such learning reports.
Mr Speaker, I participated in a recent tripartite study visit to Finland and Sweden just three weeks ago to learn about their WSH practices. Finland and Sweden have had workplace fatality rates of below 1.0 per 100,000 workers, and there are many lessons that we can learn from them. For example, Finland, which has about the same population as Singapore, has around 60,000 Occupational Safety and Health specialists, or about one for every 10 regular workers. I would like to ask the Ministry about the number of trained WSH specialists we have locally, and what is the target number that we would need in order to have a safer and healthier workplace environment.
I would also like to propose for the Ministry to consider establishing a national register of trained WSH specialists. This would certainly help to facilitate the quick and effective dissemination of important WSH advisories to the ground. Similarly, best practices can also be shared within specific industrial cluster in a prompt manner.
A central training centre, with the support of our tripartite partners, would also go a long way in grooming the next generation of WSH specialists and ensure proper progression within the sector. The centre can also be given the mandate to come up with a customised Professional Conversion Programme and a Progressive Wage Model for safety officers to upskill and progress in their careers. A clearly defined career path, with commensurate wages, will also help attract more local talents to the profession.
Mr Speaker, while it is important to have preventive measures to mitigate workplace injuries, it is equally important to help our workers return to work in the event of an accident. At this year’s Committee of Supply debate, I highlighted the need for a support framework, beyond the existing Workplace Injury Compensation Act, to help injured workers return to work. Unfortunately, the reality is that not many employers proactively help their injured employees during and after the rehabilitation process. I called for MOM to establish a scheme to better help injured workers – one which includes a structured case management system to help our workers with injury management, rehabilitation, job redesign and even job placement where necessary.
Since then, NTUC has been working closely with our tripartite partners on this and I am heartened that the Return-To-Work (RTW) programme was launched by WSHC just last week. The programme will see the WSHC working with our public hospitals to provide early intervention for workers who are injured in the course of their work, as well as enable companies to help their workers gradually ease back into their jobs. I would like to urge companies to subscribe to this programme, which is voluntary at the moment.
But I am happy to note that there are already companies which have appointed their own in-house RTW coordinators, such as Sembawang Shipyard. Ideally, such in-house coordinators should be the future of the RTW programme. However, because these coordinators are not accredited, companies are unable to currently tap on any Government funding. Can the Ministry work towards accrediting more of such in-house coordinators so as to allow companies to be able to tap on Government funding?
With the RTW programme in place, we now need to ask ourselves, what more can we do for injured workers? In Australia, the US and the European Union (EU), the RTW framework is legislated. Would the Ministry consider legislating the RTW framework, or at least some aspects of it, at some point in time to better protect our workers and help those who are injured recover and reintegrate back to work quickly, so that their livelihoods are not adversely affected?
My final point, Mr Speaker, is that much of our WSH efforts today focus on workplace safety. Physical health and mental well-being, however, are sorely lacking in our current WSH efforts and conversations. A build-up of stress and fatigue can lead to distractions, which will place our workers at higher risk of getting injured at work. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for us to practice WSH holistically, by focusing on the body, mind and soul, in order for our workplaces to be truly a safe and healthy environment for our workers. Just as we have Total Defence, we must endeavour for Total WSH. With that, Mr Speaker, I support the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.
Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Speaker, it was reported that the number of fatalities and injuries in the workplace decreased in the first half of this year compared to last year. This is good progress. While the spectre of major incidents, such as the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) worksite collapse, might linger, we are in the right direction. We must continue working towards ever safer workplaces.
When it comes to ensuring workplace safety, two key areas come to mind. Firstly, the Vision Zero Movement sets us on the right mindset. All workplace injuries and health issues are preventable. In fact, it must be the goal of all companies to have zero accidents.
In line with the movement, it is important to ensure that companies with a chequered past are not given the opportunity to be awarded contracts for key public projects, certainly with heavy scrutinising to ensure that they have put in clear systems to rectify their lapses. If we truly desire to have zero accidents and fatalities, we must have a more robust system of ensuring that only companies with a clean record or good remedial measures are given such larger jobs. Does the Ministry have a system of evaluation where companies that have flouted safety regulations repeatedly are taken out of circulation and prevented from being in the industry again?
A desire for zero fatalities and accidents would not just rest with the leaders of a company but it should be a collective aspiration that is shared with all workers. A secure and accessible feedback mechanism should be in place for workers, especially in the construction, marine and engineering sectors. There should be a balancing or rebalancing of powers where workers and employers are concerned, as many workers, especially foreign workers, might feel afraid to speak up even if they know there are violations. What incentives are there for workers to be a whistleblower where safety is concerned? What reassurance will they have and how will this be communicated to workers to encourage them to speak up?
Secondly, training is important where WSH is concerned. One of the provisions of this Bill is to have the requirement for the Commissioner to accredit WSH training providers to be removed. This is because, as part of the migration of WSH training courses from MOM to SkillsFuture SG, the training providers will have to go through re-accreditation to meet the new standards. According to MOM, it has been working with SSG to prepare the WSH training providers for this change. Could the Minister of State provide an update on what percentage of companies have successfully made the migration and how many more are left to complete it by 2019? What are the measures taken to ensure training capacity has not been affected? Will this incur higher costs for businesses and what are MOM’s plans to help them?
Technology is also a great enabler in some sectors as it can help reduce human error and accidents. Could the Minister also share the progress of some examples of companies that have successfully used technology to enhance the safety processes at work? How can the Ministry also incentivise the adoption of technologies to reduce the occurrence of workplace accidents?
The progress towards safer workplaces is never a smooth or linear one. It will be littered with unfortunate incidents that we must do well to learn from and better protect our workers. This Bill will build on our previous efforts and is in the correct direction. Sir, I support the Bill.
Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 3.20 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 2.56 pm until 3.20 pm.
Sitting resumed at 3.20 pm
[Mr Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Debate resumed. (proc text)]
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, the WSH 2018 workplan for advancing safety and health articulates a vision of Singapore as a centre of excellence for WSH. To achieve this bold ambition, our legislative and regulatory framework must identify and address the key causes of workplace accidents.
The WSH 2018 Plus workplan had highlighted improving WSH performance in the construction industry as a key priority. At the outset, it is necessary to recognise the reality that low-wage migrant workers form the bulk of the workforce in the construction industry and other sectors, such as marine and manufacturing, that are the top contributors of workplace fatalities and injuries. WSH laws can only be truly effective if they take into account the working realities of this group of workers. I have one clarification on the Bill and would like to further raise some points for consideration in the implementation of the WSH legislation and regulations.
Firstly, the Bill increases the maximum fine for offences that may cause death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence to $50,000. Can the Minister clarify whether the enhanced fines apply to offences that lead to or increase the risk of occupational diseases? While occupational diseases may take a longer time to manifest, may be harder to detect and link causally to the workplace, their effects on the health of workers can be just as detrimental.
Part IV of the current Act on the duties of persons and Part VI on investigation powers do not distinguish between accidents and occupational diseases. If the enhanced fines do not apply to breaches of regulations that may or actually lead to occupational diseases, can the Minister clarify why the distinction was drawn?
Secondly, under section 41(1)(a), safety inspectors have the power to inspect workplaces at any time. I understand that workers have reported instances of employers with advance knowledge that an inspection was going to take place. Can the Minister confirm that it is, indeed, the case that inspections are conducted without prior notice? Or is it the case that there are announced inspections and unannounced inspections? If so, what percentage of inspections is unannounced?
Thirdly, it is the duty of the employer under section 12(1) of the Bill to take practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of his employees at work. While the employer is not permitted under section 18(1) to deduct any sums for anything done or provided by him as part of such measures, civil society organisations have heard accounts from workers who were injured because they were not provided with, could not afford to buy, or could not afford to replace damaged safety equipment. Further, many workers report having to pay for safety equipment through salary deductions.
Can the Minister confirm that the provision of safety equipment and training is part of the measures necessary to ensure the health and safety of employees under section 12(1), and that employers cannot recover such costs from workers? Also, can the Minister clarify if it is within the scope of safety inspections to ensure that employers are not deducting costs for safety equipment from workers? It is a relevant contributing factor to workers not having the necessary equipment for their health and safety.
Fourth, section 16 of the Bill requires manufacturers and suppliers of machinery, equipment or hazardous substance to provide information about precaution, hazards and safe use. Such information may not be provided in a language that is understood by the foreign workers who form the bulk of the workforce most vulnerable to workplace hazards. Can the Minister confirm if it is the responsibility of employers and principals to ensure that workers understand the written safety advice and instruction provided by manufacturers and suppliers?
Fifth, the WSH Guidelines note that fatigue can lead to physical and mental impairment, which increases error rates and risk of injuries. Such fatigue can accumulate as a result of workers being required to perform overtime work day after day. Civil society organisations report encountering workers who work beyond the maximum allowable overtime hours, with little or no days off. Tight schedules, budget, and man-year entitlement limitations might lead to workers being asked to work longer hours.
I understand that MOM's inspections on companies’ compliance with the Employment Act found that most have complied with working hour provisions and that WSH inspectors examine plans to manage workers' fatigue. However, will WSH inspectors also include as part of their inspections the actual number of hours clocked by workers as plans may not always be complied with in the face of punishing completion deadlines and limited manpower?
Furthermore, despite MOM's extensive efforts in safety inspections, many workplace violations may still go unnoticed if not reported by workers. However, if reporting safety violations means that workers are likely to lose their jobs, workers are not going to be willing to come forward regardless of MOM's best attempts at encouraging reporting of safety violations.
Section 18(2) prevents an employer from dismissing an employee who assists authorities where there have been breaches of health and safety. Employees are required to report such instances through the Employment Act appeal mechanisms for unfair dismissal. However, there may be insufficient protection for low-wage migrant workers who can have their Work Permits cancelled and repatriated, with no opportunity to challenge their termination.
Is MOM able to share the number of employees that have successfully appealed an unfair dismissal under section 18(2)? Will the Minister consider additional safeguards, such as requiring notification to MOM, where workers are dismissed within two years of providing such assistance to authorities? Providing employees with stronger whistleblower protection will encourage reporting of WSH Act violations from the stakeholders who have the best knowledge of such violations.
Lastly, in the course of providing direct service to injured migrant workers, civil society organisations often hear first-hand accounts of safety-related issues on worksites that lead to workplace injuries. While MOM's inspections may find that the vast majority of employers are compliant with safety and health requirements, there may be a group of recalcitrant employers with weak safety mindsets that is tarnishing workplace safety culture as a whole.
The first-hand accounts that civil society organisations have are valuable because they provide an insight into the practices of this group of employers, which will help MOM in focusing its efforts and resources in addressing the worst violations. I hope that MOM will increase its collaborations with civil society groups.
At the end of the day, of all the legislative changes, regulatory amendments and workplans, the goal should be to improve the outcomes for the workers on the ground. Hearing first-hand accounts from the workers is the best way of gauging the effectiveness of our policies and efforts.
Sir, I stand in support of the Bill and I hope the Minister can consider the recommendations and clarifications that I have raised in the implementation of WSHA.
I am encouraged by the bold plan MOM has articulated to improve WSH and look forward to the steps that can be taken to achieve our objective of becoming a centre of excellence that WSH 2018 Plus envisions.
Mr Speaker: Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Speaker, I stand in support of this Bill. Let me speak, in particular, for a group of workers who are more at risk in terms of workplace injuries, and these are our foreign workers. This House that we are debating in, this very Chamber, was built by many foreign workers who come to Singapore in search of a better life for their own loved ones back in their own countries. They come with hopes and aspirations, after having paid their agents exorbitant amounts of money or perhaps having sold off jewellery, ancestral land, just to get here, they slog day and night, forgoing days off and working countless hours of overtime, just to earn that little extra. But when it all comes crashing down, their dreams die – theirs and their loved ones' as well.
The loss of a life is irreplaceable, whoever it may be. As the Minister of State said in his opening statement, one is too many. Therefore, I welcome and support the changes proposed in the WSH amendment Bill. Workplace safety is for all workers in Singapore. I, therefore, stand fully behind the Ministry's decision to set up Total WSH Service Centres in Singapore. And I hope that the pilot project at Woodlands would be successful in implementing WSH programmes for workers. If it takes off, we can look forward to more of such centres in industrial areas around Singapore.
However, returning to the case of foreign workers, I believe that they are also eligible for more training. I wish to ask the Ministry if the training provided for our foreign workers at their countries of origin is sufficient at the current moment. How are the courses conducted and do we do sufficient audits that the workers have adequate understanding of the materials provided to them? I understand that several training centres are already set up in countries, such as India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, to introduce workers to basic construction techniques. Does the Ministry know how successful the scheme has been and how many workers have benefited from this training? Also, how many of them are still in Singapore, working in industries relevant to the training that they had received?
I also wonder if the Ministry conducts aptitude tests for our registered foreign workers here in Singapore, especially those in the construction industry, to see if they have the right fit. These workers are hardworking, I have no doubt about it, but would it not be better if we could ascertain that they are also up to the task, both mentally and physically, as well as technically?
If they are prepared to voice concerns regarding safety at their workplaces, because they are adequately equipped with such information, it would make for a better and safer work environment. However, I am certain that many, in fear of preserving their own rice bowls, may muzzle their comments or feedback in fear of reprisals from their supervisors, managers or employers. If only a worker had voiced concerns about unsafe practices, many industrial accidents and loss of lives could have been prevented. I would like to believe that the recent collapse of the Tampines viaduct could have been prevented if one worker had raised the alarm.
I am suggesting that unsafe workplace practices have been carried out on different worksites, and perhaps with the knowledge of workers. Therefore, the incident learning report, as required under this amendment to the Bill, would be a welcome one. However, I have concerns on this.
I would like to draw attention to the fact that if two teams are working on the findings − one, to draw up an incident learning report and another to determine criminal liability − how would the agencies concerned separate the different findings if they should draw different conclusions? Therefore, I would like to hear the Ministry's views on this.
A higher deterrent, as introduced in the supplementary legislation, raising from $200,000 to $500,000, is a step in the right direction. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, at the Official Opening of the World Congress of Safety and Health at Work on 3 September this year, said that Singapore hopes to reduce the number of incidents at the workplace to less than one worker per 100,000 in 10 years' time. Today, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland have already achieved that target. Singapore's workplace fatality rate currently stands at 1.9 deaths per 100,000 workers. Therefore, we have a lot of catching up to do.
The integration of WSH training standards is laudable. I would be grateful if the Ministry could advise if the transfer of accreditation to SSG is smooth at the current moment and if the numbers are on track. Do the companies meet the requirements as set out by SSG and how many training providers are we looking at, at a steady state?
Mr Speaker, Sir, safety concerns all workers in Singapore. Families want assurances that their loved ones return home safe from work every day. The amendment Bill is a step in the right direction and, while I support the Bill, I would appreciate if the Ministry could address my concerns, as stated in my speech earlier. And while some of the suggestions I have made may lie outside the ambit of this current Bill, I hope that they will be considered under WSH 2028 for future amendments.
Mr Speaker: Minister of State Sam Tan.
Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong: Mr Speaker, on behalf of the Minister for Manpower, let me first thank all the Members who have spoken in support of the Bill. I will now address the specific issues that have been raised.
Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Melvin Yong asked for examples of accidents which will merit a learning report. Mr Patrick Tay was particularly concerned that a learning report may prejudice legal proceedings and Government investigations. Both Mr Patrick Tay and Ms Thanaletchimi felt that a learning report may result in preconceived positions or biases in witnesses and the public. Mr Alex Yam asked if there is any conflict of interest between MOM's criminal investigation and the learning report. I would like to thank all these Members for raising the pertinent points. And now, let me address them specifically.
First, learning reports will not be issued for all workplace accidents, only those where the learning value from early sharing can prevent potential serious accidents in other companies. This means accidents that are complex, where the risks are not well-understood and have the potential for serious harm.
Let me give an example of an actual accident where we would have released a learning report early, if our laws had allowed us to do so. In November 2013, a flash fire occurred in an incineration plant. Three workers suffered burn injuries and the whole plant was razed almost to the ground. Even nearby companies were affected by the fire. It was extremely fortunate that no one had died. The flash fire was caused by the mixing of incompatible chemicals, a process also practised in other companies, but where the risks were not well-understood. Even though we completed our investigation in October 2014, 11 months after the accident, we had to wait a further 16 months before we could share the findings when criminal Court proceedings concluded in February 2016.
During those 16 months, two incidents occurred in other companies that had similar processes. If companies had been more aware of the risks of incompatible chemical mixing, they would have taken preventive measures, by reviewing their testing procedures and installing detection equipment. Fortunately, both were smaller scale incidents that did not result in serious harm, but they could have escalated into major incidents with dire consequences. Therefore, it is essential in the public interest to share the detailed facts and lessons from such incidents as soon as possible, so that others can be more informed and their lives are protected.
Second, as I have stated earlier, the learning report is inadmissible in any civil, criminal, disciplinary, arbitral or work injury compensation proceedings. Learning reports will, therefore, not prejudice such proceedings. This includes disciplinary proceedings in companies, as cited by Mr Patrick Tay. Any company can conduct their own investigation and take disciplinary actions according to their own findings. However, any worker who considers that he has been unfairly dismissed can appeal to MOM.
Sir, there is no conflict between MOM preparing a learning report and conducting a criminal investigation, as they have different goals and objectives. Learning reports explain what factors caused the accident, such as incompatible chemical mixing. They do not pinpoint who was at fault or assign liability to the parties involved.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked on the admissibility of the learning report in inquiries under the WSH Act and the Inquiries Act or the Coroners Act. I think these are important questions.
For inquiries under the WSH Act and the Inquiries Act, separate learning reports will not be needed in those circumstances as the full and official inquiries would have been conducted by the Inquiry Committees. For inquiries under the Coroners Act, they are only to determine the cause of death or the identity of the deceased. Under the Coroners Act, the inquiry shall not determine any question of criminal, civil or disciplinary liability. In any case, any learning report admitted into evidence in a Coroner's Inquiry will not be admissible in any subsequent criminal proceedings.
Mr Patrick Tay asked how learning reports will be disseminated, and Mr Melvin Yong suggested to share only with relevant industry players, as such releases may negatively affect businesses. We will assess the extent of sharing for each learning report on a case-by-case basis. Where the report is relevant only for a particular group of companies, such as if the risks are due to specialised processes found only in these companies, we will share the report with the specific companies concerned. Where the report can improve safety and health in many companies, we will share the report on the WSHC website for the wider public interest.
We believe the sharing of learning reports will help prevent further accidents. Any major accident will have implications on companies' reputation. Weighing reputational cost against the cost of human lives, I think all of us will agree that the top priority must be to save lives. Sharing learning reports should, therefore, outweigh other considerations. So, for companies, the best way to avoid reputational damage is to be serious in taking the necessary WSH measures to prevent accidents.
Ms Thanaletchimi and Mr Alex Yam asked if the increased penalty of fines of $50,000 sufficiently deters the loss of lives, while Mr Desmond Choo asked about the treatment of errant companies for public tenders. I would like to clarify that when companies commit offences that result in death, we will usually prosecute under the WSH Act, where the maximum fine is $500,000, or $1 million for a repeat offence. The increased penalty of $50,000 is for offences committed under SL, typically when no harm has occurred yet.
Other than penalties under the WSH Act, errant companies can be placed into the Business Under Surveillance (BUS) programme, and are subjected to the Demerit Points System which restricts their access to foreign manpower. Public agencies already take into account bidders' safety record, such as demerit points and BUS programme, in their procurement assessment. From January 2018, the non-price weightage in the Price-Quality Tender Evaluation Method, which includes safety performance, will be raised from around 30% currently, to between 40% and 60%, for building construction projects valued at $3 million or more.
Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Melvin Yong asked what offences under SL would be prescribed the increased $50,000 maximum fine. Mr Louis Ng asked if this will include offences leading to occupational diseases. The $50,000 maximum fine will apply to breaches that could reasonably cause or result in death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence. In addition to the offences cited earlier, they would include failure to provide personal protective equipment for hazardous work, failure to implement a WSH management system or plans for safe work environment and procedures, failure to inspect critical equipment, such as cranes, scaffolds and formwork, as well as not ensuring workers have the necessary training for their role. Offences that may result in occupational diseases, such as failure to effectively enclose asbestos work areas, or failure to take measures to protect workers from toxic dust, fumes or other contaminants will also be included.
Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Alex Yam asked for an update on the migration of WSH training providers' accreditation to SSG. So far, 23 of the 56 WSH courses have been successfully migrated to the WSQ Framework. Of the Approved Training Providers (ATPs) initially providing the 23 courses, 62%, or 41 of them, were successfully appointed under the WSQ Framework for WSH courses. Unsuccessful ATPs can still participate in future accreditation exercises, where appropriate, for the remaining 33 WSH courses. So, those unsuccessful ATPs can still try to meet the criteria set by SSG on these remaining 33 courses. We encourage them to review their operations and delivery capabilities for the courses to meet SSG's accreditation framework.
There was no disruption to training capacity due to the migration. SSG considers the ability of WSQ-accredited training providers to meet industry demand in the accreditation process. SSG will work with training providers to ramp up training capacity if needed. There was also no increase in WSH course fees to businesses.
Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Melvin Yong asked how the quality of WSH curriculum and training content will be maintained under SSG, with MOM being the subject matter experts on WSH. Mr Patrick Tay also suggested that curriculum development should be done through close engagements with the industry associations and practitioners, unions and workers. I agree with their views and I am happy to report that this is, indeed, the approach taken for developing the WSH curriculum and its contents.
MOM and WSHC, where the tripartite partners are represented, will continue to be closely involved in the WSH training curriculum. As the national authority on WSH, MOM is partnering SSG in developing and incorporating updated WSH skills into the Skills Frameworks of relevant industries.
Mr Patrick Tay recommended that training providers leverage technology to ensure greater accessibility to training, such as virtual reality, to enable learning in a safe yet realistic environment. Under SSG, training providers are encouraged to use innovative training approaches through technology.
Mr Alex Yam asked if training centres set up in source countries sufficiently introduce foreign workers to basic construction techniques and also enquired on the retention rate for trained construction workers. Since 2005, it has been mandatory for foreign construction workers to be trained at Overseas Testing Centres and to pass a basic skills evaluation test conducted by Building and Construction Authority (BCA) officers before they can start working in Singapore. The testing by BCA allows only those workers who have been trained sufficiently, through demonstrating trade knowledge and practical craft-skills, to join our construction industry. Retention rate has also been improving, with about 85% of all foreign construction workers having at least two years' experience as of June 2017, compared to 75% as of June 2015.
Mr Alex Yam further asked if MOM conducts aptitude tests for construction workers. MOM complements the overseas testing by BCA with mandatory safety orientation training for all construction workers in Singapore. The two-day mandatory Construction Safety Orientation Course (CSOC) equips workers with the relevant safety competencies and safety mindset to perform their duties and roles.
Mr Melvin Yong expressed caution about the additional costs of all these amendments for businesses. For companies already complying with the existing WSH requirements, there should not be any additional costs incurred. However, and also rightfully so, these changes should spur errant companies to be more serious in their WSH efforts. Every workplace accident exacts costs not only on the employer but also, importantly, on the workers and their families, a point that had been reiterated by quite a number of Members. Measures to create safe and healthy workplaces go beyond monetary costs. It is about ensuring that everyone is able to return home from work safe and healthy every day. I think this is the basic right of every worker.
Mr Louis Ng raised various issues outside the scope of the Bill amendment. Nonetheless, I will address them as these touch on other provisions in the WSH Act. The vast majority of MOM's safety inspections are surprise inspections. More than 90% are surprise inspections. For cases where we give early notice, it is to encourage self-rectification. In such cases, we do not provide the exact date and time. And even after the first inspection, we will follow up with surprise inspections to check that WSH practices are sustained by the company management and workers. Our WSH inspectors do check on plans to manage workers' fatigue as well as on working hour violations.
Employers are responsible for providing safety equipment and training and for ensuring workers understand machinery operating instructions. It is illegal under the WSH Act for employers to deduct safety equipment and training costs from their workers' salaries. It is illegal under our Act. During MOM's inspections, we also ask workers to surface any salary deductions, including for the provision of safety equipment. It is part of our inspection procedures and regime to check if workers understand operating instructions.
Protection for whistleblowing is something both Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Louis Ng touched on. It is an offence under the WSH Act to dismiss or threaten to dismiss whistleblowers. Workers who face threats of unfair dismissal should approach MOM as soon as possible.
We agree with Mr Louis Ng in partnering responsible civil society organisations to protect workers' welfare. Civil society organisations can help to protect our workers by immediately reporting any cases of concern they have come across to MOM directly so that we can investigate and take companies to task if warranted.
Members have also raised other important issues, such as incentives for good WSH performance, greater focus on occupational diseases, workplace health and psychosocial issues, reporting by doctors, and introducing the use of more technology for WSH. WSHC already holds annual WSH awards to recognise companies and individuals with good WSH performance. We will consider if further incentives are needed to spur better WSH attainment.
The total WSH (TWSH) movement initiated in 2014 has strengthened efforts to integrate safety with workplace health management, including occupational diseases and the psychosocial risk of workplace harassment. We have WSH Guidelines on Diagnosis and Management of Occupational Diseases. The tripartite partners will continue to work closely together to share learning and increase the awareness of occupational diseases in workplaces. MOM has also issued a Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment in 2015 which serves as a practical guide for employers on how to prevent workplace harassment, and for employees on where to seek help.
Under the WSH Act, it is already the duty of every employer to take, as far as is reasonably practicable, measures necessary not just to ensure the safety, but also the health of workers.
For reporting, doctors can already submit an incident report directly to MOM online or in person. However, I would like to emphasise that the primary responsibility to report accidents should rightfully rest with the employer. We should not lessen this responsibility on the part of the employer.
Technology, indeed, can be an enabler to improve WSH. We have, for example, mandated the installation of data loggers in mobile cranes, and this is supported by up to $5,000 funding per crane from MOM, which has improved mobile crane safety. We have recently launched the inaugural WSH Technology Challenge with up to $2 million in Government support to invite solutions from companies to improve work-related vehicular safety. We will use more of such platforms to drive technology adoption to improve industry WSH practices.
Many of the Members' suggestions and ideas are excellent and will be discussed further with the tripartite and industry partners in the formulation of our WSH 2028 strategic plan. We believe that such close collaboration will enable us to reach our common goal of making all workplaces safer and healthier. For those Members where your points are not addressed today, rest assured that MOM will consider your ideas in our formulation of the WSH 2028 plan.
Once again, I thank Members of the House for their support of this Bill which will strengthen the culture of prevention in our workplaces.
Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Minister for Manpower, I hope that I have addressed Members' questions and suggestions. With your permission, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong.] (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
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The Second Minister for Home Affairs (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time\".
The Massage Establishments Act regulates massage establishments, by licensing the operators and imposing conditions on their activities. The aim is to prevent massage establishments from being used for vice activities or causing law and order problems.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has reviewed the massage establishment regulatory regime to ensure that it remains effective in the changing landscape. Under the enhanced regime, we will take tougher action against unlicensed massage establishments.
There is a clear case for action. Between 2013 and 2016, there was a 40% increase in the number of unlicensed massage establishments detected by the Police. Many of these were not, in fact, massage establishments but fronts for vice activities, the proverbial \"wolf in sheep’s clothing\" or what in Chinese we refer to as \"挂羊头卖狗肉\".
For licensed massage establishments, we will take a more calibrated approach. Today, we have about 1,200 licensed massage establishments that are sited both within residential and non-residential areas. About 300, or one quarter, are found in Housing and Development Board (HDB) housing estates. They include reputable massage establishments that have been operating for a long time.
The evidence is that there is a clear difference between licensed and unlicensed massage establishments. In 2016, Police enforcement found less than 3% of licensed massage establishments to have vice-related infringements. This is significantly lower than the 40% of unlicensed massage establishments with vice-related offences.
Even as we tighten the regulations on higher-risk activities and take stricter and more punitive action against errant operators, there is room to lighten the regulatory burden for the vast majority of low-risk and compliant operators who are meeting a genuine demand for massage services. This differentiated approach will also allow the Police to focus its resources accordingly.
Given the substantial amendments to the Massage Establishments Act, MHA will repeal the existing Act and re-enact it. All existing licences granted under the current Act will continue to be in force, but they will be treated as granted under the new Act, and subject to the new regulatory regime.
I will first explain the provisions to strengthen the Police’s levers against unlicensed massage establishments. We will use a combination of measures to more effectively deter and penalise those who are involved in unlicensed massage establishment operations.
Today, the penalty for unlicensed massage establishment operations is a maximum fine of $1,000. This is grossly insufficient compared to the profits that unlicensed massage establishments can make, especially by engaging in vice activities.
Clause 5 of the Bill increases the penalty for operating unlicensed massage establishments to a maximum fine of $10,000 or two years’ imprisonment or both. For repeat offenders, the punishment will increase to a maximum fine of $20,000 or five years’ imprisonment or both. The significantly higher fines and the inclusion of imprisonment as a punishment will be a stronger deterrent. If the unlicensed massage establishment also engages in vice activities, the operator can be liable for additional vice-related offences under the Women’s Charter. The enhanced penalties will ensure that unlicensed massage establishment operators face serious consequences upon conviction.
However, Court proceedings take time, especially if the unlicensed operator claims trial. There have been cases of unlicensed operators blatantly continuing to operate even after being charged in Court, due to the lucrativeness of their illegal activities. To address such behaviour, clause 19 will empower the Commissioner of Police to issue a premises closure order. This power will be used if the Police have reasonable grounds to suspect that despite ongoing criminal proceedings, the operator continues to operate the unlicensed massage establishment.
The premises closure order will require the unlicensed massage establishment premises to be vacated within a specified time and physically secured thereafter. If the order is not complied with, the Police is empowered to take necessary steps, or use reasonable force, to enforce the closure of the premises. Under clauses 20 and 21, any person who breaks the lock or enters the premises without prior permission from the Police will be deemed to have breached the order. This person could face a maximum fine of $15,000 or three years' imprisonment or both.
The premises closure order is intended to only prevent the continued operation of illegal activities and will not penalise usage of the premises for legitimate businesses. Clause 19, therefore, sets out the circumstances under which the order will be lifted. In addition, under clause 22, the accused may appeal to the Minister against the Commissioner's premises closure order, but the order will remain in force during the appeal process.
The Bill will also deal with the upstream problem of irresponsible landlords who knowingly lease their premises to unlicensed massage establishment operators. We will require landlords to evict tenants who have been convicted of unlicensed massage establishment operations and provide them with early notice. The Police will notify the landlord when their tenant is charged in Court for operating an unlicensed massage establishment. This is a legal requirement under clause 28. Landlords will, therefore, have no reason to be unaware of their tenants’ illegal activities.
After the tenant has been convicted of operating an unlicensed massage establishment, under clause 29, the landlord must require the tenant to hand over possession of the premises within a month. There is typically some time between the tenant being charged in Court and conviction. As such, the early notification under clause 28 will give landlords sufficient lead time to make the necessary preparations.
We recognise that some tenants could be difficult to deal with and may not leave despite the landlord’s request. In these cases, the landlord is expected to take the following steps to discharge his obligations under the Bill.
If the tenant refuses to hand over possession of the premises within a month, the landlord is empowered under clause 29 to terminate the lease or tenancy without being liable for breach of agreement with the occupier. Thereafter, if the tenant still refuses to move out, the landlord should apply to the Magistrate’s Court for a summary order for the delivery of possession of the premises. There will be penal consequences for the tenant if he refuses to vacate the premises.
If the landlord has taken these steps, he will have fulfilled his obligations and no action will be taken against him. Otherwise, the Police will take action against the landlord for the offence of allowing his premises to be used for operating an unlicensed massage establishment under clause 5. This offence carries the same penalties as the offence of operating an unlicensed massage establishment.
The second set of amendments will refocus the regulatory regime on higher-risk activities and reduce the regulatory costs on low-risk activities and compliant massage establishments. At the same time, we will enhance levers and powers available to the Police to deal with the errant massage establishment licensees.
The current definition of \"massage or special treatment\" under the Massage Establishments Act includes manicure, light treatment for hair removal, fish spas and baby spas. Such activities do not pose the same law and order concerns as traditional massage establishments offering body massages in private rooms.
MHA will amend the definition of \"massage\" so that these activities no longer require a licence. This will reduce the regulatory costs for such businesses. However, if any person provides massage services under the guise of such low-risk activities, they will face the increased penalties for unlicensed massage establishment operators.
We will also introduce a suite of measures to keep unsuitable persons out of the massage industry. Under the current regime, the Licensing Officer assesses the fitness and propriety of an applicant or licensee when deciding whether to issue or revoke a licence.
Under clauses 7 and 12, MHA will expand this assessment to include other \"relevant persons\", besides the applicant or licensee, who can influence the decisions of the business. These \"relevant persons\" include the \"responsible officers\" of the business entity as defined in clause 2, and all persons with substantial interest in, or have control or direction over, the business.
If the applicant, licensee or \"relevant persons\" are not fit and proper, the Licensing Officer can refuse to issue a massage establishment licence and revoke an existing one. This will reduce the risk of massage establishments being started or operated by persons who are unfit or improper but are hiding behind a veil of propriety. The Police will publish the criteria and requirements for applicants, licensees and \"relevant persons\" on their website at a later date.
Under clause 11, the Licensing Officer can immediately suspend a massage establishment licence when the licensee or a \"relevant person\" has been charged in Court for serious offences that will be specified in the schedule of the Act. Examples of these serious offences include vice-related offences under the Women’s Charter, as well as offences relating to trafficking-in-persons and organised crime. This allows the Police to take immediate action to prevent the licensee from using the massage establishment premises for such serious crimes, without having to wait for the potentially lengthy Court proceedings to be concluded. Under clause 12, when the licensee or \"relevant person\" is subsequently convicted of the scheduled serious offences, the Licensing Officer will then proceed to revoke the massage establishment licence.
The licensee is also required to seek the Licensing Officer's approval before hiring an employee. Not doing so will be an offence under clause 13. Employees who are not fit and proper will not be allowed to work in a massage establishment. The fit and proper criteria for massage establishment employees will be set out in the subsidiary legislation at a later stage. For example, if any employee has any involvement with vice activities, or has been convicted of serious offences, such as outrage of modesty, he or she will not be allowed to work in the massage establishment. The licensee or employee may appeal to the Minister against the Licensing Officer’s decision, but the decision will remain in force pending the outcome of the appeal.
We have also enhanced the Police’s powers to take swift and effective action against errant licensees. Clause 10 creates a new provision to allow the Licensing Officer to modify licence conditions, in order to intervene promptly against problems and disamenities associated with massage establishments. For example, if a licensed massage establishment poses law and order problems, the Licensing Officer may decide to curtail its operating hours for the remaining duration of its licence term. Clause 10 prescribes the process for modifying licence conditions, which is straightforward and I will not go into here.
The Police have encountered cases where massage establishments lock their doors to obstruct or delay enforcement. Clause 24 empowers Licensing Officers and Police Officers to enter massage establishment premises using necessary force and without a warrant, if there is reasonable suspicion that offences under the Act are being, or have been, committed within.
Clause 4 of the Bill allows the Licensing Officer to appoint suitably-trained individuals, such as Auxiliary Police Officers or retired Police Officers, as \"authorised persons\". This will provide the Police with deployment flexibility and allow them to conduct more frequent checks.
Authorised persons will be empowered under clause 23 to enter and inspect massage establishment premises. Under clause 26, authorised persons can request for records, accounts and other information relating to the massage establishment for purposes of compliance checks. Authorised persons, however, will not be given the more specialised powers that the Licensing Officer and Police Officers have, for example, powers of investigation and the new power of forced entry.
Clause 30 protects Licensing Officers, Police Officers and authorised persons from personal liability, as long as they have acted in good faith and executed their duties with reasonable care.
Finally, we will also increase the penalties for regulatory breaches, so as to deter and penalise errant licensed operators. The penalty today for all regulatory breaches is a maximum fine of $1,000. We will increase the penalty for regulatory breaches to a maximum fine of $5,000 for first-time offenders. Repeat offenders will face a maximum fine of $10,000 or two years’ imprisonment or both.
As part of the review, MHA consulted the Spa Association Singapore, the Spa and Wellness Association of Singapore and the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore on the proposed amendments. The industry associations and their members are supportive of the proposals under the Bill. The Bill allows tougher action to be taken against unlicensed operators and errant licensees, who damage the image of the massage industry. Mr Speaker, please allow me to conclude my speech in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, the Massage Establishments Bill will enable the Police to take tougher enforcement actions against errant massage establishment operators while reducing the regulatory burden for compliant operators.
I mentioned earlier that between 2013 and 2016, there was a 40% increase in the number of unlicensed massage establishments. Many of these are, in fact, not massage establishments but fronts for vice activities, the so-called \"wolf in sheep's clothing\". The Bill will provide the Police with more levers to tackle these unlicensed massage establishments in several areas.
Firstly, the Bill will mete out stiffer penalties for unlicensed massage establishments. Secondly, should the operator continue to operate without a licence even after being charged in Court, the Police can issue a premises closure order. Thirdly, for landlords who knowingly rent out their premises to unlicensed massage establishments, the Police will hold them accountable.
Past cases have shown that licensed massage establishments have a lower tendency for vice activities. The Bill will focus on regulating higher-risk massage activities and introduce several new measures. For example, to ensure that licensed massage establishments are operated by a suitable person, the Police will not only assess the fitness and propriety of the applicant or licensee, but also other relevant persons who are in a position to influence the operation of the massage establishment.
The proposed amendments will strengthen MHA's regulatory framework for massage establishments. Mr Speaker, I recommend we pass this Bill.
(In English): Mr Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Speaker: Mr Christopher de Souza.
Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Mr Speaker, Sir, this Bill is a welcome addition to the laws we have against vice in Singapore and is timely, needed.
While massage establishments can provide valuable health-enhancing services, we cannot shy away from the fact that many have been used as a facade for carrying out vice-related enterprise.
The media have covered this: 19 June 2016, the New Paper reported, \"Dhoby Ghaut Spa Almost like a Brothel\"; 8 June 2017, Asiaone reported, \"Police Raid Five Massage Parlours for Illicit Activities\"; 29 August 2017, The Straits Times reported, \"79 People Arrested for Offering Sexual Services at Massage Parlours, Gambling and Working without Permits\".
The higher regulation embedded in this Bill is needed to target the recalcitrant massage establishments. By taking a less regulated approach to businesses offering manicures, pedicures and the like, the Police are now able to productively deploy and focus resources to clamp down on parlours which are mere shopfronts for vice activities. I hope this law will encourage the Police to prioritise their anti-vice raids on suspicious parlours within residential areas. I have had a complaint of a suspicious parlour along Bukit Timah Road within the constituency I serve, close to schools and homes. As the Police prioritises their anti-vice raids, I would hope officers will first focus on rooting out vice activities near residential areas. Allow me, Mr Speaker, Sir, to speak of certain aspects of this Bill.
This Bill gives the extra teeth necessary to ensure that vice activities can be clamped down swiftly and effectively. How? Firstly, the punishment for operating an unlicensed massage establishment has been increased. It is not just a fine, but there is also a possibility of imprisonment of up to two years. Or even if it were just a fine meted out by the Court, the upper range has been extended from $1,000 to $10,000, or a tenfold increase. If a person re-offends in the same manner, he or she can face a heavier punishment.
Second, the Police Commissioner may issue a premises closure order. Under this order, it is no longer up to the person being charged to decide whether or not unlicensed activities are going on at the massage establishment. The premises can be locked up, secured and disused.
Thirdly, this Bill adds a duty on owners or occupiers to ensure that a person deliver up the premises within one month after conviction of certain offences. Through enhanced punishment, a premises closure order and the determination of a lease, this Bill ensures that massage establishments are robustly regulated.
Allow me, Mr Speaker, a clarification. I note that there has been a change of rule-making power conferred by this Bill. Under section 13(2b) of the current Massage Establishment Act, the Minister could make rules concerning \"the standards of hygiene to be observed in establishments for massage\". This does not appear under clause 35 of this current Bill before the House. The general clause for rule-making, which is clause 35(1), would probably not extend to hygiene since the only other health-related provision is that of clause 35(2c), a prohibition against employing a person who has not \"undergone and passed a medical health screening if required to do so by a licensing officer\". As such, would the Minister kindly clarify how the hygiene of massage services is regulated?
In conclusion, Mr Speaker, we cannot allow massage establishments to be a vehicle to proliferate vice, and certainly not in our residential areas. Therefore, I stand in strong support of this Massage Establishment Bill.
Mr Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.
Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Speaker, the problem of vice establishments using \"massage service\" as a mask to hide their activities has been prevalent for a long time. As the Minister has shared, since 2013, there has been about a 40% increase in unlicensed massage establishments in Singapore. The operating terrain also made enforcement difficult.
It is timely to strengthen our laws and regulations to protect genuine massage establishments and penalise those that use this as a cover for vice activities. One important change is the increase in fines from $1,000 to $10,000 for businesses that offer vice-related services, as well as including the possibility of a jail term of up to two years. This sends the correct signal that we are serious in tackling this problem. We also need to go further to weed out all parties that are responsible for letting such businesses thrive. We need to establish stricter rules on landlords, especially those operating within the heartlands.
Besides the guise of massage establishments, there are news reports of those using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) centres as a guise for sexual offences. Sir, we must guard against having such businesses operating in our heartlands as it could cause security and social problems. Can MHA consider working with the merchant associations to strengthen our intelligence collection against such illegal establishments? What other mechanisms are there in place for HDB to obtain feedback on establishments that flout the rules?
Currently, only massage establishments in the Massage Establishment (ME) Category 1 or those in the Exempted ME category are allowed to operate in residential areas. These are businesses which have CaseTrust accreditation, a capital investment of at least $50,000 and are seen as low risk in providing vice-related activities as they are usually reflexology centres or physiotherapy centres. May I ask the Minister how many of these Category 1 businesses have been found to have flouted the rules due to having vice-related activities on their premises, or for not following regulations, such as having clear windows where all activities can be seen from outside of the shop? Is there a debarment period before these people could operate similar businesses again?
Perhaps it might be useful to limit their operating hours as some of them operate even till midnight. Does the Ministry have any plans to revise these requirements and make it even stricter for massage establishments that want to operate in HDB heartlands?
Sir, while this Bill enhances the responsibilities of the premises owner or landlord for the activities that take place, it could go further and take on a stricter stance to reflect the great responsibility that the landlord has on this matter. With regard to Part 6 clause 28, it seems to suggest that the premises owner is liable only if he or she knows that the place is being used as a massage establishment without a licence. Does this liability extend to sexual and other vice activities done at the premises, which is a breach of the licensing conditions? Does the Ministry have enhanced levels of punishment for multiple infractions? Can we consider the forfeiture of tenancy, especially if it is a commercial space in an HDB estate? Landlords who take “reasonable steps” to evict the operator within a month will not be penalised, while those who do not do so face a fine of $10,000 or imprisonment of up to two years. Could some kind of penalty be imposed on the landlords who repeatedly have such establishments operating on their premises, but still evict and take reasonable steps to evict the operator within a month?
Finally, I would like to know if there are any guidelines on advertising for these types of services in the heartlands. Could restrictions be placed on advertisements of massage establishments in the heartlands?
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair]
Sir, this Bill is as much about weeding out illegal massage establishment as supporting the genuine ones in developing their industry. All stakeholders need to play their role, especially landlords, who cannot adopt a rent-and-forget approach anymore. This Bill sets it in the right direction. I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Foo Mee Har.
Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Massage Establishments Bill. It is timely that a robust set of licensing rules is enacted, given the rapid growth of the massage industry. I support the increase in penalties for unlicensed massage establishments, strengthening of the Police’s levers to take firm actions, whilst taking a calibrated approach to reducing the regulatory burden for low-risk activities.
The proliferation of massage outlets in our HDB and residential estates is of significant concern for many residents. For example, one can spot five massage establishments in a row at just one block in an HDB neighbourhood. Quite a common sight.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Police licensing regime should regulate the growth of such massage establishments operating in housing estates. I urge the Minister of State to consider limiting the number of massage establishments, how many can be set up within a particular trade radius, really limit it, do not let so many operate. I really cannot see the basis for such concentration of massage establishments in our HDB estates.
Residents are concerned that such outlets can be used as fronts for illicit vice activities, resulting in law and order and social problems. There have also been complaints about the suitability of advertising materials featuring half-naked women displayed prominently on shop fronts, which operate 24 hours a day. Many outlets make misleading claims about the efficacy of their massage treatments, with the \"menu of services\" offering lymphoma detox, kidney-care treatment, ovary-care treatment and so on.
Some go on to promote \"special services\". For example, one spa promotes their \"Royal Prostate Package\", offering customers two hours of \"Prostate Care therapy\". The advertisement boasts “comfortable and serene environment, exquisite and professional technique will bring your health to new heights”. It also adds: “Let our young, pretty and experienced masseuses bring back your energy, vitality and loosen up your pressure!!” I think that doctors in this House may agree that the implied service is probably not to treat urological disorders.
I would like to ask that massage establishments be subject to an advertising code of practice that prohibit claims of services that cannot be substantiated and disallow the suggested offer of seductive services. Massage establishments should follow clearly prescribed guidelines on the use of suitable promotional images and messages. This is especially important where the outlets are located near schools and in residential areas. Therapists should not be scantily clad when working, but instead be clothed in proper attire, including uniforms, in order to promote a healthy image for the industry.
The Government should also consider banning hard-sell tactics and touting of massage services outside massage establishments. Passers-by should not be harassed by such practices, especially in busy HDB town centres and tourist sites.
I would also like to ask the Minister what is the rationale for allowing massage establishments to operate 24 hours a day. I recognise that some individuals may like a massage as a stress-reliever after a long day at work, but round-the-clock operating hours may bring disamenities to the local community and temptations for illicit activities in the quiet of the night. I urge the Minister to consider limiting the operating hours to more reasonable timings, especially if the massage establishments are in housing estates.
Given the risk of massage establishments being used as fronts for vice activities, which often involve foreign therapists, I would like to ask the authorities to carefully calibrate the fit and proper criteria for granting approval for massage establishment employees. To ensure transparency of such licensing, all approved employees should be issued with an identification (ID) or certificate that should be prominently displayed at the outlet. This will help identify \"approved\" employees more easily and help prevent unlicensed masseuses from working illegally.
For approval to be granted, employees must meet minimum qualifications for the services they are licensed to provide, including passing a therapist code of conduct that clearly spells out the \"dos\" and \"don'ts\" with clients and the penalties for breaches.
Mr Deputy Speaker, it is well and good that the latest set of amendments strengthens the Police’s levers to take unlicensed massage establishments to task. However, this will only be effective through determined enforcement of the new powers. So, I urge the authorities to take decisive action to eradicate unlawful activities. Robust enforcement plans must be put in place to deal with the alarming increase of 40% in the number of unlicensed massage establishments, as mentioned in the Minister's speech.
Mr Deputy Speaker, whilst the Bill increases scrutiny for \"higher risk activities\", such as massage parlours, it should concurrently keep an eye on \"low-risk activities\" that will receive a lighter touch from the regulations. The authorities should monitor these low-risk outlets and ensure that the vice operations are not simply conducted under a different banner.
Sir, I believe with the appropriate set of regulations and enforcement actions, vice activities that hide behind massage establishments can be eradicated. The industry can be repositioned with a more positive image and realise their potential to provide good and meaningful jobs for Singaporeans, including the visually handicapped. I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Joan Pereira.
Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, it is necessary to increase the penalty for illegal massage establishment operators. According to reports from MHA, the number of unlicensed massage establishments increased by 40% from 2013 to 2016, and most of them were involved in vice activities. The current penalty of less than $1,000 is, indeed, too low.
Although the penalty will be increased to a maximum fine of $10,000 or imprisonment of two years or both, with fines for repeat offenders increasing to $20,000 or imprisonment of five years or both, I still think the penalty is not enough to deter the illegal operators, as their profits far exceed the fines.
Hence, I suggest that besides the penalties, the amount of fines be commensurate with the size and duration of the operation, meaning that with more staff and customers involved and longer period of operation, the fines should increase in tandem.
I also urge the Minister to disallow those operators to register any beauty or wellness businesses, and forbid foreigners who have been proven to be involved in vice activities to enter Singapore. We must strengthen our control and supervision because these beauty or wellness establishments can easily be converted into places for illegal activities. They are often involved in various criminal activities and become the centre for spreading venereal diseases and other diseases, threatening our social security and national health.
There are many shops providing beauty and wellness services and the Police cannot conduct frequent checks on all of them. Strict registration rules can help weed out suspicious operators from the beauty and wellness industries and it is a preventive and deterrent measure.
Another thorny issue is that there are more and more illegal massage groups operating in residential areas. Both HDB and the private estates are facing the same challenge. Recently, the Police have successfully raided illegal massage parlours and brothels. The operators, hence, turn to HDB flats and the private condominiums to continue with their illegal activities. I would like to know how the Minister is going to tackle this trend. Sir, in English.
(In English): The heart of the problem is really vice and related illegal activities. I am in favour of the heavier penalties which are overdue. Measures, such as closing unlicensed premises during criminal proceedings and penalising landlords who knowingly continue to lease their properties, are well and good.
My concern is: how do we deal with the operators who move into residential areas? I have been receiving complaints from a number of my residents who had complained to me about this recurring problem in their estates.
Many of such workers enter Singapore as visitors. How do we nab the illegal workers who may not have gone for the necessary health checks? The proposed penalties are on the establishments but not so much on the illegal workers who are high-risk carriers of sexually transmitted diseases. I do realise that to remain a dynamic and vibrant city, we have to maintain open borders. However, we must also devise strategies to deter and keep out undesirable visitors. I look forward to hearing the deterrent measures the Ministry has in place. I conclude with my support for the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which will allow the Police to take tougher actions against unlicensed massage establishments being used as fronts for vice activities, while reducing the burden for compliant establishments. However, I would like to seek some clarifications.
First, I welcome the move to reduce the regulatory burden for low-risk massage activities, such as manicure and pedicure salons, by exempting them from requiring a licence to operate. However, to adapt from the well-known Police advisory – low-risk does not mean no risk. During my time in the Police Force, I have seen hair salons, manicure salons and other supposedly \"low-risk\" establishments being used as a cover for vice activities. So, I would like to ask: how does the Ministry plan to prevent such allegedly low-risk outlets from engaging in vice once they are exempted from licensing?
Next, I welcome the measures for harsher penalties to be extended to landlords who knowingly lease their properties to unlicensed operators. It is important that landlords play their part in ensuring the activities that are being carried out on their premises are legitimate. However, some landlords are concerned. They want to know how would the authorities determine whether landlords knowingly or unknowingly lease their properties to tenants who engage in vice activities. Can the Ministry clarify on the investigation process and explain the parameters that would determine the landlord's culpability?
There is also the perennial issue of the tenants – the licence applicants being set up as the fall guy. How does the Ministry intend to deal with the same mastermind who works behind the scenes, operating various unlawful massage establishments under the guise of different applicants?
I would like to urge the Ministry to consider imposing a sanction on premises that have been used for vice-related activities. The authorities should bar any massage establishment licences from being granted to the same premises, until at least a year after the conviction. And if it was a case of a low-risk massage establishment being used as a front for vice activities, the authorities should consider making it necessary for any subsequent similar outlets to require a licence before operating from the same premises. This would help to deter the same undesirable activities from taking place in the premises and prevent a vice hotspot from taking root.
Mr Deputy Speaker, as the Member of Parliament (MP) of a constituency with many private estates, I have seen first-hand how such massage establishments and other public entertainment outlets located within mixed-use developments can cause much distress to the residents. Such outlets, as some of my other Parliamentary colleagues have said, are usually a magnet for vice activities and attract various unsavoury characters. This can cause much unhappiness and threatens the social compact between residents and tenants. Worst still, in a Strata Title, there is not much that can be done to deter a defiant landlord.
I would, therefore, like to urge the Ministry to minimise the number of massage establishments in mixed-use developments. I hope the authorities can consider the impact on residents before granting such operating licences. I would also like to propose a strict quota on such massage establishments, especially those that operate 24 hours within a defined locality, particularly within a residential zone.
Next, I would like to touch on the importance of uplifting the negative perception of the massage industry. Would the Ministry consider working with the relevant agencies to provide Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training for all masseuses, and consider professional certification to be a mandatory aspect in the application for a massage establishment licence? Professional certification would certainly help to ensure that those working in the industry are well-trained, and this will help in uplifting the industry's image. In addition, stiffer advertising guidelines should also be implemented for massage establishments, such as on social media channels, where we can easily find advertisements for massage services which carry suggestive messages and accompanied by pictures of improperly clothed ladies.
Under the provisions in the Bill, licensed massage establishments with good track records will be given a longer licence period. Can the Ministry give a clearer definition of what constitutes a good track record? Perhaps, the Ministry can explore including professional certification of masseuses as part of what a good track record should be. With that, Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Massage Establishments Bill.
I would like to touch on three main points. Firstly, the Bill has spelt out and detailed the actions and penalties against offenders, including the owners of those properties used as massage establishments. What about the so-called masseuses who provide non-massage services? I would like to seek a clarification from the Minister what action will be taken against that in the context of this new Bill.
The new Bill states that landlords of unlicensed massage establishments should evict the operator. Landlords who take \"reasonable steps to do so will not be penalised\", states the Bill. Could the Second Minister elaborate on the term \"reasonable steps\" and what it will constitute? During the course of investigations, massage establishments could also be closed till the end of Court proceedings under clause 19. This is a welcome move but I would like to further urge the Minister to take one step further to confiscate properties used for vice activities if the landlord is found complicit in the activities at the conclusion of the investigation. Only then would we be able to send a strong signal to owners and operators of such illicit massage establishments that their activities are not tolerated.
Also, making a distinction between massage establishments and low-risk activity centres, like nail salons and hair removal centres, is noteworthy and removes the requirement for licensing for low-risk massage establishments. However, I wish to seek clarification from the Second Minister with regard to TCM clinics offering therapeutic massage, whether they are also similarly covered under the Bill. I have seen a proliferation of reported TCM establishments operating as tui-na or massage centres, some with rather dubious operators. As such TCM clinics are not registered with the Ministry of Health, is this a potential loophole for such operators?
Also, there are many such massage establishments in plain sight. In fact, many are advertising openly in tabloids online and many are still operating, despite this open knowledge. I, therefore, hope that with this renewed Bill, there will be greater impetus to shut down such shady establishments.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Murali Pillai.
Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Massage Establishments Bill.
This Bill introduces provisions for closer control of massage establishments. This will have a greater deterrent effect on those who operate massage establishments as fronts for prostitution, vice and other illegal activities. The approach taken in this Bill mirrors the changes made to the Public Entertainment Act in May this year. These objectives deserve our support. I take this opportunity to comment on and seek clarifications on four areas of the Bill.
First, I seek clarification on the ambit of the matters that the licensing officer may take into account to decide whether or not to grant the licence under clause 7 of the Bill. One specific issue that has arisen in my constituency is the concentration of massage establishments within a relatively small area, a point that the hon Members Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Melvin Yong made as well.
In Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency, over the past year, there are 14 massage establishments, three of which are 24-hour spas. All of these establishments are in close proximity to residential areas.
In the past year, there were four applications to open new massage parlours. One 24-hour spa has since closed due to Police enforcement action. My residents are appreciative of the close monitoring enforcement on these establishments by the Police. However, they are naturally concerned that there should not be a proliferation of such establishments as there is the potential for the character of their neighbourhood to change. The Planning Act provisions referred to in clause 7(3)(d) and (e) of the Bill are not necessarily engaged as these establishments operate from HDB shophouses.
I would be grateful if the Minister could please confirm that the licensing officer would be able to take into account factors, such as the character of the neighbourhood and concentration of existing massage establishments under clause 7(7) of the Bill, in deciding whether or not to grant new massage establishment licences as well as to restrict the hours of operation of the massage business. If so, given that the Police are basically a law enforcement agency, may I please ask how the licensing officer would be able to get reliable inputs on these factors?
A connected practical issue concerns the liaison between HDB and the Police. The hon Second Minister mentioned there are about 300 HDB shophouses where massage establishments have been running from. From time to time, HDB would be approached for written permission to change the use of HDB shophouse premises of which it is the head lessor to that of a massage establishment.
Last year, on noting that HDB has issued written permissions for conversion of several shops into massage parlours in Bukit Batok, I suggested that HDB coordinate these efforts with the Police to establish a workflow in relation to such matters, obtain relevant inputs and then make the necessary assessment before issuing written permission. With a well thought out workflow, there is potential to cut down redundant steps and make it user-friendly for the applicants, too.
One specific issue that I wish to ask is whether the Police would process an application to operate a massage establishment at an HDB shophouse before an applicant obtains written permission from the HDB to effect the change of use. Would the Police take the cue from HDB or vice versa?
In my personal view, issues, such as concentration of massage parlours within HDB shophouses in a particular area, may equally be considered and handled at HDB's end with inputs from the Police through the lever of written permission. In this way, the problem can be nipped in the bud. I would be grateful for the hon Second Minister's view on the preferred approach to be taken.
Second, I note that under clause 32 of the Bill, the Minister has powers to exempt any premises from applying for a licence. Under the present regime, the Minister has issued exemption orders with respect to premises in which only curative massage is administered personally by a physiotherapist who is a member of the Singapore Physiotherapist Association, a person who is a registered TCM physician with a practising certificate, or an occupational therapist who is a member of the Singapore Association of Occupation Therapist. Exemptions are also granted for premises where certain forms of massage, such as traditional massage, are administered in full view of the public. Does the Ministry intend that these exemptions will continue under the regime introduced by this Bill?
Additionally, I am aware that the Ayurvedic Practitioners Association Singapore has long sought for exemption status to carry out Ayurvedic massages of their patients which, for practical purposes, cannot be done in full view of the public. May I please seek an update of this matter from the hon Second Minister? Is there an intention to extend exemption status to other forms of curative massage?
Third, I note clause 5(2) of the Bill prohibits any person from advertising or representing that he or she provides massage services in an establishment for massage unless the person holds a valid licence to do so at the premises. The Public Entertainment Act also has a similar provision. It is provided in section 12 of the Public Entertainment Act that the licence issued by the authorities must be prominently displayed at the premises. This statutory requirement does not appear to be reproduced in this Bill. The advantage of such a requirement are twofold.
Firstly, it will be an added deterrent against the operation of unlicensed massage establishments as the lack of licence would be glaringly obvious; and secondly, it would provide some form of consumer protection as the public would be able to easily ascertain whether the massage establishment is licensed or granted exemption status. I would recommend that the Minister consider imposing a similar requirement under this Bill requiring operators to prominently display the licence or instrument conferring exemption status at massage establishments.
Finally, the proposed Bill introduces welcome provisions to regulate the use of premises as massage establishments, the primary aim of which is to control and deter vice activities that may be associated with such services. Notwithstanding that failure to comply with any condition of a licence is an offence, I wonder if the Ministry would consider introducing a system for awarding demerit points in respect of incidents or breaches of condition of licence which will then be taken into account for subsequent renewal or applications to operate a massage establishment at either the same or different premises? This would give the authorities greater control over repeated breaches by operators of massage establishments.
In this regard, I note that section 15 of the Public Entertainment Act provides for a similar system. Notwithstanding the queries I raised, I agree with the need for our authorities to exert greater control over massage establishments. I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Gan Thiam Poh.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill proposes to deter unlicensed massage establishments by increasing the penalties. While this is necessary as a deterrent, it is even more important to step up enforcement with more effective checks and frequent raids on such outlets. I would like to ask the Ministry how responsive its departments are to tip-offs from members of the public and the whistleblowers who provide information about suspected establishments. For buildings with a higher concentration or recurrence of seedy providers, is it possible to require them to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the corridors and entrances to help deter illegal activities?
The Bill will also penalise landlords who knowingly continue to lease premises to unlicensed massage establishment operators. I would like to ask what conditions would qualify as \"knowingly\". Based on my understanding of the Bill, lessors are expected to take reasonable steps to evict the tenant after conviction. The lessors will have some time to prepare as the Police will inform the lessors once their tenants are charged.
I would like to suggest that we require landlords to be more proactive in checking on their tenants. They should be required to submit evidence of periodic surprise checks, at least twice a year, to prove their diligence in ensuring that their properties are not being used for illegal activities.
Provisions in the Bill have been made to regulate employment at the massage establishments, such as the stipulation of the minimum age and the necessary medical health screenings. I would like to recommend that we take steps to professionalise this sector by setting up a body to issue licences for the individual practitioners. Only certified personnel will be allowed to practise in such massage establishments, and practitioners may face revocation of their licences if breaches are made. This body will also regulate and protect the employment rights of the practitioners, coordinate and provide training and upgrading programmes. With that, I conclude with my support for the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, let me start by saying that I stand in support of this Bill. With a 40% increase in the number of unlicensed massage establishments in the past three years, this is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.
These unlicensed massage establishments taint Singapore’s image. These are sentiments which are echoed by netizens who posted comments on my Facebook page.
Mr Zain Kazmi said, \"Singapore's reputation has been diminished by the operation of such sleazy businesses. We cannot afford to allow such vices to continue unabated, as it tarnishes the name of genuine massage parlours and the country at large\".
Many have argued, and I agree, that a fine of $1,000 is too low to deter the operators of these massage parlours who can simply pay the fine after they are caught and set up a new place soon after.
Thus, I welcome this Bill. By increasing the penalties by at least tenfold and introducing a jail term, we are sending a very strong message that we want to clamp down on these vice activities. This was my first impression when I read this Bill and started drafting the speech. However, as I looked into it and researched further and met with the sex workers themselves and with Project X, a non-profit which provides social, emotional and legal support for sex workers in Singapore, I realised that the amendments here are just part of the equation. It is only tackling the supply side and not the demand.
The other part of the equation that we are not tackling in this Bill is equally important. The 40% increase in unlicensed massage parlours must be in part due to an increasing demand. I do understand that the Ministry of Education's current Sexuality Education programme already has elements to mitigate youth paying for sexual services. But I feel there is more we need to do and, perhaps for a start, launch a detailed study and research to understand this demand before we can come up with further legislative and policy amendments.
If we do not address the root of the problem, we will always be one step behind. We are now clamping down on massage establishments. If the demand continues, which I am quite sure it will, the vice activities will just move on to the next place.
We already know from media reports that sexual services are offered at some TCM clinics. The current amendments do not cover TCM clinics and perhaps this is where the vice activities at massage establishments will be heading. Of course, we can then legislate again and cover TCM clinics. But I hope Members see where I am heading. We will always be one step behind. And if there is demand for something, there will always be supply.
Worse still, we might drive these activities further underground. This was the fear of former Home Affairs Minister Mr Wong Kan Seng who said this in Parliament in 1999 in relation to a question about prostitution, \"And it is better that the Police know where these areas are and enforcement action can be taken, rather than to disperse these brothels to the whole of Singapore and we then have a cat-and-mouse game chasing after them or, worse still, drive them underground, and they will be operating everywhere.\" Minister Wong also said, “Criminalising prostitution will only drive such activities underground, resulting in crime syndicates taking control over such activities.” And I wonder whether crime syndicates have taken control of some of these unlicensed massage establishments.
Do some of these unlicensed massage establishments have links to other criminal elements and activities by organised criminal syndicates which finance the presumably high initial set-up costs of such massage establishments? Again, a detailed study will allow us to further understand the underlying complex ecosystem driving this trend of the growing number of unlicensed massage establishments.
Sir, we also need to look at the supply side not just in terms of the penalties but also understanding why people become sex workers. As I mentioned earlier, I met up with the sex workers – Singaporean sex workers. I met a young Singaporean who has been a sex worker for two years and is also currently pursuing her diploma. She uses the money earned to pay for her education and is intending to pursue her degree as well and is saving up for that. I met a single lady who is a sex worker to help pay for her parents' medical fees.
I went into that meeting with an open mind to listen and to try and understand their viewpoints. To listen to their concerns and the dangers they faced working as a sex worker and how they worry about their safety. I listened to how lonely they felt at times, working in this industry. At the end of the day, there is no quick fix, no easy solution. But the way forward is for us to study this issue holistically and engage all the parties concerned.
Sir, I stand in support of this Bill. This is a complex issue and I hope that this Bill is a start, and we can look into this issue much further.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Kok Heng Leun.
Mr Kok Heng Leun (Nominated Member): Deputy Speaker, I will come to the introduction of this Bill as it is clear that the old Act had been insufficient at targeting non-compliant and unlicensed massage parlours which are often used as fronts for vice. This Bill shows the Government's commitment to ensure that massage parlours are held to the highest standards, which is a move away from previous Acts where parlours can continue to operate even when they have been fined for being non-compliant.
That said, I do have my concerns. I would like to thank my fellow Member Mr Louis Ng for voicing some of those concerns that I have. I will be talking along those lines.
In my following speech, I would use the term \"massage workers\" to refer to masseuses who provide a happy-ending service in massage parlours. Based on the Ministry's press statement, the Bill's primary intent seems to be to eliminate vice from massage parlours. The logical extension of this would be that the Bill's secondary intent is to force massage workers to leave the trade. However, this would pose a few problems and questions.
Firstly, just because the Ministry wishes for the elimination of vice from massage parlours, it does not mean that it will happen. It is clear that, historically, it is impossible to eradicate vice from any society. The Member Mr Baey Yam Keng was quoted in The Straits Times in 2010 saying that the raids of Geylang have led to vice spreading out into the neighbourhoods. The same article quoted an ordinary citizen saying that Geylang is very quiet now compared to the past. In the past few months, newspaper headlines have been dominated by the raids on brothels in HDB estates, unlicensed massage parlours and fake TCM practitioners.
Separately, in the past, there used to be these health centres where sexual services were provided alongside massage. Most of these health centres were not allowed to renew their licences. The shutdown of these health centres led to the proliferation of smaller parlours set up by the people who used to work at these health centres. From interviews with massage workers, the proliferation was also because smaller parlours were harder to apprehend for sexual services. If this Bill serves only to push it somewhere else, does the Ministry have long-term plans to ensure that the vice does not happen where we do not want it to be?
Secondly, and this relates to a theme that I have always touched on, especially in my previous Budget debate, on the displacement of the marginalised. Massage workers provide sexual services due to their personal circumstances and, to them, it was the most viable way to earn a substantial living through their own labour and to support their families.
Project X, which hon Member Mr Louis Ng mentioned, is a local non-government organisation (NGO) that works with sex workers to ensure their safety, physically and emotionally. They have spoken to many Singaporean massage workers doing this for anything between two years and 30 years. The one thing they have in common is that they do not possess the sort of educational qualifications that are privileged in the society we live in, and a job anywhere else would be one with long hours and little pay. Providing sexual services can increase their salaries from between 100% and 500%, or even more.
I would like to ask the Ministry if it expects these Singaporean massage workers to leave the trade, are there plans to support them in the transition? And, importantly, transition into a job where they can earn a commensurate amount of money in order to successfully support their family?
Thirdly and correspondingly, through the experience of Project X, I have come to understand that, for many, it is immensely hard to leave the trade but there are amazing success stories of women leaving that industry. There are many factors that determine that: a supportive family, good business and finance acumen, will power and opportunities all played a part in that.
In the face of criminalisation, stigma and occasional violence, it creates a series of setbacks, disempowering them. That said, this is based on the assumption that all massage workers want to leave their jobs. We know of women who have done this for most of their lives and absolutely cannot imagine anything different. To be clear, these women do not want to be dishonest or break the law. I will quote some of them who said, \"We want to apply for licence but we cannot. Without a licence, we cannot apply for Central Provident Fund (CPF). We cannot apply for Workfare. There is no security. We are all Singaporeans. We have worked here for seven, eight years\". Even the Thai worker is also Singaporean, married to Singaporean but her husband does not want her anymore and she has to work and look after the children.
There is another one I spoke with who has five kids; she had no place to live, so she lives in those backpacker hostels. She has no money to rent. We had to buy Maggi noodles for her. But now, she has finally found a place to live and it is because she does this job that can help her to support her children.
Echoing her voice, another massage worker shared that \"Those working here are Permanent Residents (PR) or citizens. We work for whom? We work for our family. My friend has younger daughters. I myself have two kids and have to support them. One of them was a Mathematics Olympian. My husband earns $1,800 a month as an electrician. He works from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. After work, he goes to the childcare centre and picks up my kids. But I work here at night to earn money for the family\".
A common theme among many of the women was that they all felt that they would not be doing this kind of work if they did not have to. Many do this so that their children can have a bright future, one that will hopefully be starkly different from their own. These women are textbook cases of the woman who sacrifices for her children.
One of the massage workers who was also her own boss said, \"Our business here does not affect others. We operate here which is common for this line of business and not in housing areas nor close to schools. Being a PR or citizen, the money we earn stays in this country and it is spent on our family and children who will grow up and contribute to the country in the future. Without much qualifications, this is the only industry we can work in. It is not committing crime, we never \"杀 人 放 火 \" or set fire or kill. We also care about safety and hygiene despite being in the business. The penalty is too heavy\".
I am recounting this sharing to the House only to remind us that the displacement is real and genuine and should be looked at and considered.
Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the past, there was a common understanding that we all did what we needed to do to survive. People could empathise with one another through their shared hardships. However, now that we have progressed significantly, society writ large seems to look down and despise people who have not made it, even though they may have different backgrounds and opportunities.
The stigma on sex workers and other forms of manual labourers remains rampant and it only fuels discrimination and sometimes even violence. We need to be able to treat all citizens equally and work together to create an equitable society.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): Mr Deputy Speaker, as the MP for Geylang Serai, which covers the upper lorongs in Geylang, I stand in support of the Bill. I have been working with the authorities, the multi-agency task forces and the anti-vice department for at least a dozen years now. I am quite happy with the results that I have gotten in Geylang.
I stand in support of the Bill, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have several issues and clarifications to make. With this Bill, we are dealing with an industry that requires enhanced regulation and stricter enforcement. It is not going to be a walk in the park because of the multitude of factors. As all the nine speakers before me have shared, there are many, many issues, indeed, to be considered.
For one, just look at the types and numbers of massage available currently – body massage, manicure and pedicure-related massage, chiropractic light massage, electric massage, vapour massage and other baths-related massage, foot reflexology, slimming massage, spa services, head massage, traditional massage, curative massage, and even physiotherapy massage. It is thus becoming a lot easier to actually have non-approved and illegal activities under the guise of some of these services because it is so wide-ranging.
As all applications and approval for licences are regulated, does the authority have the ability to regulate the number of such premises that are allowed within certain areas? For example, I have come across seven such premises within one and a half blocks located near a private residential area and a secondary school. And mind you, this is not in the Geylang lorong vicinity; it is up north in my constituency, therefore, the concern from the residents in the vicinity. How did that happen? Seven premises within one and a half blocks? Should there be better coordination and oversight of this? In fact, Mr Deputy Speaker, with this Bill, I still do not see this being addressed specifically, thus, my concern.
On the Police licensing website, it is clearly written that massage establishments, some of them are not regulated by the Massage Establishments Act. Perhaps, these are the establishments that may go negative. Can we actually monitor these and, perhaps, they should also come under the oversight and regulation of this Bill? Something for us to consider.
Also on the website, I note that a foreigner is eligible to apply for a Massage Establishment licence as long as he holds a valid Work Permit or Employment Pass. Should the Ministry be reviewing this as well, as they may actually open up a can of worms, perhaps something else may come about, especially when some of our foreign friends may open TCM centres in the guise of providing massage.
Pertaining to the term \"fit and proper person\" in Part 2, clause 7.4, I understand the licensing body will look out for certain criteria. However, of greater concern is that the persons who are not fit and proper or have been blacklisted before, may apply for the licence through a third party, a family member or a friend. Once the licence is granted, that is when the problem starts. The modifications happen, the partitions will come up, and the operations at the premises can go off course, and the illegal way, of course.
Are there innovative ways to circumvent and stop this problem from happening? This is actually one of the problems that we are facing in some of the establishments. One suggestion would be to have regular and conscientious follow-up and checks on these premises on a more sustainable basis. One of the Members who spoke earlier mentioned perhaps twice a year. This is also where feedback from the surrounding community and the public plays an important part and the authorities can work in partnership with them as well.
I do support the stricter action on penalties with a tenfold increase in the fines and a longer jail term as well. The previous summons of $1,000 and $50 per day for unlicensed massage parlour operators, as long as they continue operations, is really just a slap on the wrist, and no wonder they keep coming back again and again, and circulating in the industry, giving it a negative connotation.
Can I also find out if the authorities will consider a demerit points system for massage establishments, especially similar to the existing one for pubs and bars?
Can the Minister also update us on the current magnitude of the problem, that is, how many unlicensed massage establishments, on average, are detected or raided per month? What is the number of such establishments operating in Singapore currently? Also, numbers like repeat offenders as these are usually of concern to us as well.
As there are plans for the Ministry to work with the trade associations for the beauty and wellness industry, with this upcoming implementation of the Bill, they may actually form partnerships to assist with increased compliance and understanding as well as assist with some level of surveillance, I feel. Are there specific steps that the Ministry is going to implement pertaining to this?
The beauty and wellness industry, Sir, is an interesting and dynamic one. Whilst there are many kosher operations which benefit the health of many in a variety of ways, there are some bad apples circulating and using the industry for their own needs and illegal activities. The clean-up requires collaborative efforts by parties concerned and stepped-up, organised and conscientious enforcement. I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Second Minister Josephine Teo.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the 11 Members for speaking in support of the Bill. They have raised many useful points which I will try to address. Let me start with massage establishments within residential areas.
Several Members raised concerns about massage establishments in residential areas, including Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Melvin Yong and Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef, who rightly pointed out that it is not a walk in the park. Mr Christopher de Souza said that the Police should prioritise anti-vice enforcement efforts in residential areas. Mr Murali Murali asked whether the Police will engage relevant stakeholders in deciding whether to grant new massage establishment licences and take into account land use considerations when assessing licence applications. Mr Desmond Choo suggested working with merchant associations to strengthen intelligence on illegal establishments and gathering feedback on licensed massage establishments that flout the rules.
MHA understands and shares the underlying concerns of our Members. Mr Kok Heng Leun said that \"massage worker\" refers to masseuses who provide happy-ending services in massage parlours. He added that under the current Act, massage establishments can continue to operate even when they have been fined for being non-compliant. Let me correct that misconception.
Masseuses are not sex workers. Massage workers can earn a living without providing sexual services. That is the first thing we have to acknowledge. Not all masseuses are trying to provide additional services. They perform massage services. It is their livelihood. There is nothing untoward about that.
I will state categorically also that when it comes to vice and other illegal activities in massage establishments, the Police have zero tolerance, especially in residential estates. Their licences are liable to be revoked. So, that is the baseline.
The Police and HDB take all feedback, all complaints from residents and the community seriously. We will assess each feedback and take necessary actions to enforce our laws.
To mitigate the risks of vice and disamenities due to massage establishments, the Police take a much stricter licensing approach for massage establishments in residential areas, compared to those that operate outside residential areas.
Firstly, when assessing a new massage establishment application, the Police work closely with the URA and HDB. The agencies will assess the suitability of the location. We will not allow new massage establishments in an area if the existing massage establishments are problematic and pose law and order issues, so we do not add to the problems.
The agencies will also assess whether the proposed massage establishment will cause disamenities to the surrounding areas. In residential areas, we take into account feedback from the community. Clause 7(3) of the Bill now expressly specifies that the Licensing Officer must take into account URA's or HDB's planning considerations. This will ensure that the various agencies' processes are fully coordinated. They are not as coordinated as they need to be now. But clause 7(3) of the Bill now makes that a requirement, clearly specified.
Secondly, even if a location in an HDB estate is assessed to be suitable for a massage establishment, the licence applicant must meet more stringent qualifying criteria than if he planned to operate elsewhere. So, as some Members have noted, licensed massage establishments in HDB estates must obtain what is known as a Category I licence under the Police licensing framework. So, what assurances does this give us?
The more stringent criteria for Category I licence include the need to obtain CaseTrust accreditation which indicates good business practices covering areas, such as regulatory compliance, safety and hygiene, which Mr Christopher de Souza asked about, and consumer protection. Another criterion is a minimum capital investment of $50,000, which provides some deterrence against fly-by-night operators hoping to roll over the quick profits of a massage establishment. Such criteria help to ensure that the applicants are bona fide operators who have put in the effort and investment to run legitimate massage businesses.
Thirdly, the Police impose specific conditions to reduce the potential disamenities from massage establishments in residential areas. Ms Foo Mee Har gave suggestions on more stringent licensing conditions that could be imposed on massage establishments situated within residential estates. Several of these are already in place today. For instance, employees of licensed massage establishments are required to wear uniforms that are approved by the Licensing Officer. Pretty strict. There is a uniform. It is approved and if you are not wearing the uniform, you have breached the licensing condition. So, if you know of any instance where someone is not dressed appropriately, that cannot be an approved uniform, let us know. We will enforce. They are also prohibited from touting for business outside the massage establishment premises.
Mr Desmond Choo and Ms Foo Mee Har asked if the Ministry would consider limiting the operating hours of massage establishments located in housing estates. The Police have, indeed, started to restrict the operating hours for massage establishments in HDB estates, and only allow them to operate from 6.00 am to 11.00 pm daily. This applies to licences granted or renewed since August this year.
What about existing licences? Under clause 10 of the Bill, the Licensing Officer will be empowered to modify existing licence conditions. So, the restricted operating hours will be fully implemented for all licensees within HDB estates after the re-enacted Act comes into force. So, if you are in an HDB estate, once this new Bill comes into force, the limited, curtailed operating hours will apply.
Mr Desmond Choo, Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Melvin Yong highlighted concerns about inappropriate advertisements by massage establishments and urged the Ministry to subject massage establishments to advertising guidelines. We understand the concerns. The Police intend to impose a new licensing condition to prohibit licensees from displaying indecent advertisements. We will need some time to work out the specific details but the intent is clear, advertisements will have to be within certain guidelines.
Mr Desmond Choo asked about the number of licensed massage establishments within residential estates with vice-related infringements, and whether they will be allowed to operate massage establishments in future. In 2016, about 3% of licensed massage establishments in HDB premises were found to have vice-related infringements. If a massage establishment has vice-related infringements, the licensee will no longer be considered fit and proper to hold a massage establishment licence. The Licensing Officer will revoke the massage establishment licence, and he will not be granted a new massage establishment licence.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will next address the main problem we face in the massage establishment industry today, that is, the risks posed by a growing number of unlicensed massage establishments, many of which are fronts for vice activities.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked about the number of unlicensed massage establishments in Singapore. In 2016, the Police detected close to 300 unlicensed massage establishments which we already know is a 40% increase from 2013. But so as not to cause undue alarm, let me clarify that the vast majority of these unlicensed massage establishments were found in non-HDB properties. A relatively small 7% of the unlicensed massage establishments were found in HDB properties. To say it another way, most unlicensed massage establishments were not in HDB properties and most licensed massage establishments in HDB properties did not have vice infringements, less than 3%. So, we should not assume that all of them are somehow involved in vice.
Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Gan Thiam Poh and Mr Louis Ng asked about the Police's enforcement plans against such unlicensed massage establishments. We will not tolerate such errant operators that exhibit a flagrant disregard for the law. Where specific feedback is received about suspected unlicensed massage establishments and their illegal vice activities, the Police will assess the information and take necessary actions. The Police naturally have to work within their resource constraints, but the intention is to maintain the enforcement pressure against unlicensed massage establishments.
To share with Members, in 2016, on a monthly basis, Police carried out more than 100 enforcement checks, more than 100 every month. This Bill will provide the Police with the levers to act more effectively against the unlicensed massage establishments which take up a lot of time.
Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Melvin Yong and Mr Louis Ng cautioned that \"low-risk activities\" do not mean \"no-risk\". They are worried that these are not required to obtain massage establishment licences and yet, they could still be fronts for illicit massage or vice activities. The situation today is not quite like this, except for a very small number of bad hats. As I shared in my opening speech, vice activities are far more prevalent in unlicensed massage establishments, not even in those that are exempted.
We may be reducing regulatory costs for bona fide operators but they would not be getting a free pass to use their businesses as a facade for something else. If a business purports to be providing low-risk services like manicure and pedicure but, in effect, is offering massage services, it will have to apply for a licence. And if it fails to do so, the business will be treated as no different from any other unlicensed massage establishment and penalised.
Ms Joan Pereira asked whether the revised fines for unlicensed massage establishments would serve as sufficient deterrence, given the lucrativeness of their illicit activities. We are doing more than raising fines. We are adopting a suite of measures, as Mr Christopher de Souza puts it, that gives the \"extra teeth necessary\" to clamp down on unlicensed massage establishments.
First, the fines are significantly higher. And more than that, the offenders can now face imprisonment. Second, should an unlicensed massage establishment continue to operate even after the operator has been charged in Court, the Police can order the closure of premises. Third, we will go upstream to tackle the supply of premises, by taking irresponsible landlords to task if they knowingly lease their premises to unlicensed massage establishment operators.
Mr Desmond Choo asked if harsher penalties can be imposed on the landlords who repeatedly have such establishments operating on their premises. Indeed, this is our intent. Under clause 5(4)(b), irresponsible landlords will be liable for fines up to $20,000 or five years' imprisonment or both, if they re-offend.
Ms Joan Pereira also said that convicted unlicensed massage establishment operators should be disallowed from subsequently operating any beauty salons or health centres, given the ease with which these premises can be reconfigured for illicit vice activities. Given their history of non-compliance, convicted unlicensed massage establishment operators who intend to run beauty salons or health centres that offer massage services will not be considered \"fit and proper\" to hold a massage establishment licence. So, that is very clear. You tell us that you want to operate a massage establishment and your track record is that you had been non-compliant, you had been convicted before, you are not \"fit and proper\".
If they offer massage services without a licence, then the same penalties as operating an unlicensed massage establishment applies, even if they call it a beauty salon or a health centre. It does not matter what they call it. We will look at what actual activities are taking place.
But if Ms Pereira is suggesting that they be prevented from operating a bona fide beauty or health business, for example, doing facials or selling organic supplements, then from a Yellow Ribbon perspective and also considering the comments by Mr Kok Heng Leun and Mr Louis Ng, that may be going too far.
Some Members spoke on tackling vice more generally, beyond massage establishments. Ms Joan Pereira is concerned about the possible displacement of vice activities to residential areas. She raised concerns that many of these vice workers are foreign nationals who have entered Singapore as visitors, and suggested that entry bans be imposed on foreigners involved in vice-related activities. Mr Kok Heng Leun asked about the Ministry's plans to ensure that vice does not happen where we do not want it to. Mr Alex Yam also asked about action that can be taken against masseuses found to be providing illegal sexual services.
Over the past five years, about 12% of offenders caught for abetting vice activities were involved in illegal brothels operating from HDB flats. An offender convicted of managing a brothel under the Women’s Charter faces a fine of up to $10,000, or up to five years' imprisonment, or both. The Police keep a close watch on the vice situation in Singapore and will not hesitate to take the necessary enforcement actions to stamp out vice activities that spring up in residential areas.
In cases where the Police have received complaints and detected brothels in HDB flats, the Police will also investigate the owner of the flat. The Police will also notify HDB, which will then take stern action if the flat owner is found to have misused his flat, including imposition of fines, and possibly, compulsory acquisition and debarment from buying another HDB flat. Quite stiff.
Mr Louis Ng and Mr Kok Heng Leun talked about the personal circumstances of Singaporean sex workers. Prostitution is not a crime per se and there is no intention to criminalise their actions in this Bill. But for providing sexual services in a massage establishment, the person will cease to be fit and proper and will no longer be allowed to work in a massage establishment. For those who wish to transit to other types of work, I appreciate it really may not be easy for them, but help is available and we are most willing to reach out to them.
Foreign nationals who are arrested for vice-related activities will have their work passes or visit passes cancelled. They will be removed from Singapore and may not be allowed to re-enter.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will now address queries on other provisions within the Bill. Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Alex Yam and Mr Gan Thiam Poh sought clarifications about the proposal to punish landlords who knowingly lease their premises to unlicensed massage establishment operators.
I have addressed these points earlier in my speech. In summary, a landlord will know about the charge against his tenant through the Police’s notification. The landlord would not be in a situation that he is caught unaware. Once a person is charged, we will inform them. After the tenant has been convicted of operating an unlicensed massage establishment, the landlord must require the tenant to hand over possession of the premises within a month. Thereafter, the Bill allows the landlord to terminate the lease without any contractual liability. If the tenant still refuses to move out, the landlord should apply to the Magistrate’s Court for a summary order for the delivery of possession of the premises. And if the landlord takes these steps to evict the tenant, the Police will not take action against him.
Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Alex Yam and Mr Gan Thiam Poh suggested imposing additional obligations on landlords, such as placing the onus on landlords to proactively check whether their tenants have massage establishment licences, putting in place sanctions on premises that have been used for vice activities, or confiscating such properties. We do expect responsible landlords to check whether their tenants have valid massage establishment licences, both before and during the tenancy agreement. However, we must also recognise that this is not always possible.
There could be mala fide unlicensed massage establishment operators who mislead the landlord into believing that the premises will be used for legitimate businesses. It can happen. Other tenants may decide to operate a massage establishment midway through its tenancy agreement, without first informing the landlord. They change their plans. In such cases, it will not be fair to penalise the landlord. But bear in mind that egregious landlords can be imprisoned, which is likely a stronger deterrent than any sanctions on the property.
Mr Desmond Choo asked if the provision to penalise landlords who knowingly lease their premises to unlicensed massage establishment operators can be extended to premises with licensed massage establishments that are involved in vice activities. He also asked whether termination of tenancy can be considered if the premises is an HDB commercial property.
In holding landlords responsible, we try to strike a balance. If the landlords have done their due diligence by leasing the premises to only licensed massage establishments, it may not be fair to take them to task for something that occurs within the licensed massage establishments which they are genuinely not aware of.
In addition, as I have shared in my earlier speech, the incidence of vice in licensed massage establishments is significantly lower than that in unlicensed massage establishments. As such, the main problem that this provision seeks to tackle is that of irresponsible landlords who have contributed to the problem of the increase in unlicensed massage establishments. Nevertheless, if unlawful vice activities are detected within HDB commercial properties, HDB can take action to terminate the tenancy.
Mr Melvin Yong and Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef raised the point that persons who are not \"fit and proper\" may apply for the licence via a third party, such as a family member or friend with a clean record. Clause 7 of the Bill seeks to address this by expanding the assessment of licensee suitability to other \"relevant persons\" in the business. At the point of licence application, the Police will carefully screen the background of the applicant and other persons with influence over the business. If any relevant person is assessed to be not fit and proper, the Police will reject the licence application.
This seeks to prevent errant operators from hiding behind clean applicants to continue to operate massage establishments. But Members who have been in law enforcement know how difficult it can be to detect persons who deliberately hide. At least with this provision, the Police is clearly empowered to act to reject an application if they suspect that it is being made by a bad hat operating behind the scenes. This will empower the Police to say that they suspect this is not a clean applicant and someone is hiding behind this. The law says that the Police can now reject the application, whereas previously, it was left unsaid.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef also surfaced concerns that after the licence has been granted, there may be illegal operations at the premises. The Police conduct regular enforcement checks to ensure that massage establishments comply with the regulations. I shared earlier more than 100 enforcement actions a month. Licensed operators who run afoul of the law will face increased penalties under the Bill.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh suggested that massage establishments in buildings with a higher concentration or recurrence of seedy massage establishments be required to install CCTVs along the corridors and entrances to deter illegal activities. Clause 10 of the Bill will allow the Police to modify licence conditions to address this concern. Should licensed massage establishments pose law and order problems, the Police can intervene quickly and impose additional licensing conditions. One such condition could be the installation of CCTV cameras to deter crimes in and around the massage establishment and to facilitate investigations into any such crimes that take place.
Mr Deputy Speaker, let me deal with some other queries that have been raised. Mr Murali Pillai and Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked whether we will consider a demerit points system for massage establishments, similar to that for the public entertainment licensing regime.
In a demerit points system, the licence infringements are less reprehensible and the offender is given several chances to avoid more serious consequences. But because of the kinds of concerns that Members have spoken about, we actually prefer a stricter regime for massage establishments, to serve notice that even the first infringement could attract very serious consequences, such as the immediate revocation of licences. Repeat offenders also face the risk of imprisonment. So, I hope Members see the comparison. This is stricter than the demerit points system – one strike and you could be out.
Mr Murali Pillai said that all licensed massage establishments should be made to display their licences, which would serve as a deterrence against the operation of unlicensed massage establishments and provide some form of consumer protection. We agree. Today, under the licensing conditions, massage establishment licensees are already required to prominently display the massage establishment licence within the premises to ensure that patrons and inspecting officers can easily identify licensed massage establishments. Failure to comply with this requirement is a breach of the licensing conditions, and licensees will face stiff penalties under the updated regulatory regime. What I can also share with Members is that, in fact, the Police have taken operators to task for failing to display their licences.
Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Melvin Yong and Mr Gan Thiam Poh said that all masseuses hired at licensed massage establishments should meet minimum professional qualifications. Today, in deciding whether to grant a massage establishment licence or to grant written approval for an individual to work in a massage establishment, the Licensing Officer already considers whether the employee possesses the necessary recognised qualifications or certifications. This is made clear in clauses 7(3) and 15(1) of the Bill. In other words, not anyone is allowed to work in a massage establishment. There are \"fit and proper\" criteria, and an assessment of the employees' qualifications. Of course, if they do not have those, the operator will have committed a breach and we take them to task.
Mr Melvin Yong asked for a clearer definition of what constitutes a \"good track record\" that will entitle the licensee to a longer licence validity period. By \"good track record\", we refer to compliant operators without any adverse records or infringements over several years.
Mr Murali Pillai asked whether existing exemptions will continue under the updated regulatory regime. Mr Alex Yam asked if TCM services will be covered under the Bill, while Mr Louis Ng mentioned that the current amendment does not cover TCM clinics. The principle remains unchanged. We will continue to exempt massage establishments that are assessed to be providing low vice-risk activities. These include outlets where treatment is personally administered by a registered medical professional.
So, if you have a shop front that says TCM clinic, you go inside, the practitioner has got a registration under the TCM Practitioners' Act that is issued by the TCM Board and that practitioner personally administers the treatment, that can be exempted. But not otherwise. Not if you are not personally administering the treatment, you have got someone else doing it, or if, in fact, you call yourself a TCM practitioner but you do not have a licence, you do not have a registration with the TCM Board. So, that is quite clear.
We can also exempt open-concept massage establishments where everything is within visibility. Nothing is behind closed doors, no curtains. You can see everything that is going on in the premises. That is what is known as open-concept massage establishments.
Mr Murali Pillai asked about curative as well as Ayurvedic treatments. If they do not take place in an open-concept type of premises, then they need to get a licence. They cannot say, \"We do not want a licence. We are not high-risk\". They need to get a licence because it is not open-concept, we cannot see what is going on. So, they need a licence.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef suggested that we work with the industry trade associations for the upcoming implementation of this Bill. MHA has consulted the Spa Association Singapore, the Spa and Wellness Association of Singapore and the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore and obtained their strong support for the proposals under this Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I hope I have addressed Members' concerns. The Massage Establishments Bill is important in ensuring that our regulatory regime continues to remain effective and relevant. But as Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef reminded us, it is really not a walk in the park. A lot of work to be done. Members know from what I said earlier – advertising, requirements, some of the other licensing conditions – all of these we will have to proceed to implement. But with the support of the House, Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move.
\tMr Deputy Speaker: Mr Kok Heng Leun.
Mr Kok Heng Leun: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Second Minister for her clarifications and answers. I have three points. The first point I would like to clarify is that in my speech, I did not intend to say all massage workers are actually providing sexual services. I made in the context of the speech what I wanted to talk about. And exactly what I said was, \"In my following speech, I would use the term 'massage workers' to refer to masseuses who provide a happy ending service in massage parlours\". So, it is within the context of my speech. So, if there is any misunderstanding, I would clarify that and say sorry to those who felt that what I said have caused injustice to them.
The second point is that I am glad to hear that MHA would like to engage sex workers to help them. I would also urge the Ministry to work with the NGOs with regard to that. I can help to do the bridging if need to.
Thirdly, I just want to hear MHA's response to this because, from my research on this issue, a lot of time, the men who go to the massage parlour, the male clients, they, in fact, expect such so-called \"happy services\" from the masseuses. And sometimes, they may even coerce that to happen. What will MHA be doing in such a situation in order to protect the masseuses as well as the massage parlours?
Mrs Josephine Teo:\t Mr Deputy Speaker, I appreciate the Member for his clarifications. I think I had better also clarify. When the Member said that he was happy that MHA will engage the sex workers, that itself sounds wrong. So, I should say that if there are masseuses who feel that they are compelled to provide sexual services, then I think we can work with the NGOs to give them the assurance that that is not the case. Perhaps they are suitably qualified and they want to find proper work in licensed massage establishments, or they need to get the skills and the qualifications to move into these proper establishments, then I think that there must be ways of helping them to do so. So, I would like to give that assurance.
Mr Deputy Speaker:\tMs Foo Mee Har.
Ms Foo Mee Har: I thank the Second Minister for very, very comprehensively addressing many of the clarifications and concerns we have. So, I thank the Minister.
I have two outstanding queries for the Second Minister. On the concern about concentration, why do we find eight massage establishments in HDB estates within, like three minutes' walk? The Second Minister did say that MHA will consider that in the licensing, but she was not explicit on whether there will be a quota or a limit that will be set within a particular trade radius so that the HDB estate can be more diverse in shops, so that MHA does not approve every massage establishment licence that comes through as long as it is a not a problem. I hope the Ministry would encourage that diversity and limit the number of establishments per HDB precinct, just like Minister Khaw Boon Wan had done for foreign workers renting HDB flats. I think that was a very effective measure. So, if the Second Minister could consider that. And that is the common complaint that comes from residents.
The second one is that the Second Minister clarified that it is by law that the massage establishments must display their licence. So, that is understood. But my reference is actually the approved employees themselves must wear an identification to say that \"I am an approved employee\" because that will easily identify them and prevent those who are not approved from working illegally in that massage establishment.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Deputy Speaker, I appreciate the Member for raising those two supplementary questions. I have explained earlier that we have a zero-tolerance approach towards vice in massage establishments and the stricter licensing approach for massage establishments in residential areas. In this way, we have already curtailed the number of massage establishments in each residential area while allowing legitimate and well-run massage establishments to operate.
To impose a limit or a quota, you need a number and it will be arbitrary. Each residential area has different characteristics, residents and businesses, as the Member correctly pointed out. Whatever number is set, it could still be too high for some areas, for example, if it is right next to a school. Unless that number is zero, which means then this quota is zero.
We can also end up in a situation where there is an argument about how big the trade radius ought to be for this number to be applied. In some areas, 200 metres, very sparsely populated; in some areas, 200-metre radius, a lot of people staying there. So, it is not quite so cut and dried, not so straightforward to determine a number; not so straightforward to determine what the trade radius is. But I do take the Member's point. We do not particularly want to see so many massage establishments around even if they are licensed. That point is well taken.
The better approach is to assess the potential disamenities in each area, taking into account the feedback from the community. Then we decide whether to allow a new massage establishment to come in, or when the licence of an existing massage establishment is up for renewal, whether we want to continue to renew it. So, I think that those measures are available to the Police.
Then, to the Member's second question about the employees. The way in which we want to operate is that the licence holder, the operator, has to be accountable for the activities within the premises and he has to be the one that is taken to account. So, that is why the requirement is placed on them to display the licence and not on the individual employees. We accept the fact that, actually, in all kinds of businesses, employees come and go. Today, you may have one staff, she has worked here three months; another day, you may have another who has just joined. The more important thing is that the operator takes his licence seriously and ensures that no one who is not licensed works there. So, even if a person wears a badge and so on, it is not possible, it is not so easy for the individual customer to determine the validity of that employee's pass. But the enforcement officer is in a stronger position to decide whether the licence is valid or not. An individual cannot quite tell. Just wearing any tag does not actually give us that much protection and reassurance.
Mr Deputy Speaker:\tA last clarification. Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang:\tThank you, Sir, just a quick one. I would like to ask the Minister whether MHA will be studying this issue further so that we are not just tackling the supply side but also the demand and really study this holistically, so that we do not get into this cat-and-mouse game that the former Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng was talking about in Parliament almost 20 years ago.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Deputy Speaker, we are not just studying. We are taking action. And the Member pointed out that Mr Wong had talked about this 20 years ago. I am quite sure even 20 years from now, there will still be vice activities that we will have to tackle in different forms. So, it is always going to be a challenge. It is always something that we have to keep learning to tackle more effectively.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Josephine Teo.] (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"The Future of National Service","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"The Leader of the House (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, \"That Parliament do now adjourn.\"
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Fourth time lucky for me on this Motion.
This year, we commemorated 50 years of National Service (NS). And much like the turbulent circumstances of our Independence, National Service was something that we had to embark upon out of necessity.
At the time of separation, Singapore was faced with a host of threats, including the Konfrontasi with Indonesia, insurgency from the Malayan Communist Party and communal violence. The British forces remained to provide security but, in 1967, barely three years after Independence, the British forces also announced their withdrawal.
The Enlistment Act was passed in 1967, at a time when it was clear that Singapore had a very small window of time to build up its own defence forces. At this time, Singapore had very little in way of financial resources and a booming population following the post-war Baby Boom.
It has been 50 years since the Enlistment Act was passed and there have been many changes in Singapore. Our security threats and our approach to NS have evolved with us. In 2013, the Committee to Strengthen NS (CSNS) started an extensive consultation process with a Steering Committee led by Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen and two Working Groups focusing on Support for NS and Recognition and Benefits of NS.
The focus of this committee was to ensure that support for NS remains strong in the population and that NSmen, employers and family members all have a shared sense of duty for their part in this process. The CSNS committee came up with detailed recommendations which have been swiftly implemented and NSmen have felt the impact. The focus of this committee was to improve the lives of NSmen and to make compliance with NS obligations easier for all stakeholders, without compromising training needs – a difficult balance, indeed, that has required thoughtful, well-calibrated policies.
The NS50 events from July to September were particularly moving, with the theme \"From my generation to yours\", bringing together earlier and current generations of NSmen. Prime Minister Lee himself made a moving speech at the final event last week, sharing his own experiences in the army and ending with the importance of passing the NS torch from his generation to the subsequent ones.
NS is an important rite of passage for us, and I am heartened that many understand and appreciate its importance. My main interest in this Motion is to understand how NS will fit into the future roles the military will be required to perform and the constraints we face.
Traditionally, NS has largely involved starting in the military and with the majority of the cohort going through a Basic Military Training (BMT) that is modelled on infantry training. This shared experience is an important part of the bonding that NSmen feel intuitively when they meet one another. We all have the same experience going through BMT, dealing with NS sergeants and the same thing that we laugh about when we watch \"Ah Boys to Men\".
Yet, is this largely infantry-based training model appropriate for NS in the coming years, particularly with the changing nature of warfare and the security threats we face?
First, military technology improves at a tremendous pace. New inventions can render previous methods of warfare otiose. One vivid example is the use of drones in warfare.
A BBC story on a United States (US) drone pilot was eye opening. The drone pilot, for example, could have breakfast at home, send his daughter to school, then go to a drone control centre a short drive from home and pilot a drone based thousands of miles away in the Middle East. It will be office hours for him but night time in the country of operations. The precision of such technology allows the pilot to see the targets clearly at night, attack with precision and take photographs after the damage has been inflicted. After a day of fighting, which could still be office hours for the drone pilot, he could go back home at night and have dinner with his family. It sounds like a very simple life. Yet, even drone-fighter pilots go through a very high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder. So, they, too, seem to face the psychological stresses that other combatants face.
Aerial drone warfare is just one component of increasingly automated forms of warfare, although it is probably the one that captures the imagination most readily. At the recent NS PRIDE Day awards, I was quite happy to see that even our own NSmen have found numerous uses of drone technology and I assume that because this is NS PRIDE Day awards, it is in the public domain. For example, drones are used in naval operations. They are used for surveillance and intelligence gathering. In the army, they can also be used for reconnaissance operations and security patrolling. All of these things used to be done by infantrymen who had to face the danger of enemy fire.
However, would this rapid use of technology make it, first of all, difficult for NSmen to catch up? Secondly, how relevant would it make a largely infantry-based army if every few years the technology that these infantrymen have to deal with changes at a very rapid pace?
Will our NSmen be able to keep up with this increasingly advanced form of warfare? And how will dealing with automated warfare be built into the drills that our NSmen go through, perhaps either in lieu of or maybe in addition to the old field crafts we learnt?
The second type of threats we have to prepare for is on the other end of the technology spectrum. These are the threats posed by terror. The difference between terror and conventional warfare is that conventional warfare, of course, if you comply with the rules of war, is a military-and-military exercise. Civilian populations are not, at least in theory, meant to be targeted.
On the other hand, terrorists have complete disregard for this principle. Their primary aim is to attack civilian populations to cause as much damage as possible. They target highly populated areas, areas like train stations, airports, hotels and even gatherings. They do not require very sophisticated technology. Basic weapons − guns, makeshift bombs or sometimes even vehicles − can be used to carry out terror attacks. In this respect, these threats are much more difficult to identify and prepare for. Yet, as these threats become a much larger face of the type of threats we face, would we see a larger role for NSmen in dealing with this new type of threat?
The final aspect that I have to deal with is how we deal with the limitations and constraints. This is a constant theme that the Ministry has dealt with over the years. In the early days of NS, we had a population boom with high unemployment. So, pulling people into NS did not have as big an economic impact. Nowadays, there are strict limits being imposed. Cohort sizes are falling. So, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) will have to be able to make do with a much smaller population. At the same time, MINDEF's available training spaces are also getting reduced due to competing needs for land in land-scarce Singapore.
I have been quite impressed by MINDEF's efforts at working around these constraints. Personally, I have experienced it myself. As an infantryman, I did my basic training. I learnt, well, the old M16 rifle, and I barely passed my shooting test. I have shared in this House how the SAR-21 doubled my productivity. I managed to get a Marksman the first time I tried. The range I used was also a multi-storey rifle range. So, that meant it could have many more times the number of people doing the training. So, this seems to be MINDEF's way of adapting. It used better technology to get the same outcomes by using less land and less resources.
While these are admirable adaptions which, basically, are the classic productivity improvements where you are getting more out of less, will we be able to achieve better outcomes by changing the game altogether? For example, if we are looking at the face of warfare where you do not need very large amounts of manpower to fight wars or to man aircraft, do we need different forms of training altogether which would significantly change the type of training areas we need and the type of people we need to have trained?
In this Motion, I was hoping to raise raw themes to give the Ministry a platform to, basically, share the vision of NS perhaps for the next 50 years, even as we move forward to the first 50 with strong support from our population.
Mr Deputy Speaker:\tAs the Member has not used his full 20 minutes, I will allow one more speaker. Ms Joan Pereira.
Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am speaking in my capacity as a Member of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Defence and from the perspective of a mother, daughter, wife and maybe future mother-in-law.
This is a special year as we mark 50 years of NS. I would like to put on record my express gratitude to our NSmen and state my appreciation for the sacrifices of their families which have kept Singapore safe. Tributes have come from many sectors and I think it is important for us here in Parliament to dedicate a few moments to pay a special tribute to all our NSmen, past and present, for their sacrifices to protect our only home. Changi Airport has joined in the NS50 tributes, too, with a 5.5-metre NS statue at Terminal 3. This life-sized infantry soldier stands proudly against the Singapore flag and had been inspired by the NS Landmark at the BMT Centre in Pulau Tekong.
We live in challenging times and have to be constantly on our guard to defend Singapore against potential external threats and terrorists. Pick up any newspaper now on any given day and you will see the escalating terrorist threats faced by cities all over the world. More than ever, we need our NSmen to be well-trained and on the alert to ensure our security and survival.
NS has evolved tremendously over the last few decades and has become the pride of Singapore. NS is also an important rite of passage and integral part of Singapore life. It is heartening for me to hear from so many parents their support for NS and how proud they are of their family members who have learnt and benefited from the discipline and rigour of NS training. They marvel at how their sons mature and become so fit during NS. Their increased confidence, mental and physical toughness bode very well for our future.
Going forward, NS will evolve even further due to technological advances. Information technology (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI) will change how NS will be managed. Intelligent warfare will require new skillsets. We must prepare to keep up with these advancements.
The report by CSNS has many recommendations for the future of NS. I am delighted to support more recognition and benefits for NSmen, particularly life and personal accident insurance coverage for our servicemen. It is important to ensure the highest level of safety even as they undergo realistic training. However, insurance is necessary so that in the event of incidents, families need not go to Court to claim, which will help to reduce hardship and additional emotional trauma.
I would like to take this opportunity to urge MINDEF to continue to put in more effort and checks to step up safety during training. Every injury and life lost is one less fighting force for Singapore. With such a small fighting force due to our small population and low fertility rates, we cannot afford to be careless or suffer from any oversight. Utmost care must be exercised at every level even as we strive for realistic training. Our men and their families must have peace of mind so that they can put their best into their training. There should be multiple channels for feedback from our NSmen to report on blind spots, negligence and abuses, as well as ideas and suggestions for improvement and greater efficiency.
Another excellent recommendation is the establishment of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Volunteer Corps which proposes to include women, first generation Permanent Residents (PRs) and new citizens. In fact, recently, I have received feedback from our younger generation about including women in NS, albeit in different roles.
A few girls even expressed that women could contribute more significantly to NS, whether in similar combat roles, logistics, resource management, administrative support, IT, medical, amongst others. I am heartened by the enthusiasm of our young women and impressed by their awareness of the various scopes of different roles necessary for the defence of our country. Let us continue to explore how women can contribute even more to increase their roles in Singapore’s defence.
The report also suggested that MINDEF and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) work together to help our NSmen keep fit and ready for their Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT). This also ties in with our national effort to boost the health and fitness of all Singaporeans. As a community, we should support our NSmen in this endeavour, and let us all keep fit together, young and old, children and the elderly. An active, healthy and fit community is also an important component of national defence.
Let us reaffirm our commitment to our national defence and pledge our full support for our NSmen to work together for Singapore's defence and security. We may be a small nation but we are a force to be reckoned with. We will not back down from intimidation or threats and we can give as good as it gets. Our will and determination to protect our home will be the most powerful shield against any threat. Every single one of us – men, women and children – will stand our ground and fight to the last to defend Singapore, our home.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Would the Senior Minister of State like to respond?
The Senior Minister of State for Defence (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank Mr Vikram Nair and Ms Joan Pereira for their speeches and strong support for NS. Since Independence, this Government has been consistent and unwavering in its commitment towards strong defence and security that can only be possible with NS, due to our limited manpower.
National conscription is a difficult policy for any country to introduce and just as challenging to maintain. Fifty years ago, with our nation’s very survival at stake, with Independence thrust upon her precipitously and without any military to protect her sovereignty, the government of the day took that onerous but courageous step to introduce NS.
Dr Goh Keng Swee moved the NS (Amendment) Bill, which this House passed on 14 March 1967. With that, NS began with the first batch of 9,000 NSmen enlisted in 1967. Then, Singapore was poor and undeveloped, and there was no certainty that we could even succeed as a nation or build a credible military to protect our borders and interests. After 50 years, and a million NSmen who have performed this sacred duty honourably and faithfully, including many NSmen Members of Parliament here, we can take pride that together, we have built up a strong SAF and Home Team, respected and able to protect Singapore.
Why did our founding leaders begin NS then, even though it was politically challenging and unpopular in a Singapore that was impoverished and beset with so many other economic and social problems? As our founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew revealed in 2012, and I quote, \"From the day we started, I knew that we needed a strong SAF, and I believe that remains today. Without a strong SAF, there is no economic future, there is no security.\" This truism remains.
Today, the external threats may have changed in nature, but are no less threatening, either to the safety of our citizens or the sovereignty of our nation. Yes, today, this House sits in a very different Singapore. Certainly, we are more prosperous and stable with the SAF and the Home Team keeping Singapore safe daily. The Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) work hard to maintain law and order, responding to all types of emergencies, and are prepared to deal with any threat. Our crime rates are low and, while the terrorist threat is a grave one, our security forces are vigilant and prepared to deal with an attack when it comes. NS receives very strong support from all Members of this House, from employers and citizens. In our polls, more than 90% of citizens support NS and our national defence policies.
I am deeply gratified, but MINDEF and SAF will never take that support for granted. Neither will it lull us into a complacency to let down our guard to protect this nation. Indeed, that strong support from this House and the public spurs us to further strengthen SAF, to modernise its processes, ensure greater accountability of the resources given to it and engage its soldiers better. Our NSmen form the bedrock of our defence and security. We will continue to improve NS, help our NSmen perform their duties more effectively and recognise their contributions. Today, pre-enlistees from the Home Team and SAF can indicate their vocational interest for NS. We have also reduced the waiting time for enlistment and introduced life and personal accident insurance coverage for all NSmen.
We agree with Ms Joan Pereira that we must do everything possible to prevent loss of life or bodily harm to our soldiers. We owe this to the young men who give of their best serving the nation, and to their parents who entrust their sons to us. SAF will continue to regularly review and strengthen its safety systems, with regular inspections and external professional advice.
We fully agree with Mr Vikram Nair and Ms Joan Pereira, too, that the Next Generation NSmen must adapt their roles and responsibilities to a changing security environment. Much of that is happening already. Today, NSmen are already trained to operate our new air defence weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles and use data analytic tools for maritime threats. NSmen will be part of the 2,600-strong Cyber Defence Force over the next 10 years. Every year, the Island Defence Training Institute will train more than 18,000 NSmen annually for homeland security operations.
We agree with Mr Vikram Nair that NS roles will be further optimised through the use of technology. Going forward, more NSmen will operate unmanned platforms, use AI, data analytics and robotics to act as force multipliers. For example, SAF is developing an Unmanned Ground Vehicle armed with a suite of sensors which enable our forces to respond to security threats quickly and effectively.
Even as we expand and strengthen NSmen’s capabilities to defend our home against changing threats, societal support remains the strongest form of motivation to our NSmen. This year, we are heartened that different sectors of the community have come forward to commemorate NS50 together, including Members of Parliament here who hosted appreciation ceremonies in their constituencies for father and son NSmen. Hundreds more employers reaffirmed their commitment to the defence of Singapore at combined rededication ceremonies in July this year. More than 500 businesses and organisations have introduced initiatives to commemorate NS50, including offering discounts and privileges for NSmen to enjoy with their families.
But most encouraging is the groundswell of spontaneous individual stories on social media from tens of thousands of NSmen and members of the community. It is these precious and individual NS stories that make NS today part and parcel of being Singaporean in every family and uniquely Singapore. It is for these reasons and as a tribute to our NSmen, past and present, that the Prime Minister has announced that the Float@Marina Bay will be redeveloped into a permanent space and renamed the NS Square. Its permanence and prominence will reflect the central role that NS plays in keeping Singapore strong and secure.
In this NS50 year, we can be proud of what we have achieved together. If we can maintain this unwavering and strong support for NS from one generation to the next, then we can look forward to Singapore's future with optimism and assurance.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That Parliament do now adjourn.\" (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 6.25 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":"Matter Raised On Adjournment Motion","questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Opportunities for Local Enterprises in Government Tenders","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"19 Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Finance whether opportunities are given to local SMEs for Government tenders and, if so, how extensive is the support given for local SMEs and local entrepreneurs in this aspect.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs1) have been successful in securing Government projects under our open procurement system. In 2015 and 2016, more than 80% of the contracts called by Government agencies were awarded to SMEs. These contracts make up about half of the total value of all contracts awarded in the same period. Of the contracts awarded to SMEs, about 90% were won by SMEs that have at least 50% local equity.
As the vast majority of Government contracts are below $100,000 in value, there are significant opportunities for smaller enterprises to participate in Government procurement. To facilitate participation in Government procurement, the first Government Electronic Business (GeBIZ) account is free, and this allows suppliers to view procurement opportunities and submit their bids electronically. There are also existing platforms, such as GeBIZ Mall, which provides electronic \"shelf-space\" for suppliers to publicise their goods or services and for Government agencies to buy directly from them.
The Ministry of Finance and Government agencies also participate in outreach events, such as the Government Procurement Fair for SMEs organised by the Singapore Business Federation, to help SMEs gain a better understanding of Government procurement processes.
There is also targeted support in specific industries. For example, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) established the Accreditation@IMDA Programme in 2014 to nurture Singapore-based innovative technology startups and SMEs. Under this programme, 23 Singapore-based suppliers have been accredited. To date, more than 120 Government contracts have been won by accredited suppliers. Private sector buyers and investors have also shown interest in accredited suppliers due to the assurance provided by the work performed and track record built through this programme.
Under the enhanced Partnership for Capability Transformation through Government-lead demand, also known as Gov-PACT, Government agencies will identify problem statements that require innovative solutions that do not yet exist in the market, and issue calls for proposals to the industry to develop and test-bed such solutions. Local SMEs and startups whose proposals are accepted are eligible for up to 70% funding support from the Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING) Singapore for qualifying development costs. Gov-PACT enables our local enterprises to strengthen their innovation capabilities as they co-create and prototype innovative products and services for the public sector. This allows them to build track record with the Singapore Government as a reference customer and catalyse their growth. Since the programme was launched in April 2017, two calls for proposals have been launched by JTC and the National Environment Agency to good response from local SMEs.
Beyond Government procurement opportunities, the Government also supports SMEs in many other ways, including through capability development, access to working capital and financing, and skills training for their workforce.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : SMEs are defined as enterprises with annual sales turnover of not more than S$100 million or employment size of not more than 200 workers."],"footNoteQuestions":["19"],"questionNo":"19"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Allowing Estate Agents to Refuse Instructions from Clients who Exclude or Favour Prospective Tenants Based on Race or Nationality","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"21 Mr Kok Heng Leun asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider requiring estate agents licensed by the Council of Estate Agents to (i) refuse to place advertisements that exclude or favour groups of prospective tenants based on race or nationality and (ii) refuse instructions from clients who seek to exclude or favour such groups.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Council of Estate Agents' (CEA’s) regulatory guidelines require property agents to be sensitive to Singapore’s diverse social fabric. Property agents are not allowed to place advertisements that are discriminatory, offensive or stereotype any particular race, religion or group in society. They are also not allowed to indicate a preference for any ethnicity in all advertisements, unless for compliance with Government regulations, such as the Ethnic Integration Policy. It is the duty of property agents to inform their clients of the need to adhere to these guidelines.
Property agents who breach any of these guidelines can either be issued a written warning or be subjected to disciplinary action which may result in suspension or revocation of licence or registration.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Grooming Talent for Clean Technology","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"23 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what is being done to groom local talents with the right skills and education for the relevant jobs in our goal to become Asia's clean technology hub; (b) of these jobs, how many are estimated to be applicable to Singaporeans; and (c) how will increased focus on clean technology impact our economy.
Mr S Iswaran: Singapore aims to be Asia's leading clean technology (or cleantech) hub to develop domestic solutions and to access the economic opportunities in the region. Our cleantech companies, mainly in the areas of clean energy and water, undertake a wide range of business activities, creating jobs in research and development (R&D), engineering, project development and financing, and high-value manufacturing. Members would be familiar with our success story of improving self-reliance for water. Clean energy, particularly solar energy, will also have a positive impact on our economy, both as an economically viable and sustainable energy source, and as an exportable solution to other cities.
The cleantech industry currently hires more than 20,000 workers. In 2016, we projected that the water sector could add 1,000 new professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) jobs by 2020. This year, we also announced plans for the clean energy sector, which is projected to add 2,000 new PMET jobs by 2025. At least two-thirds of these jobs are projected to be taken up by Singaporeans.
Cleantech is part of the Urban Solutions domain which has been identified as a key growth area by the Committee on the Future Economy, as well as a focus of our Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE2020) Plan. To deepen our knowledge and capability in this field, the Government is supporting public research centres, such as the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, the Energy Research Institute @ NTU, and the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, to undertake industry-aligned R&D which creates additional good jobs in themselves and helps train technical talent for the wider industry.
The Economic Development Board and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) also have various initiatives to groom local talent for companies, including in-company training, student scholarships and talent outreach activities, such as learning journeys. Taking clean energy as an example, some of our talent grooming and skills upgrading initiatives include the Energy-Industry and Singapore-Industry Scholarships. Since 2014, EMA has supported these scholarships for students in the Institutes of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities, in partnership with sponsoring organisations from the power sector. Since July 2016, early and mid-career Singaporeans in the industry have also been tapping on the SkillsFuture Study Award for the Power Sector, to deepen their engineering skills through supported tertiary education courses.
We will continue to grow the cleantech industry by investing in research and innovation, training skilled manpower and promoting new financing and business models.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Implementation of Tripartite Advisory for Managing Workplace Harassment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"28 Mr Kok Heng Leun asked the Minister for Manpower how many employers have implemented the Tripartite Advisory for Managing Workplace Harassment, both in having a policy explicitly defining harassment, including sexual harassment, and setting out how it will be handled, as well as providing training to workers on how to prevent and respond to it.
Mr Lim Swee Say: The Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment was issued in December 2015 to serve as a practical guide for employers and employees to better prevent and manage harassment at the workplace. The advisory helps foster workplace environments where harassment is not tolerated and educates workers who face harassment on where to seek help, including remedies available under the Protection from Harassment Act.
Tripartite advisories are meant to provide a guide for employers and employees and are not prescriptive. We do not track how many companies have adopted the measures suggested in the advisories, including that on managing workplace harassment.
In the last three years, fewer than five of the 800 of the complaints lodged with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, or TAFEP, involved allegations of workplace harassment. Each of these complaints was looked into, with TAFEP advising the complainant on possible means to seek recourse. TAFEP also followed up with the employers, for substantiated complaints, to highlight the feedback received and advise them to take corrective actions where necessary.
On an ongoing basis, the National Trades Union Congress, Singapore National Employers Federation and TAFEP conduct regular courses to help employers adopt policies to prevent and manage workplace harassment. More than 450 company representatives have been trained over the last two years.
The Ministry of Manpower and TAFEP will continue to monitor the situation and take each report of alleged workplace harassment seriously. We urge workers who face workplace harassment to get help promptly. This includes reporting to the authorities, such as the Police, for criminal offences, or the Court for civil remedies.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Ensure Childcare Operators are Financially Sound","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"29 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) over the past five years, how many early childhood education and care centres have suffered financial woes or have been insolvent; and (b) whether the Government will consider putting in place a student fee protection scheme for these centres similar to the one required under the Private Education Act.
30 Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the criteria for issuing licences to operators of childcare centres are adequate to ensure that the operators are financially responsible to safeguard the fees paid by parents and the salaries of staff; (b) whether a screening process and safeguards will be established to ensure that only responsible operators are issued with the necessary licences; and (c) how many childcare centres have recently defaulted on salaries owed to teachers or fees collected from parents.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) regulates preschools to ensure the safety, well-being and development of our young children enrolled in these preschools. In determining whether to issue or renew a licence under the Child Care Centre Act, ECDA assesses the centre’s standards in providing holistic early childhood development programmes in a safe environment. This includes looking at physical space norms and designs, environment safety and hygiene, programme staff quality and staff-to-child ratio. In addition, ECDA also considers the character and fitness of the applicant or licensee, such as whether he or she had committed child-related offences previously.
In this context, ECDA will intervene decisively if operations are affected in a way that poses risks to the safety and well-being of children. For more complex cases, ECDA may work with other Government agencies to carry out investigations. In the event that centres abruptly close, ECDA will assist parents with alternative placement for their children, if needed. The number of abrupt preschool closures has been low, at about three annually, on average, over the last three years, and we will closely monitor this trend.
Under the new Early Childhood Development Centres Act, which was enacted in April this year and which will be brought into force next year, ECDA will have enhanced authority to take into account the financial capacity of applicants in operating and maintaining such a centre. This will be one of the factors that ECDA will look at in determining whether a licence is to be awarded or renewed. Such upstream intervention will go some way in reducing the risk of operators abruptly defaulting on fees paid by parents or salaries owed to teachers.
There are other approaches that can help protect parents from fee defaults arising from sudden closure, such as a student fee protection scheme, as suggested by Ms Tin Pei Ling. We will study the options carefully, taking into account the context and possible trade-offs, such as added costs to the sector and to parents.
Under employment laws, it is an offence not to pay salaries and provide Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions. The Ministry of Manpower and CPF Board will investigate such cases.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assessment of Uber's Security Measures","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"31 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport in light of Uber being denied licence renewal in London due to security and safety concerns (a) whether LTA has conducted assessments on Uber's security measures; (b) how satisfactory are those measures; (c) how many accidents and safety issues has Uber been involved in the past one year; and (d) what further measures will be implemented to improve safety and reliability of private hire car operators in Singapore.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We take commuter safety seriously. We rely primarily on the Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence (PDVL) scheme, rather than the efforts of Uber or other ride platforms, to protect our commuters.
As part of the application process for a PDVL, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will screen the candidate's background and driving records. Individuals who have committed violent crimes or serious driving offences will be disqualified. Applicants are also required to attend courses and pass the requisite tests to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills. In addition, PDVL holders who are suspected of committing or are convicted of serious criminal or driving-related offences may have their PDVLs suspended or revoked.
On their part, private hire car booking service operators need to ensure that only licensed drivers and cars are deployed on their platforms. LTA can serve a General Suspension Order on private hire car booking service operators whose drivers have been convicted for three times over a 12-month period. The nature of convictions includes (a) providing private hire car services without a valid vocational licence, (b) using an unlicensed vehicle to provide services, or (c) using a private hire car that is inappropriately insured.
Last year, drivers for private hire car booking service operators and traditional limousine companies were involved in about 700 road accidents. These accidents could have happened when the driver was driving for hire and reward, or in his personal capacity. There were also nine instances where drivers for private hire car booking service operators were arrested for commuter-related crimes.
We review our policies regularly to ensure that they are effective in ensuring commuter safety.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Strategies to Ensure Retirement Adequacy as More HDB Flats Approach End of 99-year Leases","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"32 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for National Development as HDB flats approach the end of their 99-year leases, what strategies are available to Singaporeans who wish to monetise their \"nest egg\" in order to supplement their retirement needs.
Mr Lawrence Wong: There are various monetisation options for elderly flat owners to unlock the value of their flats to supplement their retirement needs. They can sell their flats in the resale market, right-size to a smaller flat, and apply for the Silver Housing Bonus. Alternatively, if they wish to retain their flat, they can sublet a spare bedroom or their whole flat or apply for the Lease Buyback Scheme. Housing and Development Board flats will continue to be a good store of value if flat buyers plan ahead and make prudent housing choices.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Prosecutions Involving Operation of Illegal Brothels","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"33 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) for each year in the past five years, what is the number of prosecutions involving the operation of illegal brothels; (b) what is being done to detect and eradicate such illegal activities in our HDB heartlands; and (c) whether the Ministry is strengthening its response and enhancing punishments for those prosecuted for abetting or committing such offences.
Mr K Shanmugam: Over the past five years, the Police have arrested 790 persons for abetting vice activities, such as operating illegal brothels. About 12% of these offenders were involved in illegal brothels in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats. An offender convicted of managing a brothel under the Women’s Charter faces a fine of up to $10,000, or up to five years’ imprisonment, or both.
In cases where the Police have received complaints and detected brothels in HDB flats, the Police will also investigate the owner of the flat. If the owner is complicit in the vice activities, he will also face prosecution under the Women’s Charter. If the owner is not complicit, the Police may serve a notice on him, which would allow him to be prosecuted if his flat is used for vice activities a second time. The Police will also notify HDB, which will take stern action if the flat owner is found to have misused his flat, including imposition of fines, compulsory acquisition and debarment from buying another HDB flat. These actions against the flat owner create a strong deterrence and the Police have not seen the same HDB flats being used for vice activities twice. The Police advise HDB flat owners to ensure that their tenants are not using their flats for illegal activities.
Brothels in HDB flats typically rely on the Internet to advertise their services. The Women’s Charter was amended last year to tackle online vice. A new offence was created to criminalise the operating or maintaining in Singapore of any website or other remote communication service that offers or facilitates the provision of sexual services in return for payment. In May this year, the first person was convicted of this offence. He hosted advertisements for 12 sex workers on a website and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of $83,000. The Police also disrupt online vice by terminating the phone numbers used for the activity and blocking their websites.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Solutions for Estates with Private Properties with Less than 20 Years in Remaining Lease","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"34 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for National Development (a) for elderly Singaporeans living in private property with a remaining lease of about 20 years, whether the Ministry will consider offering them transition or interim housing during the debarment period for the purchase of a HDB flat; and (b) what measures are taken to ensure that the neighbourhood of such properties will not be disproportionately populated by short-term rentals or become quarters for foreign workers predominantly.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Singaporeans living in properties with short remaining leases are encouraged to plan ahead for their lease expiry, and source for alternative housing early. Senior citizens have various housing options, including short-lease two-room flexi flats, for which there is no debarment period for purchase. Residents can approach agencies for assistance if they need help transitioning to their next housing arrangement.
To safeguard the residential environment of private housing estates and minimise disturbance to neighbours, owners of private residential premises are only allowed to rent out their properties with a minimum tenancy period of three months. Each unit should also only have a maximum of six unrelated occupants. The Urban Redevelopment Authority will proactively enforce against subletting arrangements that flout the rules, including prosecuting egregious offenders in Court.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Prevent Future Flooding in MRT Tunnel","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"36 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the findings from the Ministry's investigation of the cause of the MRT tunnel flooding on the North-South Line on 8 October 2017; (b) at the time the disruption announcement was made, whether SMRT was aware that the faults were due to tunnel flooding; (c) what measures have LTA and SMRT taken to ensure that tunnel floodings will be prevented in future; and (d) whether the Ministry will be appointing a Committee of Inquiry to review the incident.
37 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether there have been regular checks/maintenance on the water pumps in MRT stations to prevent their breakdown/malfunction; (b) if so, what is the frequency of such checks/maintenance; (c) whether there are back-up water pumps in the event of breakdowns; (d) what are other measures taken by the MRT operators to prevent flooding due to unforeseen weather conditions; and (e) what is the capacity of the water pump system and the extent to which it prevents flooding.
40 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Transport regarding the recent MRT train breakdown due to flooding of a tunnel near Bishan (a) what flood-resistance specifications are included in the tenders for such essential MRT infrastructure; (b) whether fail-safe redundancy at (i) system-level and (ii) component-level is a tender criterion; and (c) whether the future impact of climate change on rainfall is being considered, moving forward.
45 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Transport what are the \"deep-seated cultural issues\" afflicting SMRT as raised by the SMRT CEO during the press conference that was called in the aftermath of the tunnel flooding incident on 7 October 2017.
46 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Transport in light of the MRT tunnel flooding near Bishan, whether LTA will establish a Failure Mode and Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) team to (i) assess the failure resistance of essential transport infrastructure, such as the MRT, (ii) propose best practices for infrastructure tenders and (iii) search for vulnerabilities which may not fall within a single service provider's purview.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: I thank the Members for their questions. I intend to respond to their questions and those filed by other Members fully by way of a Ministerial Statement on 7 November 2017. I invite the Members to seek clarifications, if any, after the Statement is delivered.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Public Safety Given Recent Wild Boar Incidents in Residential Areas","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"49 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for National Development in view of the increase in incidents involving wild boars in public residential areas, what are the plans being effected to ensure that the safety of the public is not compromised.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Government agencies have been working closely with stakeholders, including Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, the National University of Singapore, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and nature groups on several fronts.
First, we will continue to monitor and manage the wild boar populations in their natural habitats. There are not that many wild boars in our nature reserves. But we have identified a few hotspots where the numbers are higher due to the availability of food. Agencies have been removing oil palms at these hotspots as palm fruit is a favoured food source of the boars.
In areas where human feeding occurs, like Pasir Ris-Punggol, enforcement action will be taken. It is important for the public to stop this feeding because this changes the natural behaviour of the boars. Low railings will also be installed in places where these hotspots abut roads to discourage the boars from wandering beyond forested areas.
Second, we will manage the movement of wild boars when forested state land is cleared for development. The National Parks Board (NParks) will continue to advise agencies and developers to shepherd wild boars towards other contiguous forested sites and to hoard up areas that are near residential estates and roads. This will reduce the probability of wild boars escaping into public residential areas.
In addition, we will step up public education efforts on human-wildlife encounters. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and NParks are working on materials to educate residents on what to do when they encounter wild boars or other animals.
We will continue to work with stakeholders in residential areas to manage the wild boar issues and ensure public safety.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Consumer Protection Given Large-scale Movement of Insurance Agents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"50 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Prime Minister what regulatory safeguards can MAS take to protect the interests of consumers when large-scale movements of insurance agents happen amidst aggressive poaching activities between rival financial institutions.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) takes the issue raised by Ms Foo Mee Har seriously. When an insurer offers attractive financial incentives to attract agents from other insurers, the incentives usually depend on sales targets that these agents have to meet. This poses the risk that the agents may encourage their customers who bought policies from the previous insurer to surrender these policies and buy new ones from the new insurer. This is known in the industry as a \"switch\" and may not always be in the best interests of consumers. For example, they may forgo policy charges or fees they had already paid during the initial years of their existing policies or be subject to exclusions for health conditions which have developed since they purchased their existing policies.
MAS has, therefore, put in place a few safeguards to protect the interests of consumers. MAS requires the supervisor of the agents to validate that each and every recommended switch is appropriate, taking into account the customer's objectives, financial situation and needs. In the case of vulnerable customers, the supervisor is required to call these customers to check that they understand the policies they have purchased before the policies are issued. In the event that a customer changes his mind about buying a policy, there is a free-look period of 14 days where the sale can be cancelled and the insurer will refund all premiums paid (less medical and other expenses that had already been incurred). As an additional safeguard, MAS requires a party independent of the sales process to perform sample checks on sales transactions.
MAS' supervisory activities also cover insurers' compliance with these requirements. MAS will not hesitate to take regulatory action against insurers or agents who are found to have engaged in improper switching.
A second concern with insurers offering attractive financial incentives to attract agents is that consumers may, in effect, bear the cost of such financial incentives. MAS has, therefore, made it clear to the industry that financial incentives offered by an insurer to recruit agents from another firm cannot be charged to the insurance funds as an expense and must be borne by the insurer’s shareholders. MAS will also check that insurance premiums are not raised to recover costs incurred from such financial incentives, although we expect that competition in the market will reduce the risk of this happening.
But this should not be just about the powers that MAS has to supervise the industry. It is in the interests of insurance companies collectively to work together to uphold proper standards. As the industry association which promotes best practices among life insurers in Singapore, the Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA) has signalled its commitment to getting its members to adopt responsible recruitment practices to safeguard the interests of consumers. MAS is engaging LIA on the association's proposal to develop guidelines to govern recruitment practices within the industry as well as to address the risks of improper switching following mass movement of agents from one firm to another.
Finally, we have been working to educate and empower consumers, so they can make informed financial decisions. Through MoneySENSE, the national financial education programme, MAS works with industry and community partners to help consumers understand the factors they should consider when buying an insurance policy. Consumers should consider their protection needs, how much coverage they require, and whether they can afford the premiums in the long term.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Exceeding MediSave Claimable Limit under MediSave Maternity Package","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"51 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the number and percentage of women who have exceeded their MediSave claimable limit under the MediSave Maternity Package in the last two years; (b) what are the reasons why the hospitalisation cost exceeds the MediSave claimable limit; and (c) whether greater flexibility can be given to the CPF account holder paying for the hospitalisation cost to utilise the MediSave beyond the claimable limit for operations arising from complications during delivery.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The MediSave Maternity Package is sized to be adequate for subsidised care. Patients can claim up to $900 for pre-delivery bills, and up to $450 per day for hospitalisation, while claim limits for delivery procedure ranges from $750 for a normal vaginal delivery to $2,150 for a more complicated delivery, such as caesarian birth.
Over the last two years, the package fully covered three in four subsidised deliveries, resulting in zero out-of-pocket payment by the patients. Eight in 10 subsidised deliveries had an out-of-pocket payment of $500 or less.
Patients who face financial difficulties may approach medical social workers at our public healthcare institutions for assistance and we will consider each appeal on a case-by-case basis.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Automatically Permitting Usage of MediSave Savings of Persons without Mental Capacity","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"52 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Health whether the Government will consider automatically permitting the usage of the MediSave savings of a person without mental capacity for his own MediSave-approved medical expenses even though the person is unable to communicate his consent for such usage.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: I thank Ms Sylvia Lim for her suggestion. As a general principle, a patient's authorisation is required for the use of his MediSave. This is a safeguard to protect the patient. However, the Government understands that patients who have lost their mental capacity face many difficult challenges, and we have implemented measures over the years to help these patients and their families, including simplifying the process for authorising MediSave withdrawals.
One initiative is to allow a patient to give lifetime authorisation for MediSave withdrawals while he is still mentally well. This arrangement will remain valid even if the patient were to subsequently lose his mental capacity.
For a patient who is already mentally incapacitated, a donee acting under a Lasting Power of Attorney or a deputy appointed by the Court under the Mental Capacity Act may authorise the use of the patient's MediSave. If there is no donee or deputy appointed, individuals related to the patient, such as the patient’s family members, can apply to authorise the withdrawal on the patient's behalf.
We will study Ms Lim's suggestion, together with feedback from other stakeholders, as part of our continuous review on ways to assist patients who have lost their mental capacity, while providing the necessary safeguards to protect patients' interests and well-being.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Support for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"53 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry has any plans to work with the Ministry of Education in identifying and providing more support for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); (b) whether diagnostic methods will be deployed with the expansion of early childhood centres; and (c) whether more subsidy schemes will be made available for children who require medication and behavioural or psychological treatments.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Ministry of Health has worked with the Ministry of Education and other agencies to better identify and support children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
For school-going children at or above the age of seven, we have established multidisciplinary teams under the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Child Guidance Clinic, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) and National University Hospital (NUH) comprising psychiatrists and mental health professionals who work with school counsellors and allied educators to assist students with ADHD and other emotional or behavioural difficulties. This programme is called REACH, which stands for Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health. There are currently four REACH teams serving schools in the North, South, East and West zones. The children may be referred to IMH’s Child Guidance Clinic, NUH’s Department of Psychological Medicine or KKH’s Child and Adolescent Mental Wellness Service for assessment and interventions.
As a child's development and function may change with age, healthcare professionals generally avoid making a definitive diagnosis of ADHD at younger ages. Nevertheless, children below the age of seven with suspected developmental conditions, including ADHD, can be identified through touchpoints, such as doctors and preschool teachers. Preschool teachers who identify children with suspected developmental delays may flag them to specially trained Learning Support Educators who will, in turn, screen the children for referral to assessment and review Termed the Case Filter Meeting. These sessions are chaired by KKH and NUH paediatricians to determine the needs of the child and whether they need to be referred to KKH and NUH's Child Development Programme for further assessments and early intervention through therapies and medical follow-up.
There are also other support programmes outside of our hospitals. Those with milder needs may be supported under the Development Support programme offered in some 350 participating preschools, where services are provided by specially trained early childhood professionals or therapists. Those with moderate to severe developmental needs can be referred to 21 Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children centres run by voluntary welfare organisations.
The REACH service and other services which I have mentioned receive heavy Government subsidies to keep the services affordable. Parents who have financial difficulties can approach the relevant agencies for additional assistance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update on Review into Criminal Justice System for Youths","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"54 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the status of the review into the Criminal Justice System for Youths started in October 2015; (b) whether the Government has decided on raising the threshold age under the Children and Young Persons Act from 16 to 18; and (c) what are the pending issues that have delayed the Government's conclusions on this matter.
Mr Desmond Lee: In October 2015, the Attorney-General's Chambers chaired an interagency committee to review the youth justice system. The committee made several recommendations in February 2017, including working towards increasing the age limit under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA), to allow youths aged 16 to below 18 to benefit from a wider range of sentencing options.
The Government is working through the recommendations, as part of the wider review of CYPA.
CYPA is one component of the youth justice system. Youth justice in Singapore, as a whole, is premised on gradated intervention. Our approach is to divert youth offenders, including those aged between 16 and 18, away from the Court wherever possible. Placing youth offenders on diversionary programmes outside the youth justice system allows them to be accountable for their actions and prevents disruption in other areas of development, such as education.
Operationally, the triage system sieves out and diverts suitable youths who have been arrested for minor offences. These youths are then referred to diversionary programmes, such as the Guidance Programme, Enhanced Streetwise, and Youth Enhanced Supervision. The parents of the youths are actively involved in the programmes, which are also offered to youths aged above 16. The intent is to help the youths develop better self-control and make better decisions.
Youth offenders who are not diverted are assessed for suitability to be placed on probation. Probation focuses on community-based rehabilitation and the Court may order accompanying conditions, depending on the needs of the youth offenders. For example, a probationer may be given a curfew or be ordered to reside in a hostel. The State Court may also order other community-based sentences, such as mandatory treatment for mental health conditions, regular reporting to a centre and community service.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Student Applications for Exemption from Mother Tongue Subject","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"55 Mr Darryl David asked the Minister for Education (Schools) for the past five years (a) how many primary school students have sought exemption from being assessed on their mother tongue subjects due to learning difficulties based on diagnosed conditions; and (b) how many of such cases have been approved by the Ministry.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: A student with special needs may be considered for exemption from Mother Tongue Language (MTL) if he or she has been certified with Special Educational Needs that severely affect the student's ability to cope with MTL and with overall learning.
Over the past five years, around 2% of the Primary School Leaving Examination cohort received MTL exemption each year due to special educational needs.
Students with special educational needs who are coping with their overall studies but have difficulty with the Standard MTL curriculum can consider the option of offering MTL at a lower level. The Foundation MTL curriculum at Primary 5 and Primary 6, and the MTL \"B\" curriculum at secondary and junior college levels are focused on the development of oral and listening skills and have a much reduced demand on writing skills.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Career Paths of Former GEP Students","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"56 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how many students have undergone the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) each year in the past five years; (b) whether any study has been done to track the career path of those who underwent GEP since its inception in 1984 and, if so, what has been the outcome; and (c) whether GEP has been tweaked to meet the changing needs of education.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: Over the past five years, about 1% of the age cohort were admitted into the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) at Primary 4 each year.
Based on longitudinal data collected from several batches of GEP graduates, they have done well. As a group, they have not only excelled academically but also performed strongly in non-academic areas.
Our first few cohorts are now in their forties. They hold diverse portfolios in both the public and private sectors. Among those in the private sector, some were founders, managing partners or chief executive officers of their organisations. Others have also become established leaders in their respective fields, such as senior consultants in the medical field, senior partners in law firms or senior Directors in the Public Service.
GEP is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it continues to meet the developmental needs of our students and prepare them well for the future.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Prevent Misuse of Information Exchanged","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"57 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Finance (a) whether there are any conflicts between existing legislation on personal data protection and banking secrecy and tax information exchanged under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information for the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the Exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports as established by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and (b) what are the measures in place to safeguard the privacy of individuals and to prevent misuse of the information exchanged.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: There is no conflict between existing legislation on personal data protection and banking secrecy, and tax information exchanged under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI) for the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the Exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports.
AEOI under CRS and the Exchange of CbC Reports are internationally agreed standards. These standards are observed by many countries which continue to operate their respective data protection and privacy policies. For example, jurisdictions which have data protection and privacy policies, such as Switzerland and the European Union member states, have also endorsed these internationally agreed standards. Singapore's signing of the multilateral agreements for both standards is in line with our commitment to the internationally agreed standards on tax cooperation against cross-border tax evasion.
The multilateral agreements for AEOI of CRS and CbC reports contain provisions which ensure that the information exchanged is kept confidential and used only for the specific purposes set out in the agreements. Exchange of information that are frivolous or spurious in nature or \"fishing expeditions\" are prohibited under internationally agreed standards for exchange of information.
For instance, a party to MCAA is to provide information to the other party only if that other party has the legal and administrative framework to ensure the confidentiality of information exchanged and prevent its unauthorised use. Where there is any breach of confidentiality, exchange of information can be suspended.
To implement the internationally agreed standards for the automatic exchange of information and fulfil Singapore's obligations under these agreements, the Income Tax Act was amended in 2013 and 2016. The amendments include the duty for specified persons to provide information to the Comptroller, and for this duty to provide information to prevail over the duty of secrecy provided for under written law or rule of law, including the Banking Act, the Personal Data Protection Act 2012, any contract, or rules of professional conduct. This duty to provide information is also within the exceptions to banking secrecy under the Banking Act and non-disclosure under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Pioneer Generation Office's Outreach Efforts","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"58 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Finance (a) whether an update can be provided on the Pioneer Generation Office's outreach efforts towards seniors in the current third wave of engagement; and (b) whether there are enough PG ambassadors to carry out the outreach efforts to our seniors.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: The Pioneer Generation Office (PGO) was established in August 2014 to oversee the Pioneer Generation (PG) Ambassadors Programme. PG Ambassadors, who are volunteers, carry out personalised outreach to Pioneers and their caregivers to explain the various Government schemes.
In August 2016, PGO extended its outreach to 90,000 more Singaporean Citizens aged 65 and above (in addition to only Pioneers), and began its third wave of engagement through its Support Schemes for Seniors programme. This programme aims to help seniors understand relevant Government schemes beyond the Pioneer Generation Package and MediShield LIFE. These schemes include the Community Health Assist Scheme, Silver Support Scheme and the Goods and Services Tax Voucher scheme.
Between August 2016 and September 2017, the PG Ambassadors successfully engaged close to 350,000 seniors, or more than two-thirds of the total senior population. PGO also supported the Community Networks for Seniors pilots in the Tampines, Marine Parade and Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituencies. In the three pilot sites, the PG Ambassadors referred more than 800 unique seniors to relevant agencies for follow-up. These cases are seniors with multiple needs that require case management.
PGO has over 3,000 trained PG Ambassadors. Presently, the pool of volunteers is sufficient to maintain its engagement activities. In anticipation of a higher volume of engagement in the future due to the ageing population, PGO is actively recruiting more volunteers by establishing new partnerships with partner agencies, such as the National Volunteering and Philanthropy Council, Council for Third Age and the Organisation of Senior Volunteers (RSVP) Singapore. We hope that more people who are keen or interested to help in reaching out to our seniors will step forward as PG Ambassadors.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cold Chain Integrity of Drugs","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"59 Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Health Sciences Authority will mandate manufacturers, suppliers and pharmacies to monitor the temperature of pharmaceutical drugs from their source to the patient so as to preserve the cold chain integrity of the drugs; and (b) whether the Ministry provides strict guidelines for suppliers and distributors to observe and include the provision of temperature loggers as evidence of cold chain storage compliance to ensure the potency of their drugs.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) requires all drug manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retail pharmacies to keep their drugs in proper storage conditions, including cold chain storage, under appropriate temperature where necessary. The drugs are also required to be distributed using validated processes to ensure cold chain storage is maintained.
The companies can use different ways to measure and monitor the temperature, such as temperature loggers, or more sophisticated electronic facility management systems.
HSA conducts regular onsite inspections of the premises of the drug manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retail pharmacies to assure that the regulatory requirements are complied with. During the inspections, HSA checks the raw data captured by the temperature monitoring devices or facility management systems to verify good temperature controls.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Anti-smoking Messages in Schools and Reducing Accessibility of Cigarettes to Minors","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"60 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Health (a) apart from the cost of nicotine replacement treatments, what are the other factors that prevent smokers from quitting smoking; (b) what are the current programmes introduced in schools and tertiary institutions to discourage students from picking up smoking; and (c) how has the Ministry worked with other agencies to enforce and reduce accessibility of cigarettes to minors.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) offers a range of smoking cessation programmes under the \"I Quit\" campaign to support smokers to quit smoking. However, because smoking is addictive, smokers have to be disciplined and determined and many may need to try a few times before succeeding, particularly those who have been smoking for a long period of time.
We discourage people, especially the young, from even starting to smoke through a multi-agency, multi-prong approach, including through tobacco control legislation and public education.
For example, HPB works closely with the Ministry of Education to incorporate anti-tobacco messages in schools and institutes of higher learning. The aim is to raise awareness about the benefits of leading a tobacco-free lifestyle, highlight the adverse effects of smoking, and equip youths with life skills to refuse cigarette offers. To help youths who are already smoking, smoking cessation support is provided through counselling by Student Health Advisors based in 50 schools, school-based smoking cessation programme as well as telephone counselling by Quitline. Those who need help can call 1800 438 2000.
It is illegal to sell tobacco to underaged persons and we are planning to raise the minimum legal age from 18 to 21 as outlined in the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) Bill which will be tabled for Second Reading shortly. To curb supplies of tobacco to underaged persons, the Health Sciences Authority conducts surveillance on tobacco retailers for tobacco sales to underaged persons and investigates feedback from the public and leads from partner agencies.
The penalty for selling tobacco products to underaged persons is a maximum fine upon conviction of $5,000, and $10,000 for subsequent offences. In addition, the tobacco retail licence will also be suspended or revoked. Persons who give or buy tobacco for underaged persons are also liable to a fine upon conviction.
The Ministry of Health will continue its efforts to prevent people from starting to smoke, and to help those who are already smoking to quit.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Police Posts within Compound of Essential Services Such as Hospitals","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"61 Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Ministry will consider establishing Police Posts within the compound of essential services, such as hospitals, to provide easy access to immediate reporting when terror incidents are reported.
Mr K Shanmugam: In the event of a terror attack, affected members of the public should \"run, hide, tell\". When it is safe to do so, the public should call 999, send a text message (SMS) to 71999 if it is not safe to talk, or provide the information through the SGSecure app. There is no need nor time to physically make a report at a Police Post.
Our security forces will respond as quickly as possible. Police Officers and Auxiliary Police Officers in the vicinity, as well as the Police's Emergency Response Teams (ERTs), will be among the first to arrive on the scene. The ERTs conduct high-visibility patrols at locations with heavy human traffic, including hospitals, to deter would-be attackers and to be able to respond quickly to incidents.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review List of Birds for Sale as Pets to Restrict Sale of Endangered Species","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"62 Mr Yee Chia Hsing asked the Minister for National Development how frequently does AVA review the list of birds available for sale as pets to ensure that the sale of species which are becoming endangered or threatened is restricted.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) regularly reviews the list of birds available for sale as pets in Singapore. This is based on the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Singapore is a party. CITES classifies species according to the degree of protection that they require. Depending on how critically endangered they are, species are categorised under three CITES Appendices which restrict or even prohibit their trade. CITES amends its listings at the Conference of Parties once every three years, following which, AVA reviews the list of birds available for sale in Singapore.
AVA conducts checks on bird shops in Singapore to ensure compliance. Stern enforcement action will be taken against anyone found to be illegally selling endangered species, including birds. Offenders are liable for a fine of up to $500,000, and/or imprisonment of up to two years.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Prevention of Incidents Involving Falling Objects from Rooftop Gardens and Open Balconies","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"63 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for National Development in respect of trees, plants, furniture and objects on rooftop gardens and open balconies (a) how many incidences have there been in the last five years involving these objects being blown off due to strong winds; (b) whether there have been any consequent injuries, fatalities or property damage; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider more stringent regulations and enforcement to prevent future incidents.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Ministry has not received reports of trees, plants or furniture blown off rooftop gardens and open balconies in the last five years. But there were three cases of poorly affixed plastic roof sheets that were blown off from building trellis structures due to strong winds. Fortunately, no injuries or damage arose from these cases.
Building owners are responsible for the safety of features installed on their roofs and terraces. All bracings, mounting systems and fixings used to secure the installation of building features should be properly designed and able to withstand loads from wind and rain in accordance with current building codes. Last year, the Building and Construction Authority issued an advisory to remind stakeholders of the need for proper installation and maintenance of such features. We will continue to review regulations, and will tighten them if necessary, to ensure that public safety is not compromised.
Owners and tenants also need to take the potential threat of falling objects from high-rise buildings seriously. All of us should exercise a duty of care and have the civic responsibility to ensure that loose and lightweight items, like outdoor furniture and flower pots, are properly secured, and not placed in a manner that could pose a threat to public safety.
If an object falls from height and endangers safety or causes hurt or death, the person responsible could be liable for an offence under the Penal Code. Depending on the severity of the offence, a person could be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with a fine, or with both.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Ensuring Lights used on Emergency Vehicles are Safe for Other Drivers","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"64 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether there are regulations to ensure that the type of lights used on emergency vehicles are safe for other drivers who may be blinded by these lights; and (b) whether the number and brightness of the lights can be adjusted based on weather conditions and other environmental factors.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Under the Road Traffic Act, emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, firefighting vehicles or Police vehicles can only switch on their warning lights during emergencies to warn other vehicles to give way. Like other international jurisdictions, such as Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom, we do not regulate the number and brightness of the warning lights.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Generalists to Help meet Singapore's Future Healthcare Needs","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"67 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Health how can the Ministry (i) strengthen and empower family physicians, general practitioners, internists and other doctors playing a generalist coordinating physician role to meet Singapore's future healthcare needs and (ii) ensure graduate medical training has flexibility amidst structure so that young doctors can build generalist experience without worrying whether relevant prior experience is disadvantaged if a training path is chosen later rather than sooner.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Generalist doctors play a central role in providing patient-centric and holistic care for an ageing population.
To strengthen and empower generalist doctors, the Ministry of Health is investing in training and development of broad-based professional competencies for all doctors. We plan to incorporate a set of core clinical curriculum of generalist skillsets in our medical schools’ undergraduate curriculum. For postgraduate training, efforts are underway to define the generalist competencies that should be integrated into the training programmes for specialists. For example, a mandatory Geriatric Medicine Modular Training Programme for non-Internal Medicine residents2 has been instituted as part of Residency training to equip residents with the necessary skills of managing elderly patients within their respective specialties.
We noted Dr Tan's comments on allowing flexibility in recognising generalist experience of doctors so that they are not disadvantaged when selecting their training path later. This is already the case for specialties with an Internal Medicine background where doctors spend three years in generalist Internal Medicine training before selecting one of the 15 different specialties for further training. The Ministry will study further if there is similar need for surgical specialties.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["2 : Except for Pathology and Paediatric Medicine."],"footNoteQuestions":["67"],"questionNo":"67"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Use of Public Spaces by Private Outdoor Educators under National Outdoor Adventure Education Masterplan","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"68 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for National Development with regard to the Ministry of Education's new national outdoor adventure education masterplan (a) whether private outdoor educators are allowed to use public spaces for their activities; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider allowing private outdoor educators easier access to public spaces for their activities.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Our public spaces are meant to be used and enjoyed by everyone. Apart from parks and park connector networks, we have progressively opened up reservoirs and waterways for sporting and recreational activities.
Our parks are open to members of the public, including private outdoor education providers, as long as the activity does not deprive other public users of the space. Currently, for activities that are organised for more than 15 people, ticketed or require structural set-up, members of the public can apply to use our parks through the online Park Usage Application System.
The National Parks Board will allow activities that do not cause undue disruption to the public or potential damage to flora and fauna in our parks. Users must also adhere to the rules and regulations stipulated in the Parks and Trees Act.
Our reservoirs are restricted facilities. However, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) will consider applications from private organisations to carry out water activities in our reservoirs on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the impact on PUB's operations, potential pollution to the water and surroundings, and safety of participants.
We will continue to support the use of our public spaces by private outdoor adventure education providers, as long as the proposed activities do not compromise our agencies’ operations, and the impact to our environment and other members of the public is minimised.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Sum Insured under Compulsory HDB Fire Insurance Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"69 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the number of fire incidents involving HDB flats in the past five years; (b) of these, how many flats were a total loss in respect of the sum insured under the HDB Fire Insurance Scheme; (c) what is the frequency of the Ministry's review of the sum insured under the compulsory HDB Fire Insurance Scheme; and (d) whether the current sum insured is adequate to cover the cost of reinstating damaged internal structures, fixtures and areas built and provided by HDB.
Mr Lawrence Wong: All flat owners with an outstanding Housing and Development Board (HDB) loan are required to take up a basic fire insurance policy under the HDB Fire Insurance Scheme. It provides coverage for the reinstatement cost of the building structures and fixtures, in the event of a fire.
In the last five years, there were a total of 640 fire incidents, involving less than 0.1% of HDB’s stock of sold flats. Of these, 448 cases (or 70%) were covered under the HDB Fire Insurance Scheme. In all of these cases, the sum insured fully covered the claims to reinstate damaged internal structures, fixtures and areas built. The sum insured under the HDB Fire Insurance Scheme is thus adequate.
HDB calls a tender to appoint an insurer for the Fire Insurance Scheme for each five-year term, during which HDB will review the sum insured for each flat type.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Rollout Schedule for Business Grant Portal for SMEs","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"70 Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what is the rollout schedule for the business grant portal for SMEs; (b) what are the types of schemes that will be put on the portal; and (c) whether key schemes run by the Ministry of Manpower can be inserted in the first few stages of the rollout.
Mr S Iswaran: The Business Grants Portal (BGP) benefits companies, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), by simplifying grant application forms and reducing the need for companies to approach multiple agencies when applying for business grants.
BGP was launched in January 2017, and companies can now apply for six business grants administered by five different Government agencies. These include SPRING Singapore's Capability Development Grant, and International Enterprise Singapore's Market Readiness Assistance grant. BGP has generally been well-received by businesses, with more than 7,000 grant applications from over 5,000 companies submitted through the portal.
We will continue to find ways to allow more companies to benefit from the streamlined grant application process offered by BGP. As part of the review for future rollouts, the Ministry of Trade and Industry's Grant Management Office is working with Government agencies, such as the Ministry of Manpower, to explore what other grants can be added to BGP, especially those with high application volume.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Heat on Workforce and Productivity Given Global Warming","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"71 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) in light of global warming and temperatures rising on a yearly basis (a) whether the Ministry is exploring the impact of the heat on our workforce and productivity, particularly labour-intensive industries that work in the outdoors; and (b) how well-equipped is our workforce to cope with the impact of climate change in the medium to long term.
Mr S Iswaran: The Government is monitoring the rising temperatures in Singapore and its impact on our workforce and economy. Workers in Construction, Landscaping, Marine and Offshore Engineering and some parts of Logistics are involved in more outdoor work.
Companies in these sectors have put in place mitigating measures tailored to their respective operating contexts. For example, in the Marine industry, companies use mobile shelters where possible to shield workers from direct sunlight as they move along the production line. Construction and Landscape companies equip workers with loose and cool clothing, and ensure outdoor workers have access to drinking facilities throughout the day. Even in warehousing, which is largely sheltered nowadays, companies are increasingly using air-conditioning or large fans to reduce indoor temperatures. Under the Workplace Safety and Health Act and Regulations, employers are required to take these and other reasonable measures to minimise the risk of heat stress among their workers. The WSH Council has also published guidelines for managing heat stress, which include a 14-day heat acclimatisation programme in the first two weeks of employment, and adequate work-rest cycles.
For the medium to longer term, the Government is working with industry to adopt technologies and improve work processes that will reduce labour-intensive outdoor work. For instance, as part of the Construction Industry Transformation Map, companies are encouraged to prefabricate building components offsite, so that less time is spent on wet work onsite, where workers are exposed to the elements. Marine companies are adopting more robotics and automation in areas like hull blasting and painting. Various Government agencies also support research and development efforts to mitigate the impact of heat stress in urban Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cause of Train Fault along Downtown Line between Bukit Panjang and Beauty World Stations","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"72 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the cause of the train fault along the DTL2 line between the Bukit Panjang and Beauty World stations on 16 October 2017; and (b) why has this disruption affected train services along the DTL3 line during the DTL3 Open House on the same day.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The incident happened on 15 October at about 12:40 pm, due to a broken track circuit cable lug between Hillview and Beauty World stations. The track circuit fault caused a Downtown Line (DTL)2 train to stall, moments after leaving Cashew station for Hillview station. It had to be manually driven back to Cashew station and all passengers were detrained safely. Normal train services resumed at 1:20 pm.
While the fault occurred on DTL2, we decided to temporarily suspend the injection of trains into DTL3, so as to avoid congestion on DTL2. This has affected the DTL3 Open House but, overall, the Open House was a great success, attracting 360,000 visitors. They familiarised themselves with DTL3 and were clearly enthusiastic. DTL3 officially commenced service on 21 October, and DTL now serves some 420,000 commuter trips daily on weekdays. This has been a major milestone for us and a great achievement for the DTL team.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Free Sunday Parking at New BTO Projects","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"75 Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry asked ask the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry can extend free Sunday parking to all new BTO projects for both mature and non-mature HDB estates.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Housing and Development Board (HDB) car parks are provided primarily to serve the parking needs of residents. For this reason, HDB will only consider extending the Free Parking Scheme (FPS) on Sundays and public holidays at all newly completed precincts, after parking demand from the new residents has stabilised. This is generally about six months after parking charges are implemented for the car park.
This will ensure that there are sufficient parking lots to support both the residents' needs as well as the expected increase in demand for parking due to FPS. It also avoids a situation where FPS has to be withdrawn subsequently due to insufficient parking spaces for the residents.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assisting Flat Owners beyond Defects Liability Period","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"78 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for National Development how can the Ministry assist HDB flat dwellers faced with defects that arise from design inadequacies and poor workmanship beyond the defects liability period, including assisting with the costs of repair works.
Mr Lawrence Wong: When residents move into their flats and report any defects to the Housing and Development Board (HDB) during the one-year Defects Liability Period (DLP), HDB will arrange for the contractor to carry out the necessary repairs. The one-year DLP is an industry-wide practice and is aligned with that for private developments.
If any maintenance issue is reported after DLP, HDB will first investigate the likely cause and advise the flat owners on the follow-up action accordingly. If the issue is assessed to arise from workmanship of the building contractor, it is considered a defect and HDB will recall the building contractor to rectify it. However, if the issue is due to wear and tear or the flat owners' own actions, flat owners will be responsible for any rectification works. If the flat owners need HDB’s help, HDB can provide them with a list of repair contractors, whom they can then engage on a private basis.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Helping Families Out of Poverty Cycle","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"82 Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what measurements and processes are used to distinguish between people experiencing episodic poverty and those experiencing chronic poverty; (b) what is the average number of months that a Singaporean stays in an episode of poverty before moving out of it; (c) what is the percentage of our population that stays in poverty for more than one year; and (d) how does the Ministry work with other stakeholders to leverage the strengths of low-income families who cycle in and out of episodic poverty to ensure they do not wind up in chronic poverty.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Government invests heavily in education, healthcare, housing and skills upgrading for Singaporeans, so that all have opportunities to do well in life. These range from broad-based subsidies and incentives that benefit many, to targeted assistance for lower-income or vulnerable groups who need additional help.
As the needs of the low-income or vulnerable groups are often multifaceted, concepts like chronic or episodic poverty, which rely on a poverty measure based on one dimension, such as income threshold or housing type, are inadequate. Rather, we have in place multiple layers of Government assistance and a network of Government and community agencies that provide targeted and customised assistance for individuals or households in need.
A sustainable social safety net is built on the values of individual self-reliance, family support and a caring community. Families form the foundation of our society and should be the first line of support. The wider community also plays a part in the outreach and care for the less fortunate. While the Government will do more, we need to draw on the strengths of our stakeholders to enhance the stability and resilience of vulnerable groups.
In some instances, these forms of assistance function as a safety net to keep people from falling further, and to sustain them for the long haul. ComCare Long-Term Assistance is one example of this, where a person who is unable to work due to age or health reasons and does not have any financial means or family support need to be assisted with basic needs for the long term.
In other instances, assistance schemes try to help people in difficulty bounce back up through significant, targeted support for education, employment, skills upgrading and housing, among others. For example, we have introduced upstream programmes, such as KidSTART and the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, to support low-income families in their aspirations to provide a good foundation for their children and to own a home again. Our Social Service Offices work with community partners, such as Family Service Centres and voluntary welfare organisations to identify the needs of vulnerable groups, as well as their strengths and resources to help themselves, which uphold their dignity and enhance their resilience. The community plays a key role in helping low-income families avoid entrenchment. For example, the Council for the Development of the Singapore Malay/Muslim Community's (MENDAKI's) Family Excellence Circles brings together low-income parents to interact, exchange ideas and share best practices to cope with daily challenges and embrace lifelong learning.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singapore's Review of Vehicle Entry Permit and Toll Charges for Foreign-registered Vehicles","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"84 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked Minister for Transport in light of the announcement by the Malaysian Government to impose a vehicle entry permit (VEP) fee on top of the road charge currently imposed on foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia from Singapore, whether the Ministry will review the VEP fee and toll charges for foreign-registered vehicles entering Singapore.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Although Malaysia's Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) shares the same name as Singapore's VEP, they serve different purposes. Singapore’s VEP fee is to equalise the cost of owning and using a Malaysia-registered vehicle in Singapore with that of a Singapore-registered vehicle. Malaysia’s VEP fee, on the other hand, appears to be intended to recover the cost of radio-frequency identification (RFID) cards from users of foreign vehicles entering Malaysia. Malaysia has also announced that it will implement the VEP fee at the Causeway, the Second Link and the Malaysia-Thailand borders from end-2017, and at the Malaysia-Brunei and Malaysia-Indonesia borders in 2018.
There are no plans to introduce a reciprocal charge for now. We will monitor Malaysia’s implementation of VEP.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enforcement Actions against Illegal Hawkers outside Lucky Plaza","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"85 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources with regard to the increasing illegal hawking cases outside Lucky Plaza (a) what are the enforcement actions taken against the illegal hawkers; and (b) what plans does the Ministry have to stop such illegal hawking along Orchard Road.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The National Environment Agency (NEA) takes action against illegal hawkers, particularly if there is sale of food, as it poses a risk to public health and causes public disamenities. Under the Environmental Public Health Act, those caught hawking illegally can be fined up to $5,000 for the first offence, and $10,000 for subsequent offences. Their goods may also be seized and disposed of.
Since January 2017, we have received 15 instances of feedback concerning illegal hawking activities at Lucky Plaza. NEA has carried out several checks and taken enforcement actions against nine offenders for illegal hawking activities.
My Ministry will continue to monitor the situation in Orchard Road closely. We will not hesitate to take enforcement action against anyone found hawking illegally. However, to better tackle the problem, we need the cooperation of members of the public not to patronise illegal hawkers and to report any illegal hawking activity through NEA's 24-hour call centre.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of Code of Practice for Vehicle Parking Provision in Buildings","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"86 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Transport in light of the removal of the growth rate component in the COE supply formula, whether the Ministry will review the Code of Practice for vehicle parking provision in developments, especially in commercial buildings within the Central Business District.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We currently already allow certain developments located in the city centre the flexibility to provide up to 20% less than the prescribed vehicle parking standards. Given the improvements that we have made to public transport and first-last mile connectivity in recent years, we are also reviewing the vehicle parking standards for developments in areas well-connected to public transport, including the Central Business District.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Studies on Installation of Sound Barriers along Expressways","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"87 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Transport (a) what has been the results of LTA's studies on the installation of sound barriers along expressways where there are high densities of public housing; and (b) what are the possible additional measures that can be taken to reduce the intense noise from expressway traffic, such as that along KJE and BKE where there are large numbers of noise-emitting motorcycles and lorries from Malaysia.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is conducting trials on the effectiveness of noise barriers along West Coast Highway, certain stretches of the Pan Island Expressway, as well as a new flyover along Braddell Road. Preliminary results have been positive.
Aside from noise barriers, LTA is also studying a road surface material that can dampen traffic noise levels.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Child Safety Seats Requirement for Private Hire Cars but Not for Taxis","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"89 Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry asked Minister for Transport (a) why it is necessary for private hire cars to have child safety seats when it is not required for taxis; (b) how many child safety seats are needed for private hire cars, especially when passengers may have more than one child travelling with them; and (c) whether there can be more policy consistency for private hire cars and taxis on this matter.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: For safety reasons, the Traffic Police require any passenger below 1.35 metres in height to be properly secured by an approved child restraint or booster seat. However, taxis are exempted from this rule because they can be street-hailed, and it would not be practical to expect them to be equipped with child restraints or booster seat at all times, or to reject passengers with infants or children.
In comparison, private hire cars are pre-booked, and passengers can indicate upfront if they require child restraints or booster seats.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Accidents at Junctions where Pedestrians and Turning Vehicles Share Green Time","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"90 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Transport (a) for the past 10 years, what is the number of accidents involving pedestrians or multiple vehicles at junctions where pedestrians and turning vehicles share the same green time versus junctions where they do not; and (b) what is the number and percentage of signalised junctions with shared green time on Singapore roads to date.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: There are about 1,500 signalised junctions with shared green time. This is about 90% of all signalised junctions. Such junctions allow vehicles to turn when there are no pedestrians crossing during the green-man phase, ensuring smoother traffic flow on our roads.
Over the last 10 years, there were, on average, about three fatal accidents and 40 injury accidents per year at signalised junctions involving a pedestrian or cyclist and vehicles turning right during the green-man phase. However, we do not have the breakdown of whether these accidents occurred at junctions with or without shared green time.
To enhance pedestrians' safety at signalised junctions with shared green time, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has adjusted traffic light timings to give pedestrians a headstart in crossing the road. LTA has also installed lighted road studs as well as additional road markings and signs at higher-risk junctions to remind motorists to give way.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Arrests for Physical Assaults in Public Areas","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"91 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many people have been arrested for physical assaults in public areas on an annual basis over the past 10 years; (b) of this number, how many involve foreigners; (c) what will the Government do to deter such behaviours; and (d) whether penalties for foreign assailants can be enhanced.
Mr K Shanmugam: Between 2007 and 2016, an average of about 1,700 persons were arrested annually for physical assault in public areas. About one-fifth were foreigners.
Our tough laws and effective enforcement serve as important deterrence. For instance, where the physical assault had caused grievous hurt, the offender is liable to be imprisoned for up to 10 years, and also to be fined or caned. These laws and punishments must apply equally to both locals and foreigners.
The Police conduct regular patrols and licensing checks in areas that tend to see more incidents of physical assaults, such as public entertainment outlets. The Police also work with the operators of such outlets on measures to minimise occurrences, including installing more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and improving the lighting.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enabling Cashcard Top-up on PayNow System","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Prime Minister whether the Ministry will consider linking cashcards with the PayNow payment system in order to allow for seamless topping up of cashcards from mobile apps instead of via a physical top-up machine as cashcards are the only cards accepted across all payment platforms for motorists' payments, including ERP and car parks.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): Mr Ong's question refers to the CashCard issued by Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), which can be used by motorists for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and car park payments. However, there are also other payment options.
The existing NETS CashCard is a physical stored value facility that has been in use since 1995. The stored value in the CashCard can be topped up at NETS top-up machines, any local bank automated teller machine (ATM), and at terminals at some convenience store chains3. This existing CashCard cannot be topped up through mobile apps or Internet banking, such as through PayNow, as it requires a physical contact point for topping up.
Besides the NETS CashCard, however, there are other options for motorists and those using public transit, namely, the ez-link card and NETS FlashPay card. These cards are based on the Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (CEPAS). There are a few convenient ways to top up CEPAS cards, such as through automatic top-ups via General Interbank Recurring Order (GIRO), credit and debit cards or via smartphones4, which remove the hassle of performing manual top-ups. Motorists can also sign up for electronic payment of ERP fees via EZ-Pay or NETS CashCard. These latter payment methods allow motorists to pay for ERP charges directly with their credit or debit cards.
As for car parks, Mr Ong is right to say that the CashCard is the only payment card that can be accepted in all car parks. Most car parks are already on the Electronic Payment System and accept both the CashCard and CEPAS cards. However, some of the older car parks cannot accept CEPAS cards but these are a declining minority, as car park operators upgrade their systems.
Upcoming developments, such as the Land Transport Authority's next generation ERP 2.0 system, will be based on newer and more efficient technology, including cardless payments, to further improve motorists' experience.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["3 : Such as 7-Eleven, Cheers, FairPrice Xpress.","4 : Users can top up ez-link cards by tapping the cards onto their Android smartphones using the near field communication functionality. The top-up amount will be charged to the users’ credit cards."],"footNoteQuestions":["1"],"questionNo":"1"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Rectification and Remediation against Supplier of Steel Products for MRT Trains","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"2 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the recent admission by Kobe Steel Ltd on data falsification of the quality of its steel products involved products used in the construction of our MRT trains; and (b) if so, whether there are any plans to seek rectification and remedies against the parties concerned.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The Land Transport Authority has confirmed with all our Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) train manufacturers that no non-conforming products from Kobe Steel have been used in our trains. This includes the Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI)-CSR Sifang consortium that is replacing the car-body bolster for 26 North-South and East-West Lines trains, as well as manufacturing the new fleet of trains for the Thomson-East Coast Line. Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers based in Qingdao work closely with KHI-CSR Sifang to ensure that our trains are manufactured according to LTA’s specifications.
The safety of commuters is our utmost concern. LTA will continue to monitor any new developments from the investigations into the quality of products manufactured by Kobe Steel.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Synchronisation of Warning Messages in KPE Tunnel","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"3 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Transport (a) why were there different warning messages across the different platforms during the KPE tunnel fire that occurred on 29 August 2017; (b) what measures have been taken to synchronise them; and (c) how can firefighters reach and access such fires in the tunnel in the event of a traffic jam.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: During the 29 August tunnel fire incident, there were different warning messages for motorists at different locations, as intended. Those inside the tunnel were advised via the tunnel messaging and broadcast system to exit the tunnel immediately if they could or turn off their vehicle engines before evacuating via the nearest emergency exit if they could not. Motorists outside the tunnel were advised not to enter via electronic signboards, radio broadcasts and online and mobile platforms.
However, for a short period after the fire was put out, the messages were not synchronised. Messages outside the tunnel had ceased to advise motorists not to enter, but the Land Transport Authority (LTA) tunnel broadcast system continued to ask motorists to evacuate the tunnel. This caused some initial confusion. LTA has since reviewed the process and fixed the problem.
As there could be traffic congestion in the tunnel, the Singapore Civil Defence Force's firefighters will respond to the site of the fire from both directions. Officers coming from the opposite direction at the incident location will access the site via cross-passage doors within the tunnel. Fire bikes will also be despatched, and firefighting vehicles may travel on the road shoulder to reach the site.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Manpower for Infrastructure Projects","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"4 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether there are enough technicians and engineers to handle our infrastructure projects and their maintenance; and (b) what measures are in place to meet manpower shortfalls in this sector.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: As Singapore embarks on major infrastructural projects in the coming decades, the Government will continue to work closely with the tripartite partners to build a strong pipeline of engineers and technicians to meet the sector's manpower needs.
We expect the demand for technicians and engineers to grow steadily in the coming years. The railway sector, for example, employs more than 2,000 engineers and 4,000 technicians today and will need to employ another 1,500 by 2020. Another area of demand is for lift technicians as Singapore's built environment continues to transform. There are currently about 2,100 lift technicians and, by 2020, we expect to employ another 1,000 more.
The tripartite partners have worked together to formulate a package of measures to attract and retain talent.
First, industry-wide branding and promotion of engineering and technical jobs. For example, in 2015, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) established a $12.5 million Public Transport Manpower Development Fund to support initiatives, such as career fairs, internships and study awards, to uplift the image of engineering and technical careers and attract new entrants to the industry.
Second, building a dedicated pipeline of engineering and technical expertise. We have also been ramping up the offering of training programmes at both the Pre-Employment Training and Continuing Education and Training levels, as well as structured on-the-job training. For example, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is partnering lift companies to offer scholarships/sponsorships to attract Singaporeans at the degree, diploma and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) levels to take up lift maintenance-related courses and careers. For the railway sector, our ITEs, polytechnics and universities launched seven new railway engineering courses, ranging from National ITE Certificate to Masters. The first few batches of graduates will be ready to join the industry in the next one to two years. We are also working with programme partners to launch more rail-related Continuing Education and Training programmes, such as the Nanyang Technological University's new Specialist Certificate in Civil Infrastructure Engineering, to help environmental engineers gain civil engineering knowledge.
Third, attracting mid-career switchers. Agencies, such as BCA and LTA, have also been working with Workforce Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute to attract mid-career switchers through Professional Conversion Programmes by equipping workers from other sectors with the relevant competencies to embark on a career in the infrastructure sector.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Records of Maritime Casualties in Strait of Singapore from 2007 to 2016","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"5 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport (a) other than cases involving loss of lives, pollution or safety of navigation, what are the categories of maritime casualties in the Strait of Singapore and the port of Singapore which MPA keeps records of; and (b) what is the number of such cases in each of the past 10 years.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Other than major marine incidents involving loss of lives, pollution or safety of navigation, the Maritime Port Authority also tracks reported incidents of lesser severity within our port limits and the Strait of Singapore (Singapore Territorial Waters). Between 2007 and 2017, there has been an average of nine collision, nine sinking, 30 grounding and 71 contact incidents reported in these waters per year.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Effectiveness of Silver Zones Implementation","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"6 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Transport (a) how effective has the Silver Zones been in preventing accidents since their implementation; (b) what are the enhancements put in place to balance the needs of pedestrians, vehicles and emergency vehicles; and (c) how can Silver Zones be adapted to factor in the increased usage of personal mobility devices and bicycles which affect the elderly in using the pedestrian walkways.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Silver Zones improve road safety for seniors by slowing down traffic and alerting motorists to keep a look-out for pedestrians. Features include a reduced speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour, speed bumps, ramps and barrier-free crossings, enhanced street lighting and longer green-man timing. Silver Zones also use centre dividers to narrow lanes and reduce traffic speeds. These dividers are designed to be mountable to allow emergency vehicles to overtake.
In the 11 locations where Silver Zones have been implemented, only three accidents involving seniors have occurred, compared to more than 50 such accidents in the five-year period preceding Silver Zones.
The Land Transport Authority will widen footpaths where practicable at locations with large numbers of pedestrians and cyclists. Of the 11 completed Silver Zones, seven already have widened footpaths or dedicated cycling paths to complement existing footpaths, and two more will have dedicated cycling paths by 2020. We will also implement speed regulating strips and prominent signs to remind cyclists and personal mobility device users to slow down ahead of crowded areas, such as bus stops.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of MOT and LTA Senior Staff Remuneration and Bonuses","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"7 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Transport in light of staff bonuses of the MRT operator's maintenance team being affected by the recent episode of MRT tunnel flooding, whether this episode will also affect the compensation paid to senior staff in the Ministry and LTA who have been tasked with oversight of the MRT operator and, if so, how.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The responsibility for maintaining rail lines, including the flood prevention systems, lies with the operators. As the regulator, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) sets the Operating and Maintenance Performance Standards and carries out regular audits of the operators' maintenance regime and onsite inspections to ensure that these standards are complied with. LTA takes a risk-based approach and prioritises resources in areas which are assessed to be most complex, have the highest risk of failure and which could potentially have the biggest impact on the rail network. The anti-flooding systems are considered less of a high-risk area compared to the other core railway systems as the constructs are relatively simple, easy to maintain and have ample provisions.
Nonetheless, on 29 September 2017, in accordance with its regulatory role, LTA did expressly highlight to Singapore Mass Rapid Transit the importance of regular and diligent maintenance of tunnel pump systems and to surface a list of pumps requiring replacement to LTA. Unfortunately, the remedial actions instructed by LTA were not taken in time. The flooding incident occurred before the replacement programme could be completed. There is no evidence of shortcomings or lapses in regulatory oversight by LTA or Ministry of Transport staff.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Breakdown of Worker Profiles in the Finance Industry from 2012 to 2017","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"8 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Manpower (a) from 2012 to 2017, what is the proportion of contract versus permanent workers in the finance industry; (b) what is the breakdown of locals and foreigners in this sector over the same period; and (c) what percentage of experienced workers in finance and below 40 years of age continue to remain within the industry.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Consistently between 2012 and 2016, over 90% of the local workforce in the financial and insurance services sector were permanent workers. In addition, locals accounted for more than 80% of the workforce in this sector. Among all local workers aged below 40 who were in the financial and insurance services sector in 2012, close to 70% were still working in the same sector in 2016.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Work Permit Holders Granted Transfer of Employer","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"9 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower since the transfer policy was implemented for construction and process workers, (a) how many Work Permit holders have been granted a transfer of employer with the employer's agreement and without the employer's agreement respectively; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider extending the scheme to Work Permit holders in other sectors.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Since 2005, we allow Work Permit holders (WPHs) in the construction sector to change employers if their current employers agree. Since 2015, we also allow all construction sector WPHs to change employers at the end of their Work Permit term, if they are not able to come to a mutual agreement on the renewal of their Work Permits. Since June this year, we also allow WPHs in the process sector the same flexibilities. In addition, WPHs who have valid claims against their employers have been allowed to find another employer. The transfer policy improves productivity as employers benefit from hiring WPHs with work experience in Singapore. Employers also save on repatriation, search and hiring costs, as the WPHs do not have to leave Singapore.
As of October 2017, approximately 128,000 WPHs changed employers before the end of their Work Permit terms with their employers' consent. Another 400 WPHs changed employers after completing their Work Permit terms.
The Ministry of Manpower is reviewing whether the transfer policy can be extended progressively to other sectors at an appropriate time, taking into account the impact on both businesses and workers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Percentage of Re-employed Workers on One-year, Multi-year and Renewed Employment Contracts","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"10 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current percentage of re-employed workers given one-year contracts and multi-year contracts respectively; and (b) what is the percentage of re-employed workers whose contracts are renewed after the end of the first and second contracts.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Since re-employment was introduced in 2012, over 98% of private-sector local employees who wished to continue working at age 62 were offered re-employment.
Among those offered re-employment at age 62 in 2016, two in three employees were able to continue on their existing contracts with no change in employment terms and conditions. For those offered re-employment on new contracts, one in three was offered contracts for a period of more than a year.
We do not track the renewal of re-employment contracts of individual employees at the end of the first and second year of their re-employment. However, almost all private-sector local employees who were in employment when they turned 63 and 64 and wished to continue working, were offered re-employment. This suggests that older employees who want to continue working are given opportunities to continue to do so by their employers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Digital TV Adoption by Low-income Households under Digital TV Assistance Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"11 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the 160,000 low-income households identified for the Digital TV Assistance Scheme are equipped and ready for digital TV broadcasting; and (b) whether the Ministry plans to take further actions to facilitate digital TV adoption in Singapore before analogue broadcasting is phased out.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: It is important that Singaporeans can continue to access Mediacorp's free-to-air (FTA) channels after analogue broadcasting is phased out, because these channels are freely accessible to all Singapore households and are a key source of news, information and entertainment in all four languages. Our FTA channels also carry Public Service Broadcast (PSB) programmes, which promote important societal values, celebrate our culture and heritage, and promote the Singapore identity. Today, about three in four Singapore households are already receiving Mediacorp's digital television (DTV) channels either over the air or through their Pay TV subscription.
To help low-income households migrate to DTV before analogue broadcasting is phased out, the then-Media Development Authority (now the Info-communications Media Development Authority, or IMDA) introduced the Digital TV Assistance Scheme (DTVAS) in September 2014. DTVAS provides low-income households with a free digital set-top box and indoor antenna, as well as free installation, to allow them to use their existing TV sets to receive DTV. Since the launch of DTVAS, IMDA has sent out notification letters to over 139,000 eligible households. As of 17 October 2017, about 64,000 DTVAS packages have been deployed, benefiting roughly one in two eligible households.
IMDA is intensifying its outreach efforts to reach out to the remaining households which have not responded to the notification letters. Beyond intensive door-knock exercises, IMDA is also working with the grassroots, voluntary welfare organisations and senior activity centres to increase DTVAS awareness. Monthly DTV roadshows in the heartlands and booths in community events organised by the Citizens' Consultative Committees and Residents' Committees are also being organised. In addition, messages on analogue TV switch-off and DTV have been included in dialect programmes on Mediacorp channels, such as \"Jiak Ba Buay\" on Channel 8, to raise awareness amongst senior citizens.
We recognise that ramping up efforts to increase awareness of DTV is necessary but not sufficient. Hence, we will be doing more. IMDA will shift the analogue TV switch-off date from end-2017 to end-2018. The extension will provide the public an additional year to switch over to DTV. The end-2018 date will also be more aligned to our neighbours' (that is, Malaysia's and Indonesia's) plans for analogue TV switch-off. This is relevant because the full benefits of freeing up spectrum from analogue TV switch-off can be reaped only when the region moves on this at the same time.
At the same time, IMDA is also studying enhancements to the DTVAS with a view to assisting more Housing and Development Board Singaporean households adopt DTV. IMDA will announce the enhancements to DTVAS early next year.
We remain committed to improving Singapore's digital readiness and enabling households to continue receiving PSB programmes upon analogue TV switch-off by 2018.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Restrictions on Retailers and Merchants from Selling Dangerous Objects to Minors","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"12 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there are restrictions against retailers and merchants from selling dangerous objects, such as knives or blades, to minors and, if not, whether the Ministry will consider reviewing their polices to do so.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Police do not impose an age restriction on persons who are allowed to buy objects like blades and knives from retailers and do not have the intention to do so for now. It is neither practical nor effective to regulate their sale as many of them, like kitchen knives and Swiss-army knives, are common items used for a myriad of everyday activities.
However, anyone found in possession of blades and knives in a public area without a lawful purpose may be liable for the offence of possessing an offensive weapon under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act. The penalty is up to three years' imprisonment and caning of not less than six strokes.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reasons for Pedestrian Deaths Caused by Jaywalking from 2011 to 2016","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"13 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Ministry has done any study to understand the reasons for jaywalking and, if so, what is the outcome; (b) how many pedestrians have been killed over the past five years because of jaywalking; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider a public campaign against jaywalking.
Mr K Shanmugam: Between 2012 and 2016, on average, 20 jaywalkers were killed each year. Elderly pedestrians were especially vulnerable, accounting for about 60% of the fatalities.
A 2015 study conducted by the Traffic Police (TP) found that a key reason for jaywalking was that pedestrians did not consider jaywalking as unsafe to themselves or to other road users. This, of course, is a gross misperception.
TP has stepped up its engagement efforts against jaywalking, especially vis-à-vis elderly pedestrians. In November last year, TP launched the Road Master Test Kit. The self-administered test kit allows elderly pedestrians to assess their eyesight, hearing and reaction time, and provides information on the risks of jaywalking. TP has been using the test kit to educate and engage elderly road users at Senior Activity Centres and community events. To date, TP has distributed a total of 4,000 test kits and will continue to do so.
TP also conducts wider engagement and education activities, such as the \"Singapore Road Safety Month\", \"Shell Traffic Games\" and \"Use Your RoadSense\" campaigns. These campaigns help raise awareness of jaywalking as part of their wider emphasis on pedestrian and motorist safety. In addition, the Singapore Road Safety Council launched an online video in October 2017 to remind pedestrians on how to stay safe, including using only designated crossings, underpasses and overhead bridges, to cross the road.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Ensuring Pedestrian Safety at Pedestrian Crossings","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"14 Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there are plans for Government agencies, such as the Traffic Police, LTA and NEA, to work together to jointly deploy surveillance technologies to achieve their various goals, including ensuring pedestrian safety at pedestrian crossings or zebra crossings.
15 Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of accidents that have occurred in each of the past three years as a result of motor vehicles failing to slow down and take adequate care at pedestrian or zebra crossings; and (b) how does the Traffic Police ensure that motorists comply with existing traffic rules to slow down near such crossings.
Mr K Shanmugam: Between 2014 and 2016, there were, on average, about 220 accidents involving pedestrians at signalised pedestrian crossings and zebra crossings each year. Most occurred because the motorist had failed to drive safely.
The Traffic Police (TP) use cameras to deter and detect irresponsible driving. Red-light and speeding cameras have been deployed at high-risk areas. TP also conducts enforcement operations at pedestrian crossings.
To support its investigations into accidents, TP also obtains footages from the camera networks of other Government agencies, including the Land Transport Authority, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and the Housing Development Board.
The availability of images from in-vehicle cameras has also helped. In December 2014, TP's \"E-Feedback on Road Users\" portal was enhanced to allow members of the public to upload video footages. TP investigates all submitted footages.
Penalties for irresponsible driving are heavy. A motorist who has caused death through rash driving is liable for an imprisonment term for up to five years, a fine, or both. The Ministry of Home Affairs is currently reviewing the penalties to ensure that they remain an effective deterrent against irresponsible driving.
Notwithstanding TP's various efforts, pedestrians, cyclists and users of personal mobility devices must themselves exercise due care before crossing the road, even when they have the right of way. They should always check for traffic to make sure that the road is clear before crossing.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Statistics on Singapore Citizenship Granted to Foreigners from 2008 to 2017","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"16 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Home Affairs for each year from 2008 to 2017, what is the breakdown of the number of Singapore citizenship applications received and approved for (i) foreigners married to Singapore Citizens (SCs) and with SC children, (ii) foreigners married to SCs and with non-SC children, (iii) foreigners married to SCs and with no children and (iv) foreigners on work passes.
Mr K Shanmugam: From 2008 to 2016, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) granted Singapore Citizenship (SC) to around 20,000 individuals each year, of whom around 4,300 were married to Singaporeans. ICA is unable to break down the data by whether these individuals had any SC or non-SC children.
Foreigners on work passes are not eligible for SC. They must have obtained Permanent Resident status before their SC application will be considered.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Disposable Income Limit to Qualify for Legal Aid","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"17 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Law whether the current disposable income limit of $10,000 under the means testing to qualify for legal aid is still relevant compared with the cap of per capita income in other schemes which have increased over time.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Ministry of Law regularly reviews the means test which applicants have to satisfy for civil legal aid. Our last review was conducted in 2013, to allow approximately 25% of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents to qualify for legal aid, up from 17% previously.
To qualify for legal aid, an applicant's disposable income cannot be more than S$10,000 per year and his disposal capital cannot be more than S$10,000. Disposable income is different from gross income. Disposable income allows for permitted deductibles (such as the expenses of the applicant and his dependants, Central Provident Fund contributions and rent) to be excluded. For example, an applicant with three dependants and a gross annual income of S$60,000 may have an annual disposable income of less than S$10,000 after excluding all permitted deductibles. In this way, the permitted deductibles take into account the specific circumstances of the individual.
In the 2013 review, permitted deductibles were raised to account for increases in the cost of living. In addition, a new deductible was introduced for family proceedings which involve children or protection orders to help the most vulnerable persons in a family dispute be eligible for legal aid. All these amendments help vulnerable applicants of limited means qualify for legal aid.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans for SLA Land at Wan Tho Avenue Leased to St John's Home for Elderly Persons","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"18 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Law what are SLA's plans for the 9,000 square metres of land that St John's Home for Elderly Persons currently leases and occupies at Wan Tho Avenue once the land is returned to SLA upon its lease expiry in 2021.
Mr K Shanmugam: The 0.9-hectare parcel which currently forms part of the premises occupied by the St John's Home for Elderly Persons (SJH) will return to the state upon expiry of the tenancy in 2021. This land parcel is currently zoned Civic and Community Institution in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan.
Options being studied by agencies include introducing new community and social facilities that could serve the needs of the larger population over time. The detailed plans will be firmed up in due course. SJH is currently redeveloping and consolidating its operations within a separate 0.33-hectare parcel that it holds on a 30-year lease till 2045. Agencies will continue to work with SJH to ensure a smooth transition.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Statistics of Persons Sued by Public Hospitals for Arrears of Hospital Bills","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"19 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Health for the last two years, how many persons have been sued in Court by public hospitals for arrears of hospital bills.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: In the last two years, 26 individuals were issued writs of summons for the arrears of bills by our public healthcare institutions, of which 15 cases were settled out-of-Court, one case resulted in default judgment and was resolved with the individual making payment, and the remaining 10 cases are still in progress. These figures exclude employers who are required to pay for their employees' medical bills but have not done so.
It is important for patient bills to be paid promptly so as not to deprive public healthcare institutions of the resources they need to deliver healthcare services to patients. For Singaporeans, Government subsidies and MediShield LIFE cover a significant proportion of public hospital bills. MediSave can be used to help defray the costs of the remainder of the bill. Singaporeans who face difficulties with their healthcare bills can approach our medical social workers for assistance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Participating Companies and Employees in National Steps Challenge","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"20 Miss Cheng Li Hui asked the Minister for Health (a) how many companies and employees have participated in the previous seasons of the National Steps Challenge; (b) what is the number of companies and employees targeted for the Corporate Challenge of this season's National Steps Challenge; (c) what measures are in place to promote the Corporate Challenge among companies based in Singapore; and (d) whether and how such measures are evaluated for their effectiveness.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: To encourage working adults to participate in the National Steps ChallengeTM, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) introduced a Corporate Challenge in Season 2 which lasted from 14 November 2016 to 28 February 2017. Over 65,000 employees from 260 organisations participated in the Corporate Challenge.
The National Steps ChallengeTM has successfully motivated more Singaporeans to become more active. When individuals took part in the Corporate Challenge, we found that participants walked an additional 1,500 steps per day on average. Interviews with participants indicated that peer influence and organisational support were instrumental in motivating them to walk more. A competitive team element also spurred participants to improve and sustain their efforts.
The upcoming season of the Corporate Challenge will take place from 1 December 2017 to 31 March 2018. HPB aims to attract 90,000 employees to participate. HPB has been actively engaging trade associations, chambers and unions, such as the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, Food Industry Asia, Singapore National Employers Federation, National Trades Union Congress U Live and Singapore International Chamber of Commerce to reach out to their member companies.
We will continue to reach out to more corporations and individuals to participate in the National Steps ChallengeTM and adopt a healthy lifestyle.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"State of Mental Health in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"21 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the state of mental health in Singapore; and (b) whether the Ministry will conduct a comprehensive national study of the state of mental health encompassing the study of mental illnesses and the study of the social perception, stigmatisation and consequences of mental illness.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: In 2010, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) conducted the first Singapore Mental Health Study which concluded that 9.3% of Singapore Residents would have at least one mood5 or anxiety disorder at some point of their adult lifetime. Among the illnesses assessed, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) were the most common mental health conditions in Singapore. MDD affected one in 17 Singapore Residents and OCD affected one in 33 Singapore Residents at some point in their lifetimes. The second Singapore Mental Health Study is currently underway. It will inform us how the mental health landscape has changed in the years since the first study and provide insights into other conditions, such as schizophrenia and sleep disorders.
In addition, IMH has also conducted the Mental Health Literacy Study, which was completed in 2016. The study focused on social perceptions and stigmatisation of mental illness. The study suggested considerable stigma towards individuals with mental health conditions, which could hinder such individuals from seeking treatment.
Government agencies, healthcare providers and community partners have been working together on efforts to reduce the stigma of mental health conditions and encourage help-seeking. For example, the National Council of Social Services is embarking on a multi-year public education campaign to promote a more inclusive society for persons with mental health conditions. The enhanced Community Mental Health Masterplan announced in 2017 is being implemented to strengthen community-based care for persons with mental health conditions. These included initiatives to better outreach to individuals suffering from mental health conditions for early treatment, and enhancement of mental health services in the primary care sector.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["5 : Mood disorders refer to conditions in which there may be elevated or depressed moods, such as major depressive disorder, dysthymia and bipolar disorder. Dysthymia has less severe symptoms than MDD but may last longer. Bipolar disorder is characterised by mania which is an abnormally elevated, expansive or irritable mood."],"footNoteQuestions":["21"],"questionNo":"21"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update on Industry Transformation Maps and Global Innovation Alliance","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"22 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) whether he can provide a progress update on the Industry Transformation Maps and the Global Innovation Alliance.
Mr S Iswaran: The Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) and Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) were two key initiatives proposed by the Committee on the Future Economy. We are making good progress on both of these.
Through the ITMs, lead agencies and their partners are putting in place industry-specific transformation strategies for 23 industries that make up 80% of our economy. Thirteen ITMs have been launched so far, and the remainder will be rolled out by the end of this financial year. Each ITM consists of a growth and competitiveness plan, supported by four pillars – productivity, jobs and skills, innovation, and trade and internationalisation. Each ITM also addresses the Government’s role in enabling industry upgrading, for example, through conducive regulations. Alongside the ITMs, we have also launched Skills Frameworks to support the jobs and skills pillar, which provide information on career pathways, job roles, skills needs and relevant training programmes.
Implementation of the strategies and plans in the ITMs has started. For example, as part of the Precision Engineering ITM, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) recently launched a model factory, which allows small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to experience and experiment with advanced manufacturing technologies in a real-life production environment. Leveraging their collaboration with SIMTech, SMEs, such as JEP Aerospace and Feinmetall, have started the digital transformation journey in their own factories.
Another recently launched example is the \"hive\" trade facilitation platform developed by Singapore Logistics Association to build trade connectivity as part of the Wholesale Trade ITM. It enables businesses to quickly and efficiently meet cross-border trade compliance requirements for more than 50 customs authorities worldwide, increasing productivity.
The objective of GIA is to establish networks to create more opportunities for Singaporean students, entrepreneurs and business owners to gain overseas experience, connect and collaborate with overseas partners. Since the announcement in Budget 2017, the Economic Development (EDB) has set up the GIA Programme Office (GIA PO) to coordinate the initiative. EDB, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING) Singapore and the Ministry of Education have been engaging various in-market Operating Partners to set up GIA networks in the four focus cities under GIA Phase 1 (San Francisco, Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok).
For instance, building on the successful establishment of BLOCK71 in San Francisco, we launched \"BLOCK71 Jakarta\" in July this year to provide a co-working space that aims to catalyse mutually beneficial partnerships between Indonesian and Singaporean startups. For Bangkok and Beijing, IE Singapore has signed memoranda of understanding with tech partners to help Singapore startups better understand these markets, test-bed their products and work with overseas players to implement solutions. For access to Thailand, this includes partnerships with tech community builders C ASEAN and Hubba; for access to China, this includes partnerships with startup accelerator AIRMaker, NTUitive (the innovation and enterprise arm of Nanyang Technological University) and Chinese media platform 36Kr.
We will continue to work with suitable partners and strengthen our GIA networks.
Initiatives, like ITMs and GIA, will support our growth and transformation efforts and position Singapore well for the future.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Tax Regimes Governing Drivers of Taxis and Private Hire Cars","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"23 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Finance (a) whether there is a disparity between the tax regimes governing drivers of taxis and private hire cars and, if so, what are the reasons for the differences; and (b) in view of the similarities between both types of point-to-point transport services, whether the Ministry has plans to bring the tax regimes in line with each other.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Taxi drivers are allowed to claim tax deduction for expenses incurred in the production of their income. These tax-deductible expenses include vehicle rental fee, diesel and parking charges.
As for private hire ride-hailing car drivers, deduction for tax is not allowed in respect of expenses incurred on the car. This is because such drivers cannot be assumed to use their cars predominantly for business purposes. Many drive on a part-time or casual basis. This treatment supports our national policy to manage the car population and is applied to both corporate and individual taxpayers. For example, companies are similarly not allowed to claim tax deduction on any expenses incurred for a private car.
Private hire ride-hailing car drivers can, however, claim deduction for other non-car expenses. Such allowable deductible expenses include commission paid to third-party operators, administrative charges imposed by third-party operators, and the proportion of expenses for mobile phones used in the course of providing their services.
As the regulatory regimes and business models for taxi and ride-hailing services remain different, there are no plans to harmonise the tax regimes for now.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Level Playing Field for GST-registered Local Suppliers versus Non-GST Registered Overseas Suppliers","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"24 Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng asked the Minister for Finance in view of the rapid development of the digital economy whereby local businesses and consumers will increasingly buy goods and services from overseas suppliers (a) what steps are being taken to level the playing field between GST-registered local suppliers and non-GST registered overseas suppliers; and (b) when will the implementation of measures to level the playing field take place.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: As mentioned by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement in February this year, we are studying how we could make the necessary adjustments to our Goods and Services Tax (GST) system to ensure that local businesses which are GST-registered are not disadvantaged due to digital transactions and cross-border trade.
In May 2017, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) launched its consultation papers on the proposed reverse charge and overseas vendor registration regime to seek feedback and suggestions from the various stakeholders. IRAS is in the process of engaging these businesses and associations on the different ideas for taxing such cross-border goods and services in the digital economy. A wide range of segments are being engaged, including financial institutions, e-commerce companies, electronic marketplace operators, logistics players and consultancy firms. We are also monitoring developments in other countries.
We will take into account the feedback gathered and the issues raised in our review. If any measure is to be announced by the Government, lead time will be provided for implementation.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Stricter Safety Regulations for High-risk Sports","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"25 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether mixed martial arts can be subjected to stricter safety regulations; and (b) whether it can be made mandatory for public sports events, particularly those of high-risk sports, to come under the purview of Sport Singapore.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: For the vast majority of sports, the respective International Federations and National Sports Associations in Singapore determine the rules and safety protocols to ensure the safety of participants in training and during competitions. Event organisers who conduct competitions under the ambit of these sport governing bodies can be held to account for neglecting safety measures.
However, mixed martial arts contests tend to be organised as part of commercial entertainment events owned by private promoters, where the sanction that the sports governing bodies can effectively bring to bear is curtailed.
To guide sports stakeholders on safety, the Sports Safety Committee established by Sport Singapore (SportSG) periodically reviews and publishes the Overview and Recommendations for Sports Safety in Singapore, with the aim of establishing a comprehensive approach to minimising sports safety incidents, in line with international best practices. The last review was completed in 2015.
The Committee recommended that sports event organisers safeguard the well-being of their participants by minimally implementing a comprehensive risk management plan, conducting pre-event evaluation for participants, and deploying properly-trained medical personnel. Organisers of events deemed to be high-risk are advised to standby additional medical resources. Participants also need to exercise personal responsibility by taking safety precautions, being well-prepared when participating in sports activities, and refrain from participating if they feel unwell on the day of an event.
SportSG will continue to work with sports stakeholders to strengthen public education and raise awareness of the importance of safety at sports events to make sports safer for all.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Mitigate Encounters with Wild Boars","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"26 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for National Development whether AVA will be implementing measures to mitigate encounters with wild boars and ensure public safety in Pasir Ris Punggol where wild boars have been sighted in the past.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Government agencies have been working closely with stakeholders, including Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, the National University of Singapore, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, and nature groups on several fronts.
First, we will continue to monitor and manage the wild boar populations in their natural habitats. There are not that many wild boars in our nature reserves. But we have identified a few hotspots where the numbers are higher due to the availability of food. Agencies have been removing oil palms at these hotspots as palm fruit is a favoured food source of the boars. In areas where human feeding occurs, like Pasir Ris-Punggol, enforcement action will be taken. It is important for the public to stop this feeding because this changes the natural behaviour of the boars. Low railings will also be installed in places where these hotspots abut roads to discourage the boars from wandering beyond forested areas.
Second, we will manage the movement of wild boars when forested state land is cleared for development. The National Parks Board (NParks) will continue to advise agencies and developers to shepherd wild boars towards other contiguous forested sites and to hoard up areas that are near residential estates and roads. This will reduce the probability of wild boars escaping into public residential areas.
In addition, we will step up public education efforts on human-wildlife encounters. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and NParks are working on materials to educate residents on what to do when they encounter wild boars or other animals.
We will continue to work with stakeholders in residential areas to manage the wild boar issues and ensure public safety.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Price Gap between Private Housing and HDB Resale and BTO Flats","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"27 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development whether the price gap between (i) private housing and HDB resale flats and (ii) private housing and HDB BTO flats has narrowed respectively since the Total Debt Servicing Ratio framework was implemented.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework was introduced in June 2013 to safeguard financial prudence and prevent individuals from over-leveraging when they purchase private housing with housing loans from financial institutions (FIs). For those purchasing a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat, they are likewise subject to a Mortgage Servicing Ratio limit if they take an FI-originated or HDB housing loan. These measures have helped to moderate prices in both the private and public housing markets.
The majority of HDB Build-To-Order (BTO) flats built in the past few years were in non-mature estates, which are located in the outside central region. For this region, the median price gap between private housing and HDB BTO flats was 169% prior to June 2013 and is now 166%. Between private housing and HDB resale flats, the median price gap was 106% and is now 130%. However, as there are many different factors which could affect the prices of private and public housing, price comparisons between the two markets should be interpreted with care.
The Government will continue to monitor the overall property market closely to ensure that it remains stable and sustainable.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Lifecycle Assessment of Plastic Bags and Takeaway Containers","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"28 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether the Ministry has completed its study covering the lifecycle assessment of the different types of single carrier plastic bags and common food and beverage takeaway containers in Singapore and, if not, when is this study expected to be completed; and (b) whether the Ministry has determined if emissions from bio-degradable plastic bags are lower than non bio-degradable ones.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The National Environment Agency is studying the lifecycle assessment of single-use carrier bags and disposable food packaging materials commonly used in Singapore. The studies analyse the cost and environmental impact, including emissions, of these materials.
We will release the results of the study on single-use carrier bags by the end of this year. As for the study on disposable food packaging materials, we should complete it by end-2017 and release the results in the first half of 2018.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Results of PUB's Checks on Water Pipes in Bukit Batok SMC","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"29 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what are the results of PUB's checks on the water pipes in Bukit Batok SMC; and (b) what are the steps it intends to take arising from its determination that the burst water pipe incidents occurring in Bukit Batok SMC in October 2017 were due to corrosion.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The pipes in Bukit Batok were last checked in January this year and found to be in good condition then. They were next due for inspection in January 2018. Following the recent leaks in Bukit Batok, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) brought forward and completed the inspection of all 100 kilometres of water pipes in the estate. We did not detect any additional leaks. Our engineers have also investigated and concluded that the leaks at Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 and Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 were unrelated. Both pipes were laid about 35 years ago in the proper manner and met the material specifications required by PUB. At the time that they leaked, they were well within their design lifespan of 70 years.
The leaks were determined by PUB engineers to have been caused by localised corrosion. This can occur in places where the soil condition is harsher to the pipe material and when the water table is particularly high, which accelerates corrosion. We have replaced the leaking section of the pipe at Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 and are replacing all 170 metres of water pipes at Bukit Batok East Avenue 3. We expect the work to be completed ahead of schedule by end-November.
PUB operates a network of 5,500 kilometres of potable water pipes to deliver water to 1.4 million customer accounts. It continually monitors, inspects and, if need be, repairs or replaces pipes to minimise the loss of water due to leaks and to ensure good water supply round the clock. Today, Singapore experiences about six leaks per 100 kilometres of pipes per year, which is among the lowest incidences in the world.
In addition to continuous monitoring using more than 300 sensors, all pipes in PUB's 5,500-kilometre network are checked physically for leaks at least once a year, or more frequently where necessary. However, as almost all our water pipes are buried between one metre and 40 metres underground, it is challenging to assess the condition of buried pipes and detect minute leaks. PUB is thus test-bedding new technology, such as acoustic sensors, to monitor the pipelines and identify those which are not in satisfactory condition. PUB is also using pipes that are externally coated with polyurethane. These pipes are more corrosion-resistant than pipes laid in earlier years.
However, despite regular monitoring and inspection, leaks do occur, due largely to localised corrosion, uneven soil settlement or damage from construction work. Whenever pipes are found to be in unsatisfactory condition, they are either repaired or replaced under PUB’s Pipe Renewal Programme. As I have announced earlier this year, PUB is increasing its pace of pipe replacement. We are on track to replace 30 kilometres of pipes this year and will be able to replace 50 kilometres a year from next year onwards, one year ahead of schedule.
While we aim to replace all faulty pipes before they fail, leaks like the ones which occurred in Bukit Batok will happen from time to time. PUB seeks to respond and fix the problem quickly, and most incidents are resolved within a few hours. Occasionally, due to the need to ensure that water supply to residents is not disrupted when leaking pipelines are isolated from the rest of the network, additional time is required to switch residents over to an alternate supply pipeline before the affected pipeline can be shut off.
Water is precious and everybody needs to do his or her part to conserve it. I would like to assure Members and Singaporeans that PUB engineers will continue to put in their best effort to maintain Singapore's water supply network and ensure good water supply to customers round the clock.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Sensor Systems to Monitor Vehicle Emissions and Industrial Odours","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"30 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what is the rationale for NEA's calls for proposals to develop sensor systems to monitor emissions from diesel vehicles and to monitor odours generated through industrial activity; and (b) whether these sensors will provide the basis to act against polluters.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Vehicular and industrial emissions are significant sources of air pollution in Singapore. To enhance the National Environment Agency's (NEA's) capabilities in addressing air pollution, NEA is seeking technological solutions for remote real-time monitoring of emissions from diesel vehicles and industries.
Regarding vehicular emissions, studies have shown that the pollutive emissions from diesel vehicles on the roads, mainly nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, can be higher than those measured in laboratory emission tests. The real-time vehicle emission monitoring system will enable NEA to more efficiently and effectively assess the extent and impact of emissions from diesel vehicles. The system will also support the review and enhancement of air pollution control measures.
As for industrial emissions, NEA is seeking sensing devices and solutions to detect and monitor odours, characterise chemicals in the air and identify the sources of industrial odours. These will enhance NEA's current suite of sensors.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enhanced Anti-bullying Hotlines for Students","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"31 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) whether anti-bullying hotlines like the Singapore Children's Society's \"Tinkle Friend\" are publicised to all students; (b) what is being done to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of such hotlines; and (c) whether aggregated and anonymised data from such hotlines can be analysed to determine if there are patterns requiring further intervention.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: The Ministry of Education (MOE) works closely with community partners in our efforts to address the bullying issue. For example, the Singapore Children's Society conducts bullying awareness programme for students and training workshop for teachers and school counsellors. As part of these programmes, the avenues for support and the message of help-seeking are promoted.
In schools, the counsellors introduce the various sources of school- and community-based support, including hotlines, to students, staff and parents, via communication channels, such as talks, newsletters and school web portals. In addition, the community partners may refer students back to schools for continual support, where necessary.
These hotlines are run by community partners and voluntary welfare organisations. These help channels allow users to call in anonymously. This could limit the identification of in-depth patterns to inform intervention. If the community partners have studied the data they have, and are willing to share with MOE, we can work with them to improve our intervention efforts.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Regular Attendance of Children in Primary School","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"32 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in light of the requirement under the Compulsory Education Act for a parent to ensure that his child attends primary school regularly, whether the Ministry intends to update the criteria under the Children and Young Persons Act to include the situation of a parent or guardian of a child neglecting to ensure that the child attends primary school regularly when determining whether a child or young person is in need of care or protection.
Mr Desmond Lee: The reasons for irregular school attendance are often complex. There may be underlying stressors faced by the family, including marital, financial, substance abuse or health challenges. These issues may temporarily affect a family's ability to care for a child.
As articulated in Parliament when the Compulsory Education (CE) Act was introduced, parents are primarily responsible for ensuring their children attend school regularly. The family and community should play an active role in supporting parents to send their children to school before the state steps in to compel them to do so.
It is not necessary for the Children and Young Persons Act to specifically cover irregular school attendance as the framework established by the CE Act already covers this aspect. Recognising that irregular attendance at school can be due to multiple and complex factors, the Ministry of Education takes a holistic approach by working with parents, schools, community groups and relevant agencies to counsel and support the family to help all students attend school. Legal enforcement is considered when all intervention and counselling efforts have been exhausted.
The Children and Young Persons Act is intended to protect primarily children who have been seriously harmed or are at risk of serious harm. In such situations, the Ministry's Child Protective Service will intervene and work with community partners and the family through a range of services, to address the safety and well-being of children and young persons. Early intervention remains key to reaching out to these families. The Social Service Offices and community partners, such as the Family Service Centres, also stand ready to help families through their challenges.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Arrested Juveniles Admitted into Juvenile Homes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"33 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in each of the past three years (a) how many of arrested juveniles have been ordered by the Courts to be admitted into juvenile homes as defined in the Children and Young Persons Act; and (b) how many of such juvenile offenders admitted into these homes have at least one parent who is incarcerated or has been incarcerated before.
Mr Desmond Lee: Under the Children and Young Persons Act, juveniles who commit offences may be ordered by the Youth Court to be sent to a Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre or a Place of Detention. Those sent to a Place of Detention are typically also placed on probation.
The Singapore Boys' Home (SBH) and Singapore Girls' Home (SGH) serve both functions. The number of juvenile offenders admitted to SBH and SGH each year is as shown in Table 1 below.
About two-fifths of the juvenile offenders in SBH and SGH have a family member who had been incarcerated before.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null}],"writtenAnswersVOList":[],"writtenAnsNAVOList":[],"annexureList":[],"vernacularList":[{"vernacularID":1420,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20171106/vernacular-Patrick Tay(1).pdf","fileName":"Patrick Tay(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":472,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mrs Josephine Teo","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20171106/vernacular-Josephine Teo(1).pdf","fileName":"Josephine Teo(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":473,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Ms Joan Pereira","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20171106/vernacular-Joan Pereira(1).pdf","fileName":"Joan Pereira(1).pdf"}],"onlinePDFFileName":""}